Nandi hill is a small hilltop in north of Bangalore.

Depending on which part of Bangalore one is, the distance to Nandi hill is around 70 km. In Bangalore, I think it is a dream of almost every cycling enthusiast’s to peddle on the mighty serpentine roads of Nandi hills and challenge his potential. The route to Nandi, stands out for its unique level of difficulty and also the strength of mind one has to possess to cycle this track. I too had this in my //TODO task for more than a year now.

And opportunity came, when my office team decided for a team outing to a resort near Nandi. I had a talk with Opendro, who has done Nandi n(n+1) number of times or more to see if he can give me a company. And Opendro was ready as always. Me, Opendro and Ashwin decided to do the Nandi top first and then reach the resort on our bike. Since we all three stay on Bannerghatta road side, we decided to meet up at Dairy circle, at around 7 AM.

Riding through city was usual ride. Since it was early morning, traffic was less. Weather, as classic Bangalore weather is, was awesome and perfect for cycling. We crossed the airport in around 2 hours. About 20 km after the airport, there is a turning to the left for Nandi Hills Road (SH-104). On this Nandi hill road, you will see huge Orchards of grapes.

About 15 kilometres after you turn onto SH-74 from SH-104, there is the Nandi Hills main road to the right, with a prominent sign on the road. From there, starts the last 7km of consistent climb. Have a break here. Refill the bottles with your water supply and start. The curves on Nandi hills are numbered and are total 40 in number. Feel and enjoy the wind as you pedal through the hills with hills on one side and the valley on the other. It has the power to take away all the stress, whatsoever you have. 🙂

From curve number 29 to 40, really will take everything out of you. So be prepared for the last push. At the end of curve 40 you reach the arched gateway of the Nandidurg fort that is built on the top of the hill. Opendro who reached ahead of me, clicked a couple of snap. We waited for around 15 minutes or so for Ashwin, who stopped at the foothill for breakfast earlier.

And then we literally rolled down, in minutes. What a fun descent it was. Ride to resort was another 10km ride from there. Had a good time relaxing at the resort.

Overall, we spent around 7 hours riding that day, with lunch and activity break at resort. And I must thank Opendro, who agreed to give me company for this trip. Below is garmin data from Opendro’s app for the day. I stay around 6 further down from him so add 12 km more for my coverage 🙂