Kalhatty - Ride Suffer Brag

"No wonder cycling people talk about Kalhatty so much"

"Is it gonna end here "

"at least 10 meters of flat road ???"

"On MTB in Kalhatty ? This is Madness ..."

"Good Job guys... (Travelers in Car/Bus)"


With those lines I want to start my 1st blog and my journey as a cyclist until now. above lines was said by the fellow cyclists and travelers. I wanted to complete my unfinished business in 2013 hence planned for Gundlupete to Ooty via Kalhatty ride, due to darkness I couldn't climb last time to complete Kalhatty.

Day One : Gundlupete - Masanagudi 

Anand, Mohan , Karthick and I assembled at Mysuru bus stand at 07:00 AM. due to road construction till gundlupete, we decided to take a bus till gundlupete. Somehow we convinced KeralaSRTC bus conductor to carry our mean machines till gundlupete. Mohan & Karthick cycling long distance for the first time but both were fit enough to take the ride.

Starting from Mohan's Place in Gundlupete

After heavy breakfast in Mohan's home in gundlupete, we started off with smooth sailing towards bundipur. we stopped near Galli Anjunaya temple to offer prayer and safe travel in the national tiger reserve forest. the first test is after we enter the Bundipura forest area. legs were fresh and it was easy we made to bundipur guest house and took a break for a while.



Crossing borders, Entering Madumalai and the Animals scare

We aren't lucky enough to witness but TFN who were behind us got the visitors

My favorite stretch(Bundipura-Mudumalai) to cycle, border to cross. if we are lucky enough, we will have intruders like Deers/Wildboars/Elephants/Tiger/leopard/Langurs/peacock/bison etc...luckily we met few intruders on the way. after crossing Karnataka state border, we were stopped by Tamilnadu forest department(if you planning for a ride, please take approval from DFO), due to recent incidents in the forest they will not allow you to cycle luckily we convinced in few minutes and entered Madumalai. we had lunch at Theppakadu and rested for a while. the section between Theppakadu and Masanagudi has lot of small climbs and down, blazing sun was taking toll on us, we decided to end the day near masanagudi.


Day Two :  Masanagudi - Kalhatty - Ooty

Killer Kalhatty/Monster Kalhatty - This climb is known for increasing gradients, gradients ranging from 10 to 25%. 1200 meters of  elevation within 14km. where four wheeler's struggle to climb, 36 hairpin bends.. it's a quite challenge for seasoned professionals.

Starting point of Day two.

Our day started from glaton manor, Masanagudi, knew it would be humongous challenge to complete with few breaks. started off with ease or I thought.. It was really tough  and challenging, because our body wasn't warmed up yet. before I reach the 1st hairpin bend, I was drenched in sweat.

Math genius on and off - Suddenly I started becoming math genius to count how many hairpin bends I climbed. the numbering starts like 36/36 .. 35/36 .... 1/36 and I forgot the number of stops/breaks I took to complete the 36 hairpin bends. I decided to climb and not to walk or push the cycle. Stop/drink water/break for few mins/ride 2 hairpin bends repeated the same steps till 14/36.

Joy of completing Hairpin bend

Out of breath - after 14/36, 22 hairpin bends I was unable to cycle, out of breath, body refusing to respond. mind started accepting defeat. it is a test of  character. Started pushing the cycle towards destination, climb was at ultra slow motion, never witnessed such long hairpin bends after 10/36.. climb is getting steep and steep. I was fortunate to see kings of Kalhatty(Nils from TFN2015) who climbed Kalhatty in 1 hour 14 mins. I thank the Tour de Niligiris staff for overwhelming helping nature even though we were not part of it. I remembered the quote "I WILL COME AGAIN AND CONQUER YOU BECAUSE AS A MOUNTAIN YOU CAN’T GROW, BUT AS A HUMAN I CAN" pushed cycle through 13 hairpin bends and completed Killer Kalhatty. 

Queen's of Mountain Ooty -  The change in weather is welcoming change. Our stay was at The Grange Hotel, an awesome place, old English style cottage. I recommend people to stay at this place if you go to Ooty. enjoyed walking in the streets of Ooty which is very familiar to me and my friends were shopping homemade chocolates/Hot chips.

Day Three :  Ooty - Masanagudi - Gundlupete

Awesomeness of downhill, Madumalai Hiccups and Classic ending stretch till Gundlupete

Magnificent valley

 I felt like I was in heaven in the downhill but be advised any mishap will kill you in this Kalhatty downhill. Magnificent valley and such a beauty to witness. after reaching the masanagudi I realized climbing to top in life is very tough like kalhatty climb and falling from top is like downhill which is very easy. I took this lesson, it requires lot of effort, strength, friends to reach the top(destination) in life.

Another  breath taking view

 In Madumallai check post, our journey stopped by forest department, asked us not to cycle in madumallai region, we forced to carry cycle in Jeep till Karnataka border but we got down in Theepakadu and started  cycling again crossed border with ease and entered magnificent Karnataka with huge smile and rallied till Bundipura guest house before we took a break. A ride to remember for very long time, as we zoomed till gundlupete. I met very interesting KSRTC conductor(Kumar) gundlupete to mysuru and recollected the memory while discussing with him and got few tips for new trips. Thanks to my friends Anand,Mohan and Karthick for joining me.

WE RIDE

WE STRUGGLE

WE BRAG

Distance : 150 KM
Route : Gundlupete - Bandipur - Madumallai - Masanagudi - Kalhatty - Ooty - (return via same route) Gundlupete

Singing off  with loads of love
Mahadev Patel
Facebook: Mahadev Patel