Mekedatu

Date: 13 September 2014

Total distance: 198 Kilometers

Start Time: 5:45 am

Return Time: 8:15 pm

With: Madhusudhan (upto Harohalli)

Altitude Profile:

It started as a thought to visit a waterfall and Barachukki falls was what came to mind, which is 130 kilometers from Bangalore. I checked with Madhusudhan whether he would join and was excited when he confirmed. However, within a couple of hours he called back and said that Barachukki is too far for him and he would prefer to do Mekedatu which is 100 kilometers away. I agreed as this was also a place of which I had fond memories. Did a little reading on cycling to Mekedatu and got to know that we can take the cycle across the river and cycle to the main point. I received another call from Madhusudhan that he cannot come till Mekedatu since he had to return by 11 am. He said that he would join for a couple of hours and then I would have to proceed alone. So it was decided to leave at 5 am.

I was not confident that Madhusudhan would come, so I overslept. To my pleasant surprise he landed up at my place at 5:20 am and woke me up. Got ready and we were off by 5:45 am.

The gradient of the road was mostly sloping down till Kanakpura. I managed to coax Madhusudhan to come along till Harohalli which we reached at 8:00 am. This was 40 kilometers off and I had half a mind to return with Madhusudhan, however, since half the distance had been covered with ease, said our goodbyes, I proceeded further and Madhusudhan returned to Bangalore.

At Kanakpura the road takes a detour to go to Mekedatu. The gradient had changed from mostly downward to equal ups and downs. Except, after crossing the forest check post it was a downward ghat for approximately 2.5 kilometers. I made it to Mekedatu at 10:45 am. I was disappointed when I found out that the cycle could not be taken across the river and had to be parked at the gate. Secured the cycle at a store near the entry point, went to the Mayura restaurant for breakfast and went across the river in a coracle. After crossing the river, a bus takes us to the Mekedatu viewpoint which is a further 5 kilometers off.

After spending sometime at the viewpoint returned to the cycle and commenced the arduous return journey at 12:45 pm. Arduous since most of the return journey was going to be uphill.

First, the ghat had to be crossed and as expected, I could not make it beyond half a kilometer. I tried too hard to get across the ghat as quickly as possible. Wrong technique as I have learnt on the subsequent ghat experiences that we need to be patient and just concentrate on pedaling at a constant speed; got off and pushed the cycle. After the ghat, made it to the forest checkpost, the heat was beginning to take its toll and every uphill became difficult and the number of stops increased. With a lot of difficulty made it to Kanakpura by 4:00 pm where I stopped for lunch. I recharged my batteries with lunch which comprised of curd rice and lot of fluids. After lunch, resumed at 4:40 pm, the temperature had cooled off a bit; the body recovered and was able to pedal at a constant speed. Although there was heavy traffic and the horns blaring on the highway was frustrating, managed to make it back by 8:15 pm.

The cyclo computer showed 198 kilometers. Felt good to have completed the distance and the confidence went up a few notches that I could complete long distances. Next target was to do long distances over consecutive days.