Goa Bike Trip : Bikomaniacs 2014 - Part 2



At Yelagiri Foothills


Fast, on a rough road riding
High, through the mountains climbing
twisting, turning further from my home.
Young, like a new moon rising
Fierce, through the rain and lightning
Wandering out into this great unknown.

And I don't want no one to cry.
But, tell 'em if I don't survive

I was born free!
I was born free
I was born free, born free


From Kid Rock "Born Free" album.


Few important things I forgot to tell you in part -1. We had difficult time in finalizing the itinerary.

There are three different routes to Goa from Tamilnadu.


Route 1: Bangalore- Mangalore – Udupi- Karwar- Goa: West Coast Road 720 kms
 (Bangalore to Mangalore~ 350km +Mangalore to Goa ~370 Kms)

Many roadies dream about this scenic west coast Konkan drive. I too had. Tested that route last November by car. Disappointed – if I had to summarize it, in a single word. There was a bad patch of about 40 kms while crossing the western ghat near Mangalore – Shiradi ghat. Bad patch is an understatement. I remember the horrendous crawling on that shaky snaky ghat roads. Tar road was entirely ripped off by monsoon rains- left with only mud and wide, deep potholes. We had to drive in a zigzag manner and search for a better potholes to test our car’s road clearance. Many trucks carrying oil to and fro Mangalore Refinery, were seen broken down due to this. We were drifting by an average ten km per hour speed (?!) and it took us four hours to cover that stretch.
The dream of beautiful western coast line, never became a reality. Sea was mostly unseen from the road other than for a few hundred meters distance. Neither two lane ordinary roads did make our journey a memorable one. I expressed my opinion on whatsApp when Shankar and Arvind had similar dreams of cruising along picturesque west coast roads.

Three routes - Four minds!

Bangalore- Shimoga – jog falls – Karwar 637 kms (Bangalore – Shimoga 302 km through Channarayappattana: Shimoga – Goa 335 km through Sagar, Honnavar)
Last year while returning from Goa, we chose this way. Major attraction was Jog falls. I felt this was better than Mangalore- Goa road in regard to road conditions and pretty views.

Bangalore- Davangere- Hubli- Goa 592 kms (Bangalore – Davangere 262 km: Davangere – Goa 330 km)
Another popular route. None of us ever travelled through this. The Information we got through web was promising. This one is NH - four lane. The best among all, as far as road conditions are concerned. But as a roadie I wanted to go through small villages, farming fields and ghat roads.

Our aim was not only to reach the destination but enjoy the journey too!

 Out of the blue Columbus- Arvind discovered a fourth route!

Coimbatore- Kozhikode- Kannur- Mangalore- Udupi- Karwar – Goa.

Karthi was skeptical about Kerala roads and their rash driving. He had personal experience.
With so many available options and four smart (?!) brains working on it, we were going nowhere. Even one week before our departure we could not finalize the onward journey.
In a democratic way, voting was done. Disadvantage of Fabulous Four; it was a tie 2-2! (Karthi and I for Shimoga, Shankar and Arvind for Mangalore)
Finally after some Google search, half-heartedly both Shankar and Arvind agreed for the shimoga route.
Again there was a tie regarding the starting point: Mysore or Bangalore???

This time a compromise plan was hatched. Shankar and Arvind would stay 31st night at Mysore. I and Karthi would stay at Bangalore and both the teams would meet at a common point, at Channarayappattana on day two- Nov 1st.

Choosing the Name - Bikomaniacs

Bad boys, Roadies, Highway Hippies, Highway Crusaders…all were considered. Shankar was adamant on Bikomaniacs. We had to give up (pona podhu, pavam chinna paiyan)!



Weather alert from “whatsApp vingyani” Chinna - Cyclone Nilofar

Chinna pressed the panic button!  Frantically sent us a WhatsApp message regarding this cyclone’s landfall on Nov 1st near Gujarat. Hardly 15 days back HudHud devastated Vizag; too early to disappear from anyone’s memory. Most of us were aware of Nilofar. Did not want to create fuss and acted as if we were unaware of it. Mainly wanted to hide it from our family. My fear was this should not aggravate the anxiety of the family members, who were waiting for some genuine reason to stop this overambitious trip. If they had got one, the trip would have got cancelled forever. Through Chinna’s NASA contacts, we got every details about Nilofar and other weather forecast details, not only for earth, for Mars too! (Hallucination???!!!- Murali konjam Chinna va kavani).

Why Goa?

Goa’s image got beaten up heavily by our movies. Going to Goa??? Okay …Okay…Enjoy! Everyone stared winking at us. (Enna kodumai saravanan idhu!)
We chose Goa for different reasons. (saami mela satthiyamaa!)
Roads, Charming views, Beaches, Karnataka’s weather… etc.
Coming back to where I left in my last post…

Early Morning start

After Midnight packing and sleepless tumultuous mind, I woke up at 4:30 am. I was thrilled and ready at 6am.Felt like a warrior with the heavy Riding Jacket. Like me my metal- tiger RE was also eagerly waiting to be liberated; started singing/roaring … thud…thud…thud with happiness; my heart beat joined with that.
I could not hide the joy of going for the first Bike tour. Pranjali swiftly recognized the rare sight of big smile on my face and took a snap to freeze that historical moment!
She did not feel nervous or show anxiety about the trip. I remember- she even promised once – “if you don’t get friend’s company, I would come with you for long Bike tours!”
With so many uncertainties, anxious moments till the very end- felt relieved and happy to start. Posted that historical picture on whatsApp. Informed Karthi about my departure. I was the first one to start from our Bikomaniacs group.



Started from home at 06:15 am. Plan was to cheat the city traffic and sneak away, by early start.
When I hit the roads felt like I was set free from a cage; released from the claws of concrete jungle Demon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu3rsha1ZtI
 
                                   


The first thing struck me was the vastness of the space and the enormity of Mother Nature. Cramped city life makes your mind narrower; you are forced to fight for the space everywhere; at home, roads and work place. True caged life, windows shut and covered - polluted air and water.
Lazy Sun, still enjoying the morning winter sleep, was just peeping part of his face out of the cloud blanket and smiled at me- Good Morning!
I loved the drive from Kancheepuram to Krishnagiri. Four lane national highway, empty roads, post monsoon lush green fields; Yelagiri foothills added to the delight. Mesmerized by the beauty, I stopped for a while in a desolate road side near Vaniyambadi. Sat on the bike facing Yelagiri Hills. Enjoyed the complete silence. Distilled fresh breeze was soothing my mind and body. Closed my eyes. Gently blowing wind whispered in my ears-you belong here, leave the concrete city madness; come and live close to nature!

Part 2 ends here. Will meet you in part 3...

Cheers!
04-12-14,
Chennai,

7pm.

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