A group monsoon ride with my Suzuki Gixxer SF 250

July 30, 2025

For 2025, the Malnad monsoon ride grew from a regular weekend overnighter to a 3 day / 2 night trip with a total of 9 riders

BHPian neil.jericho recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Over the past few years, our merry gang of motorcycle enthusiasts has made it a point to ride to the Coffee Valley Homestay, Chikmagalur for weekend monsoon overnight rides that also doubled up as gastronomical delights of the highest order. Back in 2022, I rode down to Bangalore on my then new Suzuki GSXRRRR 250 and joined the group for the overnighter to Chikmagalur, after which I branched off on a solo ride to Mysore. A year later, I joined the group on my Triumph Street Triple 675 and last year, I had taken my KTM Duke 390 for the overnight ride.

For 2025, the Malnad monsoon ride grew from a regular weekend overnighter to a 3 day / 2 night trip with a total of 9 riders, which is the highest number of participants that we have had over the past 3 years.

The planned route for day 1 was Bangalore to Chikmagalur to Balehonnur to Agumbe to the Seethanadi Nature Camp. For day 2, the route was Agumbe to Kudremukh to Mudigere to Somwarpet where we would stay at the Green Pastures homestay. The original route for day 3 was Somwarpet to Bisle to Sakleshpur to Bangalore.

Readers with memories that rival that of elephants will recall that we had stayed at both these locations during the 2024 edition of the Mega Monsoon Ride (not to be confused with this annual Monsoon Weekend Getaway). You can read about the 2023 edition of the Mega Monsoon Ride here and the details on last years Mega Monsoon Ride are posted here.

As fate would have it, I attended this years ride on the Suzuki GSXRRRR 250, which ensured that I have attended 4 of these annual rides on 4 different motorcycles. What didnt change in 2025, was the fact that KarthikK meticulously planned the entire trip from start to finish, as he always does, with impeccable attention to detail. And now, on with the rest of the travelogue!

The 2022 Lineup

The 2023 Lineup

The 2024 Lineup

Day 01

Day 1 – Bangalore to hebri
Distance Covered – 444.9 kilometers
Stay – Seethanadi Nature Camp

TBHPian shaikhmimran and I departed from Bangalore a little later than the others did, and along the way we had to make an unexpected stop to sort out a most unusual circumstance. This meant that the two of us reached our breakfast spot of MTR, around 10 minutes after the others had left. In our adroit pursuit of the rest of the group, we charged on, only to eventually realize that we were ahead of the other 7 motorcyclists and hence, we pulled over to let everyone finally meet up and ride together. Around 01:00 PM, our prayers for rains were answered but what we didnt ask for, though we did receive them in plenty, were bad roads. The rains, while not being incessant, managed to break through the defenses of some of our riding gear, and things would only get worse, as the day progressed. We weren’t complaining though, this is what we had signed up for!

Our trip planner extraordinaire, KarthikK had selected the Sri Lunch Home in Thirthahalli as our lunch destination and it is safe to say that it didnt disappoint any of us. With the cloud filled skies, soaked roads and slowly dimming sunlight, riding down through the final set of hairpin bends did call for far more attention than usual, as did the steep slope between the main gate and the parking area of the Seethanadi Nature Camp. All things considered, we were glad to switch off our motorcycles at around a quarter to 6, and check into our simple but nonetheless, spacious cottages. The late snacks were almost immediately followed up by a wholesome dinner, and we retired to our rooms shortly thereafter.

At the end of day 1, all of us realized that the 2025 edition of the Monsoon Weekend Getaway was a far cry from our relaxed, easy going escapes of the preceding years. And not one of us, would have wanted it any other way!

Hunting down the rest of the group