It started at 3:45 AM that Sunday as the alarm woke
me up for my BB ride to Hogenakkal Falls. My first job was to check for any updates
in the “Hogenakkal Falls Ride” WhatsApp group. There were some last hour drop-out
messages in the group. The ride and the meeting
point were unchanged.
Slowly I got ready & left home at 4:30 AM. I
was excited as I have not gone on a ride after my BR Hills’ ride, but was busy
enough driving/trekking to Red-Hills, Parvathamalai, Chikamagalur, Tirupati and Yelagiri in the last 2 months.
The weather seemed good for a ride as I rode across
ORR. After half the distance, I observed some some spots in my visor. Then I
realized that it was drizzling & couldn’t feel anything as I was in full
gear. I continued riding ignoring the slight drizzle & reached the meeting
point at 5:15 AM. A few BBians were already there and one familiar face to me was
GURU1707 (read as Prateek).
After some Hi-Hello we waited for the rest of the
people. At 5:30 AM, all came except Yogesh. We decided to move & wait for
him at the 1st Chai point. The usual rules were explained by Ishan
who also decided to HEAD the ride. As no one was willing to be the TAIL, the
last person to arrive was made the TAIL (read as Sarath). 13 bikes headed to
the Chai point. As we were having tea, the last person also reached the group
and we all were set for an awesome ride. After seeing all the bikes in the
ride: the Dukes, the FZs, the Pulsars, the Dominars, I thought that very soon I
will become the TAIL for the ride as I was on my Desert Storm (may be the
heaviest among all). Luckily, the Single Road helped me not to happen.
The ride resumed with a strength of 20 people in 14
bikes amidst green surroundings & some small villages. The next task was to
find a place for breakfast & importantly a rest room. As there were little
options to select, we stopped at a Fuel pump where some filled their tanks,
while some emptied their bladders. We spotted a small hotel nearby &
stopped for breakfast at Hotel Siddeshwara-Hunsanahalli, everyone had yummy
Thatte-Idli with Vada & there was an option for Poori too. Almost everyone
finished with a tea/coffee. It was another ~60 Kms from there to our final destination.
We rode through the green surrounding with some
beautiful curves, ups & downs all along the way. In between, around ~35 Kms
away from our destination, we took a final break & posed for some group
pics. We even came across some local guys zooming & displaying stunts in
their bikes. As we were getting close to the destination, the road was becoming
narrower plus some vehicles also were parked on the road side.
Finally, we saw Kaveri River flowing on our right
side parallel to the road. We saw some people playing in the water & some
coracle rides too. We headed directly to that Falls, found a place to park all
the 14 bikes near the entrance itself. Now enters THANGABALI (read as
Thangamani) as other BBians call/remember him; to translate the local language
to the rest of the group. I guess THANGABALI, the TAIL & me were fluent in
Tamil in our group. All the offers from local people on massage, fish, food,
coracle ride were ignored & we headed to see the falls.
On entering the gate, we were welcomed by the
oil-massagers & people taking massage all along the way and of course
monkeys too. It was heavily crowded as the Falls was about to be closed the
next week- as heard from a local guy. As the water flow was heavy, entry was
allowed till the Hanging Bridge. We went on the Hanging Bridge in batches. THANGABALI,
the TAIL & me went to have a look at the falls, took some snaps &
returned to the entrance to have some juice. After some time, we all gathered
at the parking place to move to our next destination: the place where we saw
coracles & a spot near the river.
That was a nice place to relax with some huge trees to give you shade & water nearby. Everyone was busy in taking pics especially the bikers with their BBs. Later the introduction ritual happened, through which we came to know little bit about one another. One of them was that THANGABALI & his friends purchasing bikes on partnership which was a good thing to know. And the other important one was how Ishan was getting rejected in his search for a RIDING life-partner. Sad to know that, Ha ha ha.😜
We posed for a group pic taken from many cameras, an exclusive BB Tshirt pic & a special Ladies-only pic was taken too. The ladies were not generous enough to take a Guys-only pic. Just Kidding...😉
Behind the scenes...
After all the fun, we were hungry & we decided to take the highway route in order to get some decent restaurants. On the way we halted on a view point, took some pics & headed straight to Dharmapuri for lunch. We picked the nearest Annapurna Restaurant & all started entering inside. As I was waiting on the road side for other bikers, the TAIL did not see me & went straight on the highway. We sent the current location to the TAIL, called him & update the scene. Later on THANGABALI reminded me that my bike color is same as the mud color & the TAIL couldn’t notice me. I have to agree on that.
Some pics on the way...
At lunch, we were also having a chat about things other than riding with Suraj, Dheeraj & co. Dheeraj & I were discussing about our respective visit to Leh-Ladakh last year.
After lunch, slowly one by one started to leave to
Bangalore. THANGABALI, the TAIL & me also departed around 4 PM saying bye
to the HEAD & team, who were still having their lunch. On the way after
Krishnagiri, it started drizzling, which forced us to take a tea break in a
dhaba nearby. As usual, the TAIL didn’t notice us he went ahead of us. After
bidding adieu to THANGABALI & the TAIL (over phone) at Hosur, I took a
deviation & reached home safely around 7 PM.
On the way, my Odo showed some series of numbers...
Overall it was an awesome ride with all the bikers & their company. It is always good to make new friends at any stage of the life. Hoping to participate more frequently in the upcoming rides and will try to bring my BB & baby in one of the ride.
And last, but not the least: Missed you John,
especially for your photography.
Team BBians for the ride:
- Poonam
- Masood
- Ishan
- Praful + 1
- Suraj + 1
- Prateek
- Anshuman + 1
- Ruhal + 1
- Suresh
- Ankur
- Dheeraj +1
- Yogesh
- Dushyant
- Sarath
- Thangamani
Route:
Thubarahalli-ORR-Silk Board-Kanakapura-Kodihalli-Anchetty-Hogenekkal: 175
Kms
Hogenekkal-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bagalur-Sarjapur-Varthur-Thubarahalli:
195 Kms
