100 km cross-country bicycle ride

Almost everyday of December I had been thinking of a long distance ride. Which way to go was the question. Kusugal-Byahatti-Shivalli route requires a MTB because of bad stretches near Byahatti. My MTB needs a major service, so dropped that route. Kittur route requires good lights, both headlight and tail-lamps should last at least 4 hours which was manageable with my collection of lights. However, I was concerned of a backup. I thought of lapping a certain stretch on BRTS route but that wouldn't be fun. I kept on thinking until Dec 24th evening but told Pushpa that I'd a long ride in mind on 25th morning. I planned to start at 4 AM, set alarm for 3-15 AM and hit the sack.

Dec 25th morning. I woke up without the alarm and checked the phone, it was switched off. It was 3-30, I decided to go ahead, even if it meant a little late. I plugged in the charger letting the phone charge up while I got ready. By 3-55 AM, phone was 80% charged and the backup was at 100%. Told Pushpa that I might go towards her office or IIT and left. I pumped air into Montra's rear wheel, fixed the lights and started still unsure which side to go. At the main road, I turned left ...ride towards IIT would be nice in this weather. On entering NH48, I decided to head towards Belur Indl Area, a round-about route to IIT. At the industrial area exit, I thought "forget it, let me go towards Kittur." As I rode on, I felt traffic was more this time compared to the previous ride... Dharwad-Kittur-Dharwad ride of Feb 2022.

On downhill stretches, when the speed picked up, there was some rattling noise. I stopped for a minute at Venkatpur village to check, everything seemed okay. One possibility was a broken spoke or two which can be checked back home. Barring that stop, I rode nonstop to Kittur. About 6 km to go, the headlight indicator flashed red, I turned it off and rode on ...thanks to lights from slow moving trucks, they kept the road lit up well. However, the lamp had some energy left in it, I used it in darker stretches. I had to optimize to make it a nonstop ride. I entered the fort gate and exited, a symbolic gesture and came back to the highway, stopped at Chennamma Circle for this picture. It was 6-30 am and I was heading back towards Dharwad.

On the return leg, I got a thought of making this a 100 km ride. For that to happen the ride had to be extended. I was thinking of options, can decide on the route by the time I arrived at Belur. Recalling my 80 km cross-country ride on July 30th, I had ignored drinking water, as a result I had mild cramps and numbness in my legs. I decided not let that happen by stopping every 30 minutes for a gulp of H2O. The first stop was 15 minutes later than scheduled, I stopped next to a fuel bunk near Belur village. While I stretched and rested, a kitty appeared and started circling me and Montra, meowing softly. I played with it for a minute and left.

The next stop was on IIT road where I ran out of water. I went around IIT, a familiar route, and arrived at Guddada Anjaneya Gudi where I refilled the can. Since the water was salty I was hesitant to drink. The ride continued, I passed Kelageri and then reached Mugad. I bought a bottle of water and few peanut-jaggery candies. I rode out of the village, along the lake bank and stopped at Durgadevi Gudi which is on the lake bank. The temple was a perfect place to stop ...a bench, drinking water, cool breeze and a nice sight. 

On washing my face I realized the amount of salt I had lost. The candies were delicious and energizing. From here, the next 8 km is a uphill stretch, it's going to be crawl. Indeed it was but I kept my focus on. The next stop was at my maternal uncle's place. My aunt asked me to have breakfast, I declined and moved on. The last few kilometers were slow because I inside streets to avoid traffic. The inside roads are ups and downs. I realized the chain and gears need oiling badly. Also they had taken on lot of dust, Montra needs a nice pressure wash.

I was elated when Zeopoxa showed 102 km in front of out apartment gate. Finally a 100 km ride happened. Here are a few screen-shots from Zeopoxa. Google Fit had stopped tracking for some reason, on analyzing the issue, it looked like the software mistook this bicycle ride for a motorcycle ride! I deleted the listing and made a manual entry but the app is still hooked on to older data. I'll check again, maybe there's a way to fix it.

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Spotted Owl

A spotted owl has been visiting the African Tulip tree next to our apartment for the past few months. It looks the same owl, so I'm assuming it's the one I finally framed using my Nikon P900.

It was around 6-30 pm Pushpa spotted it perched on a branch. We immediately got the camera and a powerful lamp. Pushpa kept the owl in the spot-light while I took several shots. The owl was hardly stationery, it turned its head left-right-left-right for some reason. Anyway, I managed to capture a few decent shots.

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yellow cucumber creeper

Yellow cucumber seeds thrown in a planter sprouted and grew into little creepers. One of the creepers has borne a few flowers as well.

The creeper's tendrils have held on to a steel bar hung on another planter. Within the coils of the spring are little insects which infect certain plants.

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shots of an African Tulip tree

The 50' tall African Tulip tree next to our apartment is completely bare except these buds, two flowers and two or three pods. These pictures were shot with a Canon 600D & EFS 55-200 mm lens.

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early morning shots

This coco-bowl was placed on Tulasi plant as a bird-feeder. Pounded rice grains would be put into the bowl for the Bulbuls which frequent come here in search of food.

 

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2023 Oct-30th full-moon

 

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How to control acidity

Acidity, also known as acid reflux. causes a lot of discomfort and suffering. I've suffered acidity for a long time. Several of my acquaintances complain, at least one of them had to be admitted to a hospital for treatment. After having suffered for years, I did some experimenting and arrived a possible solution.

What causes acidity?

Food that doesn't get along with our digestive system is the primary cause according to my understanding. There are other reasons for acidity: Eating in a rush, not chewing food sufficiently. Some may not be drinking water sufficiently. From my personal experience, even aerosol sprays can cause acidity. When we inhale deodorant fumes they somehow mess up our tummy. There could be reasons out of our control- food contaminated with toxic chemicals affect our health in more ways than one.

Banana's often caused acidity for me. After pondering over it, I felt bananas ripened using chemicals was the cause. Then I found that green chilly was the major culprit. I abstained from green chilly for months to confirm this. On discovering it, we have replaced green chilly with dry red chilly, sometimes pepper if the recipe allows it. Then coffee is another enemy of mine. Coming to tea, I'm okay with one mug early in the mornings. However, even a small cup of tea during late afternoon kicked up acidity in matter of minutes. So, I have tea in the mornings only. Having sweets for lunch followed by a long nap also caused acidity on waking up. Alcohol and cigarettes are big time culprits. Lack of sleep disturbs our body in more than one ways. There are a myriad of causes, one has to take a wide n deep look what we consume, our lifestyle, and identify the culprits.

How to prevent or control acidity?

Once you know the cause or causes, appropriate action is a must. Even if you suspect something, you have to act. As the saying goes "prevention is better than cure" our first step is to find ways to prevent acidity by either avoiding or abstaining from the culprit. Next is to consume friendly food and adopting healthy habits. Having a fresh fruit like papaya or a cucumber a few minutes before a meal. Chopped radish & radish leaves are helpful. Eat food in small morsels or bites, chew thoroughly before swallowing. Avoid distractions while eating food like mobile phones, TV, talking, etc. Eat food peacefully. Chewing a few grains of Ajwan or Jeera after a meal aides digestion, they work like mouth fresheners as well. Avoid sugary or mint flavored mouth fresheners.

To mitigate discomfort caused by acidity, drink lots of water. Sip hot / warm / room temperature water (whichever is comfortable for you) as much quantity as you can. When you sip water, make sure to hold water in mouth for a few seconds until saliva mixes and then swallow the water. Saliva not only helps digestion but also heals.

Apart from food and lifestyle, the way you lie down on the bed matters. Ideally one must allow at least 60 minutes between the end of a meal to lying down for a nap. Your position too matters- lie down on the left side only. Lying on the back with a full tummy pushes fluids out of the tummy towards the esophagus. One could lie on the back or turn to the right side after 3 to 4 hours.

Before closing this article, I would like to add couple more points. Some people are habituated to lozenges to mask cigarette odor or bad breath. Menthol flavored lozenges can damage mucous lining in our esophagus. Please stop chewing them, instead go for natural ways like chewing a clove or cardamom or simply rinse your mouth with water. If you can get salt-water, it works better than a plain water rinse. The other point is to avoid antacids as much as possible. Drinking water slowly over a prolonged period is a safe alternate to antacids.

Disclaimer: this is a suggestion to prevent or control acidity, this is not a cure. This suggestion is based on personal experience, this is not to be taken as medical advise.
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snack art bicycle

Bicycle drawing made of flake wheels and tapioca sticks.

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love is like a chineez mobyl

 Saw this quote on an autorickshaw couple of days ago.

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Goldfish

This photo was shot on the new years day of 2008 at a popular restaurant of Dharwad.

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Hakkaraki Pallya

Hakkaraki is one of the edible plants. It's leaves can be eaten raw, goes well with jolada rotti. It has a slightly bitter taste and said to be good for health. Hakkaraki grows on its own during rainy season i.e. June to September. It's usually found in black soil fields. Farmers rarely grow it as a commercial crop.

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Anantana Hunnime Chandra

September 28th, 2023

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crimson touch

Yesterday early morning, when sunrays peeped through a gap in the clouds for a few minutes.

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Ganesh Chaturti 2023

This time Ganesh Chaturti was celebrated on two days i.e. while some people did pooje on Sept 18th, the rest celebrated on 19th. We did Ganapati pooje on 19th morning. Late afternoon we started our Ganapati Darshan tour and returned home with twenty one Ganesha pictures. All these pictures were shot by Pushpa.

ಶ್ರೀ ವಕ್ರತುಂಡ ಮಹಾಕಾಯ ಸೂರ್ಯಕೋಟಿ ಸಮಪ್ರಭ |

ನಿರ್ವಿಘ್ನಮ್ ಕುರು ಮೇ ದೇವಾ ಸರ್ವ ಕಾರ್ಯೇಷು ಸರ್ವದಾ ||

श्री वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्य कोटी समप्रभा |

निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्व-कार्येशु सर्वदा॥

Shree Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samaprabha |

Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Kaaryeshu Sarvada ||

 Maruti Nagar, Gowli Galli

Railway Station

Veera Savarkar Geleyara Balaga, Station Road

Vinayaka Yuvaka Mandali Malmaddi

Karnataka College Circle

 Saptapur Last Stop

Shirdi Sai Nagar

Samudaya Bhavan, Kelageri

Dhyamavvana Gudi, Oni Kelageri

Ashirwada Ganapati Gudi, Kelageri 

Hosur Oni, Kelageri

Anjaneya Nagar, Kelageri

Hubballi home, Kelageri

Sadankeri

Haliyal Naka (near AIR Gate)

Allikeri Chawl

Subhash Road

Tikare Road

Ram Mandir, Line Bazar

Sangam Circle

Shivanand Nagar

Links to past years' Ganesh Darshan-

Ganesha Habba 2022
Ganesha Habba 2019
Ganesha Habba 2016
Ganesha Habba 2015
Ganesha Habba 2014
Ganesha Habba 2013
Ganesha Habba 2012
Ganesha Habba 2011
Ganesha Habba 2010
Ganesh Chaturti 2009
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Bicycle ride at Navalur Gudda

Our friend Srinu's visit to our home was long pending. We were happy when he messaged about his plan to spend a few days with us. Srinu drove down from Hyderabad on Aug 24th, reached Pushpa's office by 6-45 pm and came home around 7-20 pm. Nothing was planned for the following day except that we went to meet Mama who had met Srinu once in Aug 2014. The next day i.e. Aug 26th Saturday, we went to Neerasagar reservoir, spent a few hours there and returned home for lunch. Sunday mornings is reserved for bicycling. with so many interesting trails I was wondering what direction to go. I decided on Navalur Gudda, a woody hill about 3 km from our place. I'd bicycled on Navalur hill a couple of times, I knew it would be fun. Pushpa hadn't been to this hill yet.

Sunday morning, we woke up early and set to start the ride at 5-30. We rode along Chigari bus track and took the service road to Navalur village. BTW, Navalur is my maternal great grandfather's native. We cut across the village, navigating its narrow lanes. Once out of the village, we took a dirt track which goes around the base of the hill which is 1.4 km long and 0.5 km at its widest point. The hill has been fenced by Karnataka forest department. It is being converted into a eco park on the same lines as Sanjivini Park. At the southern end of the hill is the gate which is open currently. Probably entry will be restricted to fixed hours once the ongoing work is done. Another dirt track starts at the gate and runs along the fence. We stopped about half a kilometer into the track.

From this point, the track is uphill, gradual at the beginning and steeper as it goes deeper into the woods. I was riding Montra, a hybrid bicycle not really meant for this terrain. Srinu and Pushp were on MTBs, ideal for this terrain. The slimmer Hybrid tires can slip easily and every bump could be felt. The MTB tires neutralized almost every bump or ditch and felt stable. Perhaps, you could read the blog post MTB vs Hybrid to know how different these bikes are.

Navalur hill has two peaks, I'll call them eastern and western peaks. The latter being higher than the former. On the eastern peak is a small temple called as Basavanna Gudi and on the western peak is a watch tower. My plan was to go towards the Basavanna Gudi and take a break. Srinu suggested we go to the watch tower. The narrow trail going up the slope had a lot of loose pebbles, riding uphill would be dicey. However, Srinu went up three-fourth way and gave up. Pushp and I parked our bicycles and walked up.

Looking in the northerly direction. On the northern and eastern sides of this hill are black soil plains as far as eyes can see. Pushp and I have a couple of bicycling routes there as well.

Panning to the right; Basavanna Gudi comes into view. Suryadeva is breaking through the clouds.

This is the south-easterly view. In a distance are two groups of buildings- those are SDM Medical College and SDM Dental College campuses -both are situated off Dharwad-Hubballi road. Between the hill and Dharwad-Hubballi road are agricultural plots, housing layouts, a small industrial area and Navalur Railway Station.

Great views from the watch tower. Time to leave.

A few pictures before leaving.

Upward ride is one thing but downward ride can be too risky. The loose pebbles can play havoc with balance & control. Safer to walk it down.

Thanks to the forest department for the watch tower. And a request to all visitors not to litter and mess up this beautiful place.

 

We retraced the dirt track back to the gate and exited. Instead of going along the eastern side i.e. the way we came here, we took another route to Navalur village. We entered the village again and exited on the lake side, passed through numerous housing layouts and hit Dharwad-Hubballi road.

Here's the route of our 16 km ride tracked by Google Fit. The lower loop is around half of Navalur  & Navalur Gudda.

Though a short ride, this would remain one of the memorable ones.

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