The Heritage Tour

Date: 12 August 2017 - 16 August 2017

Total distance:  715 Kilometers

Start Time: 4:00 am 12 July 2017

End Time:  5:30 pm 16 July 2017

With: -Rajkumar Khot

The Independence Day weekend was approaching, as it was a long weekend the plan was to go for a cycle tour. Bangalore Randonneurs had scheduled the 1,200 km ride for this weekend, however as it was cancelled the weekend was free.

Rajkumar and I planned to ride and after the initial discussion about how many days we should ride we froze on 5 days as getting the return ticket on 15 August was looking bleak since we made the plan just a few days before 15 August. By the time we finalised on the plan, the bus tickets for 15 August had already been booked on KSRTC, our preferred mode of transport. We decided to extend the ride by a day. We had 5 days and the plan was to ride to North Karnataka. I came up with a tentative plan keeping the option for the return on 15 August if tickets were available with private transport.

Day	From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Departure Time	Arrival Time
1	Koramangala	Hosapet	330	16.00	19.00	4:00	23:00
2	Hosapet	Hosapet	60	3.00	8.00	7:00	15:00
3	Hosapet	Aihole	160	8.00	12.00	6:00	18:00
4	Aihole	Vijayapura	130	7.00	10.00	6:00	16:00
			680

As it was a tentative plan and since we had an additional day, time was not a problem except that the first day was going to be difficult since we had to cover 330 kilometers. We decided to start the ride at 4:00 am so that it gives us sufficient time to complete the day's ride.

I had planned to buy a few cycling clothes and a pair of shoes, however decided to make do with what I have as it was going to be only a 5 day tour and I could manage with the stuff that I had. I got the cycle ready during the day and packed the bag at night and loaded it onto the cycle before hitting the bed.

Day 1: Bangalore to Chitradurga:

Date: 12 August 2017

Total distance: 211 Kilometers

Start Time: 4:00 am

End Time:  18:00 pm

With: Rajkumar Khot

Altitude Profile:
Koramangala - Tumkur - Chitradurga

I had set the alarm for 2:30 am. I woke up when the alarm rang and quickly got ready as Rajkumar had said that he would try to make it by 3:30 am so that we can start early. I was ready by 3:15 am. Got a message at 3:30 am from Rajkumar that he was leaving. He got to my place in 20 minutes and by the time we could start it was 4:00 am. It was a cold morning and I could feel the bite, however knowing that I would warm up soon enough I was not keen on additional clothing.

We rode through the city and as we got to MG Road there was a drizzle. I stopped to pack my phone into the zip lock cover. It turned out to be a good decision since the rain got heavier near the golf course and in a few minutes I was drenched. I was not too pleased with the rain as I had cleaned the cycle the previous day and within 30 minutes of starting the ride the cycle was covered in muck.

To add to the disappointment of the cycle getting dirty, there was a lot of traffic. The headlights from oncoming traffic was blinding me. I could barely see the road and had to be careful not to ride into any potholes/puddles. We rode slowly and made it out of the city and to Yeshwantpur. We rode past the flyover and made a short stop after the toll for tea. We had taken 1 hour 45 minutes to cover 35 kilometers. We were a little behind on the time considering that we had to make it to Hosapet by the end of the day.

We restarted the ride and after the initial warm up, we began to increase the speed and made quick progress. A few steep uphill's and then there were long stretches of downhill which took us to Tumkur. We rode hard and fast and made it out of Tumkur and to the VRL checkpoint, where we stopped for breakfast. Being a long weekend, the place was crowded and as we wanted to have masala dosa it took very long for us to get the food. We had ridden 92 kilometers in 4 hours 15 minutes. It was 8:15 am when we went into the restaurant for breakfast. The wait at the restaurant resulted in us taking 45 minutes for breakfast. It was 9:00 am when we resumed the ride.

We had lost a lot of time at breakfast. A 15 minute stop would have been ideal, the delay was going to cost us. When we resumed the ride, the wind had picked up and riding was difficult. We still managed to ride steadily and the pace was about 20 kmph. We were just about keeping with the required pace when Rajkumar suffered a flat. We stopped and examined the tire and saw that there was significant wear on the tire even though it was a new tire. It looked like a soft compound tire and not suited for long rides. A call to inform the LBS that the tire had suffered significant wear and that it was probably defective. A small pin was the reason for the puncture and we took 30 minutes to fix the flat.

We got back on the road and the going was getting harder by the minute as the wind speed had increased and the Sun was burning brighter. There was a little climb as well before getting to Hiriyur which slowed us down. The wind speed was pretty high which resulted in the speed dropping below 20 kmph even on downhill gradient. We were not able to coast and had to pedal all the time. It was 1:15 pm when we reached Hiriyur and I was tired with all the pedaling and was hungry. We decided to stop for lunch at Hiriyur, although my original plan was to get to Chitradurga for lunch, we knew that we could not make it to Chitradurga for a further 2 hours at least.

We stopped at Sai Dhaba and ordered Roti, Egg Masala and Palak Curry and loads of water. The plan had changed by the time we got to lunch. We had decided to ride only till Chitradurga for the day and visit the Chitradurga Fort. We had about 40 kilometers remaining to get to Chitradurga. As the pressure to ride to Hosapet was off we had a relaxed lunch. We ate a lot and managed to stretch a bit and sit for a while as we watched the trees swaying and knew that we were in for a difficult ride post lunch.

We started after lunch at 2:15 pm. We budgeted 2 hours for the remaining 37 kilometers, however with the wind speed increasing, 2 hours seemed to be a difficult ask. Riding was very difficult as it was a combination of climbing, wind and Sun at its peak. The wind mills in the distance were getting bigger and kept reminding us that we were in wind territory and there would be no let up on the wind front. It was very tempting to turn around and ride towards Bangalore as we would have a tail wind. Rajkumar said that we had to make it past the hill in the distance to get past the windy section. The hill was just 5 kilometers from Chitradurga and getting there was looking very difficult.

The wind kept getting stronger as we got closer to Chitradurga. The speed which was hovering around 20kmph in the morning had dropped below 15 kmph now and riding was extremely slow. We stopped on a couple of occasions to click a few pics with the wind mills in the back ground. These stops doubled up as a rest stop as well.

We made it to the hill before Chitradurga, a small climb later we were past the hill and past the windy section. Riding became very easy and we raced into Chitradurga. As we did not know the timings of the Chitradurga Fort, we opted to head straight for the fort rather than freshening up before going to the fort as it was 4:15 pm when we reached Chitradurga. 15 minutes later we were at the fort, locked the cycles, left the luggage on the cycle and hoped that it would remain there when we get back and headed into the fort.

The walk around the fort took us about an hour. Saw all the marked locations and were left with only the climb to the top of the hill within the fort. Initially I thought that we would not have sufficient time to do the climb, however, as we made it to the other locations quickly we had time for the climb. It was a steep climb and there was a queue of people crawling up the hill using the indentations made in the rock for grip. We were not patient enough to wait for them and made it past them by climbing up the hill without using the indentations and made it up rather quickly. We spent some time at the top, as we had time on hand we decided to sit at the top and enjoy the view and rest our legs. The view from the top was very good, it was enjoyable since the Sun had begun its descent and the temperature was cool. It was windy as well which made things pleasant. As we were not riding, we were enjoying the wind.

I told Rajkumar that I had a problem getting down and told him to go ahead as I would be climbing down slowly. The initial descent was quick and I made it down rather easily. However, when I was almost at the bottom I was unable to move and was getting down using all four limbs rather than just two which made it a slow descent. Rajkumar helped by taking the handle bar bag from me freeing my hand so that I could use it for additional grip. Although I was almost at the bottom, the thought of sliding down did not appeal to me and I was feeling weak in the legs and also was apprehensive that the cycling clothes would not hold if I slid down. I was relieved to get down to the bottom without any damage.

Once we were down, we made it to the gate and were relieved to find that the luggage had not been touched. We rode into town and after a couple of enquiries landed at Megha Lodge, agreed on the terms and began the routine to upload the ride data to Strava and freshen up. We headed out for dinner where we had Jolada Rotti Oota and made it back to the lodge and hit the bed to recuperate for the next day's ride.

Day 2: Chitradurga to Hampi:

Date: 13 August 2017

Total distance: 153 Kilometers

Start Time: 6:10 am

End Time:  17:15 pm

With: Rajkumar Khot

Altitude Profile:
Chitradurga - Kudligi - TB Dam - Hosapet - Hampi

We had planned a 6:00 am start, a 15 minute delay was not going to cost us as we had only 150 kilometers to ride today. The only concern for today's ride was the road condition which we had read and heard was bad. On enquiry with the locals we were informed that road work is in progress and there is a lot of truck traffic on the road. I had expected the ride to take about 12-13 hours and was expecting a frustrating ride on account of the road and the traffic.

We headed out of Chitradurga and as soon as we took the turn to get onto National Highway 50 we were welcomed by a two lane road and trucks. Even though we were riding on the left, the traffic was so heavy that if a truck had to overtake us he had to wait for the oncoming traffic to cease. We were riding in a heavy traffic zone and the road work added to the difficulty. Although the surface was not too bad, there were constant diversions and road humps which was irritating to say the lease as we had to brake and restart the effort to pedal.

This game continued and every time there was a window of opportunity when we got a break from traffic we tried to make the most of it by pedaling hard. Things were fine till we got to Donehalli Check Dam. After this the road got smaller and trucks were losing their patience behind us and I was pushed off the road on a couple of occasions. What was getting frustrating was that oncoming traffic was trying to push us off the road. I stood my ground on a couple of occasions and did not go off the road since I wanted them to realise that they should not take a cycle for granted. I don't know if I was successful, but it was certainly a risky approach and in hindsight something that I shouldn't have done.

Things began to improve with the roads becoming wider since the road work had been completed on one side and we were able to ride well. As the clock ticked we were getting hungry and getting to Kudligi for breakfast seemed difficult. There were a lot of dhabas on the road and we stopped at one for breakfast. We had done 59 kilometers in 3 hours. Slow, but the best we could do with the road condition and traffic not being in our favour.

We had dosa's for breakfast and a cold drink to bring the temperature down. When we got out of the dhaba, we spent some time viewing the road work and the equipment being used to excavate the soil. We restarted the ride at 9:30 am. We were 25 kilometers from Kudligi and about 70 kilometers from Hosapet. We had good roads, and made steady progress towards Kudligi. Rajkumar called out to me and told me that a strap from my bag was loose and was dangling near the tire and that I should rectify it. We made a brief stop to fix the strap correctly. When we restarted I was struggling to ride as the morning session's effort was beginning to show. Rajkumar on the other hand was feeling good and began to accelerate when we hit the downhill stretch. I struggled to respond and when I could I was held back by trucks and had to slow down. Rajkumar was waiting for me upfront and again began to speed when I got close. This time I was ready to respond and as there was an uphill I wanted to shift into a lower gear, however the gears were not shifting into the small ring and I spent a few moments trying to get back to the right gear. Rajkumar was gone by then, a few more attempts at shifting resulted in the chain falling off and I had to stop to get the chain back in the crank. I rode steadily without rushing too much as I knew that Rajkumar would wait up ahead, however Rajkumar was riding slowly and I caught up with him, after which we increased the speed.

As we got closer to Kudligi there was climbing combined with bad roads which slowed things down. Although we hit a downhill section after the climb, we could barely get the speed up as the road was in very bad shape. We had a bumpy ride around Kudligi as we made it past the by-pass and got onto the road to Hosapet. We rode about 5 kilometers from Kudligi and stopped when we saw a store selling bananas. We ate bananas, refilled on water and started the ride again.

The next 15 kilometers was a decent ride, however things began to get worse as we got closer to Hosapet. We could see the Iron and Steel Plants in the distance, as we got closer, the roads went from bad to worse. There was no let up in the traffic and the road was reddish brown because of the dust. Riding became difficult and I was not having a good day. The first sight of the Tungabhadra Dam backwaters came as  relief. The sight of the river came as an energiser and I was motivated to ride again.

We stopped at the first clear sight of the Tungabhadra backwaters, savoured the sight and got back on the saddle and made it 200 meters and saw that we had to ride through the tunnel. I stopped to click a few pics and then set the phone to video mode and captured the ride through the tunnel. Rajkumar had sped ahead and was waiting near the turn to Hospet. It was close to lunch time, although I was not hungry, we knew that it would take at least 2 hours to see the Tungabhadra Dam and that 2 hours was too long to wait for lunch. We decided to have an early lunch and rode into Hosapet town.

We stopped at a restaurant thinking that it served Jolada Rotti Oota, however we had to make do with a South Indian Meal. A glass of Moosambi juice to cool off and we were ready to see the TB Dam. We rode about 5 kilometers before parking the cycle and walking up to the TB Dam. The sight of the water was breathtaking as it extended to the horizon and looked like the Sea rather than a river. Spent some time there before walking up to the light house to get a panoramic view of the Dam and the backwater.

We spent some time at the light house as well before starting the walk back to the parking area. We passed by the Garden which seemed like a replica of the Brindavan Gardens at KRS only smaller in size. We made it back to the cycle and were happy to see that the luggage was untouched. While having lunch the restaurant manager had told us that getting rooms in Hampi would be difficult and that it was better to stay in Hospet, however on enquiring with fellow tourists at TB Dam we were told that there are sufficient rooms and that we can stay at Hampi. I wanted to ride to Hampi and see if accommodation is available, if not we could ride back to Hosapet which is just 12 kilometers away.

We started the ride from TB Dam and rode steadily till we got to the Outer Ring Road of Hosapet. When we got onto the Hosapet ORR, Rajkumar began to speed and I tried to keep pace. We raced towards Hampi and in my enthusiasm of riding quick, I missed the turn to Hampi. Rajkumar was quick to stop me and a check on google maps did show that we had missed the turn and we were just 4 kilometers from Hampi. We rode back and took the turn and rode quickly as it was downhill and made it to Hampi. We were near the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi.

We asked around for rooms and were told that all the rooms are full. What we noticed was that there were no hotels in Hampi and there were only home stays. All of them had rooms with common bathrooms, a concept that we were not ready for since we thought that we would get delayed the next day if we were made to wait to use the bathroom. However, after putting some more thought into it, we realised that since we are early risers, there should not be a problem with using the bathroom and there would not be any delay. We were guided to the houses beside Virupaksha Temple and told that there is only one room available in the vicinity. As the room was spacious we took the room.

As we had the room and we did not have to ride to Hampi the next day which gave additional time, we decided to rest for the day and start the Hampi tour tomorrow. We freshened up and walked towards the Tungabhadra River banks to relax. We had realised that the phone network was very weak where we stayed and had to go near the Virupaksha Temple for network availability and were hopeful that there would be network near the river banks so that we could upload the ride data to Strava.

We strolled towards the river bank passing by the Virupaksha temple and reached the river banks which were pretty dirty. We sat looking at the river and the people being ferried across the river for about an hour as we did not have anything to do. Network was still weak and we decided to try at a different location and started another walk when it got dark. On the way we stopped for refreshments and ate potato/onion/chilly fritters. We walked about half a kilometer from the temple before we got network and waited for about half an hour for the data to get uploaded. We came back to the temple surroundings, fortunately got change from the parking stand person for Rs 2,000 (since there is no ATM in Hampi and the nearest town with an ATM is Kamalapura which is 4 kilometers away, had dinner at Mango Tree and headed back to the room for rest.

Day 3: Hampi tour and Hampi to Koppal:

Date: 14 August 2017

Total distance: 67 Kilometers

Start Time: 9:00 am

End Time:  18:30 pm

With: Rajkumar Khot

Altitude Profile:
Hampi Tour


Hampi to Koppal

We had planned to spend the whole day at Hampi, however the previous night while discussing the trip, we realised that covering a distance of 190 kilometers on Day 4 would be a difficult task. We decided that we would ride to Koppal which is about 50 kilometers from Hampi after finishing up at Hampi. This reduced the time available at Hampi and we could not do the tour at a leisurely pace. The Mathanga Hill trek was ruled out as it would take at least 90-120 minutes and would leave us tired. The option was still open in the sense that in case we were able to finish the tour early and were in reasonably good physical shape then we could attempt the trek.

We started the day at 8:00 am. As we were close to Virupaksha temple, we walked to the temple. We entered the temple premises and noticed that it is very dirty and had not been maintained. It looked like there had been an event at the premises and cleanliness had not been bothered about. We went into the next Gopura and were at the main temple. As the pooja was being performed there was a huge crowd, we walked around the temple and gazed at the architecture and then came across the window which casts an inverted shadow of the Gopura on the wall. When we came back to the temple the pooja was done with and as the crowd had dispersed we sat and looked at the wall paintings on the roof. Monkeys were having a free run inside the temple premises and devotees were more than happy feeding them bananas. We watched as the monkeys had their morning breakfast inside the temple and then walked out of the temple.

Our next stop was the Hemakuta Hills which houses the ruins of Hindu and Jain temples. It also overlooks the Virupaksha Temple and gives a beautiful view of the temple with the river and hills in the back drop. As we crossed the hill, we came across the Kadilekaalu and Sasivekaalu Ganesha idols, after a quick look at these huge Ganesha idols, we went back to the room and started the cycle tour.

It was 9:00 am when we started riding. We had two options, either ride to the Royal Enclosure, Kamalapur and then Vithala Temple or do the route in reverse. We opted to ride to the Royal Enclosure. Our first stop was the Krishna Temple. Few minutes spent there and then we saw the Bazaar opposite the temple and went to the Pushkarini next to the Bazaar. The Pushkarini was dry and although it is beautiful, as it was dry it looked like the beauty had been snatched from it.

Our next stop was the Badavalinga Temple and the Ugra Narasimha Temple. The uniqueness of the Badavalinga temple is that the Shiva idol is always surrounded by water. The Ugra Narasimha temple houses the Ugra Narasimha idol which is beautiful and retains its charm in spite of having been damaged by the invaders.

We rode for about a kilometer, saw the Chandikeshvar Temple on the way and then took the left onto a gravel trail. The first stop here was the Underground Shiva Temple. A beautiful temple, however there was no water here as well, the previous time I had visited this place half of the temple was submerged, this time even though I could go around the whole temple, the half that I had not seen was not worth it as it was infested with bats and the stench was unbearable. When we made it outside the structure looked glorious.

From here we made a stop every 200-400 meters as there was some ruin or the other. First the Mosque, Mohamadden Watch tower and the Mohamadden quarters followed by the Noblemen's quarters.

The clock had ticked past 9:30 am and we had not had breakfast. We reached the ASI museum and fortunately there was a small stall which was serving idli's. After breakfast we proceeded with exploring further locations in Hampi.

The Lotus Mahal complex which houses the Queens Palace basement, the Lotus Mahal, the elephant stables, ASI Musuem, Parshwanatha Temple and Madhava Temple was a beautiful location. Especially the Lotus Mahal and the Elephant Stables which have been maintained very well.

We reached the Hazara Rama temple and parked our cycles. We were getting a lot of eye balls because of our cycles, we had a lot of people asking us where we hired these cycles since the remaining cyclists had hired MTB's/hybrids at Hampi. The crowd was beginning to increase and the ruins were becoming difficult to see as there were a lot of people around. The Hazara Rama temple was another beautiful structure and the sculptures on the walls are fantastic. The ones taking a guided tour were being given a history lesson about the prominent sculptures and we were catching a few of the stories as we passed by.

Our next stop was the Royal Enclosure. This is famous for the Mahanavami Dibba and the Pushkarani. It also houses the Public Bath which looked like an Olympic Standard Swimming pool, just that it was dry when we visited it. There was also a War Room which required us to go through a tunnel like enclosure before entering the room. The kings darbar and a whole lot of ruined house basements/foundations.

Just as we made our way out, I thought that we were done with this section of the ruins and that our next stop would be the Vithala temple. However, just before we hit the main road we stopped at the Queens's Bath.

When we did join the main road within a few meters we entered another gate which had the Sarasvati Temple and the Octagonal Bath. The Sun was tanning us and the walking/riding was beginning to tire me. We spent some time at the Octagonal Bath. Just when we were about to leave, Rajkumar's phone slipped out of his pocket and the display broke. Although the phone was working, the display breaking was a blot on this trip and probably the only disappointment on this tour.

We got back to the main road and reached Kamalapur. It was 12:15 pm. Although we were not very hungry, we opted to have an early lunch as we would not have any food options for the next couple of hours if we proceeded to the Vithala Temple. We went to Kamalapur town and had a Jolada Rotti Oota.

Our first stop after lunch was the Jain Temple on the way to the Vithala Temple. From the Jain Temple we saw the Bhima Dwara which probably derived its name since it is a huge gateway. On resumption it was downhill and we stopped for a brief while at the Talarighatta Gate which although in ruins had a charm about itself.

We then sped towards the Vithala temple. As we raced downhill we saw a crowd of people standing in a queue inside a compound, we stopped and on a closer look saw that it was the entrance to the Vithala Temple complex and the people were waiting in queue for a buggy to take them around the complex. When we rode into the compound we were told that we could ride our cycles to the temple and did not have to park it. I was happy that we did not have to leave the cycles especially since there is a route from the Vithala Temple which takes us back to the Virupaksha Temple rather than riding back in the same route from which we had come.

We rode on the gravel road and made a stop at the Kudure Gombe Mantapa and then saw that there was a huge Pushkarini opposite the Mantapa. The Pushkarini was dry which was disappointing, there was a pathway which is built from the pushkarini till the Vithala Temple and continues to the Shiva Temple as well.

We parked the cycles outside the Vithala temple and went to the Shiva Temple first. We noticed that the renovation work had been undertaken at the temple and supporting stones pillars had been erected inside the temple as there is a crack right through the middle of the temple roof.

We then went to the famous Vithala Temple. It is famous for the Stone Chariot and its musical pillars. The temple complex is huge and houses small temples within. The main being the Vithala temple, which is closed for renovation work. The renovation work shows the difference in the quality of the artisans of yesteryear and today as there is a visible difference between the restored pillars and the pillars constructed originally. The new pillars are nowhere close to the originals. We walked around the temple and admired the architecture and the effort that would have gone in to build these structures.

We then went to the Kings Balance which was supposedly used to weigh the king against the gold that he gave to the priests. The road from here became rocky/sandy and we had to push the cycle more than riding it from here.

As we had rushed through the ruins the sight of more ruins/temples did not hold further appeal to us at this point. We saw the Narasimha temple on top of the hill and were happy to see the temple from afar as it seemed to be similar to the structures that we had seen in the morning. We saw Sugriva's cave and went in. The priest told us that it was the cave where Sugriva hid after fighting with Vaali. Also, there was a white trail on the rocks outside the cave, we were told that it is the path in which Sita was dragged by Ravana which resulted in the mark on the rock.

We came out of the cave and made our way past the hillock. We were on the banks of the river. We carried the cycles from here and then had to climb up the steps of the Ranganatha Temple. From here, we were pushing the cycle on the rock path. We witnessed a wedding on the banks of the river and saw that the village crowd was streaming in to solemnise the wedding. As we were going in the opposite direction and had a bit of a tough time with people occupying the whole path.

When we reached the road, we were very close to the Virupaksha Temple. We reached the Temple Road and saw that we were very close to the Mathanga Hill trek start point. We saw people making their way up the hill as well. As it was nearing 3:00 pm, we opted against doing the trek and headed back to the room. We made a stop at a restaurant for refreshments and then went to the room to collect our luggage and ride to Koppal.

It was 3:30 pm when we started the ride to Koppal. I was not too confident of being able to ride this bit quickly as I was sure that the cycling/walking in the morning would show its effect now. However, surprisingly I was able to ride quickly. I realised that I had not fixed the luggage correctly onto the carrier since I was feeling the weight a bit, however as it was not going to fall I continued riding with minor corrections in riding to balance the weight. We made it to the Hospet ORR and in a short while we were at TB Dam.

From here we were on the highway till we turned towards Koppal. The ride on the highway which I had expected to be difficult, turned out to be easy and I was ticking off the kilometers easily. I even had the energy to have a short race with a tractor for about a kilometer when I went flat out and almost managed to hold him off except at the end of the kilometer when the road began to climb and my pace dropped. However I had built up sufficient speed and was riding quickly.

We reached the Hitnal toll, here we have to turn right to stay on the highway, however as we were riding to Koppal we had to go straight. The road which was 6 laned and good till then became a two lane road and the road surface was very rough. Further with the Hosapet Steel factory a few kilometers ahead, the truck traffic increased and riding became very difficult. The road surface was the main issue with the body absorbing a lot of vibrations. Rajkumar was able to ride quickly here, however I was struggling a bit and fell behind.

The weather was beautiful and it was a beautiful evening, however the road was making it very difficult to enjoy the environment. Rajkumar stopped about 3 kilometers before Koppal and checked with a friend on accommodation. After a 10 minute break we were back on the saddle and we rode into town. About a kilometer from town we checked into a hotel and freshened up.

We headed out to the Gavimatha as its a famous matha in Koppal. We walked about 2 kilometers to get there. We had chaats and then went to the matha. It was around 8:00 pm when we went to the matha. There was a small entrance into the sanctum sanctorum which gives it the cave feel and after the darshan we sat for a while at the matha before heading back to the hotel. Enroute we had Jolada Rotti Oota and then reached the hotel to rest.

Day 4: Koppal - Badami - Pattadakal - Aihole - Hungund:

Date: 15 August 2017

Total distance: 160 Kilometers

Start Time: 7:00 am

End Time:  19:30 pm

With: Rajkumar Khot

Altitude Profile:

It was Independence Day and we had a late start. It was 7:00 am when we started and as soon as we got out of town we ran into a head wind. As the gradient was uphill we were not riding very quickly. We were not stocked on water as well and were looking out for stores to replenish our water stock. We had to ration our water usage as well till we get to a store. We had to ride about 16 kilometers before we got to a shop selling water. We filled up our bottles and gulped down a lot of water. We had to turn away from the highway at this point and ride towards Yelburga on internal roads. We were told that the road is in good condition till Yelburga.

We were finally on good internal roads with minimal traffic and were surrounded by agricultural fields growing corn, pulses, greens, etc. It was an enjoyable ride despite the sun and wind. We were making good progress, although the thought was always at the back of the mind that the road could turn bad any moment and that the ride would become difficult.

As we had started at 7:00 am, we could not make it to Yelburga for breakfast, we had to stop at Kuknoor. We had poori for breakfast and it was very good. We enjoyed the breakfast and then got back on the saddle to resume the ride. It was 9:00 am when we restarted the ride.

The ride from Kuknoor to Yelburga was enjoyable as there was hardly any traffic. We were able to ride in the middle of the road and there was no one to force us off the road. We were able to enjoy the surroundings more as a result. Just as we got into Yelburga we could see that the town was bustling with activity mainly on account of independence day celebrations. We took the left at Yelburga towards Badami and saw that there was a huge ground of the University on which the Independence Day Parade was happening. As we rode further we saw a host of school children walking towards the ground to participate in the parade.

We rode about 2 kilometers and just as we reached a school entrance Rajkumar suffered a puncture. We stopped at the entrance and started fixing the puncture. As the school was relatively empty on account of the parade we did not have too many school children around, however, the ones that remained made a sizeable crowd and we had an audience watching us fixing the puncture. It took a while to fix the puncture as the tube refused to be inflated. Finally when we did manage to inflate the tube, we saw that the number of children had swollen, couple of quick snaps with them and then we were on our way.

We were told that the road was not in good condition after Yelburga, however seeing that the road was in excellent shape surprised us. It was internal roads in Karnataka and seeing them in good condition was very surprising. We were making good time even though there was a head wind. We could see the hills in the distance from the morning and as we rode we were getting closer to the hill. Had a feeling that these are the hills at Badami and the sculptures are engraved in these hills. As we got closer the view of the hill kept getting better. We got past Sudi and stopped at a small town bought bananas, rode out of town and stopped to take a break and eat the bananas.

We resumed the ride at 12:15 pm. We rode for about 45 minutes and reached Banashankari. The famous Banashankari temple is located here. Although this was not in our original plan we decided to visit the temple. There was a huge pushkarini outside the temple which was dry. We made our way into the temple and saw that it was filled with devotees and a long queue for darshan. We did not stand in the queue as it would take a very long time and walked around the temple and made our way out.

We were 5 kilometers from Badami. It did not take long to get to Badami. As it was 1:30 pm when we reached Badami town we decided to stop for lunch before going to the caves. We had a Jolada Rotti Oota and then made the short trip to the Badami Caves. We parked our cycles, followed the usual drill of looking for a safe corner for the cycles, then locking them together and headed to the ticket counter to purchase the entrance tickets.

When I got back from purchasing the tickets, I saw that Rajkumar had a concerned look. He said that it was not safe to leave the luggage on the cycle since there were a lot of monkeys and one had jumped onto his luggage and had begun to tear the rain cover. A person had alerted Rajkumar about the monkey menace and when he tried to chase the monkey the monkey had snatched the person's wallet and made its way up the tree. In a short while there was money raining from the tree as the monkey emptied the wallet. It took about 10 minutes for the monkey to throw the wallet after emptying its contents.

We were stuck, I was not too keen on unloading the luggage and preferred taking the cycle outside the Cave premises, however I was told that it was the same situation outside as well and that we had to unload the luggage. We were told that we could keep the luggage at the canteen near the Help Desk and then go to the caves. With no other option, we unloaded the luggage, requested the canteen owner to keep our luggage in the canteen and made our way to the caves. When we came out we saw a monkey sitting on Rajkumar's cycle and decided to ignore it as there was nothing on the cycle. However, on second thought Rajkumar decided to chase it just in case and took a couple of steps towards the cycle by which time the monkey went back to the tree.

The Badami Caves is a smaller version of the Ajanta/Ellora caves. The sculptures are beautiful, however they are restricted to the outside walls of the caves and the inside is barren. There is a Jain cave, a Shiva Cave and 2 caves dedicated to Vishnu. Other caves are still being discovered, however what is open to public are 4 caves. The highlight of the Badami caves along with the sculptures is the view of the lake and a temple at the corner of the lake from the Badami Caves.

As it was a holiday, there were a lot of people visiting Badami and the guides were having a field day. As the number of caves and the sculptures are relatively less, they would explain each sculpture in detail which would lead to large group accumulating near one sculpture. Further people striking poses near the caves also was a deterrent as they prevented others from proceeding for a relatively long period of time. However, the thing that sat in the mind the most were the monkeys. Not only were they a menace at the parking lot, they were a menace near the caves as well as they were snatching water/snacks from the tourists hands and left us holding onto our phones/bags tightly and hoping that we would not be targeted by them.

I was relieved when I made it back to the canteen without being attacked by a monkey. We had a few refreshments at the canteen and then watchfully headed to the cycles and pushed them to a safer place before loading the luggage. Rajkumar's handle bar tape had been cut by a monkey by the time we returned from the cave. It was 3:15 pm when we started from Badami and made our way out of town slowly as the roads in town were not in good condition.

The minute we exited town, we had good roads and sun flower fields for company. The Sun flowers were in full bloom and it was sight watching them all aligned towards the Sun. After the initial warm up phase, the road was slightly downhill and Rajkumar began to speed towards Pattadakal. I rode closely behind and was able to draft and keep up with Rajkumar. When we reached Pattadakal it was 4:15 pm. We had ridden 22 kilometers in an hour and were not feeling the effects of having raced through the section.

We parked the cycles and entered a beautiful premises which housed a host of temples. The architectural beauty was astonishing and we could easily spend a few hours at the place. However, being constrained on the time front we breezed through from one temple to another. Pooja is performed only at one temple in the premises and as expected the place was packed with people. We walked to the see the river flowing behind the premises and were disappointed to see an almost dry river bed. We made our way out of the premise and were still in awe of the place.

When we were about to get started we were informed that there are a lot of temples in Aihole, however the main temple is the Durga Temple and that we need to hurry as the place closes at 6:00 pm. It was 4:45 pm when we started from Pattadakal and were expecting to get to Aihole easily as it was just 14 kilometers away. What we did not know was that the road is not in good condition. With road work in progress the road was not in great shape and the ride was relatively slow. The Sun had begun its descent, and in spite of the cool temperature I was struggling to ride on bad roads.

We reached the outskirts of Aihole at 5:15 pm and began seeing temple structures. They were all looking good and we wanted to go in to see them, however we realised that they were not the main temple and that we had to get to the main temple before it closes. We got to the Durga Temple at 5:30 pm and saw that the other temples pale in front of this temple. Moreover, with the Sun having begun its descent, the lighting was perfect and we were awestruck by the temple with the blue sky in the background. It was again a complex which housed a lot of temples and we walked around the complex admiring the work. It is said that Aihole was the training ground for perfecting the art and Pattadakal is where we get to see the finished product of training at Aihole.

Having enjoyed the sculptures and temples at Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole we stopped at a shop for refreshments and refilling water before beginning the ride. I had a cold Badam Milk and found it to be very refreshing. Had another one and then started the ride to Hungund.

Initially the ride was slow as I stopped to check on the luggage and then to have a toffee. However after that we steadily began to increase the pace. The road till Amingad was a two lane road, it was just 9 kilometers from Aihole and we made it in 30 minutes to Amingad. We got onto the highway when we reached Amingad and from here it was a 4 lane road and with the luxury of a broad shoulder on the left of the road we began to ride quickly. Took us a further 30 minutes to reach Hungund with a 5 minute break to enjoy the view of the hill behind Amingad.

Rajkumar called his friend Guru who is a teacher at Hungund and we went to Guru's house to stay for the night. We freshened up and then Guru took us out for dinner and then we went back to his place and crashed for the night.

Day 5: Hungund - Kudala Sangama - Almatti Dam - Bijapur:

Date: 16 August 2017

Total distance: 125 Kilometers

Start Time: 7:50 am

End Time:  17:40 pm

With: Rajkumar Khot

Altitude Profile:

The last day of the tour. We woke up around 6:00 am and by the time we were ready it was 7:00 am. Guru insisted that we should have breakfast before we leave and took us for breakfast. We had upma and kesari bath for breakfast, filled up water and then rode to the highway. Thanked and said good bye to Guru and then started the ride.

As the distance planned for the day was only about 130 kilometers the late start did not matter too much. However, the Sun was out at 8:00 am itself and we were in for a hot ride. We were back on NH 50, however the highway was 6 laned and we did not face an issue with traffic. We rode at an easy pace on the highway and before long we had to turn right towards Kudala Sangama.

We were onto interior roads which were in good condition. 6 kilometers later we were at Kudala Sangama. We parked the cycle and headed to the banks of the Krishna River before going into the temple. After the temple visit we made our way to a walkway from where we get to see the Krishna River and Malaprabha River merging and flowing ahead as the Krishna River. A long flight of stairs takes us down to a Shiv Ling in the basement which looked to be below the water level of the river. We made our way back up and sat for a while at the temple.

When we came out of the temple we headed to the Basava Peetha and then to Akkamma temple. The Akkamma temple was still under construction, the structure is completed but the interiors are pending. We saw these places and then started the ride from Kudala Sangama.

We opted for the interior road rather than riding to the highway. The interior road would connect to Almatti Dam and we would avoid the highway. The road ran parallel to the highway for most part. There was a strong head wind which made riding difficult. We made slow progress and made it to the bridge overlooking the Almatti Dam. While taking pics we were told that we could go near the back waters and that there was a turn ahead and we had to ride about a kilometer before making the turn.

We got back on the saddle and rode towards the Almatti Dam entrance. As informed we took the turn and saw that there was a huge park constructed overlooking the dam, we decided to see this on the way back and rode up towards the Dam. Visitors were not allowed on the dam, however, we were allowed to ride towards the back waters. Although we could not see the dam. the water stretched out to the horizon. Another vast water reservoir.

We rode back towards the Mughal garden, parked our cycles and took a walk in the park to see the Almatti Dam from up close. The garden was maintained well and as we walked back we saw that there is a musical fountain as well which probably is operational only in the evenings. We walked back and got back on the cycles and started the ride towards Bijapur.

We were out of water and had to refill soon. Just as we made it out of the Almatti Dam premises, we came across a few hotels. It was 12:00 pm, early for lunch, however as we were not sure of the options further up the road we decided to have an early lunch.

It was 1:15 pm when we started the ride from the restaurant. We were 68 kilometers from Bijapur and the Sun was making its presence felt. It was probably the highest temperature that we were riding in on this tour. Just as we got back on the highway, we ran into a head wind, however it became cloudy and the Sun hid behind the clouds which brought the heat down. We were riding slowly as the wind was strong and riding was difficult in spite of the reduced temperature.

As we were heading away from the river belt I knew that the gradient would be uphill. However, it was not as bad as I had expected and I was happy to be riding around 20 kmph. With about 60 kilometers remaining to Bijapur we began to see the cloud build up. I stopped when a drizzle started and packed the phone. The drizzle lasted a few kilometers and then we were riding on wet roads. We had missed the shower. However, as we got closer dark clouds loomed in the distance and we were sure that it would rain. A few more kilometers and the clouds opened up.

It was very heavy rain. The wind did not let up as well. The wind was blowing diagonally from the left to the right and the water droplets were hitting me so hard that it felt like I was being hit on my left side by pebbles. The puddles were building up and vehicles overtaking us were giving me a bath from the right. Initially, I was irritated with the vehicles, however I accepted that they did not have an option and everytime a vehicle overtook me I braced for a huge shower.

I began to accelerate and increased the speed so that I could ride out of the cloud cover and make it beyond the rain. The gradient was uphill, however it did not matter and I kept pushing the pace. Rajkumar was right behind and both of us were riding quickly. Surprisingly, the water did not stick on the glasses and I was able to ride with the glasses in the rain. Most of the time I followed the white line on the road and made fleeting glances up the road to ascertain the gradient.

The rain was not letting up and neither were we. We were pedaling relentlessly and were making good ground. Bijapur was not too far off and I was hoping that it would not be raining in the city. The rain let up when we reached Managoli. It changed from heavy rain to a drizzle. As we were riding quick, we did not back off and continued to ride quickly. We were within 20 kilometers of Bijapur and as we got closer to the city the rain stopped. However the roads were wet and the dirt from the road began to accumulate on the cycle. The little bit of cleaning which had taken place during the ride in heavy rain was wasted and the cycle was dirty again.

I slowed down as we got closer to the city. We enquired about the directions to Gol Gumbaz and were told to continue riding on the Outer Ring Road as we would avoid traffic. A few kilometers on the ring road and then a left taken when we entered the city. Puddled roads and flyovers made things difficult; we made it to Gol Gumbaz at 4 pm.

We entered the premises and when we were looking for parking we were surrounded by a host of people. It started as an enquiry by one person and within a few seconds we had like 12-15 people surrounding us. I was not too keen on conversing with the crowd and wanted to get away. Rajkumar did the answering and after 10 minutes we were to ourselves. A couple of quick pics and then we had a tiff over parking the cycle before being made to park the cycle in a rather open area and then made our way towards the monument.

The monument was gigantic and visitors are allowed to climb to the top of the structure. When we made it to the top, we can enter the dome. Clear instructions have been written that silence has to be maintained inside the dome, however people hardly respected the sanctity of the place and were shouting as soon as they got into the dome. Being a closed space, with a lot of people shouting the sound was amplified and I felt like my eardrums were going to rupture. Every moment I spent inside the dome was like being tortured and I was happy to come out onto the terrace.

We made it back to the bottom and then headed to the VRL office. Checked if they would take the cycles as luggage and were told that we would have to book in the AC Sleeper leaving at 9:30 pm. We booked the tickets; headed back to town searched for a hotel and after a little searching got one and freshened up. As it was the last day in North Karnataka, headed out for a Jolada Rotti Oota and then got back to the room, checked out and headed to the bus. We had to pay luggage charges, however the luggage was loaded without any issues and we were on our way back to Bangalore.

Trip Summary:

We reached Bangalore at 6:00 am. We got down at Anand Rao Circle. The cycle had suffered damage again, there were scratches on the frame and the handle bar tape was torn. Loading the cycle on private transport vehicles is not working out well for me.

The trip on the whole was a very good one. the Negatives were that Rajkumar's phone display broke, the road from Chitradurga to Hosapet and from Hitnal Toll to Koppal, other than this it was a very good ride. We rode from South Karnataka all the way to North Karnataka and covered almost all the places of historical relevance on this stretch.

It was a trip on which we saw the architectural beauty of yesteryear and were left awe struck by the kind of work that had been done. We were left wondering about the kind of knowledge, expertise and tools which they possessed. Their skill level which is unmatched to this day even though we consider ourselves to be technologically more advanced. A visit to Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole only leaves us wondering if we are going backwards with all the advancement in science and technology or is it only a case of bad knowledge transfer from our ancestors.

From a cycling perspective, this was a relatively easy ride as it did not have any hills/mountains to climb and was easily spaced on the distance front as well. It was ride in which we had head/cross winds as our companion all through, it made us put in additional effort to keep going and turned to be a good workout at the end of the day. It was a satisfactory ride with no lows and no highs as well. There were many enjoyable moments. The ride on the interior roads was very good, got to see a variety of crops and the road quality was surprisingly good.

Overall, a very good ride cycle tour with a lot left in the tank to push further being a positive from this ride.

Day	From	To	Distance	Ride Time (hrs)	Total Time (hrs)	Avg Speed	Elevation Gain (mtrs)
1	Bangalore	Chitradurga	211	10.00	15.00	21.10	1,082
2	Chitradurga	Hampi	153	8.00	11.00	19.13	1,387
3	Hampi	Koppal	66	6.00	9.00	11.00	721
4	Koppal	Hungund	160	8.25	12.50	19.39	1,086
5	Hungund	Bijapur	125	6.50	9.75	19.23	910
	Total		715	38.75	57.25	18.45	5,186