Ride
to 5 of the Asthavinayakas –Ride to welcome 2016!
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| The beasts near the Ranjangaon entrance |
Prologue:
October,2015 – October 7th was my
birthday & on October 4th I met with this near fatal accident
while coming back from Malshej, which resulted in injuring my ribs, knee and a
dislocated jaw with a broken bone. It’s not a ideal way to celebrate your
birthday on the hospital bed with a surgery due. And then after a bed rest of
2months you start being a mad maniac with those dreams of rides you planned,
being a guy whose thirst to Wanderlust and Ride has gone to no limits. Well, I am
this guy! A guy with the thirst to throttle and ride out his heart, for I had
not seen and rode my bike for 56days (those 56days have been the worst of my
life, emotionally, physically and mentally as well)
T-2Days
December 30th, 2015 – I got a message from Uday on Whatsapp. Uday is
my MBA batch-mate, an biker and a photographer too by passion. After initial
whereabouts of my health, the conversion started about a desire to ride and
then it ended with the plan to ride. I mentioned him that I can’t ride on 31st
as I had promised my family not to ride my bike till the year ends! Then the
idea popped up my brain (one such Devil..grins!!!) , I told him we can start a
ride on 1st early morning & be back by the day end. So we
searched / googled places near Mumbai which are doable and not covered. But then
he insisted on doing Asthavinayaka & the plan was being made. I told him I will
confirm once I get a green signal from my family. Trust me, a guy who met a
near fatal accident 3months back, planning to go for a ride and asking his
parents for the final nod is one big heck of a task. Initially they said NO
since it was just 2 of us riding all the way, they kept declining mildly. But I
was adamant to welcome 2016 with a ride. Watching the sunrise of New Year on
wheels, is a healing technique which soothes the soul and brings satisfaction,
a happiness and joy which nothing can help us attain and that only we, the
bikers would agree and understand. I am sure if you are a traveler or a biker
you would agree to this!
Then the task of maskafying started, yes! Trust me,
there was a hell of tantrums..ifs & buts. At last I convinced them that I will
be safe back home, but they strictly mentioned not to do Ojhar & Leynadri,
since the later takes the route to Mumbai via Malshej (hell…Malshej! Damn, more
about this in a later post)
Finally on 30th late evening, I was given
the nod for the trip & excluding Malshej patch specifically. When everybody
else was busy planning dress to wear for new years, spots to hang around,
clothes and stuff, I was busy planning the route and the next big task was
getting bike in all good condition to ride! Even though I had got it recently
serviced but I could not take the risk hence got a couple of things done.
T-1Day
With help of Dr.Suyog ,a fellow BBCian & a avid biker as well as expert on bikes
got my bike in ready to roll mode! 31st the entire day was spent
with Bike servicing, chalking the route.I got a call from Uday at 7 in the
evening asking if I had finalized the
route & I was like yes, sort of. Meanwhile with help of Bala, another fellow
BBCian I made 3 routes for the short listing. By 9pm got a call from Uday
saying that he hadn’t yet got the bus to his place. Since it would take a toll
on him, I asked him not to worry and in worst case we would start the ride by
7am (instead of 5-5.30am).By then I had mailed him the route plan.
Around 11.30, I was busy packing the bag with
necessary stuffs. And that’s when he confirmed that he would meet me at
Fountain hotel by 5.30am, precisely.
The
Route Chalked out was as follows
Day1:-
Start time: 5.30am
Location: Fountain Hotel
Mumbai-Pune(via NH4)-Hadapsar(Pune-Solapur route)-Patas-
Daund- Siddhtek
Siddhtek-Patas-Moregaon-Theur
Night Halt at Theur
Day 2:-
Theur-(Pune-Solapur route)-Pune-Khopoli(via NH4)-Pali-Khopoli(via
NH4)-Mahad-Mumbai(via NH4)
End time: 8pm
So this was the target set for the 2days! Around
700kms on the Odometer, 2bikes and a new route for me.
I don’t know why, btw did you ever wonder? Why the
night before ride is so full of excitement and anxiety that you can’t properly
sleep? And needless to say, you wake up before the alarm rings.
Does this happens with you too?? Or is it just me?
Well my wake up time was set to 3.45am, to be on the
safer side. Last year (haha…I mean least night I had slept before clock
striking 12, I guess) and got up in time. By 4.15am got a call from Uday that
he was up & would meet me at the meeting point. I called him before starting
and he confirmed he would be there by 5.30. I arrived at 5.20 & after a
wait for while Uday came in at 5.50am (mentally I made a note 20mins late
start, hope we don’t get caught up in traffic)
We greeted, wished new year & then started the
ride. We took the Ghodbunder Road, and then via Thane-Belapur route, we rode
till Panvel. In the mid way we saw the sun rising. So we parked our bikes on
the side, took out the camera & cell phone for clicking the pics. A couple
of snaps and we were back to roll.
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| 1st sunrise of 2016 |
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We took our 1st pitstop at Kalamboli, to fuel our beasts. Then took a quick pitstop to grab a coffee and vadapav at a vendor in Khopoli. The next break was very soon, at Tata Powers, Khopoli where we wanted to do some photo shoot with our beasts.
After that we rode all the way non-stop till the outskirts of Pune (Pune-Bangalore route junction point)
And from there on we were relying on GPS to guide us
to get through, it was somewhere around 10.30am) I asked Uday to ride ahead
with a earphone in his ear and GPS on to help us navigate efficiently. But the
traffic in Pune sucks, and no traffic sense too!(no offence) The next pitstop was
right outside Pheonix Mall, Pune. Checked the navigation for turns, re
confirmed with a couple of autorickshaw fellows. It took a lot of time to clear
the Pune city.
Lost
-Turn1
On the Pune-Solapur route, Due to traffic Uday got
stuck up somewhere and I was ahead but could not stop aside due to traffic and
hence decided to keep going (I remembered the GPS making a Left turn only). I
kept going and then took a bridge, I took a wrong turn and landed in another
direction. I called Uday and he said it was he who had taken a wrong turn and
would catch-up with me till the time asked me to take a break and relax. I was
enjoying Sugarcane juice, when Uday called in. I took a glimpse of the street
filled with vehicles and Uday nowhere to be found. I rechecked with him, this
time as he mentioned, I was lost and he was on the correct route. I took the
GPS to reroute to the meeting point, we planned to keep the Theur-phata junction as our meeting point. It was already
1.30pm when we meet on the Pune-Solapur Highway.
Lost
–Turn-2
I could not locate Uday anywhere on the Theur phata junction
and decided to call while I was waiting for him. He asked me to wait at Theur. So
I went ahead and took a halt at Theur village.
Again Udays call came asking my whereabouts, I told him I am waiting
& that’s when he bombed me!! Damn!!Not Again! He said he was waiting at
Theur phata in a juice shop. I went back to the junction. It took me some 10
minutes to reach there. We caught up like long lost friends, hahaha! That s
when we decided to take a pitstop for 30mins to give bumm some time to cool off
and machines to take rest.
From their onwards we were riding in proximity of 10-15mtrs from each other and at
80-100kmph, since we had to cover up.
We reached Patas, from where we had to take a left
to route via Daund and then head to Siddhtek. We took the diversion from main
highway. And that was the end of smooth tarmac roads and start of the typical
Indian road, filled with potholes. Just 5kms before Daund I spotted a eatery
& signaled Uday to stop. That was our pitstop to hog on the piping hot
Vadapav-bhajipav and masala tea. After a quick referesher we check the time and
it showed 3.30pm.
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| Pitstop to grab some coffee and vadapav! Nr.Daund |
Damn, we are lagging the schedule. Back on wheels the target
was to ride the next 28kms of stretch of this road to reach the 1st
Destination of the trip. With no lags, no getting lost we reached the Siddhtek
gaon at 4.15pm, the route all the way is full of potholes with a narrow road
filled with Sugarcane lorries. All you see is trucks and lorries loaded with
Sugarcane and Sugar farms on both sides of the road. We stopped outside the
village to get some clicks.
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| The Kingfisher |
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| HORSE POWER!!!!! |
We parked the bikes, removed the gears and the 1st
thing we did was drinking the fresh sugarcane juice. After that we went to the
temple, took Ganpati Bappa’s blessings. While I was waiting for Uday to come
back from the darshan, a quick chat with the local shopkeeper got me the idea
of night halt at Moregaon, which happened to be our next stop.
We rode back, on the way back we saw mesmerizing sunset through the sugarcane farms. The view was just like a oil-painted canvas, the Pink sky, sun set and black fumes coming out of the sugar mill.
We reached back Patas, it was 6.30pm. Took another quick break to have some coffee (as per our plan we decided to a no riding after 7pm rule)
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| 1st sunset of 2016 |
Surprise1
Since the distance was just 65kms from Patas with a night
stay possible only there, we then headed till Moregaon. And so the plan was reframed
to night stay at Moregaon, instead of Theur.
After taking the left turn from Kedagaon on the Pune-Solapur
highway which leads to Moregaon, we continued at a slower pace since now only
25kms had to be covered. But the stretch has some patches with worst riding or
driving roads and big potholes. Since it was past 7.30pm I asked Uday to ride
nearby, at a distance of 5m.The view on both the sides of the road was
mesmerizing. I had the feeling as if I am riding under the stars while gazing
at them and the cool breezes tickling us. Soon we reached Moregaon around 9pm
in the night. Whenever we took a pitstop, we made sure to inform our respective
families about our whereabouts and the plan ahead.
We went to a couple of lodges but none guaranteed
safety for bikes. And hence we opted for the hotel on the main road with
basement parking available. Took the keys to the room, got freshen up and headed
to the temple.
Took the darshan, came back and ordered food. It was the 1st proper meal of the new year as well as of the day! It was around 10.00pm, informed our families that we had called the day off. And then we crashed on the bed with the alarm of 4.30 & 5.00am.
Food & Stay at Moregaon was a pocket one and so was the food.
Road
Conditions:- The roads are well lit and smooth Tarmac
routes on the highways, but when you divert from the main highways, the road
conditions are bad.
Day2
Uday woke me up at 5.15am, I was surprised to see
him already up. By 6.30am we were ready with luggage loaded on the bikes and
ourselves completely charged for the day ahead.
We headed out of the village, and that’s when we saw
the 1st Chaiwala at the Junction, open and available, so wer ordered
Coffee. The plan was to reach Theur by 8.00am.
We reached Theur around 8.15am, and took the
darshan. Uday took some fruits to have a
quick grab since all we got was Vadapav to eat, and we were in no mood to eat
vadapav as pur breakfast. Ate some strawberries and we discussed the route that had to be taken.
Surprise-2
Since our plan was to reach panvel by 6.00pm, we changed the target for the
day. We replaced Pali with Ranjangaon, as Uday was not comfortable in over
stretching the ride.
Route:-
Road
from Theur to Ranjangoan is much of a smooth road.
Some 5kms before Ranjangaon, we saw a hotel with
parking shades and decided to take a quick halt. IT had south Indian servings. Was
a bonanza for us! Had our breakfast of
idli and dosa with filtered coffee while our machines took rest. In a matter
of few minutes reached Ranjangaon. The 2nd Destination for the day!
While roaming in the temple premise saw the route of
the Asthavinayaka, and mentally made a note of it.
Ranjangaon-
Shikrapur-Chakan-Talegaon-Lonavala-Khopoli-Mahad.
Came out and discussed
the route with Uday and was a shortcut to avoid the chaos of Pune city. It was
around 12.30pm, Did some photoshoot over their while a procession was going on,
enjoyed the tune of Legim on Dhol-Tasha, what else do you need :)
Soon we were back on wheels with the mission to
complete the 5th and final Destination to head back home. We took a
quick halt after some 30mins to quench the thirst, by having some Sugarcane
juice.
After having that we headed back Non-stop till
Chakan (via Shikrapur). At Khed gaon, outside Chakan, on Talegaon-Chakan
highway, took a break since Uday was feeling sleepy. I had some fruits while he
got freshen up and took some rest. It always is an amazing experience to meet
localites/ interact with them.
The next halt was outside Kamshet (towards Lonavala)
, where the Windmills are visible atop the hill. Took a quick pitstop to click
some snaps. Saw many bikers on the way, fully geared, like us, waving a hand,
flashing the passby to acknowledge us. Even though we don’t know each other,
but still we have a bond of brotherhood, and that feels good!
After this we quickly headed to Mahad, for the final
darshan of the day.
Took Darshan and then in the parking lot had some
snacks and fruits to fill the stomach that was roaring for food.
Finally the clock ticked 4.30pm when we had completed
the tasks. Day2 was much easy and smooth as compared to Day1.
From Mahad we headed back to Mumbai, and were home
around 7.15pm and the Odometer reads 674KMs approx.
Every ride teaches you a lot of new things, makes
you more determined and most of all gives you
experience.
A
Thank You Note
Thanks a lot God for being supportive and getting us
back home safe and sound!
Lot’s of love, respect to our machines that they got
us safe home without any breakdowns/ troubles.
A special thanks to my family for letting me fulfill
my madness.
Uday my buddy, biker friend for your support and planning.
My friends & fellow riders at team BBC for the
motivation,valuable inputs for bike service, routes, places to stay ,etc. Thank You All!! I never get a chance to
thank you guys, so I take this opportunity to tahnk you all fellaz out there!
Love You guys! God Bless.
Lastly,
Some Do’s & Dont’s
1) Wear full gears, shoes, jacket, and helmet.
2) Carry water and keep yourself hydrated.
3) When you feel sleepy or bored, take a break and
stretch out.
4) Make sure you give proper indicators/ hand-signs
while taking turns.
5) Give pass-by and horn when necessary.
6) Keep your family/ friends updated in-case of
emergency .
7) Don’t ride or drive on high - beam, it can cause
the person on the opposite direction a problem.
8) Don’t overeat as it may make you feel sleepy.
9) Don’t over speed until necessary.
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| Low light click on Moto X Play - Sunet at Thane bridge |
Signing Off for Now!
Until then Ride Hard..Ride Safe!!
