This is Part 2 of Four Mornings on the Classic 350, a five-part motorcycle journey through Karnataka that was supposed to last four days, but became five.

One of the nicest stops of the entire trip wasn’t new at all.

Between Hunsur and Periyapatna is a Café Coffee Day that is open twenty-four hours. Strangely, I had been there twice before over perhaps the last ten years.

Now I found myself there again.

I was tired. I’d woken early, and the riding was catching up with me. The air-conditioning alone made the place feel like a refuge.

I ordered a cold Devil’s Own, sat down and stayed for perhaps thirty to forty-five minutes.

At some point I actually fell asleep for about fifteen minutes.

A proper power nap.

The staff were friendly, nobody bothered me, and when I finally got back onto the motorcycle it felt less like continuing the same journey and more like starting a new one.

The ride towards Kushalnagar wasn’t especially memorable. There were roadworks and plenty of interruptions. After Kushalnagar things improved, although traffic remained surprisingly heavy.

Then Madikeri arrived.

And Google Maps decided to welcome me to the hills.

It suggested a shortcut to my hotel.

I followed it.

The road went steeply downhill.

Then it led me straight into somebody’s home.

That would have been funny if I had been on foot.

On a heavy Classic 350, pointing downhill on a steep Coorg lane without enough space to turn around, it was considerably less funny.

I stopped the engine. The last thing I wanted was an accidental twist of the throttle while manoeuvring the motorcycle.

Then came the hard part.

I had to wrestle the bike backwards, uphill, little by little until I created enough room to turn it.

By the time I managed it, I was breathing heavily. Gloves came off. The balaclava came off. The helmet was barely sitting on my head while I recovered.

But something useful had happened.

I had acquired a new rule:

Never ride down a steep little road without first being reasonably certain that it actually goes somewhere.

Google immediately began suggesting more shortcuts.

This time I looked carefully at the map and ignored them.

I took the longer route through central Madikeri and past the bus-stand area.

Much better.

Navaratna Resorts had basement parking, with several other motorcycles already there. Check-in was easy.

For lunch I didn’t want anything elaborate. I found an old Udupi restaurant and had a simple South Indian meal.

After wrestling a Royal Enfield backwards up a Coorg slope, few things could have been more satisfying.

Then I bought some water, returned to the hotel and started working.

That evening after work finishing, I walked to Raja Seat to catch a glimpse of the sunset, which wasn’t dramatic due to cloud cover but the location was nice for good photos and views over the coorg western ghats.

On the way back, I popped into a cafe sceptically, but it turned out to be one of the nicest place to relax. Thoroughly enjoyed the stay there (Kimberley Resto Cafe) with cool evening breeze rejuvenating after a tiresome day of ride.