A self-supported tour of three friends on three bicycles in the Malenad region during the monsoon, starting from Chikmagalur - Kalasa - Sringeri - Agumbe - Kundapura.
Wanted to do another self-supported bicycle trip this monsoon with a school buddy/good friend of mine, Deepak. After checking various routes on the online google maps, we came to agree upon on a route we should be doing and the distance to cover during the 3 days. Our common friend Chethan was also eager to join us. Had this planned well in advance and could not be postponed or missed. My friend Deepak put in time and effort to book bus travel, hotel stay, list of items to carry and an expense sheet.
Day 00 : Bengaluru to Chikmagalur
Thu, 23 Aug 2012
In the evening, Deepak and I bicycled from St.Marks’s Road to Majestic bus stand. On the way, it started to rain heavy and it seemed like a good time to put our rain gear to the test. Put them on, covered our panniers and continued to ride till we got to the bus stand where Chethan had already reached by car. Loading our bikes into the bus while few people nearby looked on curiously. The bus developed problem and had to change to another one at the volvo bus depot. This didn’t seem like a good start for this delayed us by about 2 hours.
Day 01 : Chikmagalur to Kalasa (94.6 km)
Fri, 24 Aug 2012
We reached Chikmagalur late, at about 5am and got to the hotel to quickly freshened up. Had our breakfast at a nearby place and started to ride by 8am. We rode past the famous residential ‘Amber Valley School’, then the spa resort ‘Serai’, and by 9:30am we had reached Mudigere covering approximately 30km. Continued on further taking snaps along the way, till we reached Kottigehara at about 11:30am. At the crossroad junction, at a small eatery we had varieties of pakodas and bajjis along with fresh lime juice. Later we proceeded by taking a right turn at the junction to ride towards Kelagooru. We then passed by the Balur Estate (a estate guest house built during the colonial period) at about 12:15am. Further from here, the roads were not so good till we reached Kelagooru (which as the name suggests is a small village in a valley surrounded by tea plantations). Had tea here and continued to ride few uphills and downhills.
Soon we reached Hirebyle by 3:30pm, where we stopped and had freshly made Mangalore buns at a small eatery. Had our fill, took a few snaps there and continued on riding again over a series of uphills and downhills along the way till we reached the hotel of stay at the small town of Kalasa by 5:45pm. Parked and unloaded our bikes at the hotel basement having locked them together by the pillar there. Having decided to visit the temple at Horanadu, we freshened up in an hour and took a local bus to get there in about 20 mins. After having dinner at the temple, we headed back to the hotel at Kalasa by 10:30pm and crashed for the night.
Day 02 : Kalasa – Sringeri (75.5 km)
Sat, 25 Aug 2012
At 5:30am, we were awakened by the mobile alarm but we got back to sleep for an hour more. Later got ready, had breakfast and started to ride from the hotel by 8:15am. The roads were good and weather very pleasant, so stopped and took pictures. By 10am, we stop by a shallow riverside for a relaxing break, knowing well that today’s ride would be shorter by 20kms. After a good hour, we started out again and by 1pm we reach the town of Kudremukha. Here, the sun was up and road ahead was a steady uphill but fortunately the roads looked good. While we chatted with the guard at the KIOCL gate, my friend picked up 3 bottles of water from a nearby shop. We then continued to ride on further through the Kudremukha forest range which was just amazing. By the time we got to a crossroad, where one road lead to Lakya Dam, it started to rain heavily. Realizing we had more ground to cover, continued on. Somewhere along the way, it stopped raining and further we spotted a forest guard’s post on an elevated spot alongside the clear stretch of road. We stopped here for a while, taking snaps. It was lunch time and we were hungry but since it was a forest range, we couldn’t really open the packed food here, so we managed with groundnuts/dry fruits and continued on.
We passed the SK border till we were passing by a small town when Deepak’s bikes’ front brakes gave way. Got to a shop nearby, and while we had 2 cups of pipping hot tea, Chethan did a temporary fix for the brakes. Another hour lost here, which we had to make up for. It was still raining and didn’t show any signs of stopping. We continued on by maintaining a good pace and reached the forest border by 7:30pm. From here, another 13kms of riding over leveled tarred roads and reached the town of Sringeri by 8:30pm. Got to the hotel, locked and unloaded the bikes again. Had a hot shower and dinner after. Having discussed about the many best parts of the ride so far, we slept by 11:45pm.
Day 03 : Sringeri – Kundapura (92.7 km)
Sun, 26 Aug 2012
Up by 6:30am and were ready by 8am for a heavy breakfast. While my friend Deepak took his bike to a local bike shop to fix his bike’s front brakes, Chethan and I took an auto to the famous temple. Was in awe at the old temple architecture and stone carvings. Having spent some time here, we got back to the hotel and by which time Deepak had his bike fixed up. It had been raining all night, hadn’t stopped and from dark clouds in the sky it was not likely to anyway, so we packed away the phones/cameras inside our bags. It was 11am by the time we started off from the hotel and we were behind schedule. The 26km to Agumbe was uphill but we covered in good time and got there by about 1pm. Didn’t stop here and a little further we had to lower our bike seats to ride downhill carefully to finally reach Someshwara by 2:30pm.Here we stopped to have lunch, that which Chethan had packed for this trip. After a heavy lunch, we continued on to ride in the rain with as little stops as possible. Despite the few small uphills and initial bad patches of road, we were able to cover good distance. Finally reached the city of Kundapura at 7:30pm. Got to the booked hotel to change and quickly freshen up leaving little time to have dinner. We got to the bus stand, loaded the bikes into the bus, picked up few snacks from the shop for the road and started back for Bangalore.
Trip information and expenses
| Description | Expense per person |
|---|---|
|
Terrain: Mostly good roads, few gradual climbs. Weather: Pleasant, cloudy, rains Difficulty Level: Moderate Total Distance: 262 km |
Bus travel: 1,230/- Hotel (2 nights): 1,316/- Food & Water: 990/- Total Cost: 3,536/- |
