FSR 13 - Kabbal

What a way to celebrate the last ride of 2007! The charm worked again. 13th ride and 13bikes. A gorgeous winter sky to ride under and awesome roads to compliment the day. Whats more - Bombay celebrated its first FSR today! Congratulations team - we've just gone national. Initial grouping and breakfast at Kanakpura - no one had a clue of what was in store. We took the road as it came and had no map in mind. After the next re-grouping the hills were more than inviting. Having cleared the thorn fence at the base of the hill, it was a deep breath and no looking back. Intense riding where there is nothing in mind except the road ahead and you making it to the top in one piece. Splendid rock temple with an endless sight. Then it was about rolling down hill. The minute flat ground was in sight - it was a water to the desert if you know what I mean. Fancy speeds and easy roads brought us back to land of the mature Gin. The bloddy mary decided to send us home and call it a day. Thanks all you guys for being there. Today was something else. For those who were not there - you'll would have loved it. Abhi & Kav, Omi, Screech, Suru, AVG, Vodka and the rest. notes by Nargis See you'll next year for FSR 14 - 2008. Take it easy. Ride safe.

FSR 12 - Anniversary ride

This was a disappointing trip for me - with many promising to come, only a handful of them showed up. we spent 4 full days in Tusker Valley with people trickling in as the days went by - with a strength of 10 people, it was enough to keep the tiger and tusker off bay. we were unable to ride out on short rides cos of the rains and it was quite an adventure reaching the place - with its off-road entry points.. so we preferred to sit and watch the sun rise and set - that is all we did for the 4 days -

FSR 11 - October

Brilliant ride, with good speeds and a great stretch made the 120km loop feel like a wink. Cheers to the riders. Missed Doc-S and Abhi at the ride. Good show with Soppu catching up midway. Spokesperson of the day undoubtedly goes to Darren who had the group in splits of laughter. Legal however, brought in upon himself by calling at the moment when the rather 'mature ab-gin-th' was growing on everyone. Welcome aboard the two first riders. (Nice bikes), too bad the other two riders had to turn back. No lakes this time, and Screech, plastered after the initial gins decided to turn in early. The group followed suit shortly after. What happened to map though? Reckon we should save them, with a message written by each one on the reverse. So, when we have our own FSR magazine, there will be the maps, pictures and a message by each one telling a tale of its own. Ride safe. Gear up - anniversary ride comin up! Notes by Nargis

FSR 10 September

FSR - we explored the cast outbacks of Bagepalli - this was one fantastic ride with endless expanse of wilderness. worth a revisit - unfortunatley dont have many pictures - infact nothing of the best part of the ride.. Satya says' - Ah!.....a "quickie" THANKS, all ye amigos! That sure was an a-m-a-z-i-n-g 206-Kms FSR#10, eh?! Sadly though BAGEPALLI went "un-explored" this time around for some reason(s) as.......many a jaw(!) dropped with 250+ anticipated road-distance then! Many nearlt fainted too, i recall! Anyway, guess next time around we shall do the 'full-circle' with NO short-cuts w.r.t time, distances, efforts et al, eh!....Bingo!?! Very many THANKS to: Abhi. Darren. Indi. Matts. Suru. Santiago..er...."Shikaari-Shambhu"! Rajesh. Santosh. Adrian. Harsha-PK! Trishul. Vivek..a.k.a...Tengs! Hemant & 'his' eagle-eye maps(which had us all enquiring, en-route!) & Raman. Sincere thanks also to all mates who waited along and/or also helped me 'push-start" my 20-year(!) ol' XR many a times! Efforts & help and "sweat"(!) 'greatly' appreciated, cowboys! Thanks again & take care! Yours 'always' in m/cycling!! SRK

Legal Farewell ride - July

i am waiting for legal to write-up on this ride cos it was his. it was a fantastic ride through some of the best tarmac open country roads - unforgettable...

 

 

 

 

FSR 09 ~ august

The gang nailed two rides this month – first Sunday exploring the hidden forest roads of Thali with spells of bone drenching rain and the dusty broken-tarmac Independence Day ride which lot of us want to forget. The September ride promises lesser known inside roads as we plan this ride to Bagepalli – north.

 

 

 

 

Jul 01st,2007 Ride FSR#8

Hey, Hope this missive finds you all in the pink of health and tickled pink cause this is Legal's last official Ride with FSR. Legal has, luckily for us, decided to head for greener pastures and become more irrititiating than usual. For this he needs 2 years in the US, lucky for us :-). Anyways with this thought in mind I found myself riding towards Big Bazaar on Old Madras Road which was supposed to be the rendezvous for our ride. I was running late and the only person later than me was Screech who was today's trip leader. As we were already running late, we started off without preamble and headed towards the turn off to Mahadevapura on Old Madras Road, pretty soon we were all strung out in a line and riding hard towards the Hope Farm junction from where we continued straight on and stopped as not all of us were present, we were missing Satya and Santiago, we waited for them and called them up and gave them directions on how to reach us. They were at the Hope Farm junction and didn't know which way we had gone. Pretty soon Santiago landed up and soon after Sats turned up pissed and told Screech that since he was the trip leader for the day it was his duty to stop at every turning and make sure everyone had arrived. So chastised, we turned left here and turned into some dirt Roads heading towards the IOC factory, the roads were now purely dirt roads with a few signs of pre-historic tar, the going was rough and everyone slowed down.I was lucky I was riding Screech's CBZ, it was light and nimble and the tyres were in great condition, pretty soon Screech, Mats and I were ahead of the rest and Sats of course the moment he saw the dirt road, a look of glee must have appeared on his face and he took off on the XR strewing up stones and clods of dirt and pretty soon was lost to sight. This is what a dirt road does to Sats, he has no self-control, we continued on and soon we reached another turnoff and lo, Sats was not there we presumed he took off on the straight and narrow, and dispatched Santosh to go and bring him back. Sats came back with a sheepish grin saying that he'd never imagined that the imitation of a road that Sreech was pointing at was the route. So we proceeded further and pretty soon we were raising Cain and a lot of dust through a small village and finally burst out into the open country with the sounds of hens scolding us receding in the background. The country side was lovely as opposed to the road, green fields and forests and soon Screech stopped at a Quarry. It was beautiful, a naturally hewn granite quarry with a spiralling path to the bottom which was filled with green water. There was a herd of sheep at the bottom for their weekly constitutional methinks. It was lovely, there was a mound at the edge of the quarry and pretty soon we were all on it. Taking in the countryside and gulping breaths of fresh air and of course the only eyesore was the IOC factory with it's silios and railway track, but it was a minor glitch. There were some carving on the rock a little away from the Quarry, which looked a good couple of hundred years old, looks like the place was a temple of some sort here in the olden days. We chilled out here for a good half hour, and Rajesh rode his RD into the Quarry to inspire the sheep to get into the water, which the shepards had a tough time doing anyways. Post this welcome break we started riding towards Malur, the roads were really rough in places the road could not even be called a track, it was torturous for the RDs and Bullets because these bikes are pretty heavy and not meant for this kind of dirt roads. After a while the dirt road became a little better and pretty soon we were on the state highway heading towards the village of Lakkur, this was a good stretch of highway and the Bullets and RDs came out of the stupor and started belting, very soon we reached Lakkur and turned right towards ChikkaTirupathi, we reached there soon and pulled up at a small hotel for breakfast. ChikkaTirupathi, is a small dusty temple town which has the Venkateshwara Temple which is the miniature version of it's more famous counterpart. The temple was right across the road and the bikes elicited a lot of interest as usual. After breakfast we decided to hit it towards Sarjapur and then ride the beaten path back towards town, The ride towards Sarjapur was fantastic through the back roads which were lined with greenery and fields, Screech has told us about a Bridge ahead where birding was good, so we kept and eye out and kept on riding and pretty soon we reached the bridge, it was over the river Arkavathy and a small town on the other side, we rode across the bridge and turned right to find a path going down to the river/stream, it was a beautiful spot and we stopped there. Some of the other riders went under the bridge and headed up the path to explore, very soon Mats came back and told us they had found a nice spot downriver. We all got back onto our bikes and rode up there, it was a beautiful spot on the bank of the river under a Shady tree where we parked our bikes and walked across the river on a cement ford which ended before the other bank of the river. We decided to chill here for a while, we parked up the bikes and were soon sprawled under the shade of the tree. The place was peaceful, the flowing river, the shady tree and a 207 Milk Van which was parked on the ford and was being washed. Biking stories were exchanged and jokes flowed with Legal being the butt of them, as usual. I guess Legal got tired of all the leg pulling and decided to go and explore the town with Rajesh, they were soon back with a sack full on chilled ones. Rajesh looked like Santa Claus with the sack on his back, the ale was quaffed and peace reigned supreme except for a guffaw once in while. After an hour or so, we decided to hit it closer to town to get some lunch, Screech promised us a nice place onthe Byonk of a Tyonk(lake in FSR terminology) and we moved on. The Sky was turning dark and it was drizzling lightly when we reached Sarjapur town.Some of the riders filled up gas here and the rest of us regrouped and headed back. The road from Sarjapur to Bangalore is still pretty bad, I remember last year when we had some to Sports Village for a Football match, the roads were still being repaired and in some places we had to ride on the shoulder of the road for over a kilometer. Pretty soon we were all spaced out and riding towards town. We finally reached close to Sarjapur Road - Outer Ring Road and stopped to regroup, and after procuring some much needed supplies we rode towards the Lake, led by Screech. The lake was beautiful but as it was Sunday it was filled with people around it people washing clothes, vehicles, themselves. ...... etc etc. ..... we headed to another side of the lake which was a grove of trees and found a nice clearing with a rain water filled pond for a backdrop. We parked the bikes up and decided that Screech, Mats and I would ride to Marathalli which was around 10+Kms from here to pack lunch. The others sitting around and the party was just starting and we left, we reached Marathalli and packed lunch which comprised mainly or Biryanis and some chicken Kebabs. We headed back with me carrying a full load and the rest strapped onto the back of Mats' bike. When we reached back the party was in full flow and Legal at the helm, he was apparently enjoying himself a little too much("I'm luving it!!" ) We were all pretty hungry by then and started on lunch, which was promptly wolfed down by everyone and after a brief photo session we all headed back towards town, the Eastern Bloc comprising of Self, Sats,Screech,Mats, Darren, Nargis& Santiago and Roy turned towards Outer Ring Road towards Marthalli and the rest...... Legal went towards HSR layout. Legal gave us a all a farewell pat on the helmets before riding off as this would be our last ride together(how untrue was that :-)) ... Anwyays thats how it went, at least the gist of it, I know I've left out a lot of "interesting" stuff .... but that's for us to know and not tell eh? ;-) ...... what say guys??

Well another great ride, albeit the route was a little short of the stipulated 180-200kms, but the dirt roads and the scenery were great and riding with the FSR bunch is always fun......... Take care guys and until next time.... keep on riding.

Cheers,

Suru

Wild Valley Ride – June 9th,10th 2007

The morning of June 09th, found me riding alongside Screech heading fast for Maddur. Due to some personal glitches, I was running a little late and we reached University gate on Mysore a bit late and the group had started towards our first pit stop which was to be at The Coffee Day before Maddur. I filled up gas at University Gate and saw Omi followed by Nikki going past. I was riding a little slow and Screech came up and asked me to speed up. I got out of my reverie and my post sleep mode, and throttled up. In a little while we reached Café Coffee Day and we spotted the group having breakfast at Indradhanush Restaurant and joined them. After the usual idly/vada, kesaribath and coffee routine, we headed out towards Maddur and the deviation to Malavalli, we reached Maddur and turned left towards Baba’s Farm in Borapura which we did in FSR #4. On the way to Borapura, the Machismo fluttered and completely died on me, man I thought “phinish”, that’s it. Mats pulled up behind me and I discovered that the Spark Plug connector had come out and was hanging. Whew, that was a huge relief, I connected it back on and started the bike and was soon thumping merrily along. The roads on this stretch were not so great, we reached Malavalli and passed this dusty town. The roads were getting better and we were heading towards Kollegal, we passed the turn-off to Shimsha and headed straight on. We saw a small dam on the left and a little ahead we saw the gang had pulled up and we stopped there. The place was lovely with shady trees, the river flowing into the dam in a huge curve and a small shop which was not open. We decided to wait for Indi “Flintstone“ Reddy at this place, we called Indi up and he said that he was en route and would join us in about an hours time. We chilled out at this lovely place, it was great on the riverbank I could hundreds of fish in the shallows and some pretty big whoppers too. It was a peaceful time and we were soon sitting around swapping stories and jokes. It was 2 hours and Flinty had still not arrived and we called him and he said that he was in Maddur and would reach in another half hour. It was really hot and there was a unanimous descision to go & get some “chilled ones”, Omi knew a place called Sunita Bar, a kilometer and a half away over the bridge. Omi and Screech valiantly volunteered to go, and pretty soon they were back and we were quaffing down some much needed ale. As we finished Flinty landed up and after much cursing, we started out. Flinty hadn’t had as much as a drop of ale as we had finished everything by the time he arrived so the first stop was Sunita Bar where all the bikes pulled up and Flinty had to buy us all a round of chilled ones for making us wait for so long. As we were ordering the beers we saw Santosh go on ahead without seeing us. We assumed that he would wait up near Kollegal when we didn’t show up, we started off promptly and came up to Kollegal Town. From Kollegal we turned left and started belting on the road atop a Tank bund and missed the turn off to Odeyarapalya, Omi caught up with us and asked us to head back, he was the only one who knew the route, we turned back and headed back until we came upon a mud road with a sign proclaiming the turn-off to Gundal Jalashaya(Gundal Waterfall ) - 9 Kms. This was a mud road initially and it became a little better a few kms down, the other were lost to sight and pretty soon it was Mats, Aditya and me, the roads were not all the good but we could maintain a constant 60kmph in some stretches, the scenery was lovely with fields on both sides and hills flanking us on both sides on the horizon. We kept checking with by-passers and locals all along the way that this was the route to Odeyarapalya, we finally came upon the others who were waiting for us, near the turn off to Dhongdengling, we decided to go into the settlement and then onto Wild Valley. Omi had to meet Bryan, a relative of Omi’s who works in the SBM in the settlement. The settlement was lovely with gompas all over the place and one with a Huge Prayer Bell which looked awesome. The whole area was surrounded by lush green hills which we were later told were deciduous forests with some peaks having lush green clearings. The roads in the settlement were undergoing a makeover, so we had to travel on some pretty rough patches, so after we met Bryan, we headed into Odeyarapalya to pick up much needed “munitions/supplies” for the night. So after stocking up with “supplies” we headed towards the Karnataka Forest Check post which we passed and then we hit a small hill/ghat section. The weather all this time had become colder, the sky was filled with gray rain laden clouds and we could see rain falling in the distance and we were riding towards it. On the hill the roads were lovely with a lot of twisties and we were gaining altitude, not by any great height, but the twisties were really nice, I did all I could from going “WHEEEEE!!!!” and then we passed a small section that connected to the adjoining hill and again the twisties, wow this was a Double Whammy, it was nice but pretty soon we had crossed the border into Tamil Nadu and we were at the Germalam Village checkpost. We turned left here and headed to Wild Valley, it had started to drizzle and a few twisties later we came upon a sign saying Wild Valley Farm, and turned in the mud-road there and pretty soon we were parking in the thatched shelter which Santosh was sitting under when we arrived. We got introduced to our host, Mr.Daniel who owns and runs Wild Valley Farm who called us all for lunch as it was past 4:00 when we had arrived. Santosh headed here straight when he missed us at Kollegal, and had arrived an half an hour earlier and had finished with lunch. Whew, this was a nice ride, it was a tight fit in the shelter but at least all the bikes were out of the rain. We just chucked our bags in the tents and headed off for lunch as soon as we had demolished the last of the chilled ones. Lunch was simple but awesome, rice, dal, rasam, curd and some Chicken Fry which was really nice, we tucked into lunch and headed back to the tents to generally relax. I didn’t feel like sleeping, so Indi, Rajesh, Santosh and me decided to chill out in another Tiled Shelter, as it was still drizzling. Man the scenery was great, and the rain added another dimension, it looked ethereal. The greenery, the silence puntuated by sounds of the surrounding forest, sometimes accompanied by Flinty’s peacock mating calls, were all we could hear. After a while, Bryan joined us, riding up on his Suzuki Samurai, unofficially starting off the revels on his own ;-), to which the boys responded after a different fashion but nevertheless on the same plane. Bryan kept us all entertained with stories about the forest and the hills surrounding the place, and the local Flora and Fauna and the surrounding places, like Bannari Temple about 40 Kms from here. It was pretty good, just lazing around and taking in the place. The guys started waking up one by one, and joining us in the Gol Ghar(as per JLR semantics J ) and we soon had a Full House. It was dark by now and we ordered for Chai and Bajjis, which were promptly demolished and it was past 8:00 and we decided to move the revels up another notch as the sun was long past the yardarm. Well the booze was brought out and the party had started in earnest, nightfall had brought with it, billions of stars, and I’ve never seen a sky like this in the city, I was mesmerized and stood gaping for a long time at the stars, until it was time to refill my drink again ;-). Mats got out his trusty Canon EOS with his tripod and was taking pictures of the night sky. By this time, the Wild Valley Staff had got a bonfire going and we all took out our chairs to go out and sit around it. Mats went for dinner around 10:00 and since the dining hall was on the other side of the Farm we didn’t have any snacks, but Mats decided to play Good Samaritan and brought back a plate filled with Chicken, which was immediately wolfed. The drinking and the fun continued till the wee hours, then we had dinner and most of the group decided to hit the sack. Santoago and Nikki had already hit the sack way before dinner. Omi, Indi, Screech, Aravind, Rajesh , Bryan and me were awake till the wee hours and man, was it fun or what. Some cobra dancing, Peacock Calls and some sing song. By about 3:00 am, we were too bushed and we hit the sack, putting an end to a great day, good ride and a fun filled evening. Woke up to the sun streaming into the tent and the sound of our noisy neighbors in the tents, well they all got some good shut-eye, I suppose, even with our wild antics the night before J. But anyway, it was a little too early for me, but it seemed like a glorious day and I slowly crept out, had a wash and ordered coffee. The gang was gathering at the Gol Garh with coffees and ciggis, the morning was glorious as can be verified by the photos. Santosh was missing as he had woken up early and had gone for a ride, he landed up and showed us a photo of a Sloth Bear that he had clicked in the early morning as it was foraging for food by the roadside in the forest. That was real lucky and he raved about the route, we actually thought of taking that route via Hasanur, Nanjanagud and back through Mysore. The others were slowly emerging, one by one, we all had breakfast and started getting ready to head back. Omi had decided to leave early as he had to be in town for a wedding by 4:00 pm, and he started about 15 mins ahead of us with Mats and Nikesh. By popular consensus we decided to go back the way we had come instead of the long detour through Mysore. We all waited for Santosh to settle the bill with our host, and we started riding back. The ride through the 2 hill was fantastic and I was really sending it and as we reached the Karnataka border checkpost we saw some of our bike bikes parked there and we pulled up. Omi had a fall as some wire had got caught in his side-stand and unfortunately he wasn’t wearing his gloves. The injuries were minor and Omi decided to head back with us at a more leisurely pace. We stopped at Dhongdengling to pick up Bryan who was coming to Bangalore as Omi’s pillion and we started towards Kollegal, the route was fantastic and soon we were all spaced out, with the riders in front over the horizon and the riders behind barely being seen in the mirror. I was at peace, in 7th heaven actually, as I had a straight road ahead of me, the bike thumping at a steady 90kmph, green fields on either sides, the Eastern Ghats on my right and the Western Ghats on my left. This was euphoria and it just felt right, this was too good to last and we finally reached Kollegal where we filled up gas, I actually didn’t need any but filled up a coupla litres anyways because I was in the bunk. It was past noon and the sun was shining relentlessly, we decided to stop at the same point on the Shimsha bank. We all rode past Kollegal, stopped at Sunita Bar, picked up a few chilled ones and headed to the Shimsha Bank, but it was a Sunday and the place was packed with devotees cooking food on the bank. We decided to go ahead and a Kilometer further was a small mud road heading towards the canal, we turned into it crossed the bridge over the Canal and parked under a shady tree. We chilled out at this lovely spot for about an hour, downing the beers and yakking about everything from bikes to Legal Ethics (not joking, check with Aravind and Indi) and we got a demo from Bryan with his patented (or.. patent pending) Cricket bat.Sam and Santosh had blasted off on their Beamers and they were already at Coffee Day, so we told them to head on. Aditya also left for Bangalore as he was already late. We decided to hit it to Maddur and find a place for lunch, the ride from Shimsha Bank to Maddur was the same boring state highway and it was getting hotter. We reached Maddur and as we were regrouping, Omi shouted out to Baba, who was just turning towards Borapura in his Bolero. We all went to Nandini or was it Nisarga on the Bangalore- Mysore highway for lunch, with Baba in tow. Lunch was nice there and after lunch, Omi decided to head back to town with Bryan as he was already late. We all decided to hit it slow as Screech had a broken clutch worm and couldn’t do anything with his clutch, we all agreed. Mats and me were ahead of Screech and Rajesh was following him and we agreed to maintain around 70-80kmph on the highway. Indi(had to see a man about a dog ) and Aravind (needed a café latte) decided to stop at coffee day and catch up with us at University Gate on Mysore Road. It was a peaceful ride back even though there was traffic heading towards Bangalore and we finally reached University gate at around 7:00. It was already dark and in about 10-15 mins both Aravind and Indi caught up with us. Whew, another ride nailed and what a ride it was, awesome and superb were understatements, the right place, the right people and the right bikes … huh :-) ?What say, guys? Cheers, Suru Riders Line-up 1. Aditya - RD 350 2. Aravind - RD 350 3. Screech - RD 350 4. Rajesh - RD 350 5. Mats - Royal Enfield Bullet 500 6.Satsosh - BMW 650 7. Omi - RD 350 8. Indi - BMW 650 9.Samarth - BMW 650 10.Nikesh - Hero Honda Karizma 11. Suru - Royal Enfield Machismo 350

June 03rd, 07 - Kolar - Devenahalli Ride.

June 03rd, 07 - Kolar - Devenahalli Ride. I was in for a rude awakening as the alarm clock shrilled early on a Sunday morning, I was sound asleep and then I heard a banging on my door, I knew it was time to get up as my mom had woken up to the sound of my alarm. I got up and got ready in a jiffy and headed for Big Bazaar, which was slated to be the starting point for this FSR.When I got there most of the people had already arrived and with-in a few minutes everyone landed up and we started off. Our first pit stop was Kamat Upachar on the Bangalore-Kolar Highway and everyone sped off, the ride was beautiful beyond Hoskote as the greenery started and it was really cool in the morning. Just as I was reaching Kamat, while overtaking a tractor, my bike suddenly went off, I still had enough momentum to overtake the tractor and pull over. As I was pulling over I downshifted to second and let go of the clutch and boom the bike started again, man that was a small scare and I carried on. Reached the Kamat and pretty soon we were sitting down for breakfast, the idly/vadas were average and after a coffee we headed out. As soon as we left Kamat, we pulled into an empty peice of land for a line-up picture and soon after the pics were taken and we got going. We took the road towards Narsapur, instead of taking the bypass, I was following Siddarth who was following Ram and we continued on.We had to actually take the left as soon as we reached Narsapur towards Vemagal and Vijayapura, but I was just following the bikes in front and we were soon cruising towards Kolar and enjoying the lovely rock formations and the greenery along the route after travelling for a while we realised that we hadn't seen the other riders in a while and I saw Ram who had pulled up, I went a little ahead with Siddarth and stopped and called Santosh. Then I realised that we had overshot the turn-off by about 10-12 Kms, with a muttered curse, we were soon speeding back and took the turn-off at Narsapur towards Vijayapura. About 5 kms after Narsapura we came upon the village of Vemagal, here a policeman came up immediately and told us that a bunch of riders had turned left towards Vijayapura. We proceeded ahead and pretty soon caught up with the others who were waiting for us a little ahead of Vemagal. After the usual, where the hell did you guys go, and so on and so forth, we started towards Vijayapura which was about 20 oddd kms away, the road were fantastic with lush green fields and very little traffic. There was a stretch of road which was lined with huge trees on both sides and the overhanging branches formed a tunnel into which little or no sunlight penetrated, I even started to feel a little chill as I had taken off my leather jacket.This was a fantastic stretch of road which made up for the 20 odd KM detour we guys had taken. Soon we were at Vijayapura, where some of us had to refuel our bikes, after refueling we started towards Devanahalli. I was just settling into the rhythm of the ride and was soaking in the green surroundings when I came upon a sign-board proclaiming, Devanahalli 5Kms, I immediately slowed down, I didn't want the ride to get over so early, man we were just getting started.I eventually reached Devanahalli and regrouped with the whole gang there, Sats, BK and Senthil hadn't arrived yet as Senthil had a flat. We ended up waiting at Devenahalli cross under the Banyan tree sitting on the stone benches for close to an hour waiting for the others to arrive. After about an hour, Sats, BK and Senthil landed up with the flat fixed, we were contemplating whether to head towards Nandi Hills or whether to head back to Bangalore. We all decided to head back towards Bangalore as some of the riders needed to get back early, we decided to head into Devanahalli and take the inner route from Devanahalli to Hennur, but soon this came to naught as soon as we reached the turn-off we were told by a bunch of locals that the road was closed due to the construction work of the Bangalore International Airport. In the name of progress, another nice and scenic route bites the dust, huh??? We headed back to the Devanahalli highway and turned towards Bangalore, the journey back was a speedsters delight and all the bikes were ripping, I was cautious with my bike as it had already stalled and didn't want it to happen again, after a while I got tired and opened up, and soon caught up with the rest, at the Hennur turn-off. Here we decided to head for lunch to a dhaba as it was getting hotter and hotter, Santosh and Rajesh decided to head back to Nandi's, the rest of the group headed to Mela Dhaba just opposite Jakkur. With a couple of chilled ones for company we touched base with a number of first-timers on this ride, it felt good to talk to new bikers, people from varied backgrounds who share the same passion. Thus another ride came to an end, this wasn't the best of rides and it wasn't the worst, though I don't think any FSR ride can be given the sobriquet as the worst ride. :-) But, in all, it felt good and it was really nice meeting the newest additions to FSR and a hearty "Come Aboard" to the new cowboys. Cheers, Suru The line-up on 3rd June, 2007 1. Aditya - RD 350 2. Aravind - RD 350 3. Screech - RD 350 4. Ram - RD 350 5. Senthil - RD 350 6. Rajesh - RD 350 7. BK - RX100 8. Sreenivasan - Honda Unicorn 9. Mats - Royal Enfield Bullet 500 10.Darren - Royal Enfield Bullet 500 11.Roy - Royal Enfield Bullet 350 12.Satya a.k.a SRK - Honda XR600 13.Satsosh / Nargis - BMW 650 14.Siddarth - Hero Honda CBZ 15.Suru - Yezdi Roadking

FSR#6 - Little England, Thally Ride

FSR#6 - Little England, Thally Ride Well well well, 6 Rides strong and going on.....Cool!! The FSR was slated for the May 06 and the route was to be Madiwala - Anekal - Jigani- KanakPura Road and back.The day dawned bright and early for me, I woke up and got ready in a jiffy and went to Coffee Day on 100 feet Road, Indiranagar which was supposed to be the rendezvous point for SRK,Screech, Mangesh, Indi and your truly. I was the last to arrive and we took off towards the Silk Board Flyover, it was early and the roads were empty and we reached there in about 10 mins. The rest of the gang were already there and finally Indi on the outer Ring Road directly arrived bringing up the number of riders to 10.

We decided to ride to Attibele and then proceed to Anekal, which turned out to be a good descision, we all started off on Hosur Road and headed out, there was a lot of traffic on Hosur Road we finally reached Attibele and the turn-off towards Anekal.Satya's bike had gotten rich and didn't start, so he was running a little late and finally everyone landed up and we headed towards Anekal. A few hundred metres of getting off the Highway the landscape immediately changed for the better and the cool morning air was wonderful.Lush green fields, Mangalore tiled village houses, Coconut Groves and the sounds of nature, it was beautiful. A few Kms before Anekal ahead we saw Santosh had pulled up and Satya and me stopped, Santosh asked us to watch his Bike as he had go and "see a man about a dog". We were only too happy to stop and bask in the greenery around, finally Santosh came back and we headed towards Anekal which was a short distance away.

On reaching Anekal we ascertained, through a few locals, that the best place to eat breakfast in Anekal was Hotel Ashok opposite the bus-stand and we promptly headed there.As usual the line up of bikes outside the Hotel Askok attracted a lot of attention from the locals, and after a bit of bantering with them we ordered breakfast, the idlis and vadas, Satosh was the only brave one to order a jamoon which he immediately put down just after a bite.Post breakfast, we decided to head for Thally, Little England, which we heard was beautiful. The village roads were winding and dotted on both sides with small farming hamlets and fields. The ride was great, we saw some amazing vistas and a huge mango tree with hundreds of Mangoes, whose branches were almost touching the ground.A little ahead we came to an intersection of sorts where we decided to take a snap of the line-up of the bikes, we all rode up and parked our bikes across one of the lesser travelled roads from the intersection and crossed the road to admire them, while the guys with the Cameras were busy clicking away.

Post the photo session we headed towards Thally, which b.t.w is in Tamil Nadu, I found this out because I got an SMS welcoming me to Tamil Nadu from the BPL Mobile service there. The country side had changed from the flat plains to a verdant rolling one and roads were winding and going up and down.Finally we were riding on a tank bund which was astride a small lake, half-filled up and on the otherside was Thally, which is a rustic, dusty pleasant village with a few of the boards proudly proclaiming "Little England Thally", I can imagine the place after the rains, it was pretty green all around now, but the same route would be mind-blowing post the rains.From Thally we decided to ride to Maralwadi, and then hook up with Kanakapura Road at Harohalli.

The road from Thally to Maralwadi was beautiful and winding and was full of ups and downs and the terraced fields on either side and the rolling landscape, we passed a banyan tree which looked a hundred years old. There was a temple on a hillock in the distance, which looked like a good climb on foot, but for a later date.As we crested the hill ahead, the road ahead was downhill and twisting and the view was beautiful, all the bikes stopped under the shade of a Banyan Tree close to the crest and we parked up. We relaxed here for a quite a while, taking in the sights and sounds and trying to capture the moment.The banyan tree was a cool shelter and we were sitting around taking snaps and generally chatting, finally we decided very reluctantly to move from there, Santosh promising us to stop for tea at a tea-shop just before Maralwadi. The road from here on till Maralwadi and beyond, till just a few kms before Harohalli was a series of twisties, the downhill twisties were really awesome and we were all bunched up together.The landscape was beautiful and noone was really in the mood for any kinda speeding, we were just enjoying the ride.

Finally we reached Harohalli and turned towards Kanakapura with a heavy heart, the ride was almost over. Anyways it was getting hotter and it was time for a chilled one, as Indi kept on hinting :-). We headed to Green Park Dhaba just on the outskirts and parked up there, the sun was at it's zenith and we were soon entrenched in the shade with a coupla chilled ones. Thus ended FSR#6, it was one of the most picturesque rides by far and it was a great experience and anyways looking forward to meeting the gang for the TSB#1 (Third Sunday Breakfast ;-) ) at Airlines Hotel and plan for the next ride. Cheers, Suru

FSR#5: My Rs.0.02

Aloha Fellow Riders, Whew! Feels good having nailed down FSR #5, that makes it 3 in a row, not bad at all. I usually end up procrastinating and something else usually comes up, but not for the FSR, touch wood. Well this write-up is really not necessary as there's already one on bikes zone but since it's a hot afternoon and self having not all that much to do, am putting the pedal to the metal or rather the finger to the keyboard. :-) Actually the FSR #5 started a little early for some with Screech, Indi and Harsha heading to Bharat's Farm the previous day for Bharat's B'day Bash. Well for me it started as usual at the crack of dawn, Satya(SRK :-) ) landed up at my house at 6:00 am on the dot, in fact I think he arrived a little earlier, as usual, I was ready and in a couple of minutes Satya and I were riding towards Mekhri Circle Flyover Table top which was the rendezvous point. We were the first to arrive, and then people started arriving and a couple of chai's later, our tibe had increased to 12, with the snap of the line up from Mekhri Circle being taken we all headed out to Doddaballapur Raliway station which was our first pit stop for Breakfast and the place where we were to meet up with Screech, Harsha and Indi. Just as we were crossing Yalahanka, Deb rode up and told us that Richie's bike had a flat, Satya rode back to help. We continued on towards Doddaballapur, the road was bad, pot-holes the size of small craters and sand all over, but we rode on and after a while we stopped to wait for Sats, Deb and Richie.Samarth and Vodka joined us at this point. We decided to ride on to Doddaballapur Station, where we were joined by Screech and Indi, Harsha having decided to catch up on his Zzzzz's at Bharat's Farm. The break-fast was ok, thatte-idli and Vada, I guess we were a little disappointed with the spartan fare but then we got over with the breakfast and the inevitable cuppas of chai and coffee and headed out to Ghati Subhramanya. The Road to Ghati was a lot better with some good twisties, not hairpin bends or anything but anything to bend the bike a bit.We rode up to the top and stopped off on the way because the Beamers and some intrepid souls wanted to do a bit of off-roading. The scenery was beautiful and I was freaking out with Screech's Monocole with which I could count the girders of a railway bridge a good 3-4 kms away. Post the off-roading we rode to the Ghati Subramanya temple, where we only stopped for a couple of minutes asking for directions to Nandi. The road to Nandi was as bad as the road to Doddaballapur, passing through small villages and hamlets. I was riding Indi's Enfield Machismo, as my "t"rusty Roadking wasn't exactly road-worthy for this FSR. I was having a ball of a time on the Enfield, the thump-thump of the exhaust and the bike had a real head for speed. I was riding with Vodka on his Enfield Lightning 525 for a part of the way which was also as loud as hell ....... I can imagine the racket we must have been making. (Cacafonix and Deafenix) We finally reached the foothills of Nandi Hills where we had a stop for the inevitable ciggi and some really cool tender-coconut. Post this some of the riders decided to hit the top of Nandi, we ambled into the Eaucalyptus grove behind the Manu Bar and Restaurant on the first curve. We parked the bikes in the scant shade and found places to sit, it was really hot and getting hotter. We ordered for a few chilled ones and spent the next one hour relaxing and exchanging bike stories and basically having a good time, in general. Some people decided to call it a day and head home for various reasons and calls of duty. Finally it was time and we had to leave for the last leg of the ride and the destination was Bharat's Farm.We all rode to Devanahalli turn-off and waited to regroup, Bharat's Farm was a good 27 Kms from there. We all started off, the road was pretty good and soon we were all speeding and the group divided with Indi, Santosh, Abhi and Samarth all speeding off ahead and I was a little behind them and there was another group with Screech a bit behind me.Pretty soon I was all alone with the groups ahead and behind out of sight. I reached the town of Siddlaghatta and decided to head on knowing that if there was a turn off the group ahead would have waited and after a point I pulled up onto the side of the road and called Santosh, he told me that they were lost and a little ahead of me and we agreed to regroup at Siddlaghatta. I rode back to Siddlaghatta and pretty soon the group returned and Indi having remembered the way proceeded towards the Farm, we reached the farm in about 10 mins and were greeted by Harsha who was standing on the road and directing and soon pulled up under the shady trees in the Farm. Indi and some of the others who had again over shot the farm soon joined us. :-) Dude you need a GPS on that beamer. :-) Bharat was there to give us a warm welcome and soon we were sitting in the grass with chilled beers and waiting for lunch to get ready.Satya's bike was firing only on one cylinder due to a clogged petrol filter and he soon had it ready with advice flowing from all corners :-) , the onlookers were really enthusiastic :-) :-). Pretty soon lunch was ready and man was it delicious, there was a spicy red mutton curry, Mutton Stew, Soppu Saaru for the veggies and Rice and rotis. We dug in and pretty soon were full up, having satiated our hunger we relaxed outside for a short while and decided to hit it back as it was getting late. The group decided to split into 2, the riders going towards South Bangalore were planning to go back on the Devanahalli Road and the Riders heading towards East Bangalore, your truly included, decided that it would be closer to ride towards Hoskote which was about 35 kms away. We said our goodbyes to our gracious hosts, and headed out towards Hosakote. The road was fantastic and straight as an arrow for most parts and we were sending the bikes past the 100 mark for most of the way. On a mellow sweeping right hander curve, I saw the most glorious sunset, the sun was almost setting and I could see the silhouettes of the hills on the horizon and the sky was in different pastel shades. Damn I wish I had a Camera with a panorama setting, I have been saying that for every FSR, next time will make a note to carry one on my hip, even an aim n' shoot would have done. I wish we had stopped but we were all riding fast and pretty soon we pulled into Hoskote and the Bangalore-Chennai Highway, we passed Hoskote and pulled into a Dhaba for a couple of chais. Reclining on the metal wire cots in the Dhaba, I was recounting the day and I had to say, I had a great time. After the chais all of us rode back to town, traffic, loud horns blaring and our respective woes and worries :-). As usual I get melancholy after the FSR, but it's a great feeling to wait and let the excitement build for the next FSR. And last but definitely not the least, a huge thank you for all our hosts till now, for the past 3 FSRs , in alphabetical order Baba,Bharat,BK and Omi, without you guys going to all that trouble we would probably not have had such a good time, every time. And the riders, Thank you guys for being there and making it happen, every First Sunday and hope to see you there for the next ride. Adios Amigos, Au revoir and all that sort of thing. Surdeep Riders Line-up (Guys I apologise for any omissions, my memory's like a sieve, please respond in case I've got anyone's details wrong) 1)Abhi & Kavitha - Enfield Thunderbird 2)Aditya - RD 350 3)Harish - RD 350 4)Satya - RD 350 5)Arvind -RD 350 6)Screech a.k.a Hemant Kumar - RD 350 7)Santosh - BMW 650 8)Samarth - BMW 650 9)Indi - BMW 650 10) Vodka -Enfield Lightning 525 11) Siddharth(Deb) - Honda CBZ 12) Richie - RD 350 13) Ram Nagarajan - Enfield Thunderbird 14) Surdeep - Enfield Machismo 15) Harsha - RD350 - Missing in Action :-)

4th march ride - Borapura,

Well it all started off well, and no nothing bad happened, it ended well too .... I'm talking about the second FSR on the 4th of March, 2007. For the uninitiated the FSR is the First Sunday Ride, organised by a group of like minded people who love their old and out-of-production bikes(RD-350 and Yezdi Road king), of which I am the only one riding a Yezdi Roadking. The objective of the First Sunday Ride, is to get people off their backsides as Santiago a.k.a Santosh would put it, him being a big techie "fan" and saying that all techies are in some form of "corporate comatisis". But in my opinion it's more of a get out of your state of inertia, that you would suffer throughout the month, from whatever profession the rider may be in, techies being the minority here, I might add. Anyways, enough of my rambling, I must admit I sorta lost the thread in the last sentence. The Ride started off with Indi landing up at my place at the unearthly hour of 6:00 am, I was just getting out of the bath when I heard his bike pull up. I got ready in a minute and pulled my bike out of the gate and we rode to the Command Hospital Curve on Airport Road which was the rendezvous point, where Cowboy Satya a.k.a SRK (naah not Shah Rukh Khan), Kumar a.k.a Hemant a.k.a Screech and Rajesh(Mr.Mysterious), were patiently waiting for us. >From there it was an smooth ride to Top Gear which was the rendezvous point for all, BK, Mangesh, Srikant were already waiting for us there. We parked the bikes and repaired to the Darshini for some overdose of coffee, while waiting for the others to arrive. We were graced by a surprise visit by Paapu on his Suzuki monster, who decided to ride out to Devahalli and parts thereabout. In due time everyone landed up and we decided move, BK suggested that we hit the NICE road instead of taking the Mysore Road, and join the Mysore Road after Kengeri. The bikes all roared into life and we hit it, with BK leading the pack we headed on to Kanakapura Road. It was nice to head out of the city, in the calm of the morning, with the early morning chill still on our faces. Out onto Kanakapura Road, past Metro and about 6-7 Km.s later, just opp a Petrol Bunk on the left, we had to take a right to get onto the NICE Road. The NICE Road is a speed-freaks heaven, straight as an arrow and smooth. I opened the throttle on the this road and cleared my Roadie's throat, and pretty soon was making quite a racket, SRK (disclaimer: not Shah Rukh Khan) was riding behind me got tired of the roar of the Roadie and quietly chugged ahead of me. We all reached the point where the NICE Road meets the Bangalore Mysore highway and started off towards the first pit stop which was the Cafe Coffee Day, just before Maddur. The ride was good and uneventful, I soon was tailing the pack and riding along peacefully, we passed all the villages and towns along the highway. I guess after the last FSR where we did the back roads, this ride was a li'l bit boring being on the Highway all the time. I was starting to get a li'l craving for a "ciggi" when I just reached the Cafe Coffee and saw the gang on the other side of the Road waving out to me, I slowed down and pulled up to join the gang. Santosh was missing and eventually he pulled up, explaining that he had some mechanical problem and he had get it fixed before he joined us. We all went in for breakfast at Indradhanush, the veg restaurant behind the Cafe Coffee Day. As we sat down, Haren pulled up on his Bullet and joined us, increasing our tribe to the stipulated "dirty" dozen. We ordered an assortment of "single-idly vada" and normal idly vada and of course Indi had to be different and ordered 3 vadas, to boost up his cholesterol levels. Santosh had preceeded this by ordering Kesari bath, to soothe his sweet craving, which was too sweet.This was followed by the inevitable cup of coffee, this being the third coffee of the day for me. By this time the lineup of the bikes parked outside had attracted a lot of attention from the tourists who had stopped for breakfast. They were admiring the bikes and taking photos, the most admired bikes were Harsha's BMW 650, SRK's(read disclaimer) XR 600 and Purshottam's Kawasaki ZZ4, though I'd like to concede that there were a few admiring glances towards my Roadie too. We all started up our bikes, we just couldn't stand all the admiration, we had to run away, except that I strongly suspect Santosh was telling all the tourists to get off their asses :-), before joining us. We rode off towards Maddur and the Borapura turn-off towards the left, I was riding with BK and Haren, we must have sounded like the "Symphony of Destruction", what with the roar of my Roadie, the thump-thump of the Bullet and the very muted purr of BK's RD-350. Just as we reached the turn-off, my Roadie clattered and clashed and fell silent and I rolled up to the waiting bunch. I was pretty sure the bike had seized and was already planning to get it up on a truck and transport it back to Bangalore, and then with the encouragement of Indi along with some passers-by, I tried starting the bike. The bike after a few kicks, roared back to life, well that was a relief, I started riding slowly followed by Indi and Santosh and we reached the Farm. The Farm was the idyllic setting with the Farmhouse and coconut trees and12 roaring bikes pulling up. We were welcomed by Baba and his father, who was immediately inspecting all the bikes and selecting which one to ride, he eventually chose Purshottam's Kawasaki speedster. We relaxed on the Farm for about a half hour during which we had some delicious tender coconut, just off the tree and were regaled by stories of past bikes that uncle had ridden, Matchless, Norton and Triumph figured mainly. We then decided to do Stage 1 of the K-1000 dirt section, and then chill out. We started off on the Dirt track with Harsha and Purshottam on Beamer and Baba and Srikanth on the RD, with BK leading the pack and were immediately covered in dust, Satya and Harsha were freaking out on their off-roaders roared off ahead of the pack. Eventually we all finished the Stage 1, with the curious looks of the trackside onlookers at the dusty bikers. We rode back to the start-up point for the most important part of any FSR(naah just kidding), the constitutional beer-session. We stopped and realized the the Dirty Dozen as we had christened ourself had to be renamed as the "Dusty Dozen"* (Copyright SRK: read disclaimer again :-) ) . It was dusty, I mean, Indi had blond eyelashes at the end of it. It was decided that we would chill out in the coconut and arecanut grove behind the Farm and the beers had to procured, and we all, very democratically I must say, elected Indi for the daunting task ahead, which he very bravely agreed to. There was a "jhamkaana" almost the size of a tennis court sent from the Farm house, and we all proceeded to repose on it waiting for the chilled beer. It was fantastic sitting in the grove away from the hustle and bustle of the city, the noise, pollution, traffic, stress etc.etc. that's a major part of our daily grind, and yakking with the old gang and making new friends. Pretty soon Indi rolled up in Baba's Indigo with the beers and we got right down to it. It was nice with old rally stories being swapped, bike stories with Harsha regaling one and all, Omi was sorely missed being held up at his Harohalli farm. Eventually the beers were all quaffed down and sadly it was time to head out onto the highway again, the afternoon sun was at it's zenith and I on a slow roast inside my leather jacket. Anyways I'm tired of typing, haven't written this much in a long time, thought I'd add my Rs.0.02 for this FSR. Thanks a ton all you guys for being there and make it happen, notably BK, Baba, SRK(read disclaimer), Santosh and everyone else. Looking forward to the next FSR. As usual it was a great experience and it was nice meeting like minded people who love motorcycles and motorcycling for what they are, till next time then, Adios Amigos. Cheers, Surdeep