Routine is boring and every normal day life feels like a life in prison unless of course if you are not in IT, which is summed up well by this dialogue in "Shawshank Redemption" by Red - "Prison life consists of routine, and then more routine... These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so depend on them. That's institutionalized." I've seen a lot of people including me stuck being institutionalized and refuse to accept any change. I have nothing against being institutionalized but it is no fun at all. "Routine can be assuring and comfortable but it's boring!" and when the boredom reaches a peak, that is when I try to do something stupid which challenges the Routine!
So this time I take up cycling to the highest mountain peak in Karnataka, well this was indeed a stupid idea especially when you are super unfit. But I had made up my mind to do it, thanks to Suhas (The Bicycle Kid) who keeps inspiring people around him to take up cycling and "Cycling & More (CAM)" group for organizing the trip. I have always loved cycling like most of us do, because that is one of the first things that we do as a child growing up which is exhilarating and so much fun. Learning to cycle for the first time can be compared to learning to walk for the first time and the best thing is we remember the moments this time around. Having grown up and that too fat and lazy needed some inspiration to go ahead on this trip but with friends around you it isn't that difficult either.
Day 1 -
The Bicycle Gang (as we would like to be called for it makes us sound cool) included Suhas, Manigandan, Muthuraj and Myself along with 20 others from CAM who joined us in the adventure. We started on Friday night to Chikkamagalur - which was to be our base camp for the entire trip. Reaching early morning at 4 we luckily got an hours sleep before getting ready to cycle. At around 7 we got to our respective cycles and as it usually happens before the start "The uncertainty principle" kicked in. This time it was Mani's cycle which had a flat tyre and we couldn’t find any tubes for replacement, Tension Mani as we fondly call him had turned gray with the untimely worry. But thanks to CAM as they carry back up cycles to handle situations like this, we got one cycle ready for Mani and off we left for the much needed breakfast. Eating the normal south Indian Idly and Vada’s, we cooled down Mani’s frustration of not riding his own cycle.
With route maps in our pockets handed over by CAM and the support canter vehicle following us behind we started with task of the day. Taking in instructions to not race each other and not consider this like a Tour De France competition; We were advised to enjoy the ride. Hence we paddled slowly like ducks in a pond with cool breeze around and the Mullayangiri looking down upon us as if to challenge our will to climb it on a cycle. The first 3 kms were relatively easy, that is how much we cycled everyday probably during school days, so we made it without any fuss. For Mani, Muthu and Me the ride was always going to be difficult, having never done this before and with lack of fitness to hinder our will power, the ride would have been challenging anyways and we knew it. But we never knew that one of us would give up after just 5 kms. I was cycling at steady pace riding between Mani and Muthu, Suhas being the professional was nowhere to be seen, we were all basically trying to catch up. Muthu was steadily losing pace and was behind all of us, so I waited for him to join me but as he approached me closer I could see he was exhausted and once he left his cycle and slept on the road I knew something was wrong. I gave him some water and tried talking to him but nothing helped, he started closing his eyes and becoming unconscious. Well in all this seriousness of the situation I couldn’t help but start smiling inside because he acted funny and even a kid could cover 5 kms without fainting on to the ground. Meanwhile the canter came along and I told Vikrant (The CAM Race Coordinator) since it’s the first time for Muthu this might have happened to him but Vikrant said this happens to the best of riders and don’t underestimate him. Vikrant advised Muthu to go back to the hotel and rest. We gave him some energy drink and sent him back.
After this not so motivating start we had to continue and so we did, I caught up with Mani and we continued pedaling for another 5-6 kms with beautiful coffee plantations around and the thankful shade which followed us all the while. But after we had covered around 12 kms and as we started to climb the Mullayangiri it was becoming increasingly difficult for us. We waited for the canter to come and put our bikes in it to enjoy the easy ride uphill, as I ended my first stretch of ride I changed my role from being a rider to becoming the tour photographer. With beautiful western ghats around us it’s a joy taking pictures around here, also along the way we motivated the riders who were struggling to make it uphill. The riders kept asking for water and motivation along the way uphill. The canter then stopped at a place around 2 kms away from the Mullayangiri peak and we waited for the riders to complete the next 2 kms of stretch on their own. I personally thought canter following the entire stretch would have been good for riders but they didn’t do it. The riders however carried on, covering the most difficult stretch of road – A Hair Pin bend with sudden elevation which is difficult even for automotive engines to pull through but these super humans did it with sheer physical and mental toughness. I stood far away on another hill trying to find if the others made it to the top and wondered what these people were made off and what kind of agony they might be going through. After a while no one was to be seen for another hour or so. With time and camera by my side I started exploring the hills around until the tough guys returned from their conquest, I did some time pass photography and thanks to Suhas’s DSLR the pictures came out good too.
I kept wondering all this while up there how beautiful this place would be in the rains and winters. While I was exploring the hills around Vikrant and Mani fixed Mani’s cycle and that brought some relief to tension mani, finally he could ride his own bicycle. After about an hour the tough guys came back downhill from the peak and I could see the joy of achievement in all of them as they descended towards us. Cycling is one of those rare sports where coming downhill is actually a sense of achievement. I stood by and captured the moments of victory for these achievers.
Mani and me now joined the gang to complete the downhill towards the footsteps of Mullayangiri and it was an experience of lifetime. I was brimming with my dimple smile all the while coming down gazing around the scenery and enjoying every moment because it felt like a rollercoaster ride on a bicycle and you had complete control on the speed. Finally the joy ride ended in less than 10mins and now we had to climb up again to the Bababudangiri hill and I wondered if the last 10mins lasted forever but as the song goes “Everything fades away” it too faded away. We started pedaling again at snail’s pace gasping for breath and taking pit stops every 5mins. But we gave it our best and somehow covered around 6kms uphill and thought of putting our cycles back in the canter vehicle and reaching the hill top but that wasn’t going to happen as the canter had left us behind and we were to take care of ourselves. We called up Vikrant and he said that the hill top is not very far from the place we were stranded giving us some hope, So Mani and me exhausted of pedaling started walking up hill. As we kept walking a battle between mind and body had started; when the body said it can’t the mind had to convince the body that it can otherwise it would have been fatal for us, the sun was beating down upon us and we were hungry and dehydrated but our minds didn’t give up on the body. Finally we made it to a check post around 10kms from Bababudangiri from then on it was the rollercoaster ride again and we finally reached the lunch point to receive our well deserved rewards. As we entered the lunch point we could see Muthu enjoying his lunch, we were relieved to see he was fit and fine. Now we had a chance to ridicule him and we were not going to miss on the fun. But he was evidently disappointed by the way his day had turned out to be, so we held ourselves back and decided to give him some much needed motivation than sarcasm. We finished our lunch and went downhill to take a dip in the waterfall at Attigundi, WOW it was such a relief after hard days effort of sweating ourselves out. The icy cold water relieved our senses and energized our souls, just the way you feel after you have drunk Maaza in Katrina Kaif style. We did some fashion photography (check the image for proof) for time pass to help out the King Fisher Calendar and waited for others to join us so that we could start the last stretch of 15 odd kms back to Chikkamagalur.
The final stretch was fun again since we decided to skip the uphills using the canter and ride only downhills, We started tumbling down the hills feeling the breeze and the evening sun smiling at us as we descended. Finally we were back in Chikkamagalur at 6.30 and ended the day with the well deserved Mangaluru bondas. Heading to the hotel we took some relief meds so that we could get up the next morning. Rest of the evening was spent in ridiculing Muthu or praising Suhas or resting our bums.
Day 2 –
Getting up early at 5.30am needed some divine motivation after the tough last day, but we had to do it and so we got ready, packed our bags kept them in the bus and got to our respective cycles. This day the plan was to cover Chikkamagalur->Belur->Halebidu->Hassan around 75kms for expert riders and 45kms for the lazy ones like me. We started off after the breakfast towards Belur. We were all pumped up, so was Muthu and he seemed more determined this time but I still had my doubts of him completing the journey. Most of them were leading me as I was riding very slowly, I decided to plug in some music to give me some company. The roads were easy to ride this time around no sudden elevations or free falls but plain straight roads with some beautiful lakes and fields around. I kept pedaling slowly as I didnt have to catch up anybody instead enjoy the ride, steadily I proceeded occasionally stopping now and then to take pictures and rest for a while. Everywhere I stopped random people would come over or stop by to ask where was I riding from and where had I come from., With these questions I felt like an alien around not that I looked like one with all the sweat pouring from my head.
I reached Belur almost last around 10.30am. Suhas, Mani and Muthu had reached almost an hour before me and had almost done touring the famous Chennakeshava Temple. Stepping into the age old temple always feels special not for the spiritual experience at least for me but instead the overall soothing cool atmosphere. All four of us took some nice pictures together as a happy family and relaxed in the temple corridor, coming out we were thirsty enough to gulp up two tender coconuts each.
We got back to our cycles and headed towards Halebidu, it was getting hotter and I was getting thirstier after each mile but the end was not too far after about one and half hours of relentless pedaling finally I reach Halebidu. Touching down I needed 2 more tender coconuts to cool me down. Others had already reached which included Muthu, Who had proved Vikrant's statement to be true, I shouldn't have underestimated him. After all no one knows the limits of human determination. He seemed relatively pleased by his effort and I was hiding my face since I had come last. Few had even left for the last stretch till Hassan, but for me the trip had ended here after having cycled for 40kms was indeed some achievement for me. Going around the Halebidu temple I went around taking some pictures of the very nicely maintained temple complex. I reflected back on the last 2 days and realized how well I had spent it. Like one more famous dialogue in Sholay goes "Is storee me emotion hai, drrraamaa hai, trrragedy hai." our story had all of this and much more... In the end alls well when the bums well and it took 2 more days to get our bums back in shape.
What I take out of this trip is that the journey on empty roads matters more than the journey on the crowded streets and if you have taken all the pain to reach uphill then falling downhill isn't that bad a feeling either, after all there are so many things yet to be conquered...
