Sane Bike Loony Rider : Ep 6 On Trails Less Travelled
Yes, I know. I know! Yes, this blog post is well late by a few days, but that's because I've been busy during the day and lazy in my free time. But better late than never is why I will still write about the rides last weekend.
I went for a couple of short solo rides on Friday and Saturday mornings, uneventful but pleasant. The Sunday ride was something I really looked forward to because the group promised to do some off road, riding trails through plantations. And they delivered in style, with many many riders of the group showing their interest, because this was probably the largest number of participants till date, with 12 riders.
We rode through Bangalore roads till we reached our destination, Gunjur, an area behind Whitefield. There we met our guide and host, Kumar, who took led the way as we maneuvered our way onto the narrow and bumpy trails with pockets of soft sand. Now, I've never ridden on such surfaces before then so I was quite surprised by how much my bike would slide and drift when it would suddenly hit upon a patch of soft sand, with instincts taking over to keep myself balanced and not lose my momentum before I got a moment to swear out loudly. There were some epic part with deep dips and steep bumps of hard Earth. But to my shame, we came upon those with broken momentum so I chickened out from riding through them and just walked my bike across. I look forward to the next encounter with such trails and a chance to redeem myself.
The trail took us through what were 5 villages of Gunjur, occasionally coming across a bit of tarmac that cut through. On the way, I saw fields of grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers and more that I don't remember. When we reached one of the three lakes of the area, the group's admin introduced us to a social and environmental movement about our ride location. Kumar is an active member of a social group striving to work with the authorities to save the lakes of Gunjur that are drying up and are being polluted by the illegal dumping of wastes. He explained his history with the place and the struggles in trying to get the lakes cleaned up and ensuring that dumpsters cannot make their way to the lakes to pollute them with wastes.
There were many spots along this ride that were endearing sights, so close to the city. The kind of stuff you'd think you need to go a few hundred kms from the city to see, like 300 year old fig trees and banyan trees, or trees full of sleeping fruit bats. Well, there are some pics of these great sights, and you can enjoy them below.
It was an amazing ride, even though it was quite slow because of the large group with the occasional bunch at the back getting lost and going the wrong way. But I hope they do an off trail ride every month, the peace and serenity of those routes was beautiful and soothing to this worn down city body and soul.
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As always, hope you enjoyed reading the latest addition to the series. Feel free to share and comment, and subscribe for many more ride stories to come.
I went for a couple of short solo rides on Friday and Saturday mornings, uneventful but pleasant. The Sunday ride was something I really looked forward to because the group promised to do some off road, riding trails through plantations. And they delivered in style, with many many riders of the group showing their interest, because this was probably the largest number of participants till date, with 12 riders.
We rode through Bangalore roads till we reached our destination, Gunjur, an area behind Whitefield. There we met our guide and host, Kumar, who took led the way as we maneuvered our way onto the narrow and bumpy trails with pockets of soft sand. Now, I've never ridden on such surfaces before then so I was quite surprised by how much my bike would slide and drift when it would suddenly hit upon a patch of soft sand, with instincts taking over to keep myself balanced and not lose my momentum before I got a moment to swear out loudly. There were some epic part with deep dips and steep bumps of hard Earth. But to my shame, we came upon those with broken momentum so I chickened out from riding through them and just walked my bike across. I look forward to the next encounter with such trails and a chance to redeem myself.
The trail took us through what were 5 villages of Gunjur, occasionally coming across a bit of tarmac that cut through. On the way, I saw fields of grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers and more that I don't remember. When we reached one of the three lakes of the area, the group's admin introduced us to a social and environmental movement about our ride location. Kumar is an active member of a social group striving to work with the authorities to save the lakes of Gunjur that are drying up and are being polluted by the illegal dumping of wastes. He explained his history with the place and the struggles in trying to get the lakes cleaned up and ensuring that dumpsters cannot make their way to the lakes to pollute them with wastes.
There were many spots along this ride that were endearing sights, so close to the city. The kind of stuff you'd think you need to go a few hundred kms from the city to see, like 300 year old fig trees and banyan trees, or trees full of sleeping fruit bats. Well, there are some pics of these great sights, and you can enjoy them below.
It was an amazing ride, even though it was quite slow because of the large group with the occasional bunch at the back getting lost and going the wrong way. But I hope they do an off trail ride every month, the peace and serenity of those routes was beautiful and soothing to this worn down city body and soul.
As always, hope you enjoyed reading the latest addition to the series. Feel free to share and comment, and subscribe for many more ride stories to come.
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