Date: 15th to 17th August across Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala !
I am not narrating any story adding an extra state to Chetan Bhagat’s 2
states. Well, this ought be told as story but a real story of bicycle expedition
of 3 people across 3 states, 3 reserve forests, numerous villages and meeting
whole lot of new people with varied experiences.
After my wrist injury recovery
in May, I was hardly riding the cycle with a fear of hurting it more. I slowly
started to get back to riding to office with to and fro of around 24 kms.
Initially bit uncomfortable, after few the rides I started to feel better. I was now riding the cycle on alternative days. To take ahead
to longer rides, I decided to use the public holiday on 29th July
for long ride. Accompanied by my office colleague, we rode to ChikkThirupathi
and back, around 80kms distance. Ride felt good in terms of my energy and also
my wrist. Same day I decided to call my regular cycling partner Anup about long
ride plan between 15th August to 17th August, as usual, he was ready without even convincing him. Now planning was on me. This
time I wanted to ride more and less of the sightseeing stuff, ooty was one of
the options, but as it would be a long weekend, it will be
heavily crowded. Then came the idea of circuit, not riding back the
same way we rode. Decided to turn towards Wayanad after Bandipur and then head
towards Nagarhole forest and then return to Mysore through HD Kote route. So,
final route came something like the one below, looks to me like Srilankan
landscape route.
Map below:
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| Cycling route |
Anup was ready but concern of wild animals through Bandipur/Nagarhole
kept him rethinking about the route. But to my rescue , I saw a blog written
last year about similar route that cleared most of our doubts about the route
and wild animals. I will write a brief write up just about the route, permission
and about wild animals on this route. Next person showed interest was Irfan,
you will soon see these guys in photos. Irfan borrowed his friends cycle and we are all set.
Day 1:
We started on 15th Morning around 3 am towards
Shanthi nagar bus stand, after enquiring about bus to Mysore, we got to know it
was better to start from Satellite bus stand, we rode around 10kms to reach the
Mysore satellite bus stand. After a brief negotiation about fare to our luggage,
which we eventually settled at 100 rs per cycle, we boarded the bus and then it
was time for good sleep at least for next couple of hours. After reaching Mysore around
7.30 am, got fresh and had breakfast. So finally we are all set to begin our ride, long and adventurous. We hi-five'd and took some selfies and started our
ride to stop right in front of Mysore palace. Took some snaps there with
tri-color on our 68th Independence day, what a moment!!. We rode till
Najangud, refueled ourselves. To my surprise it was pretty sunny, I expected
rain along the way but it was all hot, pretty damn hot. Reached Gundlupet and
stopped for the lunch. Surprised to meet few of Irfan’s colleagues who were
going to Masinagudi, it was also our destination for the day. Entering Bandipur Tiger reserve was amazing, I was still hoping to spot some wild animals with equal amount of fear to face them
on our cycles. Turns out we landed again in human jungle, lot of people
occupied the resorts and too many vehicles were annoying. We continued to
reached our planned destination, when police at TN check post stopped us
entering Madhumalai forest on cycles. With no hope to convince him, we hired a
jeep and boarded all cycles till Teppakadu and thought continue to Masinagudi by cycle.
To our dismay, all resorts were full and locals suggested us to reach Gudalur,
where we could find a decent lodge. With no option left, we took the jeep
further to Gudalur, TN. With sumptuous dinner and brief walk, we were dead on
bed. First day ride was pretty decent we covered around 105 kms from Mysore with
15 kms through Jeep to Gudulur. Overall ride distance for the day was 100kms.
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| Happy Independence Day !!Start from magnificent Mysore Palace [L-R] Anup, me & Irfan |
Day 2:
Uppam was our serving for the breakfast from a local
restaurant, relishing it was. By now locals started gazing us with lot of puzzled
and inquisitive faces. Day 2 plan was to reach Padiri forest or Mananthvady and
based on the suggestions by locals we thought to take our decision of further ride or
to staying back. This stretch was challenging with few serious climbs till Devarshola,
however climbs continued further but with relatively lesser altitude. More fun
involved in the descent, we sped on the cycles reaching beyond 50kmph. Reached
Sulthan Bathery by lunch time, by now we entered 3rd State Kerala.
we met few people who riding 200/300 km brevet organized by Cochin Cycling Club.
Met Biju Jacob one of the organizer for the race, he suggested us to follow
brevet route which is more scenic then usual high way route. Due to time constraint
we decided to continue by same route we planned which would reduce 15 kms of
cycling effort, if we would have took the brevet route. Reached Mananthvady, which was a decent city. We settled for a lodge inside the market. Day 2 ride was pretty
much satisfying except I missed to take my cycle on ferry on the brevet route, I
had once carryed my bike on a ferry. Day 2 ride around 90 kms, met few
cyclists, discussed few things with them and we were cyclobro’s.
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| Bandipur entrance |
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| @Tamilnadu-Kerala border |
Day 3:
Again we were back to riding in the forest, but this time we
were skeptic and had to be clear before entering the forest. We reached Bavali and
went to Nagarhole Checkpost, now we could speak in our language, we were back to Karnataka territory. Forest officer
assured us of no harm riding the cycles through forest with few safety measures
of not stopping in between and also following any vehicle in case wild animals
appear. Determined to cross the forest and witness some wild animals, we
started together maintaining same pace with each other. Spotted deer, missed to see
Elephant which had crossed the road few minutes before we arrived. Heard the
sounds made by elephants at distance. Ride was unforgettable. But soon we were out of the forest reserve to face
the sun again. After riding for couple of hours we realized that it was too
much of heat and we could get ourselves dehydrated. We managed to get a goods auto to carry our cycles to Mysore which was about 35/40 kms. Driver agreed to
transport the cycles and us 5 kms from Mysore. Next 2 hours was pleasant not riding in a very hot environment. We arrived to Mysore and rode another 5
kms to bus station, with few finishing photo clicks in front of Mysore palace.
With a satisfying cycling of around 270 kms, we are now back, back with good
memories and happy about the energy with put it in. We can proudly say ‘We burnt
no PETROL’.
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| ... hell yeah !! |
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| Trio on finishing the expedition |
Keep Cycling
