A stumble into Honeyvalley.

It’s been a while since I had a long ride on Tiger (my bike). I wouldn’t have been able to ride again for another fifteen days as my daughter/assistant would be going on leave and it's not comfortable to leave my work or have peaceful holiday in her absence. That weekend was right. I decided to ride to Coorg. I called up Honey valley (http://honeyvalleyindia.in/) to make sure I had place to stay as it was weekend. Suresh, the owner, assured me an accommodation.

It’s homestay on top of the hill and to reach it from the base ( Kabbinakad Junction) you need to climb three and half kilometres uphill. Many guests walk the distance and some go by Jeep. But, I saw an opportunity for fun-off-roading.

Honeyvalley surely is not a place for a fancy weekend getaway. It's not the usual Coorg plantation homestay. It doesn't even have a standard coffee estate. It is very natural here. This place probably gives you a part picture of how Coorg was before plantations. It generally caters to nature buffs, trekkers and back-packers. Nature here is pretty pristine and there are many day-long trekking routes around this area for the guests.   You need not be a trekker or hard-core nature buff or even back-packer to enjoy the raw nature here. This was my fourth visit to this place.

"Avoid Bangalore- Mysore highway on weekends" is the mantra among motorists. I still took this road hoping that starting early in the day would offset the situation everyone seemed to picture. I was wrong. Traffic was too heavy for my Tiger’s comfort.

 Roads all the way to base of the hill (Kabbinakadu) via Gonikoppa are  good and pot-hole free now.

  The uphill road from Kabbinakad base is concreted and good all the way to Tamara.   Tamara is a high end resort further up the road in a different direction.This road is probably funded by Tamara resort . At the end of 1.5 kilometers of this concreted road, to the left of the fork, there is a 4-wheel-drive stony pathway towards Honey valley (HV).

My ride was incident free all the way from Bangalore uptill here. When I looked up the 4WD road and it's gradient from the  fork  my idea of fun-off-roading began to fade. I called up Suresh and asked if I could make it further to Honeyvalley on the bike (that’s about 2kms of 4WD road). He was non-committal and asked me to look up the road ahead and decide it for myself. This was how it appeared.

In a rush of blood I decided to ride further ahead.. It was a mistake!

It was of almost 45 degree gradient and wet (It looks dry here as I took the snap a day later).  I had a very little room to ride as the “green divider” between the paths looked over grown to ride over it. I struggled to ride on the path for about 100 meters, stopping many times to catch breath. Ride was really tension packed. Balancing the behemoth in the narrow stony path at tottering pace was energy -sapping. Whenever I stepped on the grass I was unsure of my footing. My left foot was landing into the thick of green whose bottom I was not sure of. I was all the while hoping I would soon get straighter and flatter path. But, it never happened. It was obviously a climb all the way to the homestay.  Some spots  were slushy due to rain. These areas are most tricky that make you feel highly vulnerable-bike skids. At one such spot I fell with the bike. There, I managed to lift the bike myself. That effort drained me further.   I seriously thought of riding back to the base and come up by a Jeep. But, it was difficult to turn the bike around because of limited space.  The bike was bit too heavy to manage alone.  I thought it would be less demanding to proceed ahead than turning back! I rode further, again tottering.  At about 500 meters, I skidded and fell with the bike for the second time. This time I couldn’t lift the bike because of lack of firm footing and I was tired too. I smelt petrol – bike was leaking it. How I hoped I could get some help soon! Obviously it was rare thing to happen in the hill.  I called Suresh on my cell and described him the situation and the location. Luckily for me few paces from there beyond the curve there was resort called Chingara - from where he said I could get some help. I ran up to that resort and managed to get help. I rushed back with the help and lifted the bike. It was only few meters from there to Chingara.  After that I abandoned any idea of riding any further for the day.  I was exhausted and dehydrated. I rested there ar Chingara for few minutes, rehydrated and went up to Honeyvalley in a Jeep.

The kind of ride and the two falls had really shaken me. Never in recent times had I fallen from the motorbike. Last fall recently was while I was on a cycling expedition. A drunken motorbiker skidded and rammed into the rear wheel of my bike from the side. Though I cart-wheeled, was up on my feet in no time. I never really felt that fall. Bringing cycle back on to its wheels was piece of cake in comparison.

 Here, although the falls were soft, it was balancing act while riding, lifting the bike twice had me drained-out and the thought of "motorcycle fall"(it has sinister feel to it! Isn’t it?) had rattled me.
This picture is after the second fall.

My wife took a while to close her mouth after she saw this picture!  

It’s by mistake that I placed the helmet there while taking the picture.

                          It adds to the horror.

My idea of total relaxation and “connecting with nature”at Honeyalley didn’t go as intended through the rest of the day and night. My nerves were in constant state of tension. Cold beers didn’t help either. Noise from the week-crowd added to my annoyance.  What really bugged me through-out that night was-“How am I going ride back to the base of the hill?!” I was imagining all kinds of down-hill-riding scenario:  bike momentum overriding my control, falling every few minutes, heavy rains, slushy patches especially at the curves, and wet uneven water clogged stone-way path, etc.  Suresh’s assurance that if situation demanded, he would arrange to get the bike down to the base on a pick up jeep- didn’t cool my nerves either.

Next morning, I just wanted get over with this business of taking the bike to base ASAP. Week-end crowd was leaving. I had decided to stay here one more night and wanted enjoy rest of day peacefully. I took a boy with me down to Chingara-where my bike was parked. This was to help me to lift the bike in case of  any fall. I was of course, wearing my riding gear and got on to the bike. I asked the boy to watch and follow me while I ride till the concrete road-that’s about 500mts. I started the bike and moved.

I realized I could control the bike better downhill than uphill. That fear of bike's momentum offsetting the balance didn’t happen. In fact, weight of the bike or centre of gravity-whatever you call it, held it firmly against the ground. It was relatively easier (shocks work great!) downhill (riding early in the day probably helped). At a slush pool near a bend, bike skidded and I fell. My boy-help and a nearby worker helped me to lift the bike. After that I managed to reach the concreted road without any incidents. From there to the base parking area on the concreted road  was a  walk-in-the-park.

I returned to the homestay in a Jeep. Spent most of the day under the patio reading or just watching the hills -of course, with some beers. No more thoughts on riding or anything specific. I was into a kind of zero gravity zone.  Truly bliss-full. This was the view.

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                                                                                                                                                                      In retrospect (and hindsight):

• It was foolish of me to ride that path on Tiger, that too with no off-roading skills whatsoever.  
• Dedicated off-roading tires might have made the difference.
• Why I even tried this trail still baffles me. 
• If I had tried same path downhill on my MTB, the rear wheel would have lifted many times.  
• All the 3 falls were soft ones. Nothing happened to the bike except for the broken tip of the break lever.
• Only physical injury to me was a gash on my left shin and was a kind of self-inflicted- due to knee-protector of my ill-fitting riding pant. This underscores having knee-protectors in place or correct fitting riding pants.

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•  Avoid Honeyvalley on week ends.
•  Sometimes I wonder if I should heed advice like " act your age doc!"!!

I left the homestay early in the morning to reach the base by Jeep. Riding on my Tiger from there to Bangalore was a breeze!