Harohalli-Jigani Route- Forest Guards stopping riders today ?

[Parag Patankar]

I was riding the Harohalli-Jigani route today morning, and was stopped by Forest guarts jusst before the Anekal turn off. They were very aggressive, I could not understand much as they were speaking only in Kannada, but they were basically not willing to let us ride through. Then some villagers came and interpreted and said because of he elephant incident they do not want people riding there, and said I can finish my ride today, but I should not ride on that route again. The forest guard then added that they will seize the bikes if people are seen riding that route.

AFAIK, it is a public road, so they possibly are out of their jurisdiction in trying to prevent us from riding, but it can mean an unpleasant scene/delay etc, so this is a heads up for people planning to ride that side.

Did the 600 brevet riders face any issues yesterday ? Also any updates on the 600 ride as yet ?

Parag

[Aditya Yadav]

Harohalli-Jigani is one of my favorite route but I dont want this to happen to my bike!
This happened in the BBCh http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4070078439931&set=a.4070049079197.2170193.1521453682&type=1&theater

How dangerous are elephants and how to handle them when they are in a crappy mood? I have encountered some but I mind my own business and they leave me alone.
--
Aditya

[Nadana Sigamani]

Dear Parag,

Please do not think that the elephant menace is not real. It is very much true on this route. There are many "Elephant  Crossing Corridor" warning boards on this road.  On June 17, 2012, a cyclist had a miraculous escape after being attacked by an elephant on this particular stretch.

How dangerous are elephants and how to handle them when they are in a crappy mood? I have encountered some but I mind my own business and they leave me alone.

See the mangled photograph of the cycle in this following report and you'll understand how dangerous they can be.  So the forest guards concern for you was for real.

Read Venkatesh N's following report on the incident...

Venkatesh N’s Race Report: BBCh 5- Harohalli - Jigani Road Race (17^th June, 2012)

 

 

The Elephant Scare:
The first hot discussion after crossing the finish line was about a rider who was attacked by a wild elephant. Suddenly the warning of the elephant crossing and vague sighting of what looked like a bike in a ditch being looked on by a crowd as we rode on the final leg of the race, made sense. As it turned out the rider, Joe Matthews of GoGreen Cycling was apparently there for a weekend casual ride and was attacked by an elephant crossing the road. He was not registered as a rider or a volunteer for the race and was probably coming to watch the race when the unfortunate incident happened. 
 

The tusker's fury.. Thankfully the rider made it out alright : Pic from Hari's camera on our way back

The full details can only be heard from him but from the second hand accounts of guys who went and saw him in Harohalli hospital, he was understandably shaken by the experience and had quite a few scratches and bruises but escaped with relatively minor injuries. It would be hard to disagree when one says that he was lucky after looking at the state of his bike. It was completely demolished and beaten to pulp by the tusker. Karan(BOTS) and Sri Ram(KW) were with him in the hospital to oversee the treatment and to help him get back to the city by the time we were driving back home. We wish him a speedy recovery. 

....  see the mangled cycle's picture  in

http://www.govenkygo.com/2012/06/bbch-5-harohalli-jigani-road-race.html

take care,

Siga

-- 
******   You don't have to be crazy to cycle. But it helps.   ***** 

Parag

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[Chidambaran Subramanian]

Dear Siga,

I've copied the GGI list here. joe is definitely part of that mailing list , he's in the BBC list too, if he cares to respond, then we'll know first hand. He actually handled it quite well, he knows a bit about elephants. 

There was another guy who went for a hike to Ragihalli and got killed few days back. The forest guards might be reacting to *that* incident, rather than the cycling incident. 

Regards

Chiddu

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Nandana,

Thank you for your concern, I am not saying the menace is not real. I have been riding this route for the last 3 years regularly, and I was physically there on the 17th,as a race volunteer when the Joey Matthews incident happened.
We never got any updates from Karan/Sriram on what really happenned, but from what I heard, he was apparently not riding the bike when he was"attacked".

I fully agree about being circumspect(I was not riding alone anyway), and I will avoid the route for a few weeks, what I did not agree with is the forest guard saying we should not ride there, when the villagers are walking up and down that road, and 12 year old boys(sans helmets) are riding motorbikes in that road - I saw two of them on the road today very near where I was stopped.

Regards,
Parag

On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 7:04 PM, Nadana Sigamani <siga...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Brijnair]

 Agree with Parag here, why only cyclists; I keep on seeing  villagers walking around on the road there and kids guiding cows back home and this is everyday story, It is a public road where all the private vehicles are allowed to ply (I haven't seen any notice stating that you cannot take your cars or motorbikes on that road)

While being concerned is a very good thing but rules have to be same for everyone!

Regards,
Brijesh

[shreyas k]

Hi Parag,

 

I've been doin this route almost thrice a week rode last thursday none stopped me coz i do it quite early in the morning, may be the forest gaurds are reacting for the death of hiker which happened last week ill be riding again on tuesday/wednesday ill keep you guys posted if they stop me or ask me not to ride the route...

 

They cant just say us not to ride on the roads according to their whims, most of us have been doing that route for years now they might just let things go once this death of hiker things becomes old.

[Nalla P Konar]

Agree with Parag and Brijesh.

Are cyclists creating any ruckus or noise pollution or causing any harm to the forest area???
Not sure why forest dept is objecting.

Siga, your concern is valid, but there are villagers living nearby and its a public road.

Rgds,
Nalla.
Rider of Cleated Warriors - Bangalore Bicycle racing team
Visit http://www.facebook.com/cleatedwarriors for more details

[Rajanikanth Puttabuddi]

Did the 600 brevet riders face any issues yesterday ? Also any updates on the 600 ride as yet ?

Parag

The 600 rider's ( including me ) did this route 2 days back and we didn't had any problem.
Infact some villager's and kids told us not to go into the forest but why would we take a cycle and go into the forest.
We are not trekking is what all i had to say. No security guards and No elephants anywhere :-)

rk

[J Mathew]

Dear Chiddu, 

Seen your mail....I am still at my native place recovering....ASAP i will try to give a write-up of what happened that day...may be that would be useful/helpful...

Regards

Mathew

On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 7:16 PM, Chidambaran Subramanian <chi...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Siga,

I've copied the GGI list here. joe is definitely part of that mailing list , he's in the BBC list too, if he cares to respond, then we'll know first hand. He actually handled it quite well, he knows a bit about elephants. 

There was another guy who went for a hike to Ragihalli and got killed few days back. The forest guards might be reacting to *that* incident, rather than the cycling incident. 

Regards

Chiddu

On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 7:04 PM, Nadana Sigamani <siga...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Parag,

Please do not think that the elephant menace is not real. It is very much true on this route. There are many "Elephant  Crossing Corridor" warning boards on this road.  On June 17, 2012, a cyclist had a miraculous escape after being attacked by an elephant on this particular stretch.

How dangerous are elephants and how to handle them when they are in a crappy mood? I have encountered some but I mind my own business and they leave me alone.

See the mangled photograph of the cycle in this following report and you'll understand how dangerous they can be.  So the forest guards concern for you was for real.

Read Venkatesh N's following report on the incident...

Venkatesh N’s Race Report: BBCh 5- Harohalli - Jigani Road Race (17^th June, 2012)

 

 

The Elephant Scare:
The first hot discussion after crossing the finish line was about a rider who was attacked by a wild elephant. Suddenly the warning of the elephant crossing and vague sighting of what looked like a bike in a ditch being looked on by a crowd as we rode on the final leg of the race, made sense. As it turned out the rider, Joe Matthews of GoGreen Cycling was apparently there for a weekend casual ride and was attacked by an elephant crossing the road. He was not registered as a rider or a volunteer for the race and was probably coming to watch the race when the unfortunate incident happened. 
 

The tusker's fury.. Thankfully the rider made it out alright : Pic from Hari's camera on our way back

The full details can only be heard from him but from the second hand accounts of guys who went and saw him in Harohalli hospital, he was understandably shaken by the experience and had quite a few scratches and bruises but escaped with relatively minor injuries. It would be hard to disagree when one says that he was lucky after looking at the state of his bike. It was completely demolished and beaten to pulp by the tusker. Karan(BOTS) and Sri Ram(KW) were with him in the hospital to oversee the treatment and to help him get back to the city by the time we were driving back home. We wish him a speedy recovery. 

....  see the mangled cycle's picture  in

http://www.govenkygo.com/2012/06/bbch-5-harohalli-jigani-road-race.html

take care,

Siga

-- 
******   You don't have to be crazy to cycle. But it helps.   ***** 

On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 11:29 AM, Parag Patankar <parag.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

I was riding the Harohalli-Jigani route today morning, and was stopped by Forest guarts jusst before the Anekal turn off. They were very aggressive, I could not understand much as they were speaking only in Kannada, but they were basically not willing to let us ride through. Then some villagers came and interpreted and said because of he elephant incident they do not want people riding there, and said I can finish my ride today, but I should not ride on that route again. The forest guard then added that they will seize the bikes if people are seen riding that route.

AFAIK, it is a public road, so they possibly are out of their jurisdiction in trying to prevent us from riding, but it can mean an unpleasant scene/delay etc, so this is a heads up for people planning to ride that side.

Did the 600 brevet riders face any issues yesterday ? Also any updates on the 600 ride as yet ?

Parag

--

biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
 
are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
Visit www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com for more details
 
 

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are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
Visit www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com for more details
 
 

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"GoGreen for a better tomorrow GoCycling..."
Spread the word of Going Green through cycling. As a GGI try and initiate/help more people to Cycle within in the City, avoiding pollution & intern fighting Global Warming.
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[M I T R]

Having ventured into forests and encountered wild Elephants over the last 15 years both during day and night...on Foot, on 2 wheelers and in 4 wheelers...having being attacked multiple times and being damn lucky...there's only one thing I would like to message here for those willing to take the advise..."YOU ARE TAKING CHANCES BY RIDING IN AN ELEPHANT ZONE"

Elephants are not the type to leave you alone just because you are leaving them alone...they are extremely finicky animals...you can be sure of only one thing...if you are susceptible and in the open (outside a car) in a less populated/visited zone then "high chances they will charge at you" - the chances of that charge turning into a full attack are higher if the herd with females and babies are around OR if it is a lone Tusker on heat (musk)...

They say it is safer to encounter a Tiger than an Elephant in a forest o}

Know that Elephants are quick and can run faster than a human...

It's adventurous and exciting...I would love it too...but be prepared for the worst if you do so...

Have Fun and Ride Safe

M I T R

[akkm...@gmail.com]

+100

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

---

From: M I T R <mansoor...@gmail.com>

Sender: bangalor...@googlegroups.com

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 23:19:16 -0700 (PDT)

To: <bangalor...@googlegroups.com>

Cc: Parag Patankar<parag.p...@gmail.com>; bangalore-bikers<Bangalor...@googlegroups.com>; GGI-Club (Go Green Initiator's Club)<ggi-...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [BBC] Harohalli-Jigani Route- Forest Guards stopping riders today ?

[Opendro]

I had been to that Harohalli - Jigni road only once during the prev road race. It didn't look dense or dangerous at all. Forest guards should first stop seeing cyclists as aliens from another galaxy.

Of course, I agree that we should be careful. That is true even while crossing the road in the zebra cross. I had been hit once in the night. But I don't want to suggest that everyone stops attempting to cross the road. Accidents do happen. Life will go on till its end.

[Ravindra BR]

Hi

i was there on saturday but doing it from jigani side

no one troubled

villagers in a small hotel in jigani were telling they have not seen any elephant and doubt the death case by elephant

they were telling it comes in November for sure

one old lady suggested to be careful near neelgiri (eucalyptus) grove and the pond nearby could not locate where it was.

met the first 600k brevetter at around 1-20 pm in my watch

one more in 2 mins

3 more at 1-35

2 more at around 3-20 or so

it was a nice ride for me though not planned really enjoyed but was scared, it was my first solo ride in a forest

started from home reached decathlon was in dual mind chikka thirupathi or jigani

finally turned towards attibele then to bommasandra to jigani to harohalli to aol ashram

attended satsang and returned home at 10PM

again average is only 12 Km

have to work a lot to take part in a brevet

Ravi

[Rajanikanth Puttabuddi]

I was the one who stopped and spoke to you. Do you remember me asking you to do the 600 with us :-)

rk

[Rohan Kini]

Just a quick update on this.

After the attack Joe Matthew had mentioned that he would write a proper report of what actually happened and share it with the cycling communities. He is yet to do that. Would be great if someone who knows him can remind him about this.

On riding in the forests - looks like the incident (and the recent elephant incident) has scarred the Forest officials quite a bit and their knee jerk reaction to this has been to 'ban' cyclists on this route for the moment. Mr Rao, Modi and Karan were there on the day of the incident talking to the officials and the whole conversation was kinda complicated - the jist of it being cyclists are not welcome on this road. They called up Rao after the recent killing and asked him if the person who was killed was from this cycling community. 

What we recommend should be done

- humor the forest officials and lie low for a bit so that we dont rub them the wrong way - donot cycling on these routes. You are bound to piss off forst guards, rake up the initial incident and in turn make life a little hard for folks who interacted with the forest guards on that day.

- talk to the right folks (in the forst department?) to understand what their take is wrt cycling and national forests and see if there is a law on this. 

Even if the law permits cycling on these roads - we could use our common sense and avoid elephant corridors if we can. 

~ROhan

[Sunil Raghavan]

My two cents:

• That Ragihalli forest area is beautiful, and it is very tempting to visit, lovely unspoilt forest so close to the city, etc. Been through there in the car.
  
• I have trekked past elephants (elsewhere, with a tribal as guide) and realised that they are actually hard to spot in the forest - I would not have believed that till I saw for myself - something as big as an elephant being hard to spot, but you can get pretty close and not know. Very grateful not to have learned that the hard way.
  
• Elephants can move real quick - I've seen a mock charge from a car - damn scary stuff despite being inside a car, but on a bike I'd prefer other bikers chasing me.
• Exactly how unsafe is it? After all villagers are driving through Ragihalli regularly. I'm a city slicker and I dont really know, and I dont have the time and inclination to become an expert - It only needs one incident to become a statistic, and we've just seen two - the unfortunate trekker included, so why volunteer. I'd rather treat Nature with abundant caution and respect and avoid biking through the corridor.

Fortunately there are enough other lovely roads around.

[Vinaya Kumar Thimmappa]

Some of my thoughts on wild elephants on BNP (Bannerughatta National Park)
They have seen more humans , so they are more aggressive than other elephants in other national park.
There was a wild elephant called Rowdy Ranga (tusker with one tusk slightly broken) in vicinity of zoo which was known for its attacking nature .
I haven't heard of it off late. But recently incidents bring back how he used to attack.

One of my old image http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=162705 about elephant watching/photography

Notes that i had put way back in 2010 (may be more relevant now)
========
Wildlife photography: Understanding wildlife before even clicking pictures. Here is a friend of mine taking picture of an elephant at a water hole (i took this picture ,standing behind him). First , we were at a safe distance from the elephant [if you ask me, what is safe place? A place which is not unsafe is really safe) Second, made sure elephant did not see us (elephant seeing distance is around 200 ft and it sees only black and white). When in doubt ,elephant just stops and looks/smells in the direction of doubt. In this case, it was relaxing (ears waving) and having water. Here , we were standing behind a tree or close to tree . In a elephant country, always know the direction of the wind. Since elephants have very strong smelling capacity, they can smell humans from far and they will either run or ready for confrontation by the time you approach them. In this case, wind was blowing from us towards the elephant and this guy soon realized that we were there and so walked off after having water and lifting his trunk towards us an indication he smelled us.
========

Quote : Better to think rock has an elephant rather than elephant has a rock (from elephants day and night book)

Hope this helps
-Vinaya

[Deepa Mohan]

Very valid points, and if we are going to traverse through the few
areas left to our fellow-citizens in the area, we would do well to
know what rules apply, and follow them.

Thanks, Vinaya, and Sunil.

Cheers, Deepa.

On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 6:33 PM, Vinaya Kumar Thimmappa
<vinaya....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Some of my thoughts on wild elephants on BNP (Bannerughatta National Park)
> They have seen more humans , so they are more aggressive than other
> elephants in other national park.
>

[S Chidambaran]

The issue with the forest guards is that there was an incident recently and they are on edge. Yes it is not their fault, and yes, the villagers go around here all the time, and that includes the kids in the area. I am sure there would have been numerous incidents with wild animals in the area, but that generally does not make it to the news.

The problem is that when folks like us wander into the forests and something happens, then it makes the news, and the forest guards get into the spotlight. Normally they don't face too many problems, but if there is an incident, especially a death, then the forest guards really get a grilling as to how it happened. They just react to that, and understandably will be paranoid for a while. I've gone on that stretch with my 4 year old with Manjula for company, I definitely don't regret it. We can't go about living our lives with fear.

A neighbours 16 year old got killed by a speeding car just across the road. And he was on the side of the road(no footpath). Another friend got hit by a speeding bike 3 years back while waiting on the footpath, he nearly lost his life, and has taken a while to recover his memory, he is still not productively employed.  There have been snakes sighted in our apartment, once I was present when a cobra showed up, I had to fight with the workers to ensure nobody killed it, and it eventually escaped into an empty plot nearby.

We should take precautions, but at the end of the day , incidents can happen despite our best care, let us just accept that. And give a few days for the forest guards to relax. (Or pick some other route)

Regards,
Chiddu

[Uday]

All of you must understand that the forest guards are doing only what they are told to do! Why shoot the messenger!

It is a better idea to talk to the higher officials and get some sort of permission, or lie low, till the dust settles down.

Either way, it is better to understand the nature of elephants and behave in a safe manner, for the sake of our own safety.

Not having been attacked in the past three years is not a certificate. Going by probability theory, it only increases the likelihood of you getting attacked on your next ride.

At the end of the day, you dont want to be at the receiving end of a furious elephant. That's all it amounts to. 

+uday

On Sunday, July 29, 2012 11:29:12 AM UTC+5:30, Parag wrote:

[Hari Krishna]

And, going by probability theory, you'll most probably be attacked only once. You might cease to exist for a second attack.

Sent from my iPhone

--

[Naresh V.]

Spotted an elephant last Saturday eve when a friend and I were on our car through the Ragihalli road.

I wouldn't feel confident at all in outrunning one if I were on a non-motored bike. Maybe that's what the localites who stop the cyclists feel too.

-Naresh