Ride to Nandi

On the morning of 1st May I lost the chance to be a part of a ride to Nandi. A gang of 10 bikers were moving to Nandi from different corners of Bangalore. I was supposed to meet Murthy under the Domlur Flyover loop.

It was a scratch-my-head experience when I found that the main gate had been locked with some other lock of which I don’t have the key. So I had to go back to the room. My plan was cancelled. I left an SMS.

The very fact that I did not check the lock before going to sleep was pinching me. The land lord didn’t inform me about this upon my arrival from my 4-day visit to Goa. So I collected the new key from him and quickly posted a thread on bangalorebikersclub for 3rd May ride to Nandi. There was a quick response from 5-6 guys. There was another ride scheduled from the road bikers squad. We MTBers got ours clubbed with them and met them in front of Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal. Dr. Deepak Rao, Dr. Arvind, Murthy, Brijesh and Me. We were expecting, Anukalp, Ullas and Elgar. After a brief wait we started rolling.

Devanahali Road is a pretty good ride without a single pothole and no traffic at early hours in the morning. The road bikers vanished in no time, leaving Brijesh and me far behind. Brijesh is quite a pro trekker and cyclist. I was literally chasing him. After an hour and a half ride from Columbia Asia we took the first break near the new Airport. At this halt we planned our ride ahead. After a while we found the tilla on our left side and immediately after that we took a left turn. Here we hit the road to Nandi Hills.

From here on, the road was a mix of uphill and downhill. Out here the only smell that you get is a concoction of red-mud and fallen flowers on roads. The road ends at a T-junction where I found Arvind, Deepak and Murthy having their breakfast. Glucose biscuits and Water were doing wonders for me. So, no Idli or Vada! Brijesh did not stop here at this T-junction and hence I became a solitary-ripper from the Nandi base. Sun was out from the veil of early-morning overcast, so the sunglasses were put on my eyes. With great enthusiasm I was up against the bumpy stretch! A Roadatian dog chased me….may be he had never seen a cyclist with helmet and sunglasses. The instant solution for this is – SHOUT and STOP!

At Nandi base I met George. This guy is a professional road biker who has the right stance. You should have seen him on his road bike. His cadence says that he is trained to rule this kind of terrain. On the uphill ride I took small breaks. During one of those breaks George came from behind and asked if everything is ok. “You can do it, but never compare an MTB with a Road-bike!” George continued. All the biking gyan on BBC and Bikeszone portal seemed to be jokes. A city ride is nothing compared to this! I was sweating like a pig!!!!!!!! Even my gloves were pretty sweaty.

The car drivers and motorbikers were waving their hands at me!!!! “Dum Laga ke!”

I was 3 kilometers away from the finish point and the bends became extremely steep. I met Murthy, who gave me immense inspiration…. ‘Man you have one more gear, do a 1:1.” By the way, this time Murthy was coming back downhill. After all, he was riding Colnago road bike! Riding was a fun for him, while it was struggle for me.

I followed those words and I was there.

While coming back, after reaching Devanahalli we did something out of the box...can you imagine a biker loading his bike on a BIAL-Volvo on the way back home?????? Yes the headwind was so rough that the ride became very difficult. There was plantation on either side of the road so we decided to load our bikes on a Volvo and reach MG Road. We did that....once we boarded the bus I faced the most funny question of my life...one passenger asked, "are you guys from India?" People were, as usual, checking out our bikes.

We got down near Golf Course and then started pedaling again. The gist of the story is - We took rest in an AC bus for 20 minutes! pretty cool! AIN'T IT? 

Anyways, coming back to the spirit of the ride.....it was a good experience to meet all of you including George whom I met at the base of Nandi......I will never forget Brijesh..this guy has some stamina mAAAn!!! I came to know he has done 2 Enduro events in Pune! Murthy has an amazing team spirit. We all have to agree on that.