Pawana - A quiet evening getaway

My flatmate and long-time friend Lohit has just quit his job in Pune and will be leaving to Bangalore soon. He wanted to see a few places around Pune, so we set off to Pawana to watch the sunset, despite the low water levels there. We were quite surprised to see a fairly large weekend crowd, however the hills and sky were looking beautiful never-the-less. Yet another taste of bad roads, and a chance to play with the camera :)

A short trip to Kashid beach

It's one of those days when you sit on a chair wondering what to do next once your work for the day is done. It's a gentle battle between doing the unthinkable v/s lazing around. In a split second there's a nice big list of possible locations which you could visit, that would bring a sense of adventure and joy. Then the mind begins the process of carefully weighing the pleasure factor of each of these locations. It's fierce competition with many close calls and ties. However, there's a winner. One that just seems perfect for that day, that evening, that moment: And there’s a sudden urge to get away from daily life and be somewhere else altogether.
It was one such day, one on a sunny winter afternoon. I was done with my work by 1:30pm and I felt like spending the evening on a beach. Imagination had already started rolling. I could already sense the winds blowing, the waves hitting the shores, and the deep orange sun setting on the horizon. It just felt right, and it had to be done. It’s a situation where the mind won’t accept anything less for satisfaction, and there’s no stopping after that.

I headed to the petrol station across my office in Pune and tanked up my trusty Pulsar 180 DTSi. I was on the road by 2pm. There was very little traffic and I had no problems keeping good pace. The descent through Tamhini Ghat felt good particularly. The road had been tarred recently. Having done this route many number of times, I was off to enjoy the corners and the hairpins. As I approached Kolad, the roads seemed more inviting. Once I was on NH17, I proceeded towards Roha and took the shortest route to Kashid. A part of this short route was still under construction. A few kilometers of sand and stone after many hours of tarmac riding. Once I knew I was near, my only desire was to keep the pace up and not stop. I wanted be at the beach as early as possible. After 3 hours of non-stop riding, I was finally there.

I had reached earlier than expected. It was still sunny and the beach was stark empty except for a few people walking around at a distance. I quickly grabbed the opportunity to ride all around the beach. The shores were shallow and it was an easy ride. I was back to being a kid and I rode the shallow waters to feel the splash over me and my bike.

After some exploration of the surrounding areas, I finally pulled out my camera and decided to take some snaps. I requested an Australian visitor to take some photos of me riding along the beach. It was just about sunset, and it was time to see my imagination turn to reality. It was one of the best evenings I’ve spent on a weekday; a working weekday for that matter. At 6:45pm I decided to head back home. It was a moonless night. I took a slight deviation around Tamhini and found myself some empty space with no trees around. I just slept on the bike to watch the stars. It was pitch dark and the star studded sky blew me away. Light pollution around towns and industrial areas ruin the best views of the sky. Fortunately for me, I was away from it all, in the right place at the right time. I however could not spend a lot of time there as I wanted to get back home. By 10pm I was at Pune’s Chandni Chowk. A 380 kilometer ride, a sea sand splashed bike, reddish tyres and dirty clothes. It was time to head home, have dinner and call it one very eventful evening.

[this writeup was featured in BIKE India magazine - Volume 2 / Issue 10 / May 2007 Page 46 ]

2388 kms - 3 days - One fast ride

Yes. I was desperate to do a long distance ride. With the original destination being Bangalore, I felt like doing more as I got riding on the first day. I felt like visiting the pristine hills of Ooty and feeling the winter chill. My Pulsar 180 dtsi was all serviced and ready to munch some miles.

On Day 1, I left Pune at 4:30 am. It was a cold morning. I took my first break close to Satara and watched the sunrise (it was too tempting to stop at this moment). I continued further and reached Nelamangala (30 kms outside Bangalore) just before 5pm. Not wanting to enter Bangalore, I took the outer-ring-road through Kengeri satellite town and reached the Mysore road. I continued and reached Mysore at 9pm. I stayed at one of my friend's home.

On Day 2, I got up at 7am. Got ready, thanked my friend and continued towards Bandipur. I spent very little time at Gopalswamy Betta. I took the Masinagudi route through Sigur ghats and reached Ooty by around 11pm. Rode around Doddabetta, Conoor and Pykara. I had dinner at around 7pm and slept by 8pm. I was badly in need of sleep.

On Day 3, I had to ride all the way back to Pune. Not something I had even dreamed of doing. I left at 6am and rode longer distances taking shorter breaks. I packed some fried rice near Gundulpet, and decided to eat a little at every major break I take. I also took along 5 bars of Cadbury's Perk and plenty of water. I tried taking various shortcuts in Mysore and Bangalore, and faced some trouble. I actually ended up wasting valuable time on the ring roads in hopes of avoiding the city traffic. After a long day's riding, I reached Hubli and had dinner. The sleep was really getting to me and I was bored riding on a straight stretch not having anything else to do. However, the last stretch from Kolhapur to Pune was fantastic. The skies were clear, there was no fog, visibility was fantastic, and it was cold. It felt awesome. For a change the good weather drove all my sleep away, and I made it back home by around 3am with a wide grin ear to ear.

Distances covered:
986 kms on Day 1 - Pune to Mysore
186 kms on Day 2 - Mysore - Gopalswamy Hill - Ooty and surrounding areas
1216 kms on Day 3 - Ooty to Pune - In 21 hours (around 17 hrs of actual ride time)

So much for a butt-aching trip. I reported to work like everything was normal, and slept 15 hours that evening. This is my fastest & longest ride so far .. Yippie ..

pulsar 220 dtsfi launched in pune

Boy-o-boy, .. a long wait (well more than a year) has finally come to an end. The Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-FI is available at the Bajaj Probiking outlet near Ruby Hall in Pune. A colleague of mine was planning to buy it, so we dropped by the showroom to check it out. Sadly, the bikes there were only for display and test rides weren't allowed. The representative said that more were to arrive next week and it's only then that they would allow people to test ride the bike. At 83K odd rupees this is all too tempting a buy. The 220 has many firsts (first in India) to its credit, .. Rear disk brakes, projector headlamps, etc, to name a few..

What I expect this bike to be is a sports-tourer satisfying the essential needs of a touring enthusiast in India. A leaping step after the first launch of the Pulsar 180 and the Hero Honda Karizma. I'm all fingers crossed.

Winter

Winters are fun. It’s the season when the warmth of the rug stops you from getting up early in the morning. Being lazy seems normal. It’s the time when sipping hot coffee on a lonely street under incandescent lights at some odd hour past midnight feels like the best thing you ever did in the past few days. Some people in India hate this season, but on the other hand I wait for it all year long.

Winter is the most favourable time for riding. The heat during the day is bearable. Riding under the sun all day feels good. The cool air under shady trees keeps you fresh as you take breaks along your journey. Nights are cold. The amber aura of the streetlights fading away into the fog; the calmness of the odd breeze gently carrying away fallen leaves across the road; lights from distant homes and industries lighting up the sky above it; the headlights lighting up the paint and the reflectors along the road; all these make riding at night a pleasure. The pleasant weather makes you feel more comfortable and the dry roads help you travel farther than normal. It’s a perfect combination.

Don’t let such a good time pass by while you sit by the window, sipping tea and reading a newspaper. Get on the road, smell the winter air and ride.

you shall not pass

I found this photo somewhere on ADVRider. Those who are fans of The Lord of the Rings are going to have a good laugh.. Those who've seen the South Park spoof might probably laugh harder ... enjoy :)

the late night ride to bangalore ... or something like that

It was late April. My cramster colt was packed with all necessary clothes, tools, spares, food and lots of other junk not worth talking about. What can you expect in a 20 minute timeframe. I had a blown low-beam from my last ride back from Mahabaleshwar. I pretty much rode back to Pune with no light and in two minds whether to use the high-beam before it blows off too. All this courtesy the modded lighting coil, a screwed battery and effects thereof. Anyway, back to the main story ..

A few days had passed. I hadn't got my bike fixed yet. It was an outrageous plan .. The destination was Bangalore. The ETD was well.. 1am. The plan was to ride a few hours in the dark and continue through the day, early enough not to risk riding around the evening after 12 odd hours on the road with a filament that could give way any moment. Wicked! .. The only risk was of the filament getting blown off at the start of the ride. The risk factor was comparatively less as it was just a matter of a few hours in the dark. A chance worth taking, .. an adventure worth riding for...

It was 1am. I spent sometime fiddling around with the headlight to get the high-beam to illuminate the road better. Now that it was the only filament left in my headlight, all I could do was pray and hope that it lasted till daylight, .. my lightbringer till I got to see the early rays of the sun.

So, I set off. I reached Katraj Ghat. I was stopped by the cops (regular stuff) but after a few smiles and words I was on my way. There are times where you must be the 'good boy' that you are. Once I was on NH4, it was time to open the throttle. A few kilometers down .. it happened. The high-beam was blown ... gone in a flash .. poof..

What could be more adventurous than being stranded on a wide 4 lane open highway all alone at 2am with a vehicle having no headlights. That apart from the fact that you are riding in a region which you are new to and you just happened to forget your cellphone on the bed as you left home. I had a charged Eveready Commander somewhere deep among the myraid items in my cramster, but I decided to keep moving and not hang around too long at one place (not something you'd want to do in such a situation). I was cruising along at around 25 kmph under a cresent moon and a starlight sky.

Things weren't too pleasing. The boredom of having to ride on a butter-smooth four lane piece of tarmac at speeds you could rather jog at. The frustration of not being able to stop by and spend the night gazing at the stars. The agony of being behind scheduled within the first ten percent of the ride. It was time to tail a vehicle, .. sadly there weren't many passing by in the 10 odd minutes.

The lack of light made the simplest of things feel horrid. I couldn't manage to risk following cars who were going slow (under 3 digit) speeds. I lost their tail many times and decided to chase a slower vehicle. To my (mis)fortune it was a guy on a two wheeler.

So this guy (henceforth referred to as 'mr.saviour') was doing a comfortable 50-60 kmph, riding a Passion Plus, with no riding gear, no helmet, wearing floaters and braving the cold weather. I was riding on the left most lane trying to spot anything moving, so I could get a tail. As dangerous as it may sound, I had a very small reflector and no lights what so ever on my bike. I was pretty much invisible. As I looked around, our saviour here happened to look at me. I have no idea what crossed his mind at that moment, but he didn't seem interested and hurried past me. Here begins the adventure..

After having tried my best to follow many a vehicle, I found one which I felt quite comfortable tailing. I kept my distance however. After a few minutes I noticed that mr.saviour felt uneasy having me on his tail. I could see him trying to glance at me through his rear-view-mirror. He slowed down at various points probably hoping that I would overtake him, but soon he would try to speed up again. He seemed all confused. I however decided to keep my distance and stay behind him. Having failed at getting me to pass him, he decided to speed up consistently so that I could lose his tail. Little might he have realised that I was riding a Pulsar 180 that could comfortably keep pace with his every move. He tried his best to get away from me. He even topped at around 90 kmph. I kept a constant distance behind him without scaring him too much. But none of that helped. The mr.saviour I pinned my hopes on was scared of me. I had sensed it all through but was helplessly relying on him to take me forward. However, things didn't seem to go in the right direction and I had just about decided to break the tail myself.

We were nearing the toll plaza at Khambatki. Now mr.saviour felt he could do something about the problem he faced all through. It was his turn to get some help for himself. As he was busy trying to get the attention of the people around, I decided to park my bike at the side and speak to him. All this while he didn't have a full picture of what I looked like and what I was riding. He probably didn't feel as scared after seeing my in riding gear with luggage all over my bike. I approached him and decided to have a friendly chat ..

So as the conversation continued mr.saviour's worries went away. We explained our problems to each other and things were finally sorted out to common ground. I apologised to him for having scared him and he apologised for not having co-operated much. Not his fault though. No sane person would probably do as much as he did. After a nice chat, we decided to head our ways. Mr.saviour stayed close-by, so he left. I had to make a choice whether to carry forward or to head back home.

While I sat along the divider thinking of my next move, I decided to use the ambience of the street lights to dig through my luggage to see if I threw in something that would come in handy. I did pull out the Commander, but to my surprise I found my leather belt along with a pant I had packed. Mr.Improviser wore his thinking cap.

I placed the Commander over my Cramster magnetic tankbag and fastened it with the belt. I used some news paper to angle the light onto the road. Not wanting to have more adventures that night I decided to head back to Pune. The Commander is a weak spotlight and has no spread on the road. However, the quality roads brought in some confidence to keep pace. I did face trouble through Katraj ghats as that's one place where you'll need all the light possible. The katraj tunnel was a nightmare. The torch was on the tank bag and the beam pointed straight regardless of the direction i steered. After a frustrating set of turns I managed to reach the bypass highway, and then reached home by around 4:30 am.

The incidents played like a movie in my head as I tried to get some sleep. I finally slept at around 5:15am and woke up at 9:30. It was finally time to get my bike fixed and book an evening flight to Bangalore ..

So much for a foolish (mis)adventure ...