As usual we thought of starting at 6 but we got up at 6 30 on 25/05/2012 and finally me and shyam thought of meeting at Diary circle by 7 30am. From Diary circle we started at 7 40am and continued along the same road till we get Lalbagh to have break. Proceeding further we reached Majestic by 8 20am. With a call to Bharath we finalised to pedal on Rajkumar road to Reach his home, which is near Modi Hospital. At around 9am we could reach Bharath's house with out sweat soaked T's and a smile of excitement.
Thanks to Bharath's mom for those delicious Akki Rotis, which was the booster for our further trail. With much of the discussion on the route to take further, our Diksuchi - Meke decide himself in subconcious about a route and started guiding us. Just to make sure the transparency, only me and Shyam would pedal this route and meke without mobike would be guiding/backing us on his Activa!!
From Modi Hospital, via the chord Road we reached Yeshwanthpur through the Aroma around Sandal soap factory. Then our trail followed below route through Sapthagiri College, Chikka banavara and further on the same Hessarghatta main road till we reach the lake bund. On this route, stretch from Chikkabanavara till the lake is really amazing with its calm and cool breeze all along.
Shyam as usual reached first and Bharath followed him on his Activa. But I was lost in my ride, got down all along to have Tender Coconuts, Cucumbers and then just at the verge of tank had Churmuri and took my own time to reach the spot. Once reached, as a routine we had fighting with Shy saying he just reaches spot with out thinking about others and he doesnot cherish the trail. But Shyam and Bharath were least bothered about my comments as they were dejected with the sight of such a large dried lake, even barred from wetness.
The blogs we read were so positive about the lake and the excitement one get when they reach here, but for us it was totally opposite. We just enjoyed cursing our plan by munching the churmuri I got. But we were overjoyed when we say few other gangs which came with the same perception what we had about lake. When we were done with our chatting and were over heated by sun, we decided to explore the Grassland which was Reputed but now in Dispute.
Just following the Tank bund we reached a point which was view point for the Check Dam and also the place had a bridge to reach the road at other side of Tank bund. This is the place where we got see another pair of cyclers, who gave inputs to have cycling on the road leading to Doddaballapur. As they told we also decided to explore that stretch towards Doddaballabur, but before starting this we went to a small shop on the road to get something we can eat. And our lunch for that day was such an amazing one, including Bun, mixture, Chips, Bananas, TenderCoconut and the concept of eating Bun with Mixture was such an interesting one which Bharath suggested.
We just travelled another 100mts, but found the shade of the tree was just enough to finish our lunch and started munching our eateries. We really cherished eating our stuff under that roadside tree with grass being our Mat and chatting being our pickel. Once done, we had a brief Photosession and this was the first of it kind for our bikes.
Going further on the same road, we understood that the stretch would be really interesting for cycling but those thick clouds moving around forced us to start back. And way back, we started discussion on our plan for next 5years, which if works out would make our lives remarkable. Also we decided to explore some more places on our way back and thought of visting Byalkere Pecock santuary though none of us knew the route.
The first thing we had in our mind on our return journey was to have a proper lunch and we started looking out for the options. Finally we got to see a hotel of its kind, which was so commited to Mushrooms that all the items in menu were Mushroom specials. We were so starved that we just started ordering these Mushroom specials though we were not crazy about them. And our lunch finally included Mushroom Soup, Ragi ball, mushroom curry lunch, mushroom Biriyani and that’s it all ducts in our body started stinking with mushroom smell. Once out of hotel we saw a shop selling fresh vegetables and I couldnot control buying those fresh leafy carrots. One way these carrots helped counter mushroom stink in our ducts.
Further on our way we got inputs from a villager to take a deviation from Hessarghatta main road to reach Dodda Byalkere, the place where we assumed Peacock santuary was present. We took deviation and proceeded on that trail passing through farms, to reach that Dodda Byalkere. But we were stuck with surprise when we realised that none in the village knows about this Peacock santuary. One guy, just mentioned showing a road that there exists a big forest area and there will be gate to our left to enter the place. With no hope on reaching our intended place, we just proceeded further in the road he shown as the same road leads to Yelahanka aswell.
Not to forget, since we are done with our lunch Bharath decided to pedal my cycle and myself to ride his activa. So it was already 10kms since he started pedalling and we were still unknown about the gate of the forest we were looking for. But finally after ride of 30mins we could see a reserve forest to our left and gate too. Few locals were busy collecting forest goods and when we enquired about the Peacocks santuary, they just mentioned that we could see peacocks in this forest also. So we decided to trespass the forest which was mentioned as Jarakabande reserve forest and the jeep trail was really scenic. Since from entering the forest, we could hear the Peacock calls and started beliveing that we are in Peacock sanctuary. The serenity in the forest and jeep tracks amid thick vegetation looked stunning. After strolling around for sometime we took a deviation into much thicker vegetation and it had a mud road. This path was amazing with its wilderness and onto our right was fenced area which look protected area for peacocks. At this same time I could see something moving around at far end and took my binocs to check it out. And yes it was an beautiful Peacock, which was just walking around in search of food. But our noise just made it to disappear into woods. With sun running to take rest, darkness at its verge peacock calls intensified and we were on our path back to home.
Out of the Forest we further continued on the Yelahanka road but with inputs from some local guy took some deviation which seems short cut to Yelahanka. On that short cut, we could reach some point in Yelahanaka but were clueless about further path. With a call to friend, got inputs to reach BEL circle and from there we joined Rajkumar Road to proceed towards our homes.
In all it was our first long Cycling Trail and became an exciting one with the search of path it included. And that was beginning of Pedalling Trails.
