Malenadina Cycle Yatre

I have not done a bike tour in more than a decade . My last solo trip was a Mysore -Cochin Ride via Ooty foothills somewhere in 2009 and a relaxed 4 day tour around Goa with my wife organized by  YHAI in  2011 . After that somehow long distance touring never happened for me  . In the last 5-6 years my bike rides  has been limited to a weekly 1 hour fitness ride and  rides to the neighborhood park with my 5 year old son  in his child seat. 

Thanks to Covid  and the Visa delays triggered by it , I found myself coming back to home in Mysore for a extended time in Nov 2020 . The uncertainty of  the US Visas meant that I would be home for at least 3-4 months if not more .  A foot injury which has been bothering me for sometime now forced me to take it easy on running and start riding my bike again .  

During one of my work trips to US in 2007-8 , I had bought a Gary Fisher Marlin and got it back with me to Mysore . The bike has been collecting dust for the last 5-6 years as I have not been home much .So since coming home in Nov,  I have been riding around Mysore regularly, about 100 miles a week . Usually I take one main road out , and then ride through some villages to reach another highway to come back . So its like out on Manandavadi road , back on Nanjungud Road  through sidhuvalli etc .. All this riding got me interested to try and do a Multi Day tour . 

A close friend of mine was doing the Tour De Malnad and was asking me to ride with him . But I did not have a road Bike and moreover a very planned , expensive tour like that was not something that I wanted to do . So I decided to do parts of the tour on my own . 

A day before I started on the ride,  I gave my bike for service at Cyclopedia Mysore . The guys did a great job and got the bike working like new quickly . Brake wires were changed , Chain was replaced , Gears were tuned and my bike was shining like new . But there was a problem , because I got a new chain. The first 3 gears were slipping like crazy because the cassette tooth was worn out and there was no 8 speed  MTB cassette available in Mysore. I wanted to start my ride on the next day , and Lokesh from Cyclopedia suggested that I  use a compact  road cassette as that was the only available option . I was in two  minds because a compact cassette was expensive and more because the gear ranges would be much limited which might bite me while riding the long uphills  , But since I did not have any option I had them put the compact cassette and  left . 

Day 1 - 

Started from Mysore at around 7:30 in the morning . I had planned to go Hassan and take the bypass to KR Nagar via Sagarkatte which is a beautiful route as you would be riding in between Kaveri Back waters . But I missed the turn near Eliwala and ended up taking the longer bus route through Bilikere . The rest of the ride, about 120 Kms was  pretty boring all along the highway . But given that I had not done a 100+ kms ride  in a long time , It probably was good to get some flattish miles under my belt before the Ghat roads for the next 2 days . I skipped lunch and just had some Sugar cane juice , Reached Hassan at around 2:30 . 

Arkeshwara  Temple Outside KR Nagara

WindMills for Company on a long highway.

                                                                           Mavinkere Ranganatha ..

Day 2 -

The tour de Malnad was starting from Hassan to go Subramanya , I decided to stick to the same route Started by 6:00 , about an hour before the tour guys started . Reached Gorur and decided to walk around in Gorur Dam ,The guard allowed me to park my bike inside the gate  and  I walked around the dam for some time . I was told that the  house of famous Kannada writer Ramasmamy Iyenger ( father of Capt. Gopinath of Air Deccan ) is somewhere close by . Just remembered  one of his stories we had in primary school and  left the place . Because of my extended break some of the tour guys caught up with me and we rode together on some stretches . After Gorur the route became interesting , we rode through ArkalaGudu , shanivarasanthe where I stopped for a quick breakfast . After Shanivarsanthe it was mostly downhill all the way to Bisle . The view point was a little crowded and the view a little hazy due to the clouds , But nevertheless it was still breathtaking  . After a brief stopover at the view point , rode towards Subramanya , 105 kms mostly downhill for the day . Reached Subramanya at around 3:30 . The road from Hassan to Subramanya was mostly very good except for 2 bad stretches for about 4 Kms  which was being repaired .  Had a great Darshana of  Subramanya at the temple in the evening .

Sunrise outside Hassan .. On the way to Gorur

Hemavathy Reservoir -Gorur

Hoysala

Gorur Dam Entry

Finally Coffee Country - Somewhere near shanivarasanthe

A stone before Bisle , It has Arabian sea/Bay of Bengal inscribed on it , 

A local told me that it is from British times

Bisle View 

Entry to the Bisle View Point ,Easy to miss if you dont know

Another Bike Pic ..

                                                              

                                                                       Finally At Kukke .. 

Day 3  -

Went again to the temple  for a morning darshan and left Subramanya after breakfast at around 8:00 AM , Everyone that I had met on the previous day had warned me about the tough Shiradi Ghat .The initial 20-25 Kms was on  great, gentle rolling hills  to a small place called Gundya . From Gundya , it was relentless uphill all the way till Sakleshpura .I made the mistake of not refilling water bottles at Gundya and after that there are no stores for the next 20 kms . I was riding on the smallest gears , I did stop at a couple of view points briefly . On this stretch you will get a  stunning view at every corner , since I had to go all the way to Chikmagalur by evening and take a bus back to Mysore. I did not stop anywhere for a long time . The traffic is definitely a lot more on this road as it is the bus route and truck route , But the road is in very good condition .  Took a long time to reach near Sakleshpur .Just before the sakleshpura town  then took a deviation towards Mudigere and then to Chikmangalur . This stretch  was mostly downhill and some small rolling hills . 

There is very little traffic and the road  goes through coffee estates ., But after the tough climb to Shiradi Ghat , I just wanted to just reach the finish . Maybe next time I should plan  a break in Sakleshpur at least in Mudigere to make it more enjoyable . Reached Chikmangalur at around 6:00 PM . Went straight to bus stand and was told that there are no Airavata/Rajahamsa to Mysore . The next red bus was at 7:30 , so decided to explore around and drink some Chikmangalur coffee, I went to a fairly upscale coffee place called world of coffee and tried their Filter Coffee and next went into a Darshini and had their filter coffee , I somehow like the Darshini coffee better than the expensive place .. Came back to the bus stand at 7:10  to take the bus to Mysore . But the conductor refused to take my cycle reasoning that the bus might get crowded in Hassan causing inconvenience to other passengers .  He did allow to take my bike in and try ,But even I was convinced that it would be very tough if the bus got full . So while sitting in the bus stand and pondering what next , a thought occurred that I might as well stay back and ride to Hassan next day and probably get a Airavata to Mysore from there . Booked a room ,got freshed up and while biking to get some dinner , I noticed a big rubbing sound on the rear wheel , I thought the rear wheel might had been bent and the brakes are rubbing the wheel and I removed the rear break , but the sound was still there , later on close inspection I realized that it was side stand which was loose and hitting the wheel . I decided to live with that and fix it later in Mysore . 

One of the few stop on shiradi Ghat .. 

Pic doesnt make Justice .. The real views at every turn is out of the world

Filter Coffee - Chikmagalur..

Day 4 - 

Left Chikmangaluru at 6:30 and started riding towards Hassan on Belur road. After about 30 minutes saw an arch welcoming to the village Halmidi . I stopped by and enquired if the 1st Kannda stone scripture was somewhere closely and the villagers told that it was about a 4 km detour , Made a note to self that I will try and go there on my next visit , The road was mainly flat or downhill , But I was mentally not prepared for this ride . My plan was to take a bus from Chikmangaluru , so that made the ride less enjoyable . Stopped at the Yagachi Dam for a quick water break , Yagachi Dam is built on river Yagachi and it is about 2 kms before Belur . They dont allow inside , But it is a good place for a quick break . Next stop Belur , I decided to spend some time at the temple , The carvings here is  just out of the world . I had planned the quick break , But the temple is so amazing that I speant more than an hour there , had a quick breakfast and rode to the Belur bus stand to enquire if I can find an Airawata to Mysore . The people there told that  there is no Airvata from there and not even one from  Hassan . OMG  that means I would need to ride back all the way to Mysore . Next stop Hassan , Again went to bus stand asking for Airavata and was again told the same thing . It was already Noon and I still had to ride an unplanned 120 kms on a boring highway . Only good thing is that it has more downhill sections . I had come via the same road 2 days back , so I had a good idea on where I can find sugar cane , tender cocunuts to fuel my ride . Stopped by at Holenarsipura for a quick lunch and started towards Mysore , this time keeping a close watch for the deviation via SaagarKatte and Gungral Chatra instead of the bus route via Bilikere . This road is just before we come to KR Nagara and the road is very scenic , , the surface is good and it also cuts the distance by a good amount . By the time I reached Eliwala it was 7:00 and already dark and I was till 20 kms away from home on a very busy Hunsur road . But this being my home strech , I was confortable riding in peak traffic in the night eventually reaching home at around 8:00. I had done about 175 kms , the longest ride that I have ever done in a single day . 

Halmidi Village , Place where first Kannada Stone Scripture was found 

Yagachi Dam on Yagachi River near Belur 

Yagachi Reservoir

Belura Gudiyalli , Keshavana Edduralli , Shilegalu sangithava haadive .. 

Almost Home .. Cauvery at Sagarkatte ...

AfterThoughts-

All in all it was a wonderful tour . bumped into  the crew /riders of Tour De Malnad and they were all very nice . Although I felt some were like why is this guy riding with us without registering . One of their  drivers kept asking me when I  am going to Mysore every time he saw me . 

Thanks to Praveen and Db for your suggestions on the routes . 

Notes to Myself for the next trip - On each day , Plan ride time to be not more than 5-6 hours so that there is enough time to explore , or just gaze at the vistas or even just sleep if I feel like . Also try to reduce Highway miles Like the Mysore - Hassan- Mysore part  and  ride more on the scenic sections , instead riding all day on the Highway . So probably start in Madkeri and go to  .. hmm Jog falls is calling ..