Manchinabele!

A biking trip was awaited. It had been too long. I for one cannot stay in the city for very long lengths of time. An occasional drive outside the city or a bizarre bike ride with a friend are looked forward to.

These guys had not gone biking for a (very) long time and my friend Liz was more than glad to hang out with friends. So it was set. The night before, Liz and me (mostly liz as I was heavy with sleep) prepared chicken sandwiches and chutney sandwiches for the trip. What did the guys do? Ask them. Braulio for one will happily inform you that he boiled half a dozen eggs. Nigel sent a message about a minor injury to his hand and that he would not join. After several unanswered calls, we concluded that he was absconding. Turned out his phone was on silent and monsieur was fast asleep and obviously did not enjoy the idea of going pillion. And we thought our sandwiches were a good enough reason! They were.

The 6 30 flag off didn't happen, and it was finally 8 30 when the guys finally managed to gather at our place and we were off!

Again, I thought it to be my duty to show my friends a road that could well have lead to heaven.
The NICE road start from Banerghatta road but the detour is not known and is not identifiable. On top of it, the small section joining the NICE road to the Banerghatta road is what could pass off as a dirt racing track. And so we navigated through the mud ripples and finally found ground. And behold! I think my post is well off track now, but it is still about a biking trip so it does well to write about the NICE road . This road is not yet open for public use.

Anyway, riding on the familiar Mysore road we stopped for tea at a small tea stall opposite Rajarajeshwari Dental College. Then took the right turn adjacent to the college and we off the highway, and more like off decent roads. The roads here are terrible! Oh and we were on a Bajaj Calibre, a HH Splendor and an Activa. Some biking trip?? ya rite!

Asif and me were leading the way, and little did the others know that we actually did not know the road but were just riding along :-). Once the ride turned out more arduous than we imagined, we stopped at a stretch with beautiful trees and and vast fields. Oh by the way, the guys forgot to carry water which was like their sole responsibility. So we only had 1 Tropicana carton to be rationed among 5 thirsty bikers out of which 2 were pretty damn pissed!!

It turned out a long ride solely because the road was terrible! Did i mention that already? And oh, another thought, we did not even know the name of the place, all we know was it was a dam, and that is exactly what we asked any local we met at a diversion. Some planning you say? well that's because we decided to head to this Dam rather than the original place when we were sipping our tea.

Finally we drew closer to the destination, and the road opened up to a sight that made us stop and blink twice! A truly beautiful view.

The fact that it takes you by surprise is what makes it special. We throttled along hoping it only got better. To our dismay, we found the gates to the dam chained. The only other road had a nice board " Beware of dacoits, do not go to isolated areas" welcoming us. After much thought we decided our lives were not that important anyway and we rode down the small road for more than 2 kms and finally settled to the banks of the water body. A military troop had camped there for training and canoed away to glory. No we didn't get a chance to do the same.
The place did not offer many shady places and we settled under what looked like a miniature Stonehenge.We finished our sandwiches and after a short game of football decided to explore the area,with our bikes. Biking over the hill we found refuge under a tree and with music from the SE phones, Braulio and Calvin managed to slip into deep slumber while Asif,Liz and me wondered how they did that.

Some time later, when the need for water seemed more important than a day out in the wilderness (and the Sun was not being too merciful either) we headed back, bikes et all to find the first place that sold something to drink. Thankfully the "dhaba" just across the lake had opened up and we quenched our thirsts.

Heading back, we stopped at the Big Banyan Tree which is roughly 3 kms from the place and we settled on the grass for regular chit chat. The shade was inviting and refreshing.

Back on the road, we kept on the Mysore road to reach Bangalore city traffic by 4pm and finally rested with freshly made lemonade at my place. That was One biking trip!!


PS:Next day, googled up the place we had been to, so now we know.