Home alone for the weekend at Bangalore is one of the worst things to happen ;-) and that had made me to do something new and interesting to kick out the boredom. Then came the idea of the cycling as I have bought my bike by August and since then never really got good time to ride on. Initially, I was thinking to ride around my residence to a close by place within the city just to to eat some time off the weekend. Thanks to Facebook, that I got to know about the Hesarghatta trail ride organised by ICycle for Jan 13. The first thing that came to my mind was, Will I be able to complete the ride of 70 km (round trip), as that seems to be Herculian task at this point of time (that too with my current fitness level :P). But then somehow managed to convince myself and registered for the event.
The ride plan was to start from Sadashiva nagar swimming pool by 6:30 AM and ride on till Taj Kuteeram and return to the origin. The second doubt I had on myself was, the starting point in Sadashiva nagar itself was 20 Km from my house(this was the result of the Google maps though), and if I have to be there by 6:30 AM I have to start by 4:30 AM from my residence which was really a nightmare for me. So I was little skeptical about making up for the event, quickly called up the organizers, had a discussion and decided to rent the cycle from them. The total cost for the ride is Rs.650(350 - cycle rent + 300 - breakfast, snacks & lunch) So, everything is set and the plan is on. I just need to be prepared and ready for the ride the next morning.
As I am a first timer and very newbie for a ride with a group like this, I was so excited and enthusiastic. I got up by around 5 AM and got ready and reached the assemble point by 6:15 AM. Awaited for all the members to come, we were about 12 for this ride and the ride began exactly about 7:00 AM. The route was pretty easy and straight forward, reach BEL circle, and took right from there towards Jalahalli and kept going straight till we reached Hesarghatta lake. The trail wasn't so tough in the onward journey, we hardly encountered some 3-4 slopes in the road, everybody was just riding at ease. We have reached near the Heasarghatta lake by about 8:10 AM and stopped for breakfast. Resumed the ride after half an hour and we could reach the destination by about 9:00 AM. I was so surprised to realize that I could cover a distance of about 35 KM approx in 2 hours, that too with a break in between. :-)
I have been earlier to the same place in my motorcycle and had experienced the tranquility in the grasslands there. This time we just spent about 15 mins or so and started the return ride. This was little tougher compared to the onward, and exhausted me more than how I passed by earlier. Again with a break for snacks before we hit the city roads by 10 AM, we managed to reach back the origin by about 11 AM.
I must admit that it was a wonderful ride, much easier than I imagined and well organized by the ICycle team. During the return ride, Manju from the team guided me and helped me much making right use of the gears and explained me with DOs and DONTs while biking. It was all very informative and useful tips. I am really glad to have joined the group and went on for the ride. The urge for biking has already increased a lot for me. Hoping to ride more, learn more and most of all want to enjoy the fun of biking!!!
The photos from the ride are available in the below links from ICycle:
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