Hampe bike ride new love in life.

Hampi is one place that we had wanted to visit from a long long time. Due to various reasons we were not able to make it till recently. Oct 2nd weekend seemed an ideal time for us to plan a trip to Hampi as it had been a long time since we had taken our bikes out on a long ride. Bike rides always get me relaxed and charged up. The recent rains in parts of northern Karnataka made my mom extra concerned and worried. It made me feel bad that I was putting her under a lot of stress for my own happiness. But, that’s how life is. People have to be flexible. Finally we left Bangalore on Thursday evening and had planned to reach chitradurga by early nightfall. But, like in any trip, one person delays the whole plan. This time is was Pomchi’s turn. We were not able to give him a piece of our minds for the delay as he is generally the most punctual among us. After a short ride, even before we reached Nelamangala Pomchi started complaining about riding in the rain. We coaxed and convinced him to keep riding and reached tumkur where we stayed for the night. The next morning we started riding towards chitradurga. The NH-4 stretch from Tumkur-Chitradurga was a very pleasant one. The roads were extremely good and surprisingly the weather held up real good. The conditions were perfect for a bike ride. It was not sunny, not raining, not cold, just pleasant and cool. Riding in these conditions in the country-side has a charm of its own. I stuck to a constant speed of 80 kmph. While riding i reflected on my past life. The way things have moved. It gave me immense satisfaction. I felt really happy with the way my life had shaped up till then. At the same time, like in riding a bike, I was eagerly looking forward to the future. I knew there would be potholes, there would be bumps. All one would have to do is either learn to avoid them or slow down, enter the potholes and smoothly move out of it. An occasional glance at the rear-view mirror usually helps in planning for the road ahead. Isn’t life strikingly similar to riding a bike!!!??? In quick time we were in chitradurga and then took NH-13 towards sholapur. The roads turned from amazing to worse and occasionally good. But, the bullet and me just kept going on effortlessly. The roads were a stark contrast to earlier. The rains increased as well. We reached Hospete completely drenched. Had some good potato buns and bread toast in Lakshmi aunt’s bakery. We then rode to Hampe which had no power whatsoever due to the incessant rains.
The next day we visited Virupaksha temple early in the morning. Suddenly the airtel network was back up when we started walking up to one of the many ruined temples. I called up mom to assure her that I am safe. To my disbelief I heard a panic stricken story from her. Apparently, there was an earthquake in Hampe!! The idol in the Virupaksha temple we had just visited was supposedly missing and the water-level from the adjoining river had gushed into the town!! I instantly wanted to kill those journalists and TV channels for inducing panic into my mom’s mind. I had a tough time convincing my mom that it was pretty safe out there. My mom’s concern and the way she gets worried has started making me think twice before going on bike-trips. We then continued to enjoy the ruins. We guys skipped going to Anegundi due to time constraints and also cause we would have to cross the Tungabhadra river on a coracle to reach there. This could have been risky as the river was raging due to the recent rains. We then headed to Tungabhadra dam late afternoon and were impressed by the size of the dam as well as the amount of water it stored.
The ride back home from Hampe all the way to Bangalore was pleasant and comfortable. It was a surprise as we had expected to get completely drenched. We stopped for breakfast in small town called Kudligi somewhere between Hospete and chitradurga. The BF was better than what we had expected. This is one of the things that I love about traveling in India. The small towns and villages here have a way of surprising you with good food, honest people or serene natural beauty. I filled my tummy as well as the bull’s tummy and we headed off to chitradurga. I was shocked to see bright sunshine here as the TV reports on the previous day had predicted 22mm of rain in chitradurga. The sunshine was ample invitation for us to check out the famous fort. We checked out the fort made famous by “Onake Obavva”. This act of bravery from an ordinary housewife is truly inspirational. She had single handedly killed Haider Ali’s soldiers who were trying to sneak up into the fort from one of its many secret passages. The ride from there to home was very smooth and simple thanks to the good roads and sparse traffic. I guess most people stayed indoors due the rain warnings.
All in all it was good trip with lots of rain. The ride on the bad (pathetic actually) roads were a test of our riding skills. The good roads were a breeze and gave me ample time and opportunity to reflect on my past and look into the future in anticipation. Eagerly waiting for the next bike trip.