Cycling @Madikeri

It was a 50km ride and hearing to 50 I was relaxed as I had done much longer distances earlier and had a very high expectation of this terrain being the same. With lots of energy and enthusiasm 17 BTCians boarded bus at Majestic and there started our journey to Madikeri. Having the intro session and knowing about each other remains always a fun at BTC. Having said that, it was a wonderful start for our journey. We reached Madikeri by 6 in the morning and when I got down the bus, there het the first showers on my face giving me a kickstart for the day. Just imagining the ride on these pristine roads, with this low-lit drizzle had already got chillness running on my nerves.

                         

This is just a bicycle not a ticket to your dreams. It’s not a romantic poem immortalized in black and white photography. It doesn’t notice if you’re suffering nobly through wind and rain or care if your ride is epic enough, but it does leap forward when you push the pedals. It dives and carves and sprints, it gives back exactly what you put in. And of course, it can also make you feel damn awesome.

                           

The Start 😊

We started the ride by 8AM, as it was just a start all were high on energy and adding to it hardly did the terrain have uphill’s. We were done with the first 3 or 4 km and all of us were hungry. Stopped at one place and had breakfast as if there was no another breakfast for us. Back to form we continued the ride, luckily the next 4km was a downhill and all the bikes moved with jet speed. Usually we spend hours thinking and questioning, but this moment, we had no time to think, just reaction, focus! All the worry and want was washed away by the rush. Now comes the stamina test where we had to ride steep uphill and it was no easy for even a good experienced cyclist to do this. Few of us giving up riding started to push the bikes uphill. “Move off road”, “jeep ahead”, “keep left”, “downhill ahead”, “keep up the spirit”, “push your limits” mantras sang all the way till the destination. A moderate ride was slowly turning to a difficult adventurous ride, and most of us were losing out on energy, frequent hydration, topping up with proteins (chocolates, biscuits, omelets and snacks), the ever-energetic organizers all kept us focused on the terrain and helped us bring back that little bit of extra energy.

                        

Somewhere at 15 km we got split into two groups and the group behind, in which I was a part of were trying to push our limits to the maximum. The last 3km really tested our stamina to max making it difficult even to balance our bikes. Adding to this we got never ending support and appreciation from the passersby, it made us feel special and something like standing out of crowd, something different than usual. I was so relieved when I saw the board which had these lines written “Welcome to Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuary”. We were at the destination by 3 p.m. and we were way too late on our schedule so could spend only 15min on the peak. This peak is at a height of 4050ft and when we reached the view point the breeze was way too ferocious making it difficult for us even to stand straight. This stretch of Pushpagiri was a treat to my eyes and they stand there so majestic and peaceful. Though we spent only 15min here the entire journey from Madikeri to point where I stood at this moment was an amazing life-time remembering experience. With the adventures that the trail offered us, as bonus came the rain, beautiful stretch of coffee plantations, mesmerizing views and a great learning.

                      

It was 3.15pm and none had lunch, we had to cycle back 3km for the lunch point. So, started our journey back, most of it downhill and some uphill. Downhill as mentioned, was not the tar road which we find in Bangalore, those were complete off-road mountain terrain and in case if any one of us had lost balance it would lead into a disaster. Playing with those loose stones, watching out the grip on our breaks, pushing our limits on uphill, finally reached the lunch point by 3.45pm. Having lunch to the fullest brought back some energy in us. The ride back to homestay which was 20km was something scaring as we had taken 7 hours to reach the peak, so we would take at least 4 hours back. It was 5PM when we started to head back to the homestay. As the clock ticked the sky faded making the environment more thrilling and adventurous, to this added the uphill’s where we shelled out our energy. 6 PM pitch dark, thanks to the sooper moon for showring some light on us, so that we can see the way. 6 to 7 of us pushing our limits, not knowing still how long this will continue, sweating our energy out walked and walked. The sight of our breakfast point was such a relief to us, giving us a sign of huh that we are somewhere close to the homestay. Energized with lemon juice we were back on our bikes, another 3 to 4 km and we were there at our homestay, the last part was pretty good and could be completed with ease when compared to earlier. The time I entered the gates of the homestay there lied a sense of proudness on myself and I felt so thankful for myself for not giving up. All thanks to our Rockstar organizers “Pavan & Arun” for their constant support and encouragement. If it was not for these guys, this mission would have become mission impossible.

                         

Mandalpatte Peak

Day 2 was quite relaxing, we visited the Raja’s seat and Abbe Falls. Quite a crowded place, but had good time with the gang. Apart from the adventure we had, the group was way too awesome, those lame jokes, slogans sang while cycling, teasing each other a bundle of fun it was. Another adventure and a new set of friends added. Cheers to 

BTC.

                         

Abbe Falls

                          

Selfie Raja’s selfie :P

Written By     : Sneha N reddy

Organized By : Arun & Pavan

Date of event : Dec 2 & 3, 2017

Place              : Madikeri

Pictures          : BTC FB Page