The first day of ride took a small toll on some of the riders and at breakfast it was written over few faces! There were many riders who for the first time had ridden more than 100kms and they were still basking in their accomplishment. Just awesome! Much of the talk in the morning was about the good roads till Kushal Nagar and the climb to Madikari through bad roads. It was a question of who you spoke to, for few the bad roads were just a few kms into Kushal Nagar and for others it was much more. I decided before the ride that I would ride to K.Nagar and then use the support vehicle to get across the bad roads. I discussed with my brother that we would sweep ourselves. The briefing’s Pradeep held in the mornings were excellent and full of useful information.

The pilot car guided all the riders thru a misty morning to the outskirts of Mysore . A few chats about the past day’s ride still lingered on the bike. Riders were starting to get an idea of others and their riding abilities. As soon as the pilot car stepped aside the pace set in and after a few kms I found myself on the wheels of Samim and Dipankar. Dipankar the strongest rider of TFN in my view was in a hurry and soon I was feeling it in my tired legs! The average speed was well into the mid thirties and after an hour into the ride I decided to let the 2 go and ride at a moderate pace. I had to save my legs for Ooty. I rode on my own for 20kms on flawless roads, the best I had seen on the tour. The terrain was rolling, the roads as smooth as silk. Soon I was craving for some company and I decided to stop and wait for other riders. Soon the usual 3 riders that is Venky, Iggy and Shantanu appeared and I joined them. The pace was nice and comfortable and there seemed more time to take in the surroundings. We passed thru small villages and children would scream in delight and ask if it was a race. I had several motorbikes that stayed on my wheels to ask and inquire or just stare in curiosity. One such motorcyclist stayed on my wheel for nearly 3 - 4 kms and all he did was stare. At point I pointed my finger to my odometer, which read 35km/hr and a brief smile leaked on his face! After the 50km mark we finally had support cars and it was time to refurbish the fluids. Soon we passed a Tibetan settlement and suddenly the place transformed into little Tibet. Monks, Flags and Tibetan writings were all over the place and the place was filled with serenity! We slowed to ride graciously through it.

The arrival of Kushal Nagar was pretty obvious as the roads suddenly disintegrated. The conditions of the roads seemed exaggerated due to flawless roads on which we spent a few hours earlier. 

The legs by now were in it’s own zone and a conscious effort was needed to slow down and negotiate the rough conditions. The group fell apart and each was riding cautiously apart from Shantanu who was on the MTB. The bad roads did not end after exiting the town and the climbs had already started. I knew it was a long 25km climb to the top of Madikeri. In my mind I decided to ride easy and save the bike for rest of the tour.The climb seemed more difficult due to the holes and plenty of gravel at turns on which the tires were just spinning without any traction. Soon I passed Shantanu and I just kept the pace up. The climb combined with bad roads and incoming traffic zooming past kept me very alert and on my toes. I was wondering what my brother was up to as earlier in the morning I had told him that I would take the support vehicle but I was doing the contrary. I was somehow enjoying the climb and was hoping somehow I could pass the message back that it was not so bad to do it. Soon I met 2 touring westerners on their bikes and I slowed for a sec to let them know there was support vehicles behind from which they could access fluids or food if needed. The climb seemed longer than I had anticipated and doubts started to linger whether I was on the right roads. I decided to pull over the support car and soon Shantanu also appeared. We decided to ride together rest of the ride and soon we were in Madikeri where obviously we found Samim and Dipankar already stretching!

Rather than stopping for everyone whom we anticipated to come after a while, we waited for a few riders such as Venky, Iggy etc and decided to head down to the hostel, which was a fast 7km descent down to the valley. We chilled in the afternoon lazing around the premises of the hostel getting much needed massages from fellow volunteers.

Distance - 117kms
Time - 4 hours 39 mins
Avg Speed – 25.1 km/hr
Total Elevation gain – 1843m
Avg HR - 132 bpm ( Zone 1.5)