99 Cannons to Karwar
The 99 Cannons Motorcycle Club is an exclusive Royal Enfield bike club based in Hubli, Karnataka. We also have chapters in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and Sirsi (Karnataka). Our monthly ride last month was planned from Hubli to the coastal town of Karwar, but it was with a twist in that we would take a route very few people have ever ridden on.
The ride got under way from Hubli at 8.00 am and we headed out to Yellapur, some 65 km away, for breakfast. We reached Yellapur by 9.00 am and, following a hearty breakfast, were back in the saddles of our respective Royal Enfield bikes by 10.00 am. We briefed the riders about the road and the kind of terrain that lay ahead. The road we were going to take was the Malapur-Kaiga road. This road takes one to Karwar through innumerable twisties and is the narrowest of roads imaginable. One also get a bird’s-eye view of the Kaiga atomic power plant. A word of caution, though: you cannot take a big four-wheeler on this road because some of the curves are so narrow and the angles so sharp that the vehicle may not be able to turn at all. We hit the twisties with caution and the riders were up to task.
The view of the landscape around us had become even more enchanting on account of the countless waterfalls and streams along the entire road. While descending we chanced upon a few villagers riding up a huge incline on their 100-cc bikes. We immediately stopped to try out the same gradient on our heavy bikes. It was an arduous task, no doubt, but we eventually got to the top amid the giggles and laughter of the villagers. We then reached the base of the Kaiga atomic power plant; however, since it is a secured zone we quickly continued riding towards Karwar.
We had a nice photo session en route and reached Karwar by 1.30 pm. We then sped past Karwar to a nice place for lunch near Ankola. By 3.00 pm, after lunch, we had some rest in true biker fashion: lying on the floor of the same hotel. We started for Hubli by 4.00 pm after a nice hot cup of ginger tea. We reached Hubli by 7.00 pm. We covered 336 km in 12 hours of riding. All the 21 riders together made it a memorable ride.