So this ride happened on Sunday. Since it was a bunch of us who were meeting and some of us only the first time, the ride took a little longer but it was fun.
Initially, we had planned to go for the ride with the following bikes -
R15 - 1
Duke 200 - 1
Duke 390 - 1
R15 Limited Edition - 1
Hayabusa - 1
RC390 - 1
Triumph ST3 - 1
Ninja - 1
On Saturday night, the RC 390 dropped out as he had other commitments. We had decided to meet at Mekhri Circle at 7 AM on Sunday. When I got there on my Ninja, everyone was already there except the Duke 200 but in his place another friend on his RE Thunderbird 350 had decided to join and showed up there. We spent a couple of mins introducing each other and then rode to the airport toll hoping to catch a cup of tea (most of us were freezing in the early morning Bangalore weather) before we headed out to Avalabetta.
We stopped at the signal before the airport toll and had a cup of tea (well, two of them opted for coffee

) and got to know each other a little bit better. We also decided on the route and time options as there were bikes of various speeds in the group. We took a call to ride up to Nandi hills, then down and out to Kamath for breakfast and further on towards Avalabetta and then back to BLR in time for lunch.
Started off and we reached the turnoff towards Nandi....never expected it to be so crowded. The ride up the hill was a bit scary as there were just too many bikes and cars and all of them carrying a fair bit of pace with no so fair bit of control. We stopped at the usual start point of the hill climb and took a couple of photos and then went on to the top of the hill. It was just too crowded there to hang around for long but had to take a couple of snaps at least. We also spotted a Ducati Multistrada and an Aprilla RSV4 there at the top and a lot of other bikes too.
Went down from Nandi hills and headed straight out to Kamat for breakfast. These highways are superb for high speed riding and also without too many intersections/speed-breakers. Also, I think most Sunday morning biking/driving traffic stops at the turnoff to Nandi, so highly suggest you avoid Nandi and go past it.
When we landed at Kamath, there was another bunch of bikes already there for breakfast. Interesting combination again, we saw a couple of Harleys, Triumph roadsters, Ninja 1000, Ducati 848, CanAM Trike and a BMW 320D in the same group
Post lunch, confirmed directions to Avalabetta with a local and took off. Once we leave the highway towards the left at Peresandra , road for abbout 5 kms is just average. Once we turn off from that road towards Avalabetta (well marked with signs in Kannada) it is slightly better. We reached the base of the hill from where the road is pretty much cemented all the way to the top and it was a superb winding road to the top. Reached the top to discover a group of about 30 odd HDs waiting for us to reach so that they could go down
The view from the top here is fantastic and I would suggest that if you can ride here sometime, you should come just for the view and the last stretch up the hill. Spent some time at the top and took off back to Bangalore.
So, that was a first group ride for all of us and a pretty enjoyable one at that. Need to try the other locations listed in the above post when we get time. Thanks all.