Bike to Work: First time

Had been wanting to bike to work since a long time and finally it happened today.  Started off early in the day(7.30am) to beat the traffic and heat. It is around 18 km from home to office, distance is not a big challenge though. It took me 1 hr 10 min to cover 18 km, surprisingly the same time I need in my two wheeler. Since I started earlier in the day, the weather was good and not too hot. But I had to be very cautious about the traffic as many vehicles tend to  push you towards the curb. At the same time many showed a great deal of respect to a cyclist and gave way.  Wearing a helmet and riding glass was definitely helpful to protect my head and eyes from dust. On the way back it was dark, so blinker and reflectors were helpful.  All that cycling gear earned me curious and appreciative looks from passers by!! But it was fun. Finally checked  out another item from my "to do list" with satisfaction. Would like to keep this going and continue to bike to work at least once a month. Hope more people will join the cycling momentum !!

Trip to Kolar on 12-Nov-2012

We left Bangalore by car at 9.30 a.m in the morning and reached Kolar at 11 am. Our first stop was Anthargange. We had to climb a few steps and there is a temple on top of a small hillock. The speciality of this place is that ground water keeps pouring out of the hillock through the mouth of a bull idol (Nandi) all through the year.  There were a lot of monkeys in that area. There are lot of rocks, boulders and thick vegetation on this hill and it is a good place for trekking, but of course with local help.

            Next we went to  Kotilingeswara temple where they say there are 1 crore lingas over there. There is a huge lingas in a courtyard surrounded by many mini lingas spread over 15 acres.

            We went to visit Kolar Gold Fields but unfortunately it is closed down now and not open to public. But on the way we passed through BEML Nagar.

            Our next destination was Bangaru Tirupathi, about 10 Kms from Kotilingeshwara. Here the temple premises is very big and the main diety Venkatesha is on top of a huge boulder and has to be seen through 6 peep holes. The place was very quiet and peaceful as there were not many people.

            We then started to Avani which is also about 10 kms from Bangaru Tirupathi. The drive through the villages and field was very beautiful. Avani has many lingas  in a huge temple premises and is very well maintained by the Archaeological Society of India. The temple is similar to that of Belur and Halebidu with a lot of carvings, inscriptions on stones. The lingas are said to be installed by the 4 brothers of Ramayana namely, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrughna. Right  next to the temple is a Shankaracharya Math with a temple of godess Sharada. In the backdrop is a huge hill with big rocks with big lingas on them. It is said that Sita stayed here with Luva and Kusha alongwith Sage Valmiki. There are steps leading on top of the hill and it is a very beautiful view from the top. This was my best experience.

            Then around 7 pm we started our journey back to Bangalore, had dinner at Woody's on NH-4 and headed home.