It had been quite a while since i'd been to Nandi hills, and I was just
itching to ride all week. So I posted a new route to Nandi hills, a near
straight line from IISc, and ended up discovering a wonderful set of
roads...
There was only one other rider from IISc interested in this ride. He had a hybrid, and I was initially a bit skeptical about taking to the trails, but decided to play it by ear.
0600H:
C Mess was the official start point. I waited to see if anyone shows up. Gave up at 6.10 and rode out to meet my companion ('S') at MSR Gate, where he had found a shop selling tea. I grabbed some coffee and an omlette, and then started off by 6.30.
There was another group of riders riding to Nandi from GKVK, starting at 6.30. I'd expected to catch them somewhere near Yelahanka, but never saw any sign of them. I had a cue sheet made using a google map and satellite imagery, so I was pretty sure of the route.
0700H:
Reached GKVK. S noticed extremely low pressure in his rear tire. Fingers crossed as I unpacked my tools and pump wishing that it not be a puncture. It wasn't - once pumped up the tire stayed for the remaining ride.
The roads were exactly as I had expected so no navigation problem. The only problem was, getting out of GKVK. I expected there to be a wall but Gmaps showed a full road. And nothing was visible on sat images. When we got there we saw a tiny gate with a turnstile! Luckily the wall was only 4 feet high. so we simply lifted our bikes over it and carried on.
0730H:
Reached
Ganganahalli, with no problems at all. The roads are very nice.
(Translation for roadies - The roads are really bad. Lots of bumps,
potholes here and there, road surface is uneven, no shoulder, etc etc.
There!) The road is, I believe, laid not too long back, lots of nice cat's eyes
and well painted white lines. The road is now essentially one long
straight till NH207, past fields, orchards and general emptiness.
Some interesting avifauna also.
0800H:
Long straight road. Mostly empty, except for an occasional truck. No buses here.Some private cars etc. Nothing to talk about here. Enjoy the photos...
0845:
Reached SH 207, and now for the final leg.
Again headed north towards the villages of Koyira and
Karahalli. After crossing a small village called Jyothipura,
there is a fork in the road. According to map i had posted
we were going to take the right side, but a look a sat images the night
before made me favor the left one. A small debate between S and myself,
then we took the road on the left. The road starts off fine, but then
becomes a mud road. In places it is a metal road, but otherwise its just
a dirt track
The dirt is hard packed, though, so anything but the thinnest tires will do fine I suppose. S was doing fine on his ACT110 hybrid. After about 40 mins we reached Nandi base!
P.S.:
1. The return was largely uneventful. It was getting a bit hot after 10 AM, and that slowed us down in parts. There was practically no headwind anywhere.
2. The photos have geotags. Download and read the EXIF info to get route details. [*Update: there seems to be a problem with this - am looking into it]
3. A GPX file (not completely accurate) is here.
Here's a panorama, shot in the last segment of the ride.
There was only one other rider from IISc interested in this ride. He had a hybrid, and I was initially a bit skeptical about taking to the trails, but decided to play it by ear.
0600H:
C Mess was the official start point. I waited to see if anyone shows up. Gave up at 6.10 and rode out to meet my companion ('S') at MSR Gate, where he had found a shop selling tea. I grabbed some coffee and an omlette, and then started off by 6.30.
There was another group of riders riding to Nandi from GKVK, starting at 6.30. I'd expected to catch them somewhere near Yelahanka, but never saw any sign of them. I had a cue sheet made using a google map and satellite imagery, so I was pretty sure of the route.
0700H:
Reached GKVK. S noticed extremely low pressure in his rear tire. Fingers crossed as I unpacked my tools and pump wishing that it not be a puncture. It wasn't - once pumped up the tire stayed for the remaining ride.
The roads were exactly as I had expected so no navigation problem. The only problem was, getting out of GKVK. I expected there to be a wall but Gmaps showed a full road. And nothing was visible on sat images. When we got there we saw a tiny gate with a turnstile! Luckily the wall was only 4 feet high. so we simply lifted our bikes over it and carried on.
0730H:
0800H:
Long straight road. Mostly empty, except for an occasional truck. No buses here.Some private cars etc. Nothing to talk about here. Enjoy the photos...
0845:
Reached SH 207, and now for the final leg.
Again headed north towards the villages of Koyira and
Karahalli. After crossing a small village called Jyothipura,
there is a fork in the road. According to map i had posted
we were going to take the right side, but a look a sat images the night
before made me favor the left one. A small debate between S and myself,
then we took the road on the left. The road starts off fine, but then
becomes a mud road. In places it is a metal road, but otherwise its just
a dirt trackThe dirt is hard packed, though, so anything but the thinnest tires will do fine I suppose. S was doing fine on his ACT110 hybrid. After about 40 mins we reached Nandi base!
P.S.:
1. The return was largely uneventful. It was getting a bit hot after 10 AM, and that slowed us down in parts. There was practically no headwind anywhere.
2. The photos have geotags. Download and read the EXIF info to get route details. [*Update: there seems to be a problem with this - am looking into it]
3. A GPX file (not completely accurate) is here.
Here's a panorama, shot in the last segment of the ride.
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