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Oh, how lovely it was to wake up to the endless melodies from the Malabar whistling thrush and other hard to spot birds, instead of the usual cacaphony from the concrete jungle! The caretaker took us for a longer than expected stroll around the tea estates which included pointing out and analyzing animal faeces to identify if it came from a big cat or not. After taking the long way round, we had worked up a very healthy appetite and dug into the breakfast. The rest of the morning was actively spent doing nothing of consequence. The caretaker had suggested that we go to a nearby viewpoint but we werent in the mindset to gear up and ride out, when the plan for the whole day was to do nothing.

TBHPian rbp and his friend made an even earlier start that we did, and hence they arrived in Meghamali shortly after noon. In the evening, the caretaker led us to another area which contained a watering hole that attracted plenty of animals. Due to the crazy summer, a lot of the natural water bodies have dried up, which has impacted all the wildlife in more ways than we can imagine. The threat of rains eventually got us back to the bungalow, where we had to decide on our plans to return to Bangalore. In the end, we settled for a relaxed post breakfast departure, with a timely lunch in Dindigul. That would set us up nicely for a Bangalore arrival just before sunset. Or so I hoped!

What a fabulous view!


The rains have been scarce ...


As you might have guessed, this should be a filled up lake


More tea estates


A Malabar giant squirrel (I guess)


Nothing like a good ol' fashioned South Indian breakfast


The final 2 pieces of the puzzle are here


Japanese refinement and Austrian excitement


Windows 98 wallpaper material


Heading back before the rains hit

Though the morning lacked the crisp chillness that makes a hill station visit special, we enjoyed the scintillating soundtrack provided by the Malabar whistling thrushes and other birds. We did have what sounded like a deer or a gaur, call out repeatedly, though it was smartly hidden in the thickets below us. After loading up with a heavy breakfast, we finally departed from Cloud Mountain bungalow. The IOCL bunk that we had stopped at on day 1, was exactly 100 kilometers from the starting point. Once again, we refuelled the bikes and our bodies, cognizant of the fact that it was a lot hotter today, than it had been over the past two days. To keep the heat out, I closed off all the vents on my Revit Sand 4 textile jacket. Had I been riding with a mesh jacket, I probably would have been cooked!

The temperature in Didigul was an indicated 40 degrees, and it certainly felt like it. We stopped for a relaxed lunch at the famed Dindigul Thalappakatti biriyani outlet which is just off the highway. Post lunch, we marched onto towards Salem in the unrelenting summer heat. Of note was the fact that there were hardly any people out, other than those that were travelling in their motorcycles or cars. One of the riders put it best when he said that it felt like we were riding during the peak Covid times. That is saying something! For us though, it was a suns out, guns out high speed ride which took a massive toll on the Suzuki's fuel economy. Lets just say that it was well worth it!

Before we knew it, we were back on the all too familiar Salem to Bangalore highway. Somewhere along the way, one of our riders found the heat to be all consuming and hence he took an extended break to recoup while we carried on. We took one final break at Dharmapuri to drink a whole lot of water and sugarcane juice, after tanking up our motorcycles. We said our goodbyes after crossing over into Karnataka and slowly made our way home, thankful that yet another memorable summer ride was in the books! In the end, I pulled into the gate of my apartment complex at exactly 18:59, just as the final rays of the day's sun were about to set.

Looking back at the agenda for the trip, I can only say that it was a resounding success! Is it too early to start planning for the 2025 summer ride?

Hi, my gixxer has a weird problem it does not start on first crank. It cranks the motor then dies.
On 2nd crank after that it starts perfectly fine.
The service center says fuel pump or fuel injectors might be an issue and might take 12K to replace.
How do I confirm the issue is with fuel pump only ?
Once started the bike runs perfectly fine, only with first crank it dies.

I have had this issue multiple times and what the service centre has resorted to is swapping out the battery, I've had 2 claims under warranty and I'm on my 3rd battery currently. While it does "fix" the issue temporarily it does seem to pop back up in a few months when the battery gets weaker.

Over the weekend I decided to change the tyres on my SF250 since the previous CEAT Rad X1s had completely worn out. I had them installed when the odo was at ~15k and now it's at 36164. A pretty standard service was conducted at 35k in the first week of June.

Considering that my daily commute of 52km is 90% on Bengaluru's Concrete ORR combined with the rains, I didn't want to take any chances as braking took larger distances and I lost traction a few times as well.

I decided to go ahead with a set of W rated CEAT Sportrads which set me back 11.6k with discount for the set along with new valves from Tyresnmore. The quote for Apollo H1s was 12.3k and decided to go ahead with the CEATs. They are SUPER grippy as per my initial impressions.:Cheering:

The bike is covered in a mixture of sand and cement due to the metro work

Need advice.

There is weird noise coming from my gixxer and I am unable to diagnose by myself. I can hear it at low speeds below 60kmph while slowly or moderately accelerating inside city. It is ONLY when I am accelerating or on slope when bike speed increases even a little bit. If I disengage the clutch and revv the engine, there is no noise. I cleaned and lubed the chain three times within 400 kms because I thought that is where it is coming from. Now I am pretty sure, it is from the front side. While rotating the wheel on the g-roller stand, I could only hear the usual disc brake sound, nothing else. The noise is like "chik chik chik chik", not very loud but audible, irritating and I'm sure others are able to hear it too in traffic. It disappears after 60-65kmph. I want to avoid service center because this seems like a small problem. What could be it? Odometer reading is little over 10000 kms and recently serviced. The noise was there before service too for a couple of days and then disappeared so I did not tell the SA about it and it came back two days after service.

Thanks in advance.

Try cleaning the front sprocket by opening the front sprocket cover.
High chance of muck accumulation there.

Last year's 4 day Mega Monsoon Ride Through the Western Ghats of Karnataka with fellow TBHPians ended up becoming a Chasing The Rain Clouds (Away) Mega Monsoon ride. KarthikK has written a fabulous update on it here. My short updates on the trip can be found here.

For 2024, we have decided to up the stakes by making it a 5 day Mega Monsoon Ride and our trip planner has already warned us about slipping and sliding away to glory. Hopefully, this time the Rain Gods will bless us with abundant showers!

To prepare for the upcoming ride, I got the chain of the Suzuki GSXRRRRR 250 tightened at Gear Gear Motorcycles. The mechanic did tell me that the chain slack was fine and the bike could easily run for another couple of thousand kilometers without the chain needing to be adjusted. Since I hope to do another long ride in September, I preferred to err on the side of caution and got the chain slack reduced. The total cost of this splash and dash visit to Gear Gear Motorcycles came to Rs 290.


In other news, a fellow TBHPian recently picked up a brand new Kawasaki ZX10R and I have to say, the bike is fabulous! Hopefully the gentleman will treat us to a fantastic, in depth ownership review of this epic motorcycle.

How exactly does one go about planning a sequel to an unforgettable 4 day monsoon ride that involved riding through the lush, green Western Ghats of Karnataka with fellow motorcycle enthusiasts? For one, you don’t alter the script all that much. The Western Ghats had to be the constant. The timing had to stay largely the same, as well. In 2024, we concluded our Mega Monsoon Ride on our country’s Independence Day. This year, we decided to start off on the 15th of August and to kick things up a notch, or two, or three, we extended the initial plan to make this a 5 day – 4 night road trip for the ages. This would allow us to cover more places, at a relaxed pace, that too, while getting to soak in the exquisite monsoon goodness of this gorgeous part of the country.

Last year, our group consisted of KarthikK (Yamaha FZ25), ebmrajesh (KTM Adv 390), csentil (Royal Enfield Meteor 350) and me on the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535. For 2024, the revised group lineup consisted of KarthikK (Yamaha FZ25), ebmrajesh (KTM Adv 390), CrAzY dRiVeR (Yamaha Aerox 155, you read that right!) and me on the Suzuki GSXRRRRRRRR 250. Due to unforeseen circumstances, experienced motorcycle enthusiast ebmrajesh had to drop out of what promised to be an epic monsoon ride. Im sure that you will see him featured in the 2025 edition of the Mega Monsoon Ride (Part Tres) though his motorcycle of choice will likely not be orange flavoured.

Initially, our resident trip planner extraordinaire, KarthikK devised the following agenda
Day 1 (Aug 15) : Bangalore - CR Patna - Arsikere - Shimoga - Sagara - Talavata (438 km)
Day 2 (Aug 16) : Sagara - Hosanagar - Kollur - Hebri - Agumbe (235 km)
Day 3 (Aug 17) : Agumbe - Sringeri - Kudremukh - Samse - Kalasa - Thangaali (126 km)
Day 4 (Aug 18) : Thangaali - Kelagur - Kottigehara - Banakal - Charmadi ghat - Ujire - Kadaba - Panja - Guttigar - Sampaje - Madikeri (226 km)
Day 5 (Aug 19) : Madikeri - Kote Betta - Somwarpet - Handahalli - Bisle ghat - Kudrasthe - Echalapura - Ballupet - Hassan - Bangalore (345 km)

Our faith in KarthikK’s meticulous planning and hotel booking skills is so boundless, that none of us questioned what had been originally proposed or the suggested changes and what we eventually ended up with. Needless to say, this trip would not have been possible without all the endless research, phone calls, hotel comparisons, advance payments and on the fly route revisits that were made by KarthikK.

With the introduction out of the way, lets get down to the day wise updates of this 5 day fun filled escapade from our reality which ended up being exactly 1209 kilometers long.

Trainspotting


Endless Acres Of Coffee Plantations


Stopping By A Beach (Wait, What? This Wasn’t Part Of The Plan!)


Misty Forests


A Morning Stroll With An Old Friend


All Set To Return To Bangalore. Sigh!

Route : Bangalore - Neelamangala - Channarayapatna - Arsikere - Shimoga - Sagara - Talavata
Distance Covered : 429.9 kms
Hotel : Hotel Mayura Gersoppa Jogfalls

As with many of our overnight rides, the starting point was the HAL Aircraft Display at the north east entrance of Cubbon Park, just outside the metro station. Being the extended Independence Day weekend, there was a fair bit of traffic that was heading towards the center of the city, well before it was 05:00 AM. After meeting up with KarthikK and transferring some of his additional luggage into my tail bag, we set off towards Neelamangala. On the way, we did spot several groups of motorcycle enthusiasts who were on vehicles of all possible displacements but that peak extended holiday weekend rambunctiousness on the roads, was fortunately nowhere to be found. CrAzY dRiVeR (Dr CD henceforth) joined us at the first toll on the Neelamangala Hassan highway.

By 06:00 AM we were ready to rock and roll.

Given our early start, the lack of too many other vehicles on the highway and constant speeds of around 90 kmph, we made fair progress in that first spell of riding. We weren’t going to find many suitable breakfast options after turning off the main highway at Channarayapatna, so we stopped at MTR in Bellur. This was one of the few places that was open at 06:45 AM. While the food is fine, a huge advantage of having a meal at MTR is that it has very neat and clean toilets. The rain laden clouds that had accompanied us till Bellur were nowhere to be found when we restarted our journey, almost 45 minutes later. In total, I covered 168 monotonous kilometers of highway riding before we got onto the two lane road that connected Channarayapatna to Arsikere. Cruising along this largely empty road, without a worry in the world, while enjoying the simple but stunning beauty of rural Karnataka, is one of those soul refreshing pleasures that you simply cannot buy.

In what would become a recurring theme, we stopped for plentiful pictures every time we spotted a picturesque setting and also when the mightily capable Yamaha Aerox 155 ran low on fuel. After Arsikere, we got onto a lovely 4 laned concrete highway that encouraged us to go hell for leather but we had no qualms in maintaining our sub 100 kmph cruising speeds. Our group did a quick stop over at the popular Preethi Canteen in Birur for a follow up breakfast, of sorts. The on-going widening of the Bangalore Shimoga highway threatened to derail all the goodness out of the day's motorcycling, while leaving us with aching backs and grumbles aplenty. Our speeds dropped considerably, as did our energy levels but we soldiered on through the broken sections, hoping that this would be the first, and last, of this level of unpleasantness. Almost as if to compensate for the awful preceding sections of under construction highway, the lovely route from Shimoga to Sagara was blessed with just the right level of motorcycling fun and forest cover. Within no time, the once near overwhelming burden of riding into Shimoga was wiped clean from our minds, as we were too preoccupied with enjoying the fabulous ride to Sagara.

It was around 01:30 PM when we arrived at Hotel Anmol International in Sagara, for our well deserved lunch break. By the time we were done, the skies were so overcast that we chose to wear our rain gear, instead of waiting to get hit by sudden showers somewhere along the way. As fate would have it, the roads that we encountered were thoroughly drenched but the prodigious monsoon rains that we had eagerly anticipated, continued to elude us. The best that we got was the faintest of drizzles for around 10 minutes, which to be fair, would barely qualify as measured precipitation anywhere in the world.

Business picked up as soon as we crossed a road sign which said Jog Falls was 8 kilometers away. Unexpectedly, the until then innocuous road transformed itself into the most engaging section of the winding and challenging Athirapally route, which is easily one of the best motorcycling roads in Kerala. As with any true dyed in the wool group of motorcycle enthusiasts, the lean angles began to noticeably increase, as did the pace that we carried through the corners, without a word being uttered or a glance being shared!

To say that there was bedlam at Jog Falls would have been putting things mildly. The chaos of the Independence Day crowd made finding the rooms that we had booked far more difficult than it needed to be. The KSTDC Hotel Mayura Gerusoppa Jogfalls promised great views of the Jog Falls but the Tunga Tourist Home block that we booked was on the opposite side of the road. To make matters worse, there was a lot of construction work for what promises to be a swanky, upmarket resort which is completely out of sorts with the existing, unmaintained KSTDC infrastructure.

Later on in the evening, the bustling holiday crowds dissipated and peace was eventually restored. The KSTDC restaurant is the only option for anyone staying here. The selection of food is limited, as were the timings but we weren't the sorts to complain. These myriad experiences are part and parcel of exploring our great nation, so we didn’t let it pull down our buoyant spirits.

All things considered, day 1 was a very solid, if unspectacular start to what promised to be an unforgettable motorcycling adventure through Karnataka.

Route : Talavata - Kogar - Bhatkal - Maravanthe - Kundapura - Hebri
Distance Covered : 199.1 kms
Hotel : Seethanadi Nature Camp

After having jostled with hundreds of excited Independence Day tourists who were eager to get photographed at the Jog Falls, we were glad to have the entire falls all to ourselves, early on day two of our Mega Monsoon Ride (Part Deux). Well, truth be told, we were sharing the rather spectacular falls with the couple of dozen other tourists who had stayed over at the Hotel Mayura Gersoppa Jogfalls but it felt like we had it all to ourselves. That was until Mother Nature decided to rain on our parade (figuratively, not literally!). We were blessed with less than 5 minutes of an uninterrupted view of the pristine falls before thick clouds of mist rolled in, uninvited, unwelcome and unappreciated. By the time we were having breakfast, families who were standing at the view point were paying the local photographers to take pictures of them, in front of a wall of pure white fog and nothing more!

Over breakfast, KarthikK tossed up the idea of altering our route plan to include a quick stop at Maravanthe before having a sumptuous sea food lunch at Shetty's in Kundapura. Let’s just say that Dr CD and I didn’t need much convincing on this revised food errr route plan!

The road towards the Sharavati Valley Wildlife Sanctuary eventually became single laned, with very limited vehicular movement in either direction. Though the signboards indicated that sanctuary was home to a wide variety of wildlife, the only animals that I spotted were Malabar Sacred Langurs and Bonnet Macaques. All three of us had heart in the mouth moments as we rode over the most innocuous looking gravel that was strewn on the road. From happily riding at 35 kmph to a fraction of a second later, fearing that I was going to stress test the crash worthiness of all my riding gear, was a paradigm swing that I did not expect to experience. Not once, but twice!

After exiting the forest check post, we were treated to a two laned road that essentially doubled our speeds, albeit briefly. Well before reaching Bhatkal, we took a left turn onto a road that twisted, turned and climbed its way past several houses before eventually taking us onto the highway that led to Maravanthe. Given that we had spent most of the day riding through winding roads at sedate speeds, finding a wide empty highway that begged us to let rip on our motorcycles was a welcome change. Yet again, we maintained a steady 90 kmph cruising speed that stressed neither the vehicles nor the riders, one bit.

Maravanthe is extremely popular for having the Souparnika river on one side and the Arabian Sea on the other. While KarthikK and Dr CD snapped a few shots from the drone, I wandered off in search of nearby point that would allow me to enjoy the calming sight of infinite sea waves gently lapping up onto the clean beach. In what could be termed the surprise of the year, the skies opened up and we hurriedly wore our rain gear before crossing the Marvanthe bridge, where much to our chagrin, there wasn’t a drop of rain water in sight. It was almost as though the rain clouds had enough of our incessant complaining and decided to drench us for 3 whole minutes before pulling the plug.

To say that we thoroughly enjoyed our lip smacking lunch of ghee roast squid, gobi manchurian, paneer ghee roast, buttermilk dosa and fried fish, would be understating things by a fair margin. By 03:00 PM, we started the final leg of our day's motorcycling. Our trio was blessed with around 10 minutes of rain, followed by a pause in proceedings, before we got another 10 minutes of welcome showers. While this wasn’t the copious downpour that we expected to get hit by, it was enough to test the defenses of our individual rain gear.

Thankfully, the check in formalities at the Seethanadi Nature Camp were quickly completed and we were led to our air-conditioned cottages. For those who don’t know, this place is (in?)famous for bountiful leeches and snakes, neither of which I planned to get acquainted with. A river flows nearby, which makes this a must visit destination for nature lovers. All 3 of us quite liked the food that was served, both in the evening, as well as for dinner. After 09:00 PM, I was amazed to see several other tourists using powerful torch lights to carefully scan the dense foliage for any signs of snakes. People are crazy, what can I say?

Just as we were about to retire for the night, the power supply failed for a few minutes. I remember remarking to Dr CD that it was so pitch dark, that there was no perceptible difference between closing my eyes and leaving them wide open. That was followed by the loudest rumble of thunder that I had heard in years!

All things considered, day 2 brought simple, fun motorcycling back to the forefront of this trip, and we were grateful to have found bits and pieces of what we were looking for (heavy rains!) while not finding what we weren’t looking for (leeches and snakes!!).

Route : Hebri - Kudremukh - Kalasa
Distance Covered : 131.9 kms
Hotel : Thangaali Homestay

Is there any better way to start the middle of multi-day motorcycling adventure / holiday than by quietly sipping coffee while standing alongside a slow moving river and watching the rippling surface play havoc with the reflections of the endless trees on the opposite bank? Dr CD, KarthikK and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the premises while being careful to not venture too far from the beaten path (remember the bit about leeches and snakes?). Breakfast was ready by 08:30 AM and yet again, we really liked what was served. After the two sprints of yesterday afternoon's rain, I was taking no chances with getting drenched while en route to Kalasa. Unlike the others, I wore the rain liner from the start of the day's journey, and decided to keep it on all through the day. The obtuse humidity and sweltering warmth when we left the Seethanadi Nature Camp were a sign that heavy thundershowers were headed our way, or vice versa.

Within half an hour, we had ridden through the enticing Agumbe ghats and were at our destination of Hotel Guruprasad, which is an old haunt of KarthikK's. The elderly couple that runs this joint became famous for serving free food to everyone who turned up. Now they charge a nominal fee for the simple but wholesome food that they serve.

Meanwhile, the skies kept getting more menacing, as the rain clouds became darker and darker. A couple of kilometers before Sringeri, we pulled over so that everyone could put on their rain gear, to prepare for the onslaught that eventually never came. The remainder of today's ride was going to be repeat of the second day of last year's Mega Monsoon Ride. In a nod to the history books, we stopped at the same BP petrol pump that rather incredibly, seems to have aged 20 years since we last fuelled up at it!

We were blessed with some superb twisties on the way to the Kudremukh check post and it was only the occasional presence of broken stretches that interrupted the unfiltered satisfaction of really leaning our vehicles into the tempting corners. After collecting our respective tokens at the check post, we thoroughly enjoyed the ride on NH169 until we turned left onto the Kalasa Main Road. Almost immediately, the road surface deteriorated to the extent that it was a new found suspension test of all 3 vehicles. Our speeds dropped, as we carefully navigated our way past, and through, the endless potholes, ruts and bumps that blessed this road surface for kilometer and mind-numbing kilometer, until we reached the exit check post.

Similar to our experience on the first day of this Mega Monsoon Ride (Part Deux), the awful road conditions were immediately followed by excellent winding roads that goaded us into forgiving and forgetting the previous hour or so of unpleasant motorcycling. Of course, no TBHP trip through this neck of the woods will be complete without paying homage at Sujai point, which unfortunately has started to look like an abandoned tea estate!

In keeping with tradition, we had lunch at the Sagar Multicuisine Restaurant, which is likely the best culinary experience in Kalasa. Given the lack of any discernible rain clouds in the bright blue sky, I finally decided to pack up my rain liner, disappointed about the fact that the day promised so much of rainfall and delivered nothing of the sort. Less than 15 minutes of leaving from Kalasa, we found ourselves engulfed by the thick fog that rolled in from out of absolutely nowhere. The higher we climbed towards our hotel, the thicker the fog cover became. Once again, out of absolutely nowhere, the rain clouds opened up with a fury that startled us a fair bit. We were less than 2 kilometers from our final destination and decided to try to outrun the rain, instead of losing time in wearing our rain gear. Little did we realize that we were riding straight into heavy precipitation that drenched the motorcycles and riders within a matter of minutes.

What makes the stay at the Thangaali Homestay truly magnificent are the jaw dropping views that you will find hard to erase, even months down the line. I've had the good fortune of travelling a bit and this is by far, one of my all-time favourite views from anywhere in the world. The only problem was that all the fog, drizzles, mist and rain clouds snatched these views away from us! Last time, I was mesmerized by the endless sounds of virtually 1000s of cicadas in and around the surrounding coffee and tea plantations. During this stay, it felt like the cicadas were less plentiful in number, though the ones that were present were a boisterous lot, indeed. A welcome bonfire brought us some warmth and comfort, before we had our dinner and retired for the night.

While we did cover the least distance on day 3, the memories that it rekindled, mostly great (the petrol bunk straight from the 1960s, the views in Kudremukh etc) and some not so (the awful road conditions), meant that we were thrilled with how the trip was shaping up.

Route : Kalasa - Banakal - Kogaravalli - Bettadalli - Somwarpet
Distance Covered : 161.7 kms
Hotel : Green Pastures Coorg

As fate would have it, it took all of 24 hours for me to answer my question of whether there is there any better way to start the middle of multi-day motorcycling adventure / holiday than by quietly sipping coffee while standing alongside a slow moving river, and watching the rippling surface play havoc with the reflections of the endless trees on the opposite bank? The answer is quite simply, yes. And that is by quietly sipping coffee while looking down at coffee plantations and tea plantations on one side, a tree covered hill on the other, and a tantalizing layer of fog enveloping the lower extremities of the valley, while giving you the illusion that you are staring at large lakes which are floating in mid-air. It is only when the faintest of breezes gently ushers this fog away that you realize how things aren’t exactly what they seem to be.

However, the morning was far from perfect. One of the staff members had inadvertently left a tap open while washing the dishes in the night and this had emptied out the overhead tank. It took forever for the staff to get water supply back to our rooms, which is, quite frankly, not acceptable. Even the mattresses were far from comfortable, showing multiple signs that they needed to be replaced.

In yet another blast from the past, the three of us took a refreshing morning stroll with Thangaali Homestay's resident dog but unlike last year we didn’t get all too far as the other dogs didn’t appreciate Zuzu encroaching into their territory. We wisely turned back to avoid any untoward canine incident and enjoyed the uninterrupted views from the proximity of our home stay. After a simple breakfast, we packed up and left around 10:30 AM.

While the roads were occasionally bumpy, all the lovely forest cover and the surrounding views, made this a blissful morning of motorcycling. At Kottigere, we took a left onto the wide Mangalore Villapuram Road which would take us to a rather nice cafe that was located at an IOCL bunk. Strangely enough, the cafe was closed since it was a Sunday (!!) and we opted to have lunch at the Ibbani Cafe in Halike, instead. All of us love their neer dosas and cold coffees, so I guess everything worked out for the best.

After a rather leisurely lunch which included a fair bit of sweet indulgences, we continued on the Mudgere Road. Once again, the beauty of this section was something to behold. I thoroughly enjoyed the smooth roads and the pleasant weather. We cut across the Bandadka Bangalore road near Sakleshpur and it is safe to say that from here on out, the unique combination of the endless coffee estates, clear blue skies, winding roads and everything else, was quite simply, the epitome of this monsoon ride (that was ironically bereft of rains!). The more I thought about what made this afternoon ride stand out head and shoulders above everything else from the preceding few days, the less I could point my finger at a singular element or underlying reason. It just was what it was. In many ways, it felt like being at a live concert where your favourite band added 6 minutes of solos to take the greatness of their most popular song to a whole new level.

I had heard a lot of the Green Pastures Coorg homestay from KarthikK (who has been a regular visitor) and quite frankly, it lived up to the hype. The place has been done up very tastefully and compared to our stay from last night, everything felt like it was 3 levels above. The host, Hemanth, was also very hospitable and welcoming to us.

Needless to say, it did rain after we arrived and unpacked our stuff. Such is life!

Dr CD and I enjoyed a nice evening walk with a local dog that has adopted the home stay. It did begin to get rather cold in the night. The food, as expected, was sumptuous. The Coorgi pork and chicken that we requested was served as starters (along with a range of vegetarian dishes that I now cannot recall) and the main course consisted of appams and stew.

In summary, day 4 was rather unexpectedly, the absolute pinnacle of pure motorcycling, while also reminding us that while we don’t always get what we want (thunderstorms, for one), we do eventually get what we need (brilliant riding with great company).

Route : Somwarpet - Arkalagud - Channarayapatna - Neelamangala - Bangalore
Distance Covered : 286.4 kms

All good things have to come to an end, don't they? This question kept running through my head, while we enjoyed the delightfully pleasant morning weather. As much as I hated to admit it, the real world of responsibilities and routines was waiting for us to return from this subliminal escape into the Western Ghats.

Relaxed starts to the day had been an integral part of our 5 day road trip and today was no different. We enjoyed photographing the premises, our faithful steeds and the biggest spiderwebs that I have ever seen in my life! Having successfully escaped all the leeches and snakes in the Agumbe region, the last thing that I wanted was to get bitten by Coorgi spiders!

After a lovely breakfast of passion fruit juice (locally grown), bamboo shoot, egg plant, omelettes and coffee, we packed our bags for the final time, while staving off the hint of melancholy that threatened to descend upon us over the next few hours. Almost 30 minutes before we were set to leave, thick rain clouds that promised to bless us on the return journey, filled the previously clear blue skies, while loading up our hearts with hope.

We bid a fond farewell to our gracious host Hemanth, and his son, and left the Green Pastures Coorg home stay with a new return route plotted out for us. It took only a few kilometers for the rain clouds to pass us by and the sun to make a triumphant return. Having chosen to wear the rain coat while leaving, I hurriedly packed it in my bag, unsure of whether or not it would be called into action through the rest of the day. Based on Hemanth's recommendation, we rode at a calm pace to Arkalagud and then turned left onto the highway for a quick water break. From there, we rode on out to Channarayaptna, where we hit the Hassan Neelamangala highway.

Shortly after 01:00 PM, menacing rain clouds rolled in once again, causing KarthikK and me to pull over to wear our rain gear. Over the next hour, we rode to our usual stop of the Empire Hotel, slowing down only to stare at the wet roads with mild chagrin, while wondering when the rain clouds would bless us! KarthikK and I took the Neelamangala - NICE Road route for our return to the city and wouldn't you know it, we got more rain near Neelamangala and on the NICE Road, than we had over all the preceding days!

On that note, the curtains came down on the 2nd annual Mega Monsoon Ride. A special word of appreciation to KarthikK for being an excellent trip planner who left nothing to chance, and to both KarthikK and Dr CD for being excellent travelling companions, both on and off our vehicles.

Admittedly, the rains were nowhere close to what we anticipated but the endless laughs, discussions, insults and memories, made this another super successful motorcycling adventure that all three of us would remember for a very long time. Now, to start planning for the Mega Monsoon Ride (Part Tres) .....

At The Green Pastures Coorg


Another Lovely Morning


These Coorgi Spiders, I Tell You!


Photobombing 101 ....


Simple But Sumptuous


Much Needed Hydration Break


Oh Boy! Time To Put The Rain Gear On


Oh Boy! Time To Remove All The Rain Gear That We Had On


Oh Boy! Time To Put The Rain Gear Back On


Light Rains To Close The Mega Monsoon Ride (Part Deux)!

Awesome Travelogue! Happened to be on a delayed late night flight from Mumbai to Bangalore yesterday and as I usually do before boarding any flight, I opened 5-6 threads to read on the flight. This travelogue kept me hooked for the majority of the time and I enjoyed every bit of it. Nicely compiled. Well written. Glad you love the Shetty's lunch home cuisines and that reminds me a visit there is long due!

Happy motoring!