Anand Restaurant(Badami) to Bijapur, Karnataka

Had a disturbed sleep previous night with mosquitoes all over me. Woke up early and made my bicycle ready for the ride. All the restaurant workers were sleeping. Saw one lady in there and I asked her to say my "goodbye" to all those helpful guys.

Cycling began and I was feeling good, despite a bad sleep. The feel good factor didn't last long as I was cycling through the village with dogs chasing me now and then. Three times I cycled fast and one time I shouted at the dogs, getting fed up of them chasing me. Anyways, I escaped from being bitten by some mighty village dogs.

The roads towards Bijapur had plenty of downhills, which I enjoyed very much. I was around 70km away from Bijapur and the roads were just awesome. It was a "Wow" moment for me; beautiful sky and light green landscape with new plants just sprouting up after the rain.

I had parked the bicycle under a tree, having some bread and jam, while watching farmers working in the fields using traditional methods. As soon as I started from there, I rode the bicycle into a sharp wooden chip; got the 3rd puncture of the trip. A farmer passing by the road, asked "what happened and where I was going". He told me that there is bicycle shop 2km away, in case I needed help to fix puncture.

Heavy winds started to flow and I thought it may rain. Fixed the puncture quickly and started riding again.

Throughout my ride, I saw farmers working very hard from dawn to dusk. I wondered how much they would earn for their hard work. They are our food producers and it seems that we never think about them.

Today was also marked by a long bridge crossing, around 4.5km over river Krishna.

Met many local motorbike guys on the road all asking question like Where am I from? Where to? and What is the cost of the bicycle? . For cost of bicycle I gave them different answers like 5000/10000/30000/40000 ruppees. All the people I met today were asking the price of bicycle; hearing them, I thought how the paper money is ruling our lives. So for a change, now I started answering the price question saying: "I don't know the actual price, my friend has gifted me this bicycle for the journey."

On the ouskirts of Bijapur, two guys on  motorbike caught up and rode with me till Bijapur town. We had a nice chat and they told me to visit different places in Bijapur.

Hubli to somewhere near Badami, Karnataka

Got my bicycle serviced. The shop guys were thrilled to hear about my trip. They introduced me to some customers who came in to purchase bicycle. All wished me good luck and took a picture of me with the bicycle.

Started off from Hubli at about 11:00am. I could hear the bicycle tires making a buzzing sound, while  cycling  fast. I thought may be it will go away after sometime, but that didn't happen.  I had already cycled 12 km towards Badami and now decided to return back to Hubli to check if something was wrong with the bicycle tires. Reached the bike shop once again. The mechanic guy was waiting for me, since they forgot to fix back the front mudguard on the bicycle.He said there was no problem with tires and the sound is due to  tire taken out from the rim to fix the puncture, and will be ok after riding for a while. I took his words and started to Badami again.

Badami was about 100+ km. It was late start and I had already lost time by riding from/ back to Hubli. It was already 2:30pm and I knew Badami is out of reach for the day. Never mind, I kept riding and thought would stay in my tent during night.

It was getting dark and I was searching for a place to pitch the tent. Rain started once again and now I was in trouble being caught up in rain and not having a place to stay for the night. I stopped cycling and was pushing my cycle thinking that If I don't find a place to sleep, I will have to keep on pushing cycle until I was too tired to fall asleep somewhere on the road.

There were no lights on the road. Suddenly, in the dark, I saw a place which seemed like a garden to me initially. I went inside and was very happy to see a human face. I asked him if there is any restaurant near by . He said that this place is a Dhaba and will open shortly. I was instantly happy. My next question to the same guy "Bhai Saheb, can I pitch the tent in your garden and sleep for the night.". He said that he was a worker in Dhaba and I have to wait for the owner to get permission. Meantime, he suggested me that there was a bus stop, a few km away, where I can sleep.

I was waiting for the restaurant to be open. Few workers started coming in and were wondering what I was doing with a bicycle there. They could speak Hindi, so I was relieved. I said my story and they were pretty amazed. Now, I was the hot topic in their restaurant. I waited for Daal and Roti for about an hour and there it comes; it was soo tasty.

A kind guy named Mamath said that I could sleep in his house, but its bit far from restaurant and he will finish his work only by 2:00am. 2:00am until sleep, was beyond my limits as I was very tired and wanted to sleep soon. I thought of going to the bus stop and sleeping there. Mamath said that's risky and spoke to his manager. Met Sadiq, who was the relative of the restaurant owner, we spoke about my trip and he said that I can sleep inside the restaurant.

A teacher turned police guy, friend of Sadiq, came to me by hearing the story from others and asked me whether I was not afraid of riding bicycle that long, all alone. I said "Yes I'm, but have to fight with my fears to achieve my dream". He wished me good luck.

I parked my bicycle outside, locking it up with an iron pole. Took the sleeping mat and headed towards the workers room where guys having morning shift in the restaurant were already asleep. I went into sleep, thinking about how kind the villagers were to me, offering me a space to sleep without knowing me or expecting anything from me.

Haveri to Hubli, Karnataka

Yet another cloudy and beautiful morning. I started from Haveri by 6:00am. A farmer in the field asked me where I was going and I said this way straight.

It was a fine ride with good roads and scattered clouds. By noon it started to rain again and I was riding in the rain once more, getting all wet with nature and enjoying the beautiful farms beside the road.

On a uphill ride, I found some pieces of beer bottle glasses shattered on the road , just after riding my bicycle through it. And there it comes, got the first puncture on rear tire. I never repaired a puncture before, but had learned it by watching few YouTube videos. So this was going to be my first hands-on, fixing a puncture.

On the roadside, there was a bus stop and I took my bicycle into it since it was drizzling. Turned the bicycle upside down, removed the wheels, took out the tube and fixed the puncture. Some curios villagers approached me thinking what I was doing asked me something in Kannada. I couldn't understand what they asked, but taking the situation into account, I said to them "Tire..puncture.." by showing tire and the glass piece that I had taken out from tire. Watching me fix the puncture, they all were commenting something about the bicycle that I couldn't understand because it was all Kannada.

After the puncture was fixed, I continued my ride. Now, the air was leaking slowly from the front tire, but riding was manageable. Next stop is at Hubli and I knew Hubli had a bike shop, where I can service the bicycle and check the puncture too.

There was a police check post on the way and vehicles were lined up. Couple of police guys saw me and asked where I was going. Hearing about my trip,police guys were simply thrilled. Said bye to them  and I moved on. After a while, a truck came from behind, honking at me and stopped in front.  They truck guy gave me few oranges and said that the oranges were from the police guys, whom I met few minutes back. I thanked them and rode ahead.

Approaching Hubli, the rain got heavy. The trucks going beside me were splashing water on me and the bicycle. I decided to stop and take a break since I couldn't ride anymore due to poor visibility and rain hitting all over my face.

Reached Hubli by evening and asked for the bike shop address. One youngster was able to help me out in locating the bike shop. While entering the bike shop, the shop guys were all surprised to see me all wet, with  a bicycle and a luggage on the rear rack. I said to them that I was coming from Bangalore on bicycle and they were all surprised to hear that. Gave the bicycle for service and took out my mobile phone from raincoat pocket to note down their number. Oops...my phone was dead. I could see the water bubbles inside phone's touch screen. Seemed like the rain had flooded my pocket with the phone inside.I knew that's the end of my beloved phone. RIP my phone; you are a going to be a memento of my journey.

Took a room near Hubli railway station with the help of bike shop guys and had a good night sleep.

Chitradurga to Haveri , Karnataka

It was raining for last two days in Chitradurga and I was in lodge room all time. Finally, the rain took a pause one fine morning and I was back on the road. The lodge guys had allowed me to park the bicycle in their store room; however security of bike was always a concern for me. Bicycle seemed ok, when I took it out of store room, but when I started riding the gear sounded like it was getting stuck. Seems like someone played with the gears while bike was parked in store room. So, a lesson learned; next time try to keep bike along with me if I stayed in a hotel/lodge or better take room in a lodge if they allow bicycle to be kept in the room itself.

It was raining lightly all the day and wow... I was riding in the rain. Pitching a tent in rain didn't seem good idea for me and I continued riding towards Haveri, a small town, thinking that I could find a lodge there, to stay for the night.I reached Haveri by 9:00pm. The night ride was bit of a adventure; I didn't have the front lights on the bicycle and was riding on the National highway with the help of headlight beams from fellow trucks and cars.

I had taken only minimal things for the tour and my bike accessories included only a multitool and puncture kit. I didn't have even the spare tubes since they were unavailable and also thought travelling minimally will add to my adventure and also help me cycle better with only less load to carry.

Finally, found a lodge in Haveri (guess that was the only one). The hotel rooms were unclean, but had no other choice since it was raining. Only positive about hotel was they allowed me to keep my bicycle inside the room.

Tumkur to Chitradurga

It was 6:30am, an early start from Tumkur. My destination for the day was Chitradurga, around 130km from Tumkur. Since I had done 80km the previous day, I thought cycling to Chitradurga was no big deal. Apparently, I was wrong and my adventure continued. the first 100 km was pretty easy; flat road.I reached Hiriyur by 3:00pm. But from Hiriyur to Chitradurga, it was steady climb. I had to stop at frequent intervals to catch my breath. The national highway has satisfying views with all farm lands and farmers working on their fields till the sun went down. Finally was happy to see the board saying "Welcome to Chitradurga" ,after a steady uphill climb of 30km.

Wind turbines near Chitradurga, Karnataka

On a bicycle - Start from Doddanekundi, Bangalore

With light rain, it was a wet day to begin with. I had put on the raincoat and started my expedition to travel India on bicycle from Bangalore to Himalayas. I was excited not knowing what to expect and how was I going to achieve it.

On the road, I had some guys looking at the bicycle; i guess they were wondering about whats the stuff I was carrying on the rear rack. It was a weekday and  I felt like people on the road were rushing for their daily jobs expect me.

There it comes, the first problem with the bicycle rack. The freeload rear rack mounted was not holding up to the potholes in Bangalore highway service roads. The rack tightening strap had already started to slide down. Seemed like I didn't tighten it correctly. Unloaded all the luggage from rack, tightened the rack strap and then reloaded the stuff again.

By midday sun had brightened up and I was riding on one of the awesome roads towards Tumkur. Met a guy named Parikshit, who was travelling from Bangalore to Tumkur, as part of his job. We had a chat about my bike journey; but I never said to him that I was going till Himalayas. For time being, my destination was Tumkur.

Reached Tumkur by 2:00pm. First day of the ride completed; it was around 80 km and a shock to my body. I never rode this long on a bicycle my entire life.

While taking break under a tree and thinking about searching a lodge for the night stay, I got a call from Mr.Parikshit. He invited me to stay with him. I took the offer. He was also kind enough to take me around Tumkur town on his scooter and also sponser a cup of tea and dinner.