Off Sarjapur Road, 11APR09

Date : Saturday, 11 April, 2009

At sunrise, Ravi, Peeyush and Abhi

Group : Abhi, Gautam, Jhon, Kalyan, Peeyush, Ravi, me

A good but not great place for some action

Starting: We started from Sarjapur Junction at 0605. Soon we were on the back side of Ecospace Tech Park and Intel Campus. Took a sharp turn towards east from there to avoid all the urban waste. The trail ahead was having lots of loose mud. Every component of the bike along with my shoes and socks were full of dust.

The complete route.
To follow this trail, upload the GPX file located at

http://reach2paresh.googlepages.com/2009-04-11_06_02.gpx
to
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map_input?form=google

Further, we crossed the Railway line and then there were a lot of trees having unripened mangoes.

Guys enjoying mangoes on the trees

The lost fellow: We moved ahead but did not see Gautam following us. Abhi called him and came to know that he had some issues with his rear derailleur wire. We rode back and Ravi fixed the wire.

Peeyush posing and others waiting for Gautum

The falt tire : Every time one has to get a flat tire and this was Peeyush's turn. Soon after we started from the same place of breakfat, Peeyush noticed that the front tire has gone flat. We were on main road and there was a shop in front of us to fix that. But Peeyush got a denial from there. May be that guy just fixes the thick tires of trucks or buses.

Fixing the flat

The Jump site: We reached a place that was having good humps to have long and high jumps. Doing many to and fro rounds was an exciting experience.

Location : http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.9004331&lon=77.7324343&z=15&l=0&m=h&v=2

Learnings:
** Both the tires should land at the same time.
** And that depends on how you leave the land.
** Push the handle and when the suspension is decompressing, pull it up and fly off.

The same breakfast point

The fall: Every time someone has to fall and this time was for Ravi. He took a jump and lost balance in the air. The result was a crash landing. After cleaning the mud, Abhi applied the spray on the wounds. Ravi was not very comfortable after that and headed to his home from Sarjapur Road. I hope, he does not get serious injuries.

Ravi confused to go further or not

We trailed further and then dispersed.

My Rating:
Goods:
The jump site was awesome.
The trail was mostly off road.

Not-so-good:
The initial loose muddy part.
Comparatively short ride.

Abhi smiling at ...

Stats:
Distance : 54 KM (For Sarjapur Junction : 40 KM)
Avg Speed : 17.8 KMPH
Max Speed : 36.5 KMPH

Off Sarjapur Road, Bangalore

Date : Saturday, 04 April, 2009

Me on my Trek 6000 during sunrise. Image by Anand

Group : Anand, Ravi and me.

Ravi near the old Banyan tree with thousands of huge bats

Starting : We started from Sarjapur Junctions at Outer Ring Road at 0600. Few others were also supposed to join but after waiting for sometime, we decided to move on.

This is not a trail

The Ride: Ravi was having experience to lead us and he did the job very well. We took a left from the main road and after a short stretch of streets, dirt trail was under the bike. We crossed the Railway track and beyond that I have no idea where were we. Most of the times, I was just following Ravi because this was my first off road ride. But this does not mean that Ravi was knowing the way. :) Many times there were narrow trails which are used by village people.

Short break under the tree

There was no rule or map which was guiding us. We met few dead ends but then coming back was not at all a pain. Once, we reached at a place where we were covered by jungle on the three sides. Ravi suggested to cross it and we followed him. This was a good one.

Having idly as breakfast

Few pics from a place to have some good actions:

The Fall: I was following Ravi. There was sharp left turn required to escape a ninety degree fall. I did the the very common mistake. I was looking at the point where I was not supposed to go. The same old human mind played its role and I landed up side down with my bike on me. Got a small scratch on left knee and then a lot of flies on it. These flies got disappointed when I applied antiseptic spray on the scar.

The flat tire: Anand got a flat tire again. This happened with him two of the last three rides. Not sure what is happening with his bike. We thought that pumping some air into the tire will help us for few miles. But he again did a very common mistake. He did not support the valve while pumping the air. Result? The tube got a cut near the valve. I was having a spare tube which is used. I hope, he does not forget it and returns a new tube to me. :)

The Culprit

How happy he is after fixing the tire

Finally, after covering all the unknown trails, we were on sarjapur road. While returning, we stopped at the new Decathalon Store. Sharath escorted us in the store and I am really happy to see such a place in India where such a good variety of sports and trekking gears is available at a reasonable price. We also got a test ride of Rockrider 6.

Break along the Rose Garden

Then we dispersed to our homes. The ride was awesome and many thanks to Ravi.

Stats:
Total Distance: 59 KM
Max Speed: 50.7 KMPH
Avg Speed: 18 KMPH