Basavanbetta Weekend

Date: 22 September 2018 - 23 September 2018

Total distance: 379 Kilometers

Start Time: 5:00 am 22 September 2018, 4:30 am 23 September 2018

Return Time: 3:30 pm 22 September 2018, 3:45 pm 23 September 2018

With: Alone on 22 September 2018, Rohit Bidkar on 23 September 2018

Altitude Profile:

Koramangala - Kanakpura - Basavanbetta - Ramanagar - Thathaguni - Koramangala

Koramangala - Kanakpura - Basavanbetta - Kanakpura - Koramangala

The weekend came by quickly, however I had plans for Sunday, Saturday was the only day available for riding. Rohit Bidkar checked about riding on Sunday, however, since Saturday was the only day available for me, I had to ride alone on Saturday.

I set the alarm for 3:30 am. I had to force myself out of bed at 4:00 am and got ready. 4:30 am was the preferred start time, I was able to start only at 5:00 am. The 30 minute delay was not too worrying and I got going slowly and negotiated the way out of the bad roads within the city.

It was day break by the time I reached Kanakpura road. I met Go Green Rao on the way, they were riding to Mysore along with a couple of friends. The roads are not in great shape on account of the metro construction and having to slow down on descents is very disappointing. It was day break by the time I reached Kaggalipura. The improved visibility gave the opportunity to enjoy the sun kissed view of the lakes between Kaggalipura and Harohalli.

The ride pace improved after Kaggalipura and it did not take long to get to Harohalli. Road work between Harohalli and Kanakpura was a deterrent since it is effectively a single lane road now and I had to get off the road on a couple of occasions to allow the buses through. It took 2.25 hours to get to Kanakpura. Vasu hotel was crowded and I opted to ride a little ahead and stop at the next restaurant. I had a masala dosa and I was back on the road at 7:30 am.

The ride from Kanakpura to Basavanbetta was on the slower side. It took a while to climb from Kanakpura to Sathanur and the inevitable question of being able to climb Basavanabetta crossed the mind. Decided to cross the bridge when I get there and soldiered on to get to the base of the climb at 8:40 am.

It has been almost an year since I have climbed this hill and the memory of the gradient is patchy. The blanket memory of the hill being very steep is there which prompted me to get into the low gears and I started the climb. The Sun was out and it was very hot. I did not do too badly over the first kilometer and was feeling good physically and pushed a little harder. Half a kilometer later I was struggling for breath and I could hear the heart pounding. I tried to keep going, however with the sound of the heart pumping getting louder, I opted to stop and catch my breath. It's a rather lonely hill and with minimal vehicular traffic and people around, the sound of us breathing is probably the loudest thing that we will hear here other than the birds chirping. A minute lost to catch my breath and after this it was about riding within limits and not about pushing the pace. The gradient did not let up for a couple of kilometers, before it gave a gap and then kicked in again.

I made it to the top and headed towards the temple. I made a futile attempt in searching for the Cauvery river view point and gave up when I could not locate it. It was time to get back down and ride back home. Made a quick descent with a stop for a pic.

It was 10:15 am and I had time on hand. Decided to ride the Halaguru - Channapatna route rather than riding back through Kanakpura. A new route would keep the excitement level up. It was country side roads and I did pass by a lake with the Kabbaldurga hill in the back drop which was a good sight. I was happy to have taken this route although I would be reaching the Mysore Road in a few kilometers and would have to ride back on a very familiar route.

I got onto Mysore road around 11:15 am and half an hour later I was at Kamat Lokaruchi. It was early for lunch, however I was hungry and wanted to stop. I had a sugar cane juice and a plate of Jolada Rotti, the energy level was back.

It was a 30 minute stop, I was back on the saddle and back in the Sun. Not long before I got past Ramanagar and started the climb back towards Bangalore. The appetite to explore new routes was not satiated as yet and when I reached Kumbalgodu the option to try the Kumbalgodu to Thattaguni route was available and I took the turn. I had been told that it was rolling terrain in this route and the ride confirmed that it was rolling terrain. There was a lot of truck traffic in this route initially before it became empty roads and was an enjoyable ride.

Getting back onto Kanakpura Road killed the appetite for the ride and the mind frame shifted to 'let's get back home' mode. It was not long before I hit the traffic section near the Metro construction and then a laboured ride through the city brought me back home.

After getting back home, the plan for Sunday was cancelled. With Sunday available, I checked with Rohit if he is riding and confirmed that I would join. It was going to be a repeat of the location, however, it was a chance to see if the body could hold up against the rigours of having to climb the hill on consecutive days.

We had decided to start at 4:30 am and for a change I was able to get up on time and made it to Silk Board junction at 4:30 am. A small delay to sync up with Rohit and we were off at 4:45 am. The effects of the previous days ride were clearly evident as I was still sore. Doubts did crop up if I would be able to keep up with Rohit and I had written off the climb and had decided to take it easy on the climb.

The ride through the city was the usual stuff, avoiding the potholes. The first hour being lost in the city is getting frustrating and would prefer having to start after 30 kilometers when we get onto good roads. However, in this case, the good roads did not start even after 30 kilometers due to road widening works on Kanakpura road. It was frustrating to go into a few potholes near Kaggalipura.

Had I been riding alone, it would have been a slow ride. Having Rohit for company increased the pace by a couple of kilometers per hour. On cue we reached Kanakpura around 7:00 am. We stopped for breakfast at Vasu hotel and had a Idli Vada and Coffee. I had expected to take at least 3 hours to get to Kanakpura, however, it was not as slow as expected. Having a faster ride partner helped, however I was sure that I was holding him back and he would have been faster if not for me.

We resumed the ride post breakfast at 7:30 am. The Sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. It helped to keep the temperature down. A pleasant departure from yesterday since the Sun was belting down by this time. We had run through half of our water by the time we got to the foothill and made a stop before we took the turn to the foothill from the highway to refill on water and buy a couple of biscuit packets so that we don't run out of fuel on the climb.

The climb was onto us and I was not in a very bad space. It was 8:45 am when we were at the foothill. The same time that I had reached yesterday. The temperature was not too high on account of the Sun being behind the clouds. It was a difficult task to stick onto Rohit's wheel. After the initial kilometer it got easier and I was able to keep pace with Rohit. It was a steady climb to start with and as the confidence increased that the legs were not going to cramp, the pace kept increasing ever so slightly. It was a huge confidence booster to make it to the halfway mark and still not have any thoughts of stopping to rest. The hill seemed to be getting steeper, however, the legs kept giving that much more every time the steep sections came through. Half an hour later we were making it past the forest gate at the top and riding towards the temple. It took 10 more minutes, however, we reached the temple and had the usual photo shoot at the temple.

We left the cycles unattended and went to the temple. We had left our bags on the cycles and by the time we realised monkeys had gathered around my cycle and were busy checking my bag for eatables. I was worried about the wallet and by the time I could make it back to the cycle all the items from the bag were strewn on the ground, fortunately the wallet had also been left behind. I was picking up the items and packing them in the bag when the monkey decided to attack Rohit's bag. The attempt to chase the monkey resulted in Rohit's cycle having a fall. That was the end of seeing the temple at Basavanbetta and we decided to head back.

We rode slowly till the forest gate since the road is not good, post the gate we hurtled downhill. It was probably the quickest descent of Basavanbetta for me since I did not stop for photos except at one location which was almost at the end of the climb. I got to the foothill and waited for Rohit who came by in a couple of minutes.

Almost 10:00 am when we started the ride back home. Today there was no enthusiasm to try a new route and it was just about getting back home. It was going to be a ride back on Kanakpura road with a stop for lunch before getting into Bangalore. The previous day's ride was catching up with me and I was struggling to keep pace and had to keep pushing myself to ride quicker. It took a good hour and a quarter to get to Kanakpura. The downhill before Kanakpura, gave the false impression that I had recovered to an extent and was riding quickly.

Just when we reached Kanakpura town, Rohit had a puncture. My first reaction was to look for a place with shade. It was rather hot and I was pretty tired. We found a space about 100 meters away and set up shop. Took about 30 minutes to replace the tube and pump air into the new one. We had sugarcane juice before resuming the ride.

It was difficult riding post the break. It was very hot and I was rather tired. The sugarcane juice had taken care of hunger for the time being. We negotiated our way past the road work from Kanakpura to Harohalli and started the climb back to Bangalore. The clock ticked past 1:00 pm when we got to Kaggalipura. We stopped for lunch and had meals. It took an hour to have lunch as we were in a relaxed mood with no time pressure.

The post lunch ride was not very exciting as we entered the traffic filled roads of Bangalore. We weaved our way past traffic and potholes and took interior roads as much as possible to get back home at 3:45 pm. I was happy that I could climb Basavanabetta on consecutive days and to have done slightly better on the second day than on the first.