My first bicycle escapade leads to an elephant trail!

A whim on Friday night instigated me to go on a cycling escapade the next morning. I generally don't resist my whims, so I decided to leave home @ 4 in the morning(it's pitch dark in Bangalore at 4).

I had completed my meager preparations the previous night itself: a pack of slice cakes, a biscuit packet and a handful of dry fruits.

I woke up with a jolt and made myself a cup of tea, freshened up and prepared to leave.

Then started the extraordinary events of the day; some never before encountered experiences for me:

• Moment I opened the door of my flat I found Rocky, my house owner's ferocious German Shephered. I moved in just a week back, so Rocky doesn't know me well. Rocky was convinced that I am an intruder in the house and tried its best in scaring the hell out of me. Not to be deterred I hatched a plan to befriend Rocky. I had 2-3 pieces of broken biscuits left. The plan worked! Food almost always pacifies animals!
• 40 mins of cycling took me to the starting limits of Bannerghata national park. The main road ramified into a multiple routes some tarred , some untarred. Using Google earth, I had chalked out a vague route which will probably lead to kanakpura road from Bannerghata road through the Bannerghata forest.
• I choose the most dominant tarred road. I also considered taking another road labeled as the route to Mirza Hills but abandoned it by gut feeling. Few hundred meters down the road I saw the gate labeled "Herbivore safari". Beside that was a tranquil lake filled with a myriad of fishing birds. I was wonder stuck! 40 mins of ride from the hubble-bubble of Bangalore city can lead to such rich virgin wild life! It's Unbelievable! 
• I cycled round the lake , noticed a board "this lake is infested with crocodiles" and then to my utmost surprise I beheld a full grown elephant enjoying a shower and scrub just meters away from me! A perfect day, isn't it.... so many surprises(prizes) in a day... that too in Bangalore city. Life is so rewarding at times.
• In pursuit of the route to Kanakpura road; I asked a guy who was washing a safari bus, if that route leads to Kanakpura road. I noticed a slight hesitation on his face before answering my question. He said : " It does, there's a short cut but there are elephants too". GOD! what a day it's been today. My heart started beating faster, my heart told you must take the trail... while something in me held me back.
• Nevertheless listening to my heart's beckoning  I followed the elephant which by then finished its shower and was lumbering into the elephant trail. The trail started with an ajar iron gate with thick iron spikes all over the rods. I recalled: these are used to keep run-a-way elephants at bay. I learned this on a trip to a fort in Rajasthan.
• I was just about a dozen meters behind the elephant... It kept halting and looking sideways intermittently; I was alert and ready to turn round and speed away in case of any eventuality.
• All of a sudden it veered towards the right and lumbered up the forested hill. Bit relieved I hit my paddles hard and sped down the trail. The trail was narrow, just about 2 meters wide with the hill on one side and fencing on the other. That elephants frequent the trail was evident by the fact that it was littered with molds of elephant dung...most dried...some fresh.
• After few hundred meters later the trail bifurcated. The guy at the starting point told me to take the left since it was a short cut. I did so... with my heart beating fast and legs nervous... I sped down the trail... clearly bushes and lose branches on my way.
•  But alas! the trail came to an abrupt end after about 2 kms! I was lost. I was trapped in the middle of the forest with elephants around and only one route to go back. I had no choice... without wasting any time I paddled up hard... now I was cycling against the slope. I fixed my gaze well ahead. I am alert. Ready to spot any danger at the earliest. I am telling myself... do the best you can.. rest is all luck.
• Suddenly a 8-10 month old news flashed across my mind: An elephant trainer had been trampled to death in this same bannerghata national park.
• But GOD did not plan to put me in the headlines the next day; so I emerged out of the trail... my tensed muscles relaxed the moment I was out of the iron gate. I found the guy still there. I told him that the route abruptly ended. He replied: " You had almost reached, you only had to improvise a little to cross a mini canal to reach the main road on the other side!"  "OK" I said. I'll try it next time.

Thus the heart throbbing experience of the elephant trail ended. But my lucky day.. and its memorable tryst with nature did not end here. Continued in part 2.....