dying of thirst whilst riding in the kaveri valley

this trip had been on the cards for a long time. it even got postponed once. i remember scrolling google maps, spotting this route snaking down into the valley and thinking: fuck yeah, i need to ride this on tars.

the ride kicked off in hebbal, where i linked up with arun and his ktm 390 adventure. we picked up karthik on his guerrilla 450, and niru rolled in last on his gen 1 duke 390. first stop, sangama. we pulled over for tea, then fuel, and then we were properly on our way.

the good roads showed up early. at kanakapura we turned left and began the drop into the kaveri basin, and every kilometre looked better than the last. perfect flowing roads, corner to corner, full flow state, just vibing to some raghu dixit.

i was riding second, behind arun, who was navigating. coming out of one corner i glanced at my mirrors and there they were: the guerrilla and the duke, leaning into the bend in unison. two adventure bikes up front, their sportier cousins behind. the combo worked out rather well.

the closer we got to the river, the steeper and twistier the road became, and that brought out the sporty side of tars. i was leaning as low as i could, trying to hang with the sport bikes.

before we knew it, we'd rolled into sangama. we were early and the place was nearly empty. helmets locked, gear packed away, we walked down to the river, looked around and took a few pictures.

breakfast was at hotel mayura: bread omelettes and pulao. bills settled, gear back on, we headed for a viewpoint we had spotted on the way in.

what followed was an extensive photoshoot. i was riding tars like a madman, sliding the rear on the dusty trail, trying to kick up some dust and look cool for the pictures. then i took it down into the hills over the grass, exploring, before climbing back up.

a few more pictures, and then it was time to gear up for dhabbaguli, our next and last stop before heading home.

just as we were about to leave, niru remembered that i'd wanted a go on his gen 1 duke. that bike has always had a reputation, and i wanted to find out for myself. so we played musical chairs: everyone on somebody else's bike, starting off chill, taking it easy.

we reached the gate for the trail and took a small hydration break, swapping notes on how each bike felt. then we rode into the reserve forest.

this was the bit i'd been looking forward to the most. the moment i hit the trail, tars came alive. i stood up, twisted the throttle and was flying. it was a wide-open section and i flew over those forest roads. this, i thought, is where tars belongs.

then came a nasty patch full of rocks, climbing up a hill. slower, more technical stuff, but no sweat for tars; it handled it like a champ. i popped out onto the tarmac and waited for the rest to catch up (hehe).

the duke and the adventure made it out. the guerrilla was nowhere to be seen. we waited, and waited, until a local told us he had fallen. we circled back. it was a minor fall, but the mirror was broken. we tried fitting it back on, it just wouldn't go, so we moved on.

by now the sun was right over us and we were getting cooked alive.

we were desperately hunting for water to quench our thirst when a small village store appeared, and they had nice cold water for us. we drank, filled up and rode on.

on the way to dhabbaguli we had to stop at the forest office checkpoint. they wanted us to hand over the camera. we said no, and offered to leave the battery and take the body through instead. so i tricked them: i handed over one battery out of the three i had, and we carried on.

this section was steeper and more technical, some of it along the cliff side, broken up by longer, smoother stretches that let tars breathe. but the heat had properly kicked in by now, and we were feeling it.

we reached the riverside, parked the bikes in a nice spot and went to rest under a tree.

we'd barely sat down when a stranger walked up asking for help: their car was beached. so back out we went, into the scorching heat. it was stuck in fine sand. the tyres had dug in so deep that the chassis was resting on the sand and the wheels were basically floating. we tried a whole lot of things. in the end it was brute force that got it out: about twenty people, pushing.

back at the bikes, we geared up and started riding out of the valley. we left the forest, reached the village again and stopped for another hydration break. by the time we hit the main road it was already 4:30.

in kanakapura we pulled into paakashaala for some light food, then hit the highway in darkness. we asked arun to lead, since his bike has aux lights. soon enough we were back in bengaluru, where we split up and headed our separate ways.

a great day of riding that felt like an endurance dakar rally, thanks to the heat and the terrain.