After dark Bengaluru 2020

March 07- March 08

Exam time for kids but the Royal Enfield After dark ride was calling. Called my bestie to check if she would ride as a pillion. So S and R both agreed. It was meant to be tented accomodation, some excitement. A was down with bad health and Shy had family commitments. So it was just the 3 of us to ride from here.

 The start of the ride was from Royal Enfield showroom in Jayanagar. Total of 28 ladies accompanied by the RE team headed towards We Flock @ Ground Zero hub on nandi hills road. 

This was a women only Motorcycle ride to spread awareness about women safety and security after dark. 

Some first time riders, some real good experienced riders and some like us..ride speed averaged at 60kmph. By the time we reached the venue it was 10pm.

Food was already waiting for us.. But then we had some good inspirational speakers waiting to address us. 

We had Archana Thimmaraju- first hearing impaired rider speaking about her experiences and inspiring us about her achievements. 

Then we had Pooja Bajaj talking about the journeys she's covered and her struggle through the crash she had undergone last year and her fight to recovery. 

Pink Jam(priyanka) hosted the evening for us along with RJ Jane Jeyakumar. RJ Jane got all the ladies to speak up with the #sorrybutnotsorry.

We also had some biker models, Tiktok celebrities' joining us on the ride. Got to hear some inspiring stories from  long time riders while at dinner.

Sleep time, the three of us stuck to ourselves..snug into one tent. Was fun chitchatting and hearing the conversation happening outside in other tents :D

Morning was quiet, woke up to the sounds of peacock cries and misty cool weather. As we dispersed, ride back was a quick one without too many stops.

Turns out it was the last ride of the year 2020. And boy am glad I got to go for this one.

Covid took over :(

Riderz Nexus 2019: Coorg Kadamkolli Resort

December 07-08

Early morning start to the ride from Bangalore

After a lovely ride we reached Kadamkolli resort- Venue for Riderz Nexus

ThRoTLS team 

The Products on display-- found these useful

Useful for night riders. This products is on your back, connects to your bike indicators. Ease of visibility to the large vehicles

Found these arm bands interesting. Affordable & useful for night riders

The resort is well maintained, good local food cooked by the in-house cooks. We were lucky to get something to eat. Food was an issue at the event- especially for the vegetarians. Leave the food aside, the place is very scenic & beautiful. So I would rate 5 star for the resort location. Rooms are pretty basic.

Our trek in the morning treated us with this greenery

@the venue kitchen

my time to explore the place

Event night with music & games

Showing off my badges

This was my first long ride. Return journey was tiring as we started late and ended up in heavy traffic towards Bangalore. 

Goats leap- Mekedatu

A ride with the Bikernis was long due. Its been 2 months since I joined them and yet had not been able to go for a ride with the ladies. When the quarter calendar got published with Mekedatu in it with a date that looked convenient, I jumped for it. Home front taken care, the ride was planned for November 16th, day ride. The exciting part was not just long riding with the Bikernis but also with my best buddy for the first time. 

I started from home at 4:00am and met up with 3 of them first. Meeting point decided was Panchamukhi Ganesha temple on Mysore road at 5:15am. We somehow managed to get there in time. Total of 16 bikes & 17 ladies (Captain had a pillion with her). Clear instructions given on the protection gears to be in place, riding safety, who the Marshall was, who would be the sweep & the team was asked to follow the captain. 

5.30am meet

After about 1.5hrs of ride we stopped over at Vasu Restaurant on Kanakapura road. Small place known for its Crispy Dosa. Large masala dosa and Gulab jamun & a small glass of Coffee is what I had.

Hungry faces

Coffee's in

Crispy crispy Dosas

Yumm Gulab Jamun

Breakfast done, we got back on road. We rode through the narrow but beautiful green roads towards Mekedatu.

Rs.30/- entry fee at the checkpost & another Rs.30/- to enter Mekedatu. 

'Mekedatu' means 'goat's leap' in Kannada. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger made a desperate attempt to save its life by leaping from one side of the gorge and managed to cross over the raging river below, whereas the tiger did not attempt to replicate this feat, and abandoned the chase. The point where the goat leapt has widened since then from erosion caused by the river Cauvery. It is about 110+ km from Bangalore. 

Mekedatu is a good place for one day trip, spend more time at the river bed before you get into the bus, that's where you get a chance to touch the water. River crossing in Coracle & bus ride takes you to the view point where you can see Cauvery flowing through the deep gorge.

Some photo session & fun at the entrance and we were ready to go for the coracle ride. The excitement got even better with the boatman taking us on a spin in the coracle. he charged us a bit extra for his effort. We shifted into a bus after crossing the river. After sitting in the bus we felt that if biking would have been allowed it would have a great track for us to ride through, but yes we do understand the care taken to preserve nature hence not allowing public vehicles in this patch of land. Have uploaded some videos below to show you what am talking about. With good rains this year, there is good green cover across. 

The gang

Bikernis with the bikes

Start of Coracle ride

Cauvery flowing through narrow gorge

Kalasutra designed jacket by Sameera was tried by all the girls (who could fit in :D ) and that called for a special round of photo session. A whole of lot of pics taken, photo sessions, fun time. The bus ride to see the Cauvery was a bumpy one. With Sun on our heads we were all hoping we could get something cold to drink..and just when we were starting a round of introductions to know each other better, another bus stopped and downloaded crates of cold drink. Chilled with cold drinks, happy pictures taken, it was time to get back in the bus for the ride back in coracle. By the time we returned back thirst had kicked in again, coconut water kept us hydrated this time. Lunch was at Mayura restaurant. Not great, but much needed hot food bought- self service.

.

Mekedatu

The Girls

while they were busy staring down

With my bestie

Hola

Post lunch we started back on our journey to Bangalore through those green paths & hairpin bends. One short stop for a cup of coffee at Balaji Restaurant and ride along till Nice road entrance before we all split our ways towards home.

The best part about this ride was, every rider followed the instructions given in the beginning of the ride. The roles of the Captain, Marshall & Sweep were played fantastically; the Captain of the ride Sneha, ensured not a single biker is left behind and the Marshall Shwetha ensured all 16 bikes stuck together while maintaining an average speed of 60kmph through out. Thanks to the girls who captured natures beauty in their cameras and shared..I am able to put together everything because of them.

Jacket designed by Kalasutra

In the bus