FSR#14 - Bagepalli

FSR#14 - Bangalore -> Bagepalli -> Chintamani -> Hoskote -> Bangalore Woke up to the shrill alarm of the phone and got ready in a jiffy ..... I knew I was late, then got a call from Indi he was still at the petrol bunk, rode off from home all rushed..... metup with Indi, filled gas and started riding toward Mekhri Circle. When we reached Mekhri Circle it was evident that eveyone had started and we had to catch up ... we waited for Subbiah and Nargis with Karthik and then we were off ......... Man it felt good to be back!! It was really cold and I was regretting not wearing anything warmer and the moment we descended the Hebbal flyover we encountered fog ......... it was not too bad and visibility was about 30m and oncoming traffic was a profusion of silhouettes and headlamps. The road was wide and straight and I was gunning the Roadie and pushed it past the 100+ mark a few times ........ it was awesome but the elation was shortlived as it seized promptly ......damm, but it fired up promptly after and I was riding again albeit a litttle easier on the throttle. We reached Chikballapur and met up with the whole gang, about 19 of us .... it was a great turnout and I hadn't seen anyone for about 2 months and after first congratulating the newly weds(Abhi and Kavitha) I met the gang ........ it was good and man it felt good to be back. Over breakfast Mats had us all convulsed and cringing at the same time with his stipulated 10 PJ limit(which was blatantly ignored anyway) After breakfast and PJs were washed down with hot kaapi .... we headed out towards Bagepalli ...... I was trailing the gang and trying to catch up .... about 10 Kms outside Chikballapur .. the bike seized again .... I realized I was gunning it a bit too much and stopped for a smoke ....... to allow the engine to cool down. I started again and was riding solo ...... the road was smooth barring a few bad patches and there was the construction of the 4 lane Highway on both sides. The landscape was great, rolling hills on the horizon and greenery all around .....the only thing jarring was the construction trucks and the dust raised by them ..... but hey nothing stands in the way of progress :-). I caught up with the gang in Bagepalli, they'd stopped to do some repairs on Vodka's bike. We took a right into Bagepalli and headed towards the hills ...... the greenary in the interiors was a refreshing change and we were all riding as a pack because no one knew the route ....... we headed towards Mittemari and turned into a mud road into the village towards a lake ....... we rode on the Tank bund of the lake and turned into a mud road leading right up to the bank of the lake....... and parked up there. The lake and the view of the rocky hills behind was fantastic, we hung out there for a while listening to PJs and bouncing stones on the lake surface and then we decided to backtrack towards Chelur and head towards Chintamani. We started riding towards Chelur and the roads were pretty bad, there were many stretches of the road under construction and at some points the roads were just gravel and dirt ........ it was exactly what was needed, the big thumpers had a blast and the other bikes were also having a blast ....... though a bit bone jarring and saddle sore ..... but it's fun for us .... right :-) Presently we reached Chelur and headed towards Chintamani ..... the roads were ok and pretty soon the group was spread out ....... I was going a little easy on the throttle as I didn't want the bike to seize again and get stuck as it was long haul to Chintamani. As we had done a part of the same countryside in one of the previous FSRs it looked very familiar...... the winding narrow roads the green countryside with Hills all around and familiar T junctions with Bus stops and black and white painted signboards to small villages. There was not much traffic on this road and it was wonderful riding on this stretch..... both my mind and the bike were on cruise control :-) ... Subbiah caught up with me and gestured that we should exchange bikes .......so we stopped and I got on to Subbiah's 79 Enfield ..... he had just rebored it so he cautioned me to keep it in the 60-70kmph range. We started off .... it was great riding the Bullet, it was thumping along majestically and it also gave me a chance to look at my bike in motion .... it sounded good and it looks good too ..... ok maybe I'm prejudiced but who isn't. :-) We were cruising along and we spotted the gang had pulled over and near a village and pulled up. Robin had crashed up, his front brake had jammed and he had taken a toss, thankfully he wasn't hurt too much, just a big bruise on his arm but his bike was a different story .... the headlight was broken and electricals were dead ...... we tried all kinds of stuff but the bike just wasn't getting any electricity. We decided to tow the bike to Chintamani to get it fixed there, towing involved Robin riding his Bullet with another rider pushing Robins bike with his foot on the back footrest of Robins bike .... all of us tried it with little luck we couldn't get the hang of it ..... Indi's finally got the hang of it and we all followed at a sedate pace. We reached the dusty town of Chintamani and found a Bullet mechanic ...... and parked up ..... it was hot and we had a long wait ........ with chais and biscuits. After a long wait and lots of undue attention from the local inhabitants because of the Big thumpers we decided to head out to dhabha for lunch as it was getting late, we all started out with Indi remaining with Robin to get the bike fixed. We reached the dhabha and relaxed for the first time since morning ....... we ordered food which was gobbled down ....... pretty soon Robin and Indi caught up. Everyone was tired as this was the longest, bone jarring and an incident filled FSR ........ and it get dark in about an hour and a couple of the bikes had no headlights. We headed back towards Hoskote and Bangalore. This FSR was a pretty gruelling one, in terms of distance, the bad roads and the delay but it sure feels good thinking about it and one more FSR nailed, we had our hearts and minds set on this route for a while and we finally did it. Looking forward to more FSRs and hey let me take this opportunity to wish the UA-08 riders a safe and a fun filled trip........ have a blast guys!!! Cheers, Suru