Update on my travels: February to April; Spring Tour 2011

After three weeks at home near Chennai, I left mid-February for Spring Tour 2011. First stop was a brief visit to Mamallapuram (where I found that Rocks Motcha Cafe, 18 Ottavadai Street, has free wifi for customers); then a 480-km ride in one day via Kanchipuram, Hosur, Bangalore by-pass, and NH48 to Sri Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt, where I stayed at the ashram guest house for a few days of relaxation and meditation.

Work on the four-laning of NH48 is progressing. Even where all four lanes are open, there will frequently be two-way traffic on both sides of the divided highway.

Then via Turuvekere - Tiptur - Arsikere - Shimoga (overnight stop), and as an alternative to the Sagar route to the coast, I rode Shimoga - Savalanga - Shikarpur - Siralkoppa - Soraba - Sirsi - Mirjan - Gokarna. 220km in just over 5 hours. Almost exactly the same distance and time as the Sagar - Gersoppa - Honavar route.

Road conditions mostly good to very good. Only a couple of stretches, maybe 20 km in total, that are a bit rough on the Shimoga to Sirsi sector. The last 15km before Sirsi are great riding. Beautiful road surface, and almost no traffic.

Sirsi to Mirjan is about 2/3 recently resurfaced; those parts are excellent. The older sections of pavement aren't too bad, even in the ghats. Much better than the Gersoppa ghat road.

In short, a good alternative route from Shimoga to the coast.

After a few days in Gokarna, I rode up to Calangute in Goa for the Bike Nomads Tenth Annual Meet. Great to connect with so many fellow bikers that I had only known electronically. Had the good fortune to share digs with Roy Skaria of Cougar-rides.com (link).

See Roy's writeup on the AMX here (link)

I left my bike in Vasco, hopped a train to Chennai, and met up with the intrepid travellers of the Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge at Chennai Central. (link)

I joined the GCIRC for the southern circuit, Chennai Egmore - Rameswaram - Kanniyakumari - Trivandrum - Kovalam Beach, and the Rajdhani up to Margao; said my farewells to the GCIRC crew; picked up my bike; stopped for a couple of days at Patnam Beach in south Goa (Roy's excellent recommendation); and then rode to Gokarna to settle in for a couple of weeks.

Roy and Ashok rode down from Goa to meet me there, and we had a great couple of days together before they rode on to Bangalore.

My next destination was Kodagu, too far to do comfortably in one day, so I stopped for the night at Malpe Beach, then continued the next day, via NH17, Mangalore bypass, NH48, Puttur, Sullia, Sampaje, the "closed" road, Napoklu, to Palace Estate Home Stay near Kakkabe in Kodagu.

Road construction work starts as soon as you turn off NH48. It's rideable but pretty rough in spots, for about 100 km. The last 10 km or so as you approach the Bettageri turnoff are completed and the road is wonderful. It will be great when it is finished, but that certainly won't be this year.

I've read a couple of articles in the Deccan Herald about how the Kodagu police are making a fortune by charging motorists Rs 100 to 200 (and more for lorries) to allow them to drive on the closed road. (Two-wheelers don't have to pay.)

I think I would have been better to continue south on NH17 from Mangalore into Kerala, and turn inland at Talipparamba (or Kannur) to Iritti, then on the new road to Virajpet. Longer but probably faster.

Spent four delightful relaxed days at Palace Estate Home Stay, my second visit there. Highly recommended. (link)

From Palace Estate I rode south to Virajpet; and just for the hell of it rode down to Iritti in Kerala. The road is now great on the Karnataka side, although it's not 100% finished. Had a quick visit with a friend in Iritti that I had met a couple of years ago; rode back up to Virajpet; then via Ammathi, Siddapur, Guddehosur, Cauvery Nisgardama (where I stopped for lunch), Kushalnagar, Hunsur, and an overnight stop in Mysore.

Next a few days at Adichunchanagiri; a spur-of-the-moment ride to Shimoga and Jog Falls; and on the way back to Mysore, just by serendipity I discovered a great bit of road to ride. Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. Recently resurfaced, and the pavement is flawless. It's SH57 between Tarikere and Chikmagalur. About 55km.

If you were riding from Bangalore to Shimoga, take NH48 to Haasan, then north on SH57 via Belur and Chikmagalur. It's about 50km longer than via Tumkur and NH206, but better road conditions.

I'll get my bike serviced at Royal Enfield in Mysore this weekend, then head back to Chennai on Sunday, for a brief stop at home before continuing with Spring Tour 2011, Stage Two. Stay tuned.

Update on my travels: November to January

My apologies to my faithful readers (all three of you) for the long delay in updating my blog. Since my last entry, I have:

- completed Grand Tour 2010-11
- had a 3-week break at home near Chennai
- started Spring Tour 2011
- joined the Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge for the southern portion of the circuit; and
- resumed Spring Tour 2011.

I left you hanging out at Royal Enfield's Second Annual Rider Mania at Vagator Beach, north Goa, in November 2010. Here's a write-up about the event on the Royal Enfield web site (link).

For me one of the highlights of the event was the group ride, with a couple of hundred bikes on a 20-km tour of the vicinity.

From Vagator I headed south to Agonda Beach for a short stay, before moving on to Gokarna. I wound up spending a full month in Gokarna, which has rapidly become one of my favourite destinations in India.

Spent Christmas in a friend's village near Shimoga, and New Year's with a friend in Coimbatore. Pongal was at a friend's village near Kumbakonam. Home to Chennai by the end of January, officially completing Grand Tour 2010-11. About 4000km in three months.