Life at Dharwad: 80km cross-country bicycle ride

July 30, 2023. Sunday mornings we usually take out our MTBs and go for 20+ or 30+ km rides. This Sunday Pushpa had to drop out so it would be a solo ride. When I go solo, I take out my Montra Downtown, a hybrid bicycle. I was up at 3-45 AM and ready to start the ride at 4-30 AM. I had no particular route in mind until I rode the first 100m and then decided to head towards IIT and Chikkamalligwad which would be a 30+ km ride. I took my usual route... KCD Circle, Police HQ, Pepsi factory, Agri University, join NH48. The shortcut to IIT is to take the service road and go behind KPTCL station. However, I continued riding on NH48 until the exit to Belur Indl Area. The industrial area is peaceful at 5-30 AM, I rode past CEDOK and then the Fire Station and headed towards Uflex and joined the straight road to IIT. It was silent except for peacocks calling out somewhere far away. At IIT entrance I turned right, went around its border wall towards Chikka Malligwad village. A kilometer before CMalligwad there's a junction. I stopped at the junction pondering which way to go... CMalligwad or take the other road and join Dhawrad-Goa state highway (SH34). The time was 6-00 and cycling app Zeopoxa showed 25km. I decided to go towards CMalligwad village and continued riding towards Kelageri village via the dirt road running parallel to Hubli-Dharwad bypass road which is part of NH48. I was pondering if I should head back into the city and go home or take SH34 and go to Mugad. At Kelageri I challenged myself to ride more and headed towards Mugad on SH34. At Mugad cross, instead of turning off, I continued on SH34, I had plans of touching Alnavar. This is where I thought of breaking my 70km record which was set in Feb 2022 during the Dharwad to Kittur to Dharwad ride.

From here, altitude drops every kilometer which means the return journey would be a long uphill ride.

A kilometer after Mugad cross, at the end of a downhill stretch, there were badly made speed bumps, I had to slow down, then a sudden uphill stretch. The scenery was great, lush green forests and paddy fields but I preferred to look at the road for oncoming traffic and also listen to vehicles at the back. Finally I stopped for one picture at this milestone, had a sip of water and continued.

The left most 2' of the road is an extension job, it wasn't as smooth at the original road. Being a slow moving object on the road, I had to stick to the left hence the ride was a little rough. The other thing was frequent speed bumps, bad patches and gravel on the road. I had to be wary of traffic before making sudden turns to avoid rough spots. I started feeling this road isn't really bicycle friendly.

At Honnapur, I stopped to inquire about the road to Kalakeri. That would be my Plan-B in case I abort the ride to Alnavar which was another 15 km from here. I continued on SH34, most of the way was downhill, road condition was getting worse with every kilometer. At the end of a km long downhill stretch was Aravatgi, I went a little further until Madakikoppa cross. Here I decided to abort the ride to Alnavar since the weather was warmer, road was dustier due to heavy traffic. I turned around

starting the return leg. The kilometer long uphill stretch was a real challenge and Honnapur was still 5 km away. In about 20 minutes I was back at Honnapur, I decided to leave SH34 and take the peaceful inner roads. I was familiar with Kalakeri - Dharwad road, it's a silent stretch. Honnapur - Kalakeri road too was silent, almost zero traffic, road was curvy and undulating. This road is better known as Aranya Homestay road. Two kilometers into this rural road, a big pond came into view, I was tempted to stop for a photo, but continued riding. Just after the lake, the tar road ended, a dirt track started which was flanked by thick jungles. The dirt track was soft, like clay. Luckily heavier traffic had left tracks and it was convenient to ride in those tire tracks. This is the point I realized that this route was better suited for a MTB.

Having done 50+ km and 20+ to go I was in no mood for stop n start since the remaining 20+ was mostly uphill. 'The dirt track in the jungle' scene was too good and I missed taking a photo of it. Anyway, I was glad when Kalakeri bus-stand came to view. I stopped here realizing how badly I was dehydrated. I refilled my water can and drank until I felt better. At the bus-stand was this blue walled chah angadi. I had two tiny glasses of tea, it was so sugar saturated that additional sugar wouldn't have dissolved. I bought a pack of Parle-G just in case. I had no cash on me and BSNL was out of coverage here. Great! I had to borrow the shopkeeper's internet connection to make the payment via GPay. Thankfully the shopkeeper was familiar with mobile hotspot.

BTW, Kalakeri is known for a music school. The school produces its own electricity with solar panels. I wish to see that place but not this day. The ride continued at a steady pace, the next village on the way was Kyarkoppa. This stretch is peaceful, all we hear is birds, insects and frogs. About half a kilometer before Kyarkoppa Gudda, an uphill stretch is a challenge. Until now every time I've passed by this Gudda, I visit the Basavanna Gudi atop Kyarkoppa Gudda. My legs were aching little, had a feeling of cramps, for a moment I thought of skipping the temple but then I couldn't say no to Jodi Basavanna. The uphill dirt track to the temple was steeper than anything I rode today, especially the last 20' is a challenge. Now having ridden 60+, my leg muscles screamed, I almost stalled but I pushed and made it to the top. While I rode the level ground around the temple I realized how deep was my breathing was. At the temple front I stopped and got off the bike, legs were stuff, I was tempted to sit but remained standing. I realized the mistake of not sipping water at regular intervals, now I was dehydrated and my legs' condition was indescribable.

I submitted Namaskara to Basavanna and fished out the Parle-G from my bag. I noticed a dog there, it seemed to be lonely, may be hungry too. I took half the biscuits and slowly approached it, thankfully the biscuits were accepted. We ate together, then I gave a few more from my share, the dog just ate expressing no emotions. I drank some more water and restarted the ride. The downhill ride had to be taken with brakes on all the time. Back on the road, another 700m long uphill ride. My legs were crazy, they were stiff, parts of the feet & toes were numb, seriously it was a torturous time. I had to manage 10+ more kilometers. After the 700m uphill part, it was more or less level ground, I picked up pace here. This rural road joins SH28 i.e. Dharwad-Haliyal road. For a couple of kilometers this road is crowded.. vehicular and human traffic, it's almost like Dharwad market. With my leg muscles howling, I was scared where I'll lose control and run into something. I dreaded one last uphill stretch from CB Nagar cross to KCD Circle but I had no choice. Legs were stiffening and screaming but I kept pushing. When I reached KCD circle, I was ecstatic, almost like the ride was done.

From KCD Circle I headed to Jubilee Circle and then to Line Bazar Hanuman Gudi. Whenever we are in this part of the town, we make it a point to pass by Hanuman Gudi. Today I thanked for the strength & stamina... Jai Hanuman!

Home was just a couple of kilometers, the minutes flashed by and I was home. I leaned my Montra on its stand, stopped the ride in Zeopoxa which said 80.27km in 5hr 27 min. Then I took slow steps, I might have looked like a robot learning to walk. It took several minutes for the leg muscles to relax, then I locked & covered the bicycles and climbed four floors to home. Pushpa made fresh tea, one mug each, we chatted about the ride over tea. Here are the snapshots from my phone.. routes in Google Fit and Zeopoxa.