8th Jan, Day 1:
Our route to and fro was to be
Bangalore - Nelamangala - Tumkur - Gubbi - Tiptur - Arsikere - Kadur - Bhadravati - Shimoga - Sagar - Gersoppa - Honnavar ( break for the day).
This was the shortest route to Goa but the group who was coming the next day would ride via Mangalore which would entail 100kms more of riding.
Anyway we met up at the IISC/Tata/Bhel Circle at 6:15 and there were some like Prashant who would be riding the next day who came to see us off. Suddenly as we were greeting each other and warming up to go we are greeted by beautiful looking babes and a dude who come to give us a can each of Red Bull, an energy drink. They would be launching this drink soon and wanted us to sample this. This drink was specially designed for long riders to give us energy when we feel tired... we said what the heck. The girls were a sight for sore eyes for the guys and well they were motivated enough to get going. I was applauding their marketing skills which entailed catching the riders at the early hours of the cold bangalore morning shivering in their flimsy clothes.
Some riders were late and it was already 6:45 am so a few decided to leave and a few decided to stay for the latecomers. They would be catching us up anyways.
As we rode through Nelamanagala and then on to Tumkur, it was biting cold and we had a full sample of how cold Bangalore could be on the highway in winter. I was shivering inspite of the leather jacket and the gloves... The sun refused to warm us up till 8:30am that day.
At 7:15 we had breakfast at Katsandra, 3 kms before Tumkur where that guy served amazing Thate Idlis recommended by Jahangir. Jahangir, a native of Tumkur showed us his house as we passed the Tumkur city.We rode on to Gubbi taking short breaks on the way and at Arisekere we had a hearty lunch since we were all hungry and had enough of riding it was about 1:15 at that time. Lunch was a long drawn out session which we could have cut short but some decided to order beer and languish so we did not have any option but to wait for the rest to start. Finally after lunch we resumed our riding and cruised along the highway.
I must note here that this is the best road to use while going to Goa. Its peaceful and the traffic is very smooth and very well spaced out. The road is small but peaceful and a scenic route too amidst the forests.
We reached Shimoga and then on to Sagar where we stopped for refuelling. After Sagar, the ghat section started and we stopped again at Jog Falls. We decided that we would be see this place on our way back. The sun had set and we were at the beginning of the ghat section so we needed to be careful and maintain a constant speed without overtaking the other since there were many sharp curves and turns.
So we being the slow riders were selected to lead the ghat section. I was kind of tensed but well we crossed the section without any incidents and for that I was thanking god. When we were coming down the ghats it was a beautiful sight to see the lights of the bikes moving in a synchronized manner and I wish we could have photographed it . We were too foccused on getting to Honnavar which was to be our stop for the day.
We had covered some 481 kilometres approximately and we were looking forward to a well deserved rest.
Honnavar is a small coastal town with a good beaches and cheap food and great hotel. Right as we came down the ghats the we saw Hotel Siddarth next to Kamat's Executive Inn. We were recommended Kamat's Inn but we were offered a good discount by the manager when he saw the big group landing up and he was all the more happy when we told him that another group would be passing by. The rooms were fabulous boasted of TV and a big bathroom, what would cost some 500 plus in Bangalore costed us just 140 bucks per room. Amazing.
Dinner was a small party in one of our rooms but i was too exhausted to join them. Later on Rocky went on and on about the so fresh fish fry they had and I was left dreaming about the taste...
