Off the Roads - Sarjapura Trail

Trails are just so much more fun than riding on the tarmac. This week I decided to hit the trails again. The destination for this off-road session: Decathlon outlet in Sarjapura road.

On Saturday night asked Pavan and Karun if they can join in for the Sunday morning ride. Karun unfortunately had other work so he couldn’t make it. But Pavan was free so we met at the Sarjapura - Outer Ring Road intersection at about six in the morning.

Kind attention to whoever up there controls Bangalore weather: Ever heard of consistency? Why are you freezing us in the mornings and frying us in the afternoons? Can you please learn from whoever takes care of Chennai weather?
Even though it was only late February, the afternoons in Bangalore were getting really hot (greater than 30 degrees), so I had worn my lightest jacket for the ride. But at 6 in the morning it was freezing cold!

The Decathlon store in Sarjapura road was the staging point for the ride. Eugine, from Decathlon, rides these trails every weekend. We met him and 8 other riders at Decathlon. We started off from Decathlon a little after seven and after a few kilometers of tarmac, got to the trail head.

For those interested in going to this trail: It is about 3 kilometers from Decathlon towards Sarjapura. You should see a blue coloured fence on your left. Take a left just after the blue fence into a dirt track. You can take any of the trails that head out from this track, but just make sure you don’t lose your way much. Emphasis on “much”.

The dirt track that leads from the road is pretty wide, wide enough for a SUV. But the subsequent tracks that branch off from it get progressively narrower, and very soon we were riding in tracks that are hardly a foot wide. The trail is lined with plants and trees, so we were constantly be slapped by leaves, scratched by branches and thorns. But all this just adds to the thrill and the fun of the ride. The weather was dry else we would also get ourselves wet with all the dew on the leaves.

One of the riders had a bad fall and his wrist was starting to swell up. We were close to the main road at that time and three riders went off to take the injured guy for a checkup. I have to ask Eugine the next time I meet him what happened to the guy. The reason for the fall was a particularly bad stretch of trail.

It was a steep slope with loose soil followed up a steep uphill. This was the only blemish in an otherwise awesome ride.

At one point the two guys who were riding in the rear got lost. We had to turn sleuths and track them using the MTB tire tracks left in the ground. Searched for them and finally found them at the main road enjoying some tender coconut! 

The trail ride took us through some very interesting section. For a while it would be land totally reclaimed by the forest and vegetation threatening to encroach the trail. This was very soon followed by riding in between wine yards. At one point we were riding under the wine yard enclosure, now that was an interesting section. Riding in between well planted trees will be followed by hard cracked earth, with cracks almost big enough to swallow my thinner hybrid tires. Villages, Railway tracks, dried up ponds and much more became part of the road.
The ride not only was super fun, it also took us through a varied and beautiful terrains. It’s hard to imagine that such wonderful spots do exist close to the “Garden city” Bangalore. Will let the pictures talk for a while now.

Took the trail all the way back to Decathlon. This part of the trail was devoid of any trees, so we were riding under the hot sun. After Decathlon it was again back to the city riding, but thankfully this time it was a short ride of about 10 km.

It is only after reaching home that we realize the numerous scratches and cuts on the legs. I was wearing full sleeve jersey so my hands were scratch free. 

Now, can’t wait to do it all over again.