Ride to Gandikota
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the least explored states in the South for me. I have been adding places of interest to my list. Gandikota has been on that list for a while. I wanted to do it post-summer and during monsoon so it would be cooler. Monsoon has not really arrived, though the heat has reduced. Initially we thought of doing it during the weekend, but both of us wanted to spend Sunday at home, so it was Friday and Saturday.
That worked well; there was very little traffic on the road. What didn’t work out was my plan to ride the KTM 390 Adventure X (2025) model. I couldn’t get an acceptable bike yesterday. So I had to settle for a Suzuki V-Strom SX (250cc) instead of canceling the whole ride. That’s the closest I could get.
The V-Strom is lighter but taller at 835 mm vs. 825 mm of the AdvX. But the AdvX is heavier at 181 kg vs 167 kg. They are both slim. On the V-Strom, my toe tips would touch the floor if I tried both feet, but I was comfortable with one leg. I struggled initially, especially inside the city stop-and-go traffic. I also struggled when trying to do sharp U-turns from the stop. I surely can’t lift it if it falls, at least for now. But after about 300 Km, I grew confident and used some tricks like a butt-scooch stop or a side-straddle stop, climbing on it to mount, turning on the side stand, etc. These tricks made it much easier. Finished 600+ km without any incidents. There is still a lot to learn about these tall motorcycles.
The ride itself was good, except maybe a 70KM stretch which was bad with lots of under-construction roads and dust. It was also very windy, which made it difficult. But there was no traffic, and the other roads were really good. So, all in all, it was a good ride.
Gandikota itself was pretty; the gorge is spectacular. You can also walk around in the fort. It’s a good weekend drive or ride from Bangalore if you plan to. Route we took are available in GPX and GeoJSON for you to download and use.
