Wolfpackers

All of a sudden! Out of the blue.. Just like that, We decide on a Road Trip!!! A ROAD TRIP??? Huh???. Now call me a Skeptic but i was cautious enough not to get too exited about it. But before i knew it, true enough, there we were... Saturday Morning the 14th of April 2007, saying a prayer (hallo round our heads, saints clad in helmets and gloves) at church before we headed off on our way to KudreMukh. Now before we go there.. let me preen my Geographical knowledge and tell u a little about the place we were going to!!

Kudremukh is a place about 4oo Km from Bangalore. Its a hill station and has alot of Wild life . we were on our WAY there to see .. Wait a minute what were we going there for (thinking).. oh yea now i remember. DUH!! We were going there to See "WILD LIFE AND NATURE" (if you please) not that we don't have plants and trees here and we have to go about 400 kms out of Bangalore to see that BUT you need a reason to travel! (Do we really? Ok that we shall discuss later.. read on) .. KudreMukh I said to my self, Kudureemukh (Yo Baby! tried saying it with an American tongue) still didn't sound very appealing! So anyway like i said we said a prayer at church and then we were off.

8 of us,4 bikes...errrr not necessarily couples though. Barely Wriggling through traffic and an inarticulate jargon of "I told you so's" started! We should have and could have left early? And I wasn't late and you were!" Baaahhhh! Lucky i had my helmet on ;-)
Traffic over, we finally hit the highway, burning tyre, wind in my hair, racing off into the open roads, 120 Kms in a jiffy! we had never seen or ridden bikes before but i have to admit it was quite an experience considering the fact that everyone was literally dying to go on a road trip. We planned to have our first stop after about 120 kms but guess what we stopped about a million times before that, it was always someone either wanting to have a cigarette or someone not comfortable or just any simple reason call it getting carried away or frustration because we weren't covering enough ground, my friend and I broke off and continued as far as we could we stuck to our original plan which was a stop after 100 kms!!!
We had breakfast and wasted as much time as we could because the other guys stopped much earlier than us. Finally they caught up to us and all of a sudden I noticed everyone was in a very Road runner mood. we found ourselves racing through the highway and i was wondering what got these guys so pepped up maybe it was the food i though to myself but i was finally thankfully we were on our way.
We were riding together and reached a few really nice roads with some Amazing bends where we could finally push the limits of our bikes. Ricardo and i were taking the bends on like our lives depended on it and it was one experience i don't think i would ever forget and that wasn't the end of it, the Ghats were yet to come and everyone was anticipating just that. Before we could reach the ghats we had a couple of bad roads here and there but the only thing that kept the frustration from setting in was the hair pins and Chica that we would encounter at the ghats. Finally after much anticipation and impatience we reached the ghat section and all hell broke loose. myself and Ricardo got carried away and broke loose from the rest we found ourselves doing things we never imagined our bikes or we for that matter could ever do. We were taking bends and hair pin turns like we were professionals at it. Now in this whole scenario the fact that we are ahead of them and that the others are pretty far back set in finally and we calmed ourselves down and finally decided to stop. We waited for about 20 minutes and we were talking about this turn and that turn and how we took it etc. We then realized that the others had still not caught up , so santosh and i decided to go back a couple of kms to see if anything had happened we reached an intersection where we assumed they might have taken and gone the "WRONG" way we looked around and asked a couple of people if two bikes came through there and they said yes, Santosh and i looked at each other and laughed at how stupid they could get as we were laughing we turned only to see a board that just wiped that smile off our faces. It said KUDRE MUKH THIS WAY > i must say that put and end to our joy only because its just at that very moment we felt like such fools only because we had taken the wrong turn. After about two minutes we found ourselves riding back to tell Ricardo we had taken the wrong turn, we got to them and gave them the bad news and after a little blame game that took place we headed back the way we came and then took the right road.

Now just as we were getting carried away yet agian and just as we thought nothing could go wrong we look up only to see disaster!!!! Black clouds just waiting to explode and drench everything in its way, Before we knew it it was pouring and we found ourselves riding in the rain just to save time and cover ground. we were just pushing the limits on turns and loosing the back tyre on practically every turn. All of a sudden the rain got too heavy and we decided to stop and take shelter at a bus stop. there we were all drenched and looking at each other no one complained or said anything only because we thought of it as an experience .though none of us actually said it the look on everyone's face just said it all. We looked up and realized that there was someone else there who was desperately trying to make conversation with us, and when i say that i mean it. He actually went all out and told us that we were on the wrong road and that we were traveling an extra 70 km's. Since we were sure that we were don the right road this time we just nodded our heads and we realized that the rain had stopped and we set off again.

We then reached a small town where we stopped for some time had a few cups of coffee and had some lunch, it took a while for the rain to stop but once it did we set off again.
We then reached a board that said 30 km's more to KUDRE MUKH.
Just when we were smiling again and happy we were finally reaching the place , Ricardo's bike stops and we realize that he is out of fuel, Lucky for him i had a bottle of fuel in my bag so we did the needful and then we were on our way.
We then reached our destination and just when everyone was just starting to smile the thought of how to find the other guys set in and to make things worse there was absolutely no signal on our cell phones.
Just when we were trying to formulate a plan we entered the Town and we saw these guys standing at the office where we were suppose to book our tents.
After about hafn an hour of Shouting at each other and blaming each other we were on our way to our tents. I couldn't care less who was wrong or right because i was tired and just needed a bed i could Bond with.
Once we reached our tents we put our bikes to rest and everyone was debating on who deserved to use the toilet first to have a bath, Once we got passed that we found ourselves sitting at a table with so much of Liquor. Now you no what the best part was, absolutely none of us were in the Mood to drink, All we cared about was our dinner and our beds. Finally the dinner came everyone Jumped on it like a Tiger with its Prey. (Now the Reason i said tiger and prey is because we were in a Jungle.... You get it now don't you??) anyway moving on... We finished our dinner and we called it a night..

The Next morning i woke up to find i was the last one up... Now see i am not really embarrassed to say that considering the fact that was riding the previous day and i was tired... so its fine.. isn't it?
Anyway we decided to go down to the River and see what the place was like.... We went down a stairway and what we saw at the end of it was out of this world it was nothing i could describe verbally.. It was just a calm free flowing river that was cleaner than regular water... it was an amazing view, Beyond that was the think forest and Usha out of all people had to ask me to come with her to "Explore" the forest... and me for an instance pictured myself to be "Jeff Cowan" and decided it was kids play and decided to go... As we were looking and hoping to see some wild life i heard Usha say Leech and the next thing you know i was running back to the river screaming Leech leech.. i looked down at my leg and i saw about 7 leeches gripping onto my skin and if i thought that was bad enough i looked at Usha and she had about 15 leeches on her legs.. once they were all off and everyone was passed that..we decided to jump into the River and while all of us were having fun we realized it was time for breakfast and with great effort we got everyone to get out and we headed back to the tent's we had breakfast and we realized we were out of Cigarettes. SO myself and Ricardo volunteered to go to the town and buy the same. (The roads were brilliant there.. so now you know why i Volunteered.. usually im very Lazy :)) So anyway we came to our bikes and the look they had and the way they were parked after the previous day's Journey just brought so much of content to us. We just stood there for about 5 minutes looking at our bikes and falling in love all over again. once we snapped out of it we road out of that place and on to the roads where we started pushing our bikes again and this time we wanted a few pictures so we made Gaurav get off at certain turns and we made him take some really good Pictures of us.. now call it rude if you want.. but we would like to call it Liberating.:) anyway.. Once we finished taking on the roads like it was the back lanes of our own neighborhood.. we headed back to the camp site and we decided to go back into the water and play for some time...just after that it started to rain.. and the best part was that we were to leave in a few hours,... so we just hoped it would stop... After that we went to lunch and i must say it was quite "NICE" ...NOT!!!! but still we had fun and like i said before its all part of the Experience... Moving on... we waited for some time and all of a sudden everyones faces started igniting!! why you ask??? well it was because the Rain had stopped and the sun was up... woo hooo!!!! :) so finally we were packing and ready to leave... now let me just tell you what has been happening else where... Gaurav was having a little Adventure of his own in the Toilet!!! Let me put it this way... The leech fell in love with him and didn't want to let go... and the best part about this little love connection was the fact that Gaurav didn't know the leech had the hots for him... In simple terms the Leech was on his leg and he had absolutely no idea ... He came out of the toilet and before he could say "woo hoo we are in Kudremukh"...His pants were full of Blood!!!

Now the best part was.... Someone out of the group said put Whiskey on it to stop the Bleeding... and next thing we knew Gaurav is in the toilet screaming his A** off... that was a little pre entertainment for us before we left...:) Yea Right ...looking at Gaurav's pants full of Blood!!!

Finally we left and we were on our way... we Passed through the Kudremukh town and before we knew it... we were on the ghats again... and i think you could figure out the rest... Yes but im going to tell you again.. we were riding through roads like never before...Ricardo and I went crazy and we kept pushing the Limits .... Lucky for us God had alot of patience and teach us a lesson.. Thank god!! anyway .. the two Yamaha's were a little behind since since it was Manoj's first time on the Ghats and Lawrence's Girlfriend ......... Lets just say she isn't really a Fan of speed... poor Guy... lol.. ..
All of a sudden God answered our Prayers and Usha let Lawrence rip and Toosa A.K.A Santosh who is an Excellent rider might i add took over Manoj's Bike and it was a Speed shift..
All of us found ourselves taking the corners together and in a line to an ongoing person it would be like watching a GP race.. .. Really!!!

We had one eye on the Road and one eye on the Clouds... Every turn we took we looked up to see if it was going to Rain.. but thankfully we finished the Ghat section just before Daylight was out and to our luck there was absolutely no rain...

After we finished the Ghats,,.. All our problems started it was Bad roads again... And when i say Bad .. I mead Bad..Like the Saying goes "All good things must come to an end!!".

Well since we had no other option we just had to ride ..... Finally we had no other option but to stop a couple of times since our backs and Shoulders were hurting alot.. (Common we are human After all) :) moving on... We reached a small town and we stopped a while for some Coffee and we were preparing ourselves for the Good roads that were going to start up ahead...

We finished our coffee and While Ricardo was filling Fuel .. the others encountered a nature call so we went up ahead...
Once we were all together we took off again.. and before we knew it we were all reaching top speeds ... Santosh was in front of me and just as he was pulling away i noticed the back of his bike .. The Tail light and Number Plate was tilting and looked like it was sliding off... After much screaming and trying to get his attention i finally got him to stop ... to his astonishment he noticed that the whole console at the back had broken..
We had to get a cord from somewhere and tie the console up to the bike... after we got passed that we were on our way again.. ..

Lawrence and Myself broke away from the rest and we were doing top speeds... now just as the turn was getting better and we reached a straight stretch .... .. i was just thinking about changing my profession and becoming a Bike Racer and just picturing myself along side Valentino Rossi.. I heard a huge screech and the next thing i know.. i am about 4 feet in the Air... I thought i was flying.... (WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE) !!! and then it all hit me.. i actually flew over a Speed breaker!!! Yes a speed Breaker!!! i mean common who puts a speed breaker in the middle of the Highway!!!! Seriously!!! Well i stopped at the side to check if anything was wrong with the Bike and the next thing you know... We saw Ricardo appearing at the End of the road and building up speed toward the Speed breaker... The next thing we know... Ricardo just got a crash course on how to fly!!! :),.... Now you know what the most annoying thing was.... Santosh comes up to the speed breaker and takes it like he knew it was there... calmly over the speed breaker he rides the bike.... .I wonder why!!!! (CONFUSED) ... i just stand there and wait for him.... and you know what ... he knew it was there from past experience ,... and he didn't even bother to warn us!!!!! .. Now let me break away from the rip and tell you why those speed breakers were there!!
There is a small town just after the speed breaker.. and Apparently last time when Santosh came this side... there was a person who was killed by a speeding car.. so the Police put speed breakers on the Entrance and exit of the town!!!! Now see this is the confusing part i don't get.. you put the speed breaker there to save a few town people and kill everyone that passes through there!!!!!

Ok now back to the road trip...

So anyway like i was saying... We checked our bikes and we started off again... We decided to stop at Hasan for Dinner... .. It was about 40 km's more..

We entered Hasan and found a Place to have Dinner.. "Suvarna" that was the name of the Place... We had dinner had a couple of beers and we were off again...
Now just as we were Racing ahead... AGAIN i noticed that something had gone wrong with the Yamaha in front of me it was the Exact same problem as before and this time it was with Lawrence's bike... So again we had to pull over and get lawrences bike done.... Once we were passed that we carried on... We stopped just one last time for some smokes at a tea shop... Spent about 15 minutes there... and we were off... we were about 55 km's from Bangalore and everyone could not think of anything else but their beds at that moment... As we were making our way towards Bangalore.. There was a couple of cars that raced passed us and santosh turned to me and said they must be having a race... just as he finished that Sentence Ricardo shot passed us and then we guessed that he was joining in too... Later when we asked him ... he just smiled and said dude i left them to taste my fumes.... .. all of us smiled... Finally we reached City limits and all of us stopped to bid our farewells to each other and take our separate ways... Once we did the same.. I found myself on my way home and before i knew it .. i was at home in my room only to sit back think of what an Amazing experience it was and fall asleep...

This is a picture of all of us.. From left thats Manoj and Gaurav on the Blue Yamaha then thats Yazo and Ricardo on the Bullet 500 and then thats me (Justin) on my Bajaj Pulsar 180 and Santosh Behind me and finally thats Lawrence and His girlfriend Usha





Oh And just so you know we call our selves the ..........