The Manchanabele Adventure

Having heard about the beautiful roads around Savandurga from me repeatedly, JP grew desperate to take his bike there. He managed to free up the Saturday from his otherwise busy schedule. I was a bit hesitant to join, since I had to travel Saturday night. But I was sure I would miss the ride, so decided to join him.

JP was waiting for me at SilkBoard junction when I reached there by sharp 5:30 AM. Not even sun could be that punctual. Punctuality is one of the virtues that cycling has helped us pick up. Six months ago JP‘s idea about punctuality was ‘Better late than never‘. Now there he stood waiting for me, waiting to bark upon me, had I reached seconds later than the agreed time. Being a relatively slow commute medium, it is essential for a cyclist to be punctual. Also the commute time requirements are predictable with a cycle, since traffic and road conditions does not affect a cyclist much.

The tour started and a few minutes later was officialy flagged off by a crow pooping direcly on me. The crow was flying across the road and I was riding along the road at decent speed. What are the odds? But again my cycling experience had taught me.. “Shit happens. Just learn to deal with it.“ Only that this time it happened quite literally. I took a break, cleaned the shit off me and continued the ride.

Once we joined the Mysore road we started the search for a hotel to break our fast. We had tasty lemon rice and idly at a small not so fancy looking hotel, once again proving that there is no correlation between the looks of a hotel and the taste of the food that it provides.

The road was quiet and lovely after the deviation to the Big Banyan tree. The cloudy sky was a perfect backdrop for our ride. We both were enjoying the ride very much, and so decided not to take a break at the Big Banyan tree. We did a small off roading on the way to spice things up.

All of a sudden the beautiful Manchanabele lake appeared among the hilly landscapes. The only people we saw around were two photographers with big SLR cameras trying to capture the nature‘s beauty into their limited two dimensional pixel space. There were a couple of spots where we could get close to the lake. After spending a while we decided to head to Savandurga.

The mountain looked very near to the lake, and there should be a shorter way than the round about road! JP wanted to try out a trail route, so we went chasing one. A villager pointed us to a route which starts from a nearby village, but we just followed our hunch. There was a single track trail which led to the top of a hill. A few cows gave us company as we pushed our bikes up the hill. It was a nice ride on the top through the bushes and thorns. The journey came to a stop at a rocky cliff. The lake was beneath and there was no way ahead. The Savandurga smiled at us from the other side. JP again wanted to explore his luck, so we left our bikes there and walked parallel to the lake more into the wilderness in hope of finding a way across! I saw something that looked like a snake and that put the full stop to our exploratory enthusiasm. We headed back to Manchanabele.

Near the lake we met two village boys pushing their cycle. They stopped us and told that they had a flat tire. We inflated the tire and gave the boys a quick fix puncture sticker and moved on. We took a break as soon as we reached the road. While we were munching on the chikkis and chocolates three riders from IISC stopped by. After a small chat they went ahead towards the lake.

It was 11:00 in the morning, and we decided to move towards Savandurga via the road. Immediately after I got back on the saddle I heard a sound and looked back. JP was trying to get up from a fall. “Are you fine?“ I asked as I parked my bike and rushed towards him. “Yes, but my bike is not.“ The tire had flipped inside out for a quarter portion of the wheel, leaving the tube exposed. The tube was flat too. The tire was at a lower pressure and JP was trying to push through the ridge of the road. The low pressure probably caused a pinch flat and then the tire snapped. JP, who was very proud of the punctureless history of his Merida, had not carried any puncture kit as usual. Guess who went for the rescue??

The pinch flat was not so difficult to find out just by feeling the air leak. Half an hour it took to fix both the holes created by the pinch. We decided to stick with our plan to ride to Savandurga, despite me having to reach home back around 4pm. As we started to install the tire back, we noticed it had lost the pressure again. Another hole, this time we needed some water to the find the hole. Walked to a nearby house, and took help from the lady, who was initially hesitant, not knowing what we needed. She was very happy to help us after she understood that all we needed was a vessel with water and a place to sit. Another half an hour, the hole was found and fixed. 

We dropped the Savandurga plan, and started our journey back. We rode leisurely in the hot sun. After some time, we found a shop where we stopped to buy water, bananas etc. JP had lost pressure, yet again!! Another small hole, which we could not catch! This time we found a puncture shop near by, and sought 'professional' help. As we helped/observed the guy fixing the puncture, we also got some tips on puncture fixing. A great lesson for JP, to be prepared before each ride, and to expect the worst!! We did not waste any further time, had some lunch on the way back, and reached home. A hectic weekend was waiting for me!! 

200kms through the hilly west

The weather got hot early on this year. The afternoon sun had been almost unbearable since February. I had stopped venturing for long rides since my Nandi visit on March first week. But the desire to pedal for a long distance kept building up. Then came the summer showers. Georg's mail on 'new ride through the hilly west' followed. Georg had planned an amazing route which passes through TG-Halli-Magadi-Ramanagara-Kanva Dam-Mathikere-Magadi-Manchanbele for the Saturday. My new bike had not seen places other than Bangalore and Nandi hills. There was absolutely no reason to abstain!


So, I set out for the ride early morning 4:20. The start point was quite far where the Magadi road intersects the NICE road, a significant 27kms from my home. Girish joined me from Silkboard to join the fight against the ups and downs of the Ring Road. Post Banshankari it was nice downhill, and we reached the Mysore road intersection by 5:10. Haa, the ride starts at 6:15, and we have only around 11kms left. Could have slept a little more, we thought. But then started the non stop up-hill all the way till the Ring Road-Magadi Road intersection, and to add topping a steep climb at the Magadi road. It was 6:10 when we met Sohan who was waiting alone at the NICE road junction. More riders joined us soon. A Maruthi800 went past us with two bikes on top of it. It parked a little ahead of us. Georg came cruising right behind the car on a bike that looked very different. It had smaller tires, that gave the impression of a kid's bike. We assembled around him, as he ran around checking air pressures, helping people fill air in their tires, noting down phone numbers. Meanwhile a few more riders joined us, and we were a group of 18 riders.

Georg and Aditya enjoying the downhill

Thus started the cruise towards the TG Halli reservoir. The terrain was flat to begin with, and I paced myself behind Sohan, who was riding at a nice and easy pace in his MTB. Ashuthosh and Karthik were ahead of us, and they quickly disappeared from our radar. Village kids were waving at us all the way through. With many of us wearing the same fluorescent yellow btwin jersey, they must have thought it was a race. As the downhill started, I broke away from Sohan's pace line, to feel the thrill of the downhill. I kept waiting for others in between so that I don't miss the meeting point which was decided upon earlier. We reached TG Halli soon and waited for others to catch up. It was time for breakfast; I had a plate full of lemon rice with yummy chutney. The village tea shopwalas always judge my appetite quite well, they fill up the plates so full that any single grain of rice added further to the plate will simply roll down.


Ashuthosh and Karthik started ahead of us already, and I followed soon with Dephan. It was an uphill to begin with followed by a rather long downhill. The weather was equally enjoyable with the sun not showing up till late into the day. I was determined to do the longer option of Georg's plan, which would let me finish my first 200km ride! Soon I reached Magadi. Ashuthosh and Karthik were waiting along side Georg's support car. Chiddu was there with his kids, who were all excited to join us for the ride! With the slopes working in favor the rest of the gang also reached the meeting point soon.

Sohan escorting Vedant, as Chiddu followed them in the car

We were to take the Ramanagara highway which passes by Savandurga. The Savandurga standing out on the left side, the lush green terrain on either sides, the easy down slopes, and the clouds which kept the sun under cover, made this stretch very memorable. Everybody including the kids were out enjoying the ride; the support car was empty for the first (and only) time! We all had a break near the turn to the Savandurga temple, and recharged ourselves with tender coconuts, bananas and chikkis. The shortest option of Gerog's plan was to turn back to Bangalore via the Manchanbele lake, and this deviation came within a kilometer. But nobody wanted to quit so early. We all continued the ride towards Ramangara. This time I made sure to stick with the leaders of the pack, and paced myself behind Manush and Ashuthosh. The slopes were favoring, I could maintain 40+ speeds for an extended period of time without pedaling in the aerodynamic shade of Manush. As the slopes started alternating, Ashuthosh took lead and went ahead. Manush trailed behind. For quite a few distance I found myself riding alone, but soon found Ashuthosh waiting beneath a tree surrounded by a bunch of curious kids. We were near to Ramanagara. Manush joined us soon. Karthik, Georg and others followed. A group of 10 riders had taken a shortcut towards Kanva dam, and would wait for us there. The rest of us headed towards the Kamath restaurant on the Mysore road. I had my favourite Masala Dosa (two of them), while Georg was updating us with the fantastic results of the team KYNKYNY from the Tour of Friendship.

Near the Kanva Dam

The next destination was Kanva dam, which was just a few kilometers away. Georg led us to his favorite swimming spot near the dam. He did not waste anytime getting into the water and swimming towards the depth. The rest of us were hesitant. A few stayed back, but some others made up their mind to take the dip. Being a beginner in swimming, I kept asking Georg about the depth of water where he was standing/floating. I stayed in the region where it was less than 6 feet deep. Next time I visit the place, I should be ready to swim without worrying about depth!

Georg and his maps

The clouds were gone now! The peak sun time had keen killed off in water, now it was time to move on. The other group had reunited with us, but stayed back again for having their lunch. There were some confusions about the route, during which Ashuthosh's black berry and Georg's printed map were competing to guide us. After a few kilometers of confusion, Georg spread his map out on the ground, and studied the route. Clear instructions came out a couple of minutes later – take the deviation that leads straight to Mattikere 18 kilometers away, the next meeting point. The terrain is more of less up-hill with a total 150 meters altitude gain. This was going to be the most difficult section of the tour. It was time to reiterate Newton's third law of biking. Every downhill has an equal and opposite uphill. (or vice versa.) All the downhills we enjoyed till now came back together on us as uphills in the hot sun. I kept focusing only on the 5 meters of road in front of me. The landscape stopped fascinating me, all I bothered about was the kilometers left till the next meeting point. I was in between climbing a rather steep hill, when a villager tried to stop me. He wanted to know where I came from, and where I am heading to. But sir, I can answer that without stopping! I had to dodge him football style, to keep my momentum going. I managed to reach Mattikere without any breaks. Karthik, Ashuthosh, Sohan and others followed. I heard from them that the climb had been a killer, forcing 5 people to take the support car. Had there been more seats available, the toll would have increased! Georg was motivating people to ride till Magadi, from where we could hire some vehicle back to Bangalore.

Ok, who all wants to ride back to Bangalore?

It was again uphill till Magadi. Intensity of the sun had reduced, and the road was more smooth. By 6:00PM, the whole gang reached Magadi. Georg's original plan was to go to Manchanabele take a dip in the lake to cool down and then head back to Bangalore. But we already ran out of time! Ashuthosh, Karthik, Sohan, Gireesh and me were ready to pedal our way back to Bangalore. Others waited back to hire a vehicle. We waved bye to others and started the ride back. Again, the up hills! There was a small stretch of steep downhill, where I could touch 60kmph! My record speed! It did lift my spirits and kept me going. The day gave way to the night; the blinkers and the head lights were on. Georg, who must have started much after us from Magadi, caught up with us. He overtook us while exchanging a few words of motivation. The start point was still kilometers away. We came across the support cars, filled up our water stock and continued. Time was past 7:00, and it was tiring. I started feeling hungry. I wanted to stop and eat something badly, but where were the others?? After some more minutes of suffering, it was a great relief to see Ashuthosh and Sohan waiting at the road side. I parked my bike, and rushed to the nearby bakery. I ordered items I had never tasted in my life. All were tasty - I was hungry, indeed! Karthik had joined us meanwhile. Sohan, Karthik and Ashuthosh bid good bye to me, as I waited for Gireesh. He was taking a break little before us.


We were happy since we knew that the Ring road was downhill till Mysore road intersection. This time we took the service road, to avoid encounters with the fast night traffic. Unfortunately the service road was going up and down wherever the main road bypassed the intersections, thereby neutralizing the advantages of the overall altitude loss. After a while, we reached the Banashankari roads, which again was a never ending up hill. The only consolation was the hope that we would reach home in a few kilometres. Waved good bye to Gireesh and Silk Board, headed to an Andhra style restaurant to have unlimited meals. But I couldn’t exploit the ‘unlimitedness’ as expected! Disappointed, I returned back home by 10:30PM. Had a nice shower, and went to bed. The saddle was hard indeed!!


The cyclocomputer said -

199.3km – my longest ride (Ok, I cheated, it was not 200 afterall, but who cares??)

top speed of 60.4kmph - my personal best

average speed of 17kmph.

11hrs 30 minutes on the saddle.