Odo: 4550 km, 1 service, 7 months.
Route: Gulbarga - Shahbad - Sindgi - Bijapur (Highway 218); Bijapur - Ilkal - Hospet - Chitradurga (NH 13)
Chitradurga - Hiriyur - Sira - Tumkur - Bangalore - Home :) (NH48)
Milage: Pretty much the same as last report (21 liters, 700+ kms, and1 bar still left on the digi-mileage indicator)
Intro
Last 7 months was drastic.. Got a CBR, Got married, went from Kerala to Jammu with the spousy - or is that spicey? - (and toured many places in between as well).. left a (secure?) government job to go back to college [:)], and getting settled (finally!!!) in Blore in a house that both of us can call home. How do you celebrate? - road trip to redemption - a 700 km home coming journey on the CBR - no less!!!
The last supper
Bureaucracy means signing on a sheet of paper takes 3 days and that too after making repeated calls. I lost all hopes of getting the relieving letter from SBI on the agreed day, until Mr. Sudhakar Kulai (AGM, SBI Gulbarga) intervened. He made a few calls and the signed relieving letter was on his table at the last moment, 7.00 PM - (Sincere thanks) Had a small farewell at the office, said (an emotional?) bye to Manikeshwar Prasad Singh and left for the parcel office.
The bags had been packed a week before. But they still had to be rushed to The VRL parcel office before it closed. The nice guy at the office accepted the bags - the last parcel for the day - gave a helpline number, his number and other contact details at Blore. Didn't strike at that point that this was the 1st time i was both the sender and the receiver of a parcel. :)
The CBR gulped down 9.5 liters of gas and she got her tires topped up at Mr. Rahul Shah's pump. Then it was off to Praney's place. His house was witness to my last supper at Gulbarga. Mr. Praney Sarkar is good at making Maggie noodles, i say.!!! I Had planned out the route in my head before, yet at 12 in the night, a groggy Sarkar was watching me check out the route to blr on google maps for one last time, before sleeping. Sleep? Whats that. Couldn't sleep before the trip. As usual :)
Journey Begins
Woke up 1/2 an hr before alarm went off, got ready, bid a brief farewell to Sarkar, and left his house at 6 am. Before I left, I had taken out the cold weather inner lining of the riding jacket, so that it wouldn't get to hot in the afternoon. Mistake.. Big Mistake.. It was bloody cold in the morning. So much so that 5 minutes into the journey, the bike was shaking due to my shivering bones, brrrr!!
After around 30 km, I stop at a tea shop attended by a kid to fit the cold weather inner lining - (have to say it works bloody well - due to the warm insulation, the shivering stopped right after the pit stop).. and the warm tea was very welcome.. The tea stall kid did look bewildered.. with riding jacket, helmet, gloves and riding boots, i must have looked like a distant cousin of Darth Wader. Hmm.. cant blame him :) But I hope he and others like him gets used to seeing more people with protective gear on Indian roads. We set off again (er.. that's me and CBR) on the Glb - Sindgi - Bijapur route. Its a nice highway with good surface where decent speeds (110+) can be maintained. On the Sindgi - Bijapur road, i stopped at the same village tea shop, i had stopped during my last (Gulbara - Hubli) trip - had Tiger biscuit and awesome chai. (The guy remembered me because of the bike :)
Orgasm
From Bijapur, turn left for NH 13. The 6 lane expressway is orgasmic... speeds can be raised to 145+ k mph. lovely :) But this euphoria lasted only for a brief stretch as I realize that the mileage is dropping at an even faster pace. !!! After a few more kilometers, one also realizes that as the Highway is being newly constructed over virgin / barren landscape, because of which there are no petrol pumps on this stretch :( So speeds drop down to a consistent 100 - 110. Then you realize that the construction work of the highway is still a work in progress.. and hence there are bad stretches in between. So now speeds drop to 40 - 60's in some of the stretches. So much for the orgasmic 6 lane highway :)
By now, 4 things would have started bothering a weary traveler. Hunger, Sleepiness, Refueling (for the CBR) and Heat. Punjabi Dhabba to the rescue. The Dhabba comes up from nowhere in this barren stretch. The 2 teas (how is it that all dhabba's make wonderful chai?) and the mandatory parathas quenched the hunger and drowsiness. Petrol refilling by another 9.5 liters was carried out from the pump right next to the dhabba. Also this was an opportunity to remove the inner lining (yup - now it was getting awfully hot in the jacket) and we are ready to go. Just that the dhabba owner mentioned that the the remaining 100 km to Hospet was a lot of work in progress :(
Thankfully, the hospet to chitradurga (NH13) roads are mix of smooth surfaced winding roads and broken roads. On entering Hospet, the scenery changes, the roads begin to wind around hills / iron mining quarries and the traffic thins as well. If you notice, these are all the necessary ingredients for a spurt in the pace. The right hand responds accordingly until the cops spot me.
Police Story
Cops stop me.. Ask for documents.. I told em, i work at SBI.. "Oh.. is that so?".. They don't want to see the papers any more.. They get friendly.. Conversation veers to the bike and.. inevitably its mileage.. they are happy it gives more kmpl than a bullet.. I ask for directions.. They tell me.. journey continues.. :)
Its surprising to see 3 level crosses close to each other on an NH. Anyway, winding roads plus sparse slow moving
mining lorries with greenery and hills on one side and glimpses of TB river on the other amounts to a wonderful ride.
One can maintain a 70 - 110 k mph+ depending on surface and / or traffic.
Land of Wind Mills
A wall of windmills high upon on a cluster of distant hills announce your entry to Chitradurga.. and as you travel further, you find yourself in the midst of gigantic windmills.. spinning away at an excruciating slow pace. The warm feeling you get at Chitradurga has not only got to do with the scenery, but also the fact that its the last leg of your journey. On hitting NH 48, turn left for Bangalore.
Even though tired, the last stretch of 200 kms passes by in a blur, partly due to the wide and smooth asphalt and partly due to the familiarity of the road and landmarks. Speed rises to 120+ with occasional 135s encouraged by sparse traffic. Zigzag routes spring up between slow moving trucks scattered on the highway.
Bengalooru
By now, the roads are familiar and so are some of the buildings and hoardings. So far it was just a trip that you enjoyed as the scenery flashed by.. But now, you anticipate the familiar neighborhoods, the road ahead, the turns.. the only thing you don't anticipate is the traffic.. :( 700 km to Bangalore took nine and a half hrs.. last 25 km to home sweet home takes one and half.. Bengalooru..good old Bangalore.. :)
