Day 2, and Night 2 (for the night too was an eventful one!)

The day began with a relaxed, lazy attitude, as if we had nothing to do, no where else to go!
We started the day with a lazy, long bath, and went to the temple for the darshana. This was turning out to be a Thirtha yatra! We bought some local special eateries, the ones which you find only in the Dakshin Kannada. Some delicious breakfast hence, we decided to move.

The Gang, From Left: Myself, Sanjeev, Kushal, (sitting) Hrithik (nick) , Patil, Roopesh,(sitting) Go-Pande and Karthik

But go where? We were running out of ideas, because, we wanted to be back home by evening, and take rest the next day, and all the good options asked us to stay for longer! Also, the previous day’s journey had put a question mark on the objective of the journey; the ride was good, the terrain was good, but finally, c'mon, where are we going to? Isn't there a destination, reaching where, we can feel we have accomplished something? After weighing all our options, we decided to go to Agumbe. Thanks to Sanjeev for that! But for his persistence, we would have been heading back.
On the way to Agumbe

Heading north, towards Agumbe, we left Shringeri around 10.30 AM. This was a bit of a bumpy ride, with the road springing surprises every now and then! At one point, we were cruising at around 60, when I miss-judged the hump, and found ourselves flying! Well, as the saying goes, I felt The Lump in my throat! To make matters worse, the helmet was a bit of a loose fit, and it rose upward blocking my view! All this could have hardly been for three seconds, but that could have been enough to bring us down. Luckily, we made it through!

Agumbe is around a hundred kilometers from Sringeri; the western ghat roads which were so magnificent yesterday looked the usual today! We reached Agumbe, and headed towards Kudlu Theertha, around 8 kms to the interior from the main road. And waited for the rest of the roadies to catch up, that was a chance for us to soak in the beauty around; there were so many girls visiting the place that day! We found out from the locals there that we need to trek about 2-3 kilometers to reach the water falls! This was turning out to be a complete trip, with biking, trekking, and swimming involved, not to miss the thrill you find on top of a peak, or the one that you find under the water falls! We chose to ride till it was possible on the bikes, and ended up doing some dirt biking, one of us ending up in knee high water, and the bike getting a free service, including the interiors of the silencer! J

Finally, with the roar of the water fall guidingus, we made it there. The water-fall was around 200 ft high, and was like a huge water shower! This was a pleasant surprise, as we never envisaged such a water-fall.. Along the water-fall, surrounding it, there was a magnificent rainbow ring! Just imagine, and you will feel the joy!

We spent over a couple of hours there, and came back to find one of our bikes punctured! Well, this was expected, for the dirt ride would definitely have taken a toll! Spent another three hours getting the bike ready, having had a tough time to find a mechanic to do the job, the day being a Sunday! Pity, Ravi did not find a spare tube.J

Finally, we came back to the restaurant, in the outskirts of Agumbe, where the proprietor was a young pretty lady, whom we could not avoid gawking at! She was a pleasant beauty, and we had our fill of Neer-dosas and Cocum juice.. By the time we left Agumbe, it was over 8 PM, and we headed towards Shimoga. I was tired of all the riding, and knew had more riding to do in the night, and opted to rest in the car, while Karthik took over. Am mostly blank about this part of the journey; all I know is the riders had a time of their lives riding through the ghats in the pitch blackness at over 80kms an hour. The cold was extreme, with the riders unable to feel their fingers! Finally, we reached Shimoga, at around 10.30, and went for tea in the KSRTC bus stand restaurant! Some mugs of tea and a few idlis later, we were ready again to head back to Bangalore. It was mid-night.

We decided to stop every hundred kilometers, take rest, and start again. With only the buses and the trucks giving us company, and the road throwing quite some surprises, we managed to hit consistent speeds of around 90, but found ourselves in unpleasant situations time and again.. I was to lead the pack, as the headlight of the bike I was riding were very powerful, the second bike needed protection, as it looked fragile, and the rear was made up by the CBZ. We had decided to move in packs, and this gave us an assurance that our guys are around in case of any eventuality. Finally, after about two hours, the road smoothened out, and we went at full throttle, and reached Tumkur, four hours after we left Shimoga.

I was exhausted, and sleepy, with a stinging pain in the shoulder blade. I decided to rest, and another hour later, we reached Bangalore. The mist was dense, and the riders were all soaked. We stopped at SLV Ragigudda, for one last coffee together, and dispersed for the day!

The rest of the day, and the night, was spent in deep sleep; such was the tiredness of the journey!