Breakfast Ride to Vidyarthi Bhavan

10th March 2018, Bangalore: While leaving the house just after 5 AM in the morning I reminded myself to fix the tail light of my bicycle, which I had removed only the day before to replace the batteries. The meeting time was 6:30 AM and the meeting point was Silk Board bus stop, 10km away from my place. I started early to make sure I am not late and also get a good 15-20 minute break before the actual ride begins with other BTC members. Surprisingly, I reached quite early than I had expected. I waited patiently at the point observing the early morning commuters and traffic. Eventually, Dinesh Yadav, the organizer, and Sneha showed up with their bright and shining bicycles. I felt a little sad looking at all the dirt and grease that stuck all over the drive chain and the frame of my bike. I made it a point to clean it the very next day.

Unfortunately, some other members were struggling a bit to get to the spot, evidently because the Silk Board Junction is one of the busiest in Bangalore even in the mornings and can be quite confusing at times. Once all 6 members arrived, we had introductions and it turned out that no one in the team was a first timer with BTC, which made conversations easy within the group as all were passionate about treks, biking and other stuff that BTC makes it possible for its members. Dinesh explained the plan for the ride and also gave some instructions. The plan was simple, ride 10km to Vidharthi Bhavan for breakfast and then head back to the meeting point.

Eventually, we kicked off the ride at 7 AM, 15 minutes late than expected but it did not in any way lower the spirits of the team.

Dinesh took charge to tail the team and make sure no one gets left behind, whereas Krishna led the way and the rest of us closely followed him, except for a few instances when the traffic lights played mischief with us. One member, Pratik, had low air pressure in his bike tires and was struggling quite a bit to keep up with the team especially because he had a gearless bike. Thankfully, soon enough we found a shop with an air pump where he got the air pressure corrected, he was relieved and caught up with the team. The first stop came when we took a

right turn onto the pleasant Rashtriya Vidyalaya Road from the nasty Outer Ring Road, half of which was occupied by the Namma Metro construction and we had to share the remaining of it with the traffic of Bangalore L. That first stop brought in cheer and rejuvenated the team with a few sips of water and many clicks of the camera.

We continued on and reached a jam-packed Vidyarthi Bhavan, Dinesh was aware of this situation that awaited us and had got a table reserved while we were starting the ride. We settled down on the table which had 5 seats vacant and Dinesh, being the good organizer he is, happily agreed to stand until an extra seat got vacant. He also got to eat from all directions and plates on the table, something that he looked forward to. In no time we started gorging on the delicious Idlis, Vadas, Poori Sagu, Khara Bath and what not. With food and talks flowing freely on the table we waited for the dosas to be served, and served in style! The waiter appeared with about 15 dosas all stacked up till his neck. After eating all that was served, it was a no-brainer for me to see why Vidyarthi Bhavan was swamped with people from all walks of life. After the tea and coffee, it was time to say goodbye to the delicious Vidyarthi Bhawan.

For the ride back Dinesh suggested stopping by at a park, which he and Sneha had spotted on the way to Vidyarthi Bhavan. The team happily agreed on the suggestion and took the opportunity explore the place. The park was sprinkled with a few figures of some jolly good fellows for the people, especially the kids, to adore and also had statues of many kings who ruled the kingdoms of Southern India centuries ago. We reached the park just before 10 AM and it was time for the park to close. We got very little time to immerse in the beauty of the

park and the history associated with the rulers whose statues adorned it. In no time we were hustled out of the park, but could they stop us from clicking pictures just outside the park? The answer is No! Parimala was hellbent on getting the perfect click for her new Facebook display picture. Eventually, everyone joined in the camera frenzy. Group photos, individual clicks, different poses with the cycles and the riders are all that will be a remembrance of this ride to Vidyarthi Bhavan.

The event was closed just before the Silk Board where we all happily dispersed for our own separate ways, content that the ride was as pleasant and enjoyable as we had hoped for, all thanks to the team at Bangalore Trekking Club who made it possible!

Written By       : Nishant Chawla

Original Blog   : Breakfast Ride to Vidyarthi Bhavan

Organized By   : Dinesh Yadav

Date of event    : 10th March, 2018

Place                 : Bangalore

Pictures              : BTC FB Page