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

FSR; Dec 06 ride...

The chill wintry morning of December 3rd 2006 saw a total of 14 motos of various engine capacities (150cc to 1300cc!) and their fully geared riders line-up at TOP-GEAR for the proposed days outing under the blue skies and the warm sunlight! The days route traversing thru Magadi town, Somanahalli(?) , Ramnagar(of Sholay fame!), Bidadi, Omi’s Ranch, Harohalli and back was originally to include a ride/visit to the Manchenabele Dam side but with the arrival of one Honda CB-750 and a 1300cc Honda X4 brought abrupt changes in the day’s route since these motos were but thorough-bred ‘street-machines’ and the route to Manchenabele being being pure “Off-Road” country! So Manchenabele was skipped altogether. Coming from various walks of life, the riders and their machines that day were(alphabetically): Arun Ramdass on a Yamaha RD350, Aditya Nadkarni(RD350), Anand(TVS-Victor), “Parsi-Baba”(?)(Honda X-4), Harsha(RD350), Gururaj(Honda-Unicorn), Indivar Reddy(Bullet-350), Omi Bhagtani(RD350), Rishad Minocher(Honda CB-750),Rajesh(RD350), Santosh(RD350), Suresh Reddy(BMW 1150GS), Surjeet(Yezdi-Roadking) and me on my Honda XR600R! My now 19-year ol’ XR failed to fire-up that morning delaying the start of the ride by coupla minutes but eventually, post vigorous kick-starting it did “ignite” to be joined in by the rumble nay cacophony of 14 ‘big-bore’ motorcycles starting up at once which turned several heads(!) and attracted a fair number of eager spectators even at that early hour on a lazy Sunday morning! The walkers, joggers and athletes in the making out that morning just ‘froze’ in their steps at the sight of so many motorcycles at once! Lead by Harsha the convoy of motos wound it’s way thru the city streets towards Magadi town as we now left the city’s hustle-bustle and straightened out the lesser traveled ‘interstates’! The single-pistoned “thumpers” roared-by followed by the bunch of ‘twin’ pistoned RD’s which buzzed playing the “twin-cylinder” symphony and the ‘multi-cylinders’ flew-by past the humble rural folks who’re momentarily amazed by the sight of so many motorcycles of various hues and sounds! The ‘road-hugging’ black & chrome Honda X-4 and the b-i-g BMW-GS with its ‘monstrous’ size and a rumbling exhaust node sure was a crowd-puller extraordinaire! The days route took us all thru some of the most scenic and hidden routes seldom traversed by the Bangalore city-dwellers primarily ‘cause these are but the very remote, internal, connecting roads linking small towns whilst passing 100-meter long villages en-route! Today’s 160+ Kms. ride had us tackle good to bad to no roads(!) in stages as we passed thru some lush green forests, vast bush-lands, winding and windy roads amidst hillocks aplenty nearing the town of Ramnagar which shot to fame post the film, Sholay! We didn’t encounter dreaded dacoit ‘Gabbar Singh’ but we did halt to demolish steaming hot ‘rice-pancakes’, a.k.a “idlis’ at a roadside hotel dishing out these, before washing them down with fresh, aromatic, home-made coffee! With most RD’s then going almost ‘full-bore’ on this stretch of the Mysore-Bangalore expressway we deviated off Bidadi town towards the town of Harohalli which happens be yet another of ‘em link-roads to the Kanakapura road. But this 1st sunday’s ride was to culminate at Omi’s 2-acre ranch adjoining a lake at the Mudennahalli village. Pulling over at Omi’s ranch, with a tiny li’l farm house within, it was time to relax and unwind with coupla ‘chilled-ones’(!) amidst jokes and fun and pun aplenty as all of us squatted in the verandah and later at the lake-shore, under the cool, shady bamboo-groove. Omi’s ‘man-Friday’ Mr. Devraj, meanwhile, deputed by Omi, organized some wholesome home-made lunch and fried fish, caught off the adjoining lake! Leaving Omi ranch at 17:00 hours we rode out into the sunset and some 40-km. later it was back to the chaotic city life of Bangalore city as there was immense traffic nearing the city. Stopping by near the Metro mart we had but a last round of coffee before bidding adieu and ‘das-vi-daania’(Russian for: till we’ll meet again!). Yes!....till we meet again or ‘ride-again’ next 1st Sunday in 2007 i.e;!! Notes By Satya aka "Cowboy"

Nov 12 first ride!

Inaugural ride; The inaugural ride on the 12th of November ’06 saw five riders and their motos line up for their day out in the sun! There was Hemant on his Honda-CBZ, Omi on his RD350, Santosh also on a RD350, Samarth astride his BMW F-650 and me on my Honda-XR! The chosen route this day traversed in and around the Bannerughatta National Park [B.N.P] area before intercepting the Kanakapura road at Harohalli from where its all tarmac run upto Bangalore city! The surrounding forests of Bannerughatta were lush green post all the downpour of the past several days which infused new life into that otherwise bushland which also is elephant territory with lakes aplenty! The rough, bumpy ride, up the “Doddi Betta” hillock returned amazing eagle-eye views of the BNP vastness. The descent from atop had us un-expectedly knocking at conservationist Vishnu’s out-post for a presumed tea-stop-over but eventually, we all ended up tucking-in into hot wholesome breakfast instead at his private spa but not before he gave us plenty of ‘gyaan’ on forest ecology and his principles of live and let live, that was very enlightening! Bidding adieu to our new-found friendly host the fivesome rode out towards the Shivanahalli village and into the wilderness beyond tackling the winding, so called, roads traversing the Shivanahalli quarry area post which the bone-shaking pounding of the path was hammering away on the motorcycle’s suspension. The lone CBZ and the two RD350’s weren’t built for this kind of ‘off-roading’ but just the sheer guts and never say die attitude of ‘em riders saw them through that stretch traversing thru the other small and smaller villages enroute before we all eventually intercepted the town of Harohalli! Samarths F-650 as also my XR took that pounding in their stride as these are but very capable ‘off-highway’ machines which feel at home off-road! Astride those, the fun begins, literally, where and when the road ends!! The hardy part of today’s trip having completed without any spills, luckily, it was time to ‘chill-out’, like they say, so brakes were applied in front of a wine-shop(!) to procure coupla ‘chilled-ones’ to be relished sitting under the shady trees in Omi ranch adjoining a lake which felt like paradise away from this metropolis called Bangalore. Stories of past rides, jokes, pun et al saw us through a bottle of chilled beer each post which it was time for the all important meal so leaving Omi’s ranch at Mudennahalli we headed towards Bangalore city and stopped by at Somanahalli town to tuck-in some traditional fare at the military hotel serving ‘raagi-balls’ along with assortments of heads-legs-brains-livers(of goats!...Geeeez!!) a.k.a “spare-parts” which were readily ‘demolished’ by us…..as also relished as was evident from loud burps! Then on the ride on the smooth road brought us back to city and the ever so chaotic traffic so we decided to pull-over at the Corner-House outlet in Jayanagar to whollop some creamy ice-creams and coffee! A day well spent in the outdoors in the lap of mother nature, taking lung-fulls of fresh clean air of the green countryside, riding together, sharing a meal together with like minded ‘biking’ buddies, talking about past on-road and travel experiences, and sitting back and reflecting whilst also admiring the all enduring motorcycles now resting post the day’s battering sure seemed like the best ever day spent out under the sun as the curtains downed on the ‘first’ 1st Sunday Rides! What an amazing day!!