Antaragange

Where: Antaragange, Kolar, Karnataka
When: 13th March, 2016
Number of riders: 14
Type: Bike riding, Caving, Hiking, Trekking
Bikes: Avenger, RE Classic 500, RE classic 350, Electra, Pulsar
Distance: 70*2 = 140 kms

Before I start, let me tell you that this bike ride was particularly special as it was my first with 'The Bikerni'- India's first and largest all female motorcycling association.

The Rider Gang. PC: Nikhila Krishnamurthy

I wasn't even sure about riding 150 Kms at all as I was unwell since a week before the ride; juggling between doctors and office cubicles and completely off gym and exercise for the whole week. I had barely touched my bike that entire week. But, all thanks to the constant motivation from my husband who gave me a long 'now or never' monologue, I decided I just had to go. 'Try riding to the meeting point, meet everyone and come back if you still feel unwell', he said to me. Feeling anything less than happy and motivated after meeting that bunch of inspiring people was completely out of question. Was I going to ride? Ofcourse!
 
As before most of the other rides, I hardly slept the night before and was up at 3 AM, packed up essentials, geared up and left towards the meeting point in KR Puram at 4.15 AM. It was 20 kms from where I live. Bangalore roads seemed like a bliss to ride on at that hour. I reached there around 5 where other fellow riders had started to gather one by one. Since there were a few new riders in the group (including me), our brilliant road captain briefed us on the hand signals to be used to indicate various things to the riders behind you. I asked a lot of silly questions like what one lane and two lane split formations were. Duh! :D.

We left for our destination, Antaragange at 5.30 AM. We wanted to get there early to avoid intense sunlight while trekking. Once the ride started, I realized how right my husband was. Most of the fears are in our head. A few minutes into the ride made me actually feel better; better than I had been the whole of previous week maybe. The ride was very scenic throughout, although we were often hit by early morning traffic on the way. The sun had started to wipe darkness off in the most beautiful way and it instantly lifted our spirits even higher. A flock of birds flew just over us and the mesmerizing picture is still transfixed in my head. We stopped for a coffee break after riding 40 Kms at a 'CCD' outlet en route. Just at this time, a long formation of superbikes passed by us. It was a sight to watch and an experience only a biker can understand. After our morning coffee and a lot of laughter, we hit the roads again. It was immensely joyful to watch formations being created by 14 bikes riding in perfect coordination with each other. What is more, I could effortlessly use all the hand signals that i had such difficulty memorizing earlier. Woohoo :P  All of us were at comfortable cruising speed of 70-80 Kmph throughout the journey.

Somewhere on the way..

We reached Kolar at 7 AM and took a left detour from there to reach Antaragange at 7.30 AM. We parked our bikes at the base and the sight of roughly 200 stairs to get to the main temple was clear from then on. We began ascending to the temple, only to completely ignore it at first because of the view of the rocky terrain that was inviting us to hike and look out for the famous Antaragange caves. The path that leads to the temple was lush green on both sides and there are too many monkeys and a few species of butterflies to be spotted.

Steps to the temple

We then came across a worker at the temple premise and asked him the route to the caves. He told us that there were no caves around. (We later found out that it has something to do with the tour guides of the area being Muslims and the priests being Hindus). We can never be sure of what the real story is though. Personally, I strongly detest religious differences and do not believe in them. My fellow riders had a long conversation with him. I didn't understand a word as he spoke only Kannada apparently. It reminded me of my failed attempt to learn the language when I once tried it back in college. I learnt four words and still remember them but nothing beyond that. When we were told that the place doesn't have caves, a little disappointment took us over but in a reflex we realized that so many exciting reviews on google about Antaragange caves will not lie. The bikernis are a determined bunch of people and keeping the spirit up, we started to hike up the rocky terrain on our own. We told each other as a consolation that if nothing else works, we at least get to witness the view from the mountain top, which by the way was breathtaking. My friend laughed when I told her that I had Pink Floyd playing in my head; but they really were. There were seven villages amongst these mountains. There were carved stairs at some places between the trek but most of the hike was rough. As we continued to trek up, the terrain started the get tougher but we finally saw a ray of hope - A tour guide..To the caves! :) We were beyond excited. We then made an agreement with him to lead our way there. We had to trek another ascent for one km before we get there. After walking some more distance, I felt I couldn't push the trek further. I wasn't alone here, the whole group was tired. We rested, munched on a few snack bars and then started the trek to caves again.

The caves had extremely narrow passages and we were required to crawl and slide our way into them. The guide promised to take 2 people at a time inside the water caves. I and a fellow rider were the first ones to go on the exploration. A lot of experiences in life defy your definition of what can't be done and this was one of them for me. We crawled and slid inside the caves using the tricks demonstrated by the guide and were now at the bottom. The cave was very cold at that part. It instantly calmed the sun damage caused while we were waiting for our turn to get inside. This part of the cave has water originating from an unknown source (as was told to us). It was chilled. The guide continuously insisted that we taste that water as it was supposed to be sweet. We finally slightly gave into the request and tasted a drop each. It was probably safe  as it has had no impact on us so far. :P It was then time to get out of the cave. while looking at the way up, I realized that getting into it was the easier part. A lot of pushing and pulling was required to get us out of there. It bruised my knee and i was reminded of it every time I used the rear brake of my bike while riding back! :) I was also constantly worried about my iPhone that our guide had decided to use as a torch to illuminate the cave. Thankfully I, my friend and my iPhone came out safe and sound. :P

The Top

Satiated after caving and trekking, we started to descend back to the base at 10 AM to start the ride back to Bangalore. As a pat on my back, I looked at my Fitbit stats to see what I had accomplished. '14595 steps, 198 floors climbed', it said. Funny! :P We also visited the temple on our way back. I am not too religious, but it just had to be customary. It would have been strange to go to a famous temple and not get in there. I didn't know before getting in that it was a temple dedicated to lord Shiva. For the little religion I follow, Shiva is the coolest and my favorite God. He danced, was free spirited yet disciplined, lived by his own rules, had his own definition of being conventional and is hard to explain.

The temple is situated in the midst of a pond which is said to be filled by an underground spring with unknown origins. We spent a few more minutes in the premise and then started the ride back to Bangalore. The day was starting to get hotter with each passing hour. To add more to that, I have a strange habit to never close the visor of my helmet; that's a thing that makes me claustrophobic. The heat made me realize that i had forgotten my riding glasses too and that gave me eyes that were red and burning. A lesson learnt the hard way, perhaps. We stopped just before Bangalore to say goodbye to each other. As soon as we removed our helmets, we noticed people staring at us as if a lion had been spotted walking on Bangalore roads. :D The thrilling ride made for a perfectly fitting end to the day for all of us as we bid goodbye, until the next time! :)  

Finding the right route