Nandi Hills

Date: 15 August 2018

Total distance: 150 Kilometers

Start Time: 4:30 am

Return Time: 1:00 pm

With: Rohit Bidkar

Altitude Profile:

Koramangala - Devanahalli - Nandi Hills - Devanahalli - Koramangala

Rohit Bidkar was riding to Nandi Hills on 15 August and enquired if I would like to join. I was keen to ride and having company was great. Although we knew that Nandi Hills would be very crowded we did not have an option to change the location since we had time constraints. We needed to be back in Bangalore by 1:00 pm, so we decided to ride to Nandi even though it was not a day when cyclists should be on that hill considering that it was a holiday and it would be crowded.

We decided to start at 4:00 am so that we would have sufficient time to climb the hill twice and get back in time. It has been raining in the evenings, getting back by mid-day I was sure that I would get back home before the rain and was looking forward to a ride in pleasant weather and getting back home dry.

I woke up to the sound of a drizzle. It was a turn off as I did not want to ride in the rain. Hoped that the rain would stop by the time I started from home. Our start got delayed and we were able to start at 4:30 am and fortunately it had stopped raining. The roads were wet and it did not take long for the muck from the roads to get onto the cycle. It was cold as well and it took a while for the body to warm up. I synced up with Rohit near Forum Mall and we headed out of the city.

The ride through the city was not very exciting, when we reached Hebbal flyover we got the first slighter of what was in store for us. There were a lot of bikers waiting near the flyover to start their ride. Hoped that they would not head to Nandi Hills and mentally prepared ourselves to have a traffic filled ride on the hill.

It was still not day break and with the first signs of day break, dark clouds were visible in the horizon. It was not a great sight as the dark clouds brought about an uneasy feeling. It was only a matter of time before the rains would start and it was a question of how far could we get before we get drenched.

Surprisingly the rain held off and we made our way past the highway and got onto the road towards Nandi Hills. I was struggling to keep pace with Rohit who was having a very good ride. We stopped at a shop a few kilometers before the foothill to have a few banana's and stocked up Coca Cola for the climb.

We were being passed by a lot of bikers which was not a pleasant sight. I had hoped that a lot of people would abstain from coming to Nandi Hills since the expectation was that it would be crowded, however, it did not materialise and it was going to be a ride with a lot of bikers and was going to test our patience levels.

We reached the foothill at 7:10 am and started the climb. We had reached 20 minutes before expected and that had us optimistic that we could climb twice before heading back. The sight of a cloud covered peak was an indication that it would get colder as we climbed. Rohit was riding quickly and I could not keep up with him. I tried to keep him in sight, which worked for the first 4 kilometers of the climb after which I could not keep pace when the gradient got steeper. There was a lot of traffic and people standing in the middle of the road to take photos which was hampering the ride. It was frustrating that I had to stop and wait for the people to move to resume riding. There was a lot of places where the vehicles were double parked which created traffic jams and wriggling past these sections was equally frustrating. As we got higher there was a heavy mist cover resulting in reduced visibility; I stuck to the left of the road to avoid being taken out by passing and oncoming traffic. It took 37 minutes to reach the arch at the top, a whole minute after Rohit had reached. We took the pic at the arch and started the downhill ride.

Low visibility and heavy traffic necessitated that the downhill be done carefully. I braked early and went in slow at the corners opting to take a safe approach rather than racing downhill. In spite of riding slowly, there was the usual car which slowed us down even further and did not give room to go past them. The crowd was increasing which resulted in a lot of traffic. If this was just about riding/driving up and down the hill it would be fine, however, I don't understand why they have to do so by shouting/hooting/honking and creating a ruckus while doing it. It was very disappointing that people don't respect nature and rather than enjoying the landscape peacefully, they would rather spoil the sanctity of the place. It was an irritating ride downhill. We made it to the foothill just before 8:00 am. There was a steady drizzle by the time we reached the foothill.

Although I was not interested in doing another climb on account of the etiquette of the people on the hill, we started another climb as we had decided to do 2 climbs. We started the second climb at 8:00 am. I was struggling from the beginning on this climb, Rohit was quick and it did not take long for him to disappear. It was evident that this would be a slower climb and the thought process was about trying to minimise the waiting time for Rohit at the top. Tried to keep going at a steady pace, however, I ran out of energy with 3 kilometers remaining and had to stop for a few sips of Coca Cola before I resumed riding. I was able to push myself to keep going after the drink break until I got the last couple of turns to the arch where there was a traffic jam. I had to wait for the traffic to clear before resuming and made it to the arch in the next couple of minutes. It was a 46 minute climb as compared to 42 minutes for Rohit.

The rain continued and the temperature was dipping at the top. I was beginning to shiver and wanted to get down as soon as possible. It was a slow descent again on account of the traffic and this time the roads were wet and slippery making us ride even more carefully than on the first descent. We reached the foothill and continued the ride as we had decided to stop for breakfast only after reaching the highway.

I was relieved to be off the hill and into slightly emptier roads than what was available on the hill. The rain was testing my patience and I did not enjoy riding in the wet conditions. It was a relatively easy ride to the highway with the rain being the only issue. We stopped at Nandagokula restaurant for breakfast. I had a Masala Dosa and was ready to go again. Positive here was that it had stopped raining.

About 3 kilometers after we restarted we were on dry roads. It was good weather conditions to ride in from here. We rode steadily and made it to the Hebbal flyover. The usual heavy traffic at the flyover was negotiated and rode into the city. A quick stop for  juice and then we rode back home.