[aabhimanyu04]

Yamaha YZF-R3 Owners Monsoon Ride to Malnad

We are a group of Yamaha YZF-R3 owners from Bangalore who are in touch with each other on WhatsApp. To ensure this is not just another WhatsApp group that we all mute for a year and selectively read, our group admins very effectively manage chat quality and hygiene. Top speed discussions, discussions related to street racing or anything that is not on the healthier side are a big 'No'.
We are a good strength of around 200 folks in our group and that means one of us or the other often comes up with a ride plan ( or excuse shall I say), breakfast rides, Airport rides, Chai rides, Coffee Rides, night rides and whatnot. This time it was the monsoon Malnad( Western Ghats) ride planned for the first week of July 2019. It immediately interested a lot of us in the group and in no time about 25-30 of us enrolled.
A temporary group on WhatsApp was created to avoid spamming in the main group with route queries and a ton of pictures(forecasted). In no time we were done with all the initial preps like a custom T-Shirt for the group ride, booking at a scenic home-stay, rain gear shopping.


The ride was planned for 2 nights however I was unable to join the group on day one due to an unavoidable function I had to attend.
And hence, there will be no Day 1 of this story ( Waisa bhi hota hai part 2)

Day 2

Checklist of items for the ride:
1. First Aid kit
2. Puncture kit
3. Rain cover for saddlebag from Decathlon
4. Camera Nikon D3300, 55-200
5. Mini Cable for mobile charging
6. Polythene bags for securing mobile\gloves\camera\wrist watch etc from rains.

Distance: ~310Kms ( One way)
Route: Bangalore>Hassan>ShettiHalli Church ( a tourist attraction) >Megur Home-stay ( Kelagur)
Pit Stop: Breakfast and fuel\Air check

I start with one other rider who missed Day 1 at around 6 am from Parle Factory Toll ( a very common meeting point amongst riders in Bangalore).
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, we decided to ride for approx 50kms to get out of Bangalore traffic as soon as possible and avoid any time wastage in re-fueling or Breakfast. This worked wonders, by the time we were out on the highways we saw shutters going up and roadside hotels starting to call customers with the Star Wars torch they use.
This was the first picture we clicked to mark our journey together. This blue bike is a 2018 R3 with ABS, mine is a 2017 model without one.


Breakfast and restroom chores were done and it was time to ride another 100kms without a break or else we would be behind time with the boys from Day 1.
The bikes did extremely well on triple digits, thanks to the 42-Bhp twin motor that is stress-free and rev-happy. Rain God was ruthful and we did not encounter any problems till Hassan.
Hassan was the point in our journey where we had to part ways, my fellow rider had already done Shettihalli Church tour some time back and was not too keen on doing it again, made sense.
A Quick 'Tata bye-bye' and we set course again. This time I was all by myself towards Settihalli Rosary Church ( Also known as the floating Church), which is famous for being half-submerged during Monsoons and back to its full glory once the water recedes.
This church was built in 1860 by the French for the wealthy British estate owners of that time, more on the wiki.

Some pictures of the Shettihalli Rosary Church





Church tour took approx 1 hour mainly for clicking pictures with the bike from various angles. If you just want to see the church and come back, 15-20mins of tour is enough I feel. Thankfully there are no local hawkers around the church to litter the place and that has kept the entire area very clean and green.
It was around 11ish and I was done with my first milestone, next was to head towards my homestay where the rest of the gang was. As I start from the church, it starts to drizzle, and that's when I started cursing myself for having wasted that extra 30mins or so. Anyway, we had come prepared with the rain gear, made full use and started slow and steady.


Only during this time, I could not dock my mobile for maps, thankfully the route was pretty straightforward and I could speak the local language. Riding on newly laid state roads is always a delight, this was one such ride. The only exception being the Lungi draped locals riding bikes, they turn suddenly without indicating. Be very careful with them my friends, I repeat.
Intermittent rains and mobile connectivity ensured I was not going to make it to the Home-stay before lunch. That kind of allowed me to slow down a bit and relax on the ride. I decided not to rush and enjoy the moment. It was around 12ish and the entire western Ghats were covered with dense clouds. It was raining sporadically, and sometimes torrentially as well. Very hard to see the road ahead with the helmet visor on. I prefer to keep the visor down when I am not sure of the severity of rains or the road ahead, I know a lot of you may not concur on this one but I prefer to keep it down while wiping the visor with bare hands ( suggest a better method, riding glasses inside helmet?).
All the drama and dodging rains came to an end in about an hour and as I enter a small village on my way, I see a small Non-Veg Hotel ( home converted into a hotel with some benches). That was it, I knew I will not get many opportunities again to eat in a village, a curry that I will probably not find anywhere in town.

There is something about non-veg food that makes me go greedy, you can say that looking at my king size plate. Food was delicious, although a bit spicy, I guess the locals like it that way.


The hotel owner was an educated gentleman in his 40s, who could also speak broken English, I was quite impressed by his willingness to try a language he was not comfortable speaking. Finally, with sweet memories and a micro bill for a mega plate, I started for the Home-Stay which was still a hundred-odd kilometers away. Riding after a heavy meal is like climbing a mountain for me, you know what I mean. Luckily there were plenty of scenic corners along the way to keep me busy, here are a few of those:

I was able to cover that 100 odd Kms in approx. 3hrs and I was pleased with my pace given the fact that the roads were relentlessly tricky due to the rains.
Just when I thought I made it to the home-stay, God had other plans. An uprooted tree, Phew!


Funny for me and frustrating for my fellow rider who had initially set course for the home-stay, we both saw each other waiting at this point for the tree trunk to clear and make way for us. This was Epic, I had finished a Church tour and some really slow riding only to find he was equally slow on his way to the home-stay. That kind of gave a sense of relief that I was not too slow after all .
Jab We Met, again


We both tried to figure out a route B to reach the home-stay but that alternate route was not a practical option. We decided to hang on and wait for the locals to clear the big trunk. All this took around an hour before we were given a clear. What is funny is the locals asked each one of us to pay some money as a token of appreciation of the hard work they did to clear the mess.

Finally, it was saddle time again and we were happy to be out and about. The last leg of the journey of about 5-7kms was through a tea plantation in Kelagur ( Chikmanglur), some scenic terrain with clouds and mist, it was all beyond words.
Here are some pictures of Kelagur Tea plantation terrain




Before we could soak in the beauty of the terrain, our home-stay was in sight. We quickly moved further up and reached our stay to join the boys from day 1.
As is customary, all the bikes were parked in the formation and we lined up ours too


This property is called Megur homestay and I highly recommend going here with your friends and family. They serve some really good Malnad style of food, have clean beds and washrooms.

[aabhimanyu04]

As we parked our bikes and stepped inside with our drenched boots and gloves, we saw a ton of other riding gears hanging by the window to dry up. We managed to keep ours too, despite knowing there will be no sun God tonight or tomorrow morning to avail.

They say 'Hope is bigger than Pope' and on that belief, our gears were left in open to get better from wet to moist
We never miss out on opportunities to click pictures, Mist was notoriously spoiling clear shots but we managed to find a few good ones before it was dark. A special mention to one of my fellow rider's Huawei P30 Smartphone camera, some crisp low light photos.


We met the gang in the lobby and in a large living room where everyone was warm and cozy after a hot water shower. We wasted no time to grab our towels and get going.
Settling down took no time as we geared up for the night full of stories from each of the members on their experience of Monsoon ride. While most people avoid riding in the rains, this ride was quite a learning experience for a lot of us. Made us better riders, patient riders, forgiving riders, true riders.

The night we spent at the home-stay brought us closer as a unit and the love and respect grew. We at no point felt like 30 different families, but all singing on a common tune - 'Motorcycles'.
Owing to the fact next day was going to be a long ~300kms ride, we decided to wrap things up and catch some much-needed sleep. Oh yes, dinner was flavorsome.
You might agree with me if I said these awesome nights pass sooner than they ever do otherwise. The next day morning was lazy inside and windy outside. We knew our riding gears were still wet and that our cozy time inside was going to be short-lived. Like brave soldiers, we marched on with whatever armor we came with, not dry though. Luckily our Custom T-shirts were to be worn for this morning for a group picture and that ensured we were dry and warm from the top.

Here is a group picture we took on the P30 I mentioned, also in the picture is a fellow BHPian Krishna sitting 3rd from left.


Some creativity before we said goodbye to the homestay



Pictures were clicked, chains were lubed, Helmet Cams were positioned and we set course for Bangalore. Ohh wait, how can one miss buying tea from a tea estate. No, we didn't


Warmed up bikes slowly set the pace and we only stopped for fueling and lunch. Since we were too many of us for the narrow roads, we ensured we were in a line and not a nuisance to the others on the road. Boy, we are disciplined riders, no changing lanes without indication, no racing, stunts, no overspeeding.
Having said that by 8-pm most of us entered Bangalore and dispersed as per the plan.

Paradoxical but true to every bit, a tiring but relaxing ride had come to an end and we came out as better riders from the 2-day grind Malnad Monsoon showered on us.
I hope you enjoyed reading, here are a few more pictures I could not resist posting

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[nkrishnap]

This ride is one for the memory books. I was part of this ride for both the nights, albeit I joined late on day 1. The pros did the clicking of pics and I just soaked in the rain ride. Monsoon ride with fully soaked clothes, luggage and riding gear is not one of easiest to forget.

Do post the full set of pics.

PS: there is one ride happening this week too, 4 days and 3 nights with the destination GOA.

[nkishore_007]

Originally Posted by aabhimanyu04

....

Thank you for refreshing the memories. It was indeed a great tour through one of the most monsoon prone places in India. Cheers!

[aabhimanyu04]

Originally Posted by nkishore_007

Thank you for refreshing the memories. It was indeed a great tour through one of the most monsoon prone places in India. Cheers!

Thanks, photos don't do justice to the beauty one can experience in this region during monsoon. With this ongoing pandemic prevailing, I don't see any rides happening any time soon.
We shall overcome

[Legal_Eagle]

Hi, I have recently picked up a pre-worshipped Yamaha R3 in Bangalore. Can you please add me to Bangalore R3 owners whatsapp group if the group is still active? It would be great

[aabhimanyu04]

Originally Posted by Legal_Eagle

Hi, I have recently picked up a pre-worshipped Yamaha R3 in Bangalore. Can you please add me to Bangalore R3 owners whatsapp group if the group is still active? It would be great

Congrats, can you DM me your name and contact number so that I can pass it on to the admins. Thanks