Mulshi – .::navendu::.

First Rain Ride of 2009

My first decent rainy ride in more than 2 years, turned out to be a really good and satisfying in the end. Though I have ridden to Mumbai in the very first rains of the season, it was more of a high speed run on near perfect piece of tarmac.

In search of a decent resort in or around Mulshi, for a family outing next weekend, I decided to visit there on a motorcycle.

By the time I got kitted for the ride it was lunch time, though the normal routeto Mulshi is via Chandni Chowk – Pirangut – Paud, I have been on that stretch so many times that today I was just not feeling like riding on the very same stretch. So, I head out in opposite direction on NH4. After filling more than enough fuel for the ride at Shell pump (a rare thing for me, I often land up filling lesser fuel than needed for the ride and then searching for one later) I headed towards Lonavala. After having covered some 10 odd km’s, I got bored of the tarmac and got onto a road through villages and headed towards Pavana dam.

It was a bumpy, slow ride all the way with lush green scenery all around me. Though it was bone dry in Pune, as soon as I got on this road rain god welcomes me with heavy showers. All my plans of stopping to capture greenery were put on hold, thanks to rain.

Enjoying every water filled pothole, occasional good section of tarmac and gravel, I reach the dam. Disappointed to see it not yet fully filled. A small stop and I was heading towards Paud. Just as I started to climb, the beautiful view of Tung fort made me get off the road for some offroading on slush + green grass stretches.

The ride till Paud was kinda monotonous with no rains and no great view that would made me stand up on brakes. Road conditions deteriorated soon after Paud and I was already in no mood to repeat the Paud – Mulshi stretch on my way back.

After finishing the inspection of all the probably resorts, I was feeling hungry so pulled over for a pit stop around 3:15. Missal Pav it would be for the near empty stomach. While having food I decided to head towards Lonavala. It was almost 4pm and with bike’s chain a bit loose for my comfort and rear sprocket having a bit of play (may be rubber bushing/bearing gone), there was a distinct possibility of getting stranded in a jungle. All part and parcel of adventure on two wheels, I said and got on the bike and headed towards Tamhini.

The road was bit better than before but the non-stop rain was giving very little chance to bring out the camera. Just after crossing Tamhini village, I got off the road and got on the offroad section towards Amby Valley. After a decent stretch initially, consisting of broken tarmac and some gravel I got on a stretch that was mostly a layer of stones, almost till the end. With rain, jungle and hardly any civilization, I wasn’t complaining much about the road surface. After all I didn’t want to go berserk on near perfect tarmac.
It was disappointing to see not too many sections of road under water, not enough water streams or over flowing rivers, as I encountered during my last ride on this section.

Before it got anywhere close to dark I was on the tarmac section near Amby valley, twisties at its best. It was tempting me to push like crazy in search of scraping my knees against tarmac. Alas, if wishes were horses I would have been on a 223bhp machine and not a 223cc machine. In no time I was riding in thick fog, with near zero visibility, so all plans of pressing that “red” button were put to rest. Though the pace was really slow, still it was fun. After all I was still out of city limits with not much traffic to deal with.

Soon the dream run came to an end, as I approached Bushi Dam. With no fog and rain around, I switched from fun mode to reach home mode. After a initial struggle to pass the long queue of cars, I somehow managed to come out on NH4. The traffic is diverted and I came out just next to the turn for Rajmachi. It was very very tempting to take the turn but with clock well past 6, it was just too late for my comfort. So, it was time to slot into top gear and finally press the “red” button to head home before it gets dark. In the end, just managed to park my bike in garage before it was pitch dark to end a much needed and entertaining ride.

When: 8th Auguest 2009
Route: Pune – Pavana Dam – Paud – Mulshi – Tamhini – Kundalika – Amby Valley – Lonavala – Pune.
Distance: 213km’s
Time taken: 6hrs 35min.

New Year Special – Ghats near Pune

It’s a belief that what ever we do at the start of New Year, we will keep doing that for the rest of year. I wanted to ride out on 31st night but then family and friends had some plans so I decided to party instead.

Couple of days later, it was the first weekend of year and I decided, better late than never. So, I head out to some near by places. Saturday ride was sort of warm up and hence it was just 103km trip, a slow one at that (Ride duration: 2hrs 45min).
Lack of interest in riding on straight roads, I decided to head to near by twisties and sure it was fun even at speeds around 50km/hr (yes, I was running in my bike after a new block piston kit).

The route I took was Chandani Chowk – Mutha – Lavasa – Mutha – Pirangut – Paud – Hinjewadi.

Sunday I decided to head towards Mahabaleshwar, while I was cruising on NH4 at yawning speed I realized I’m not carrying my bike’s original RC book (often documents are checked at Panchgani, only of two wheelers, as if we are criminals while people in cages are all saints). So when I saw a familiar turn off NH4, I jammed my brakes (must have put down a few mm’s of rubber on tarmac) and got off the boring highway. This was the road I have taken for the last time in Jun’03 (when we went for Pulsar Yahoo Group’s Annual meet). This is a lesser known (to travelers) road that takes you to Bhor. Yes, I dumped Mahabaleshwar in favour of Bhor and Varandha Ghat.

The nature of road hasn’t changed much once we cross Bhor. Though its pothole free tarmac almost all the way, there is plenty of gravel on both the edges and in center. I love it, you over cook a curve, run wide and either you will go off the road or can go and kiss mother earth.

Since rains have just gone by, water levels are good in the dam en-route.

After a small break for hot bhajis and tea in Varandha ghat I headed towards Mahad. It was closing on 5pm and I knew I’ll have to climb back in dark, on my way back. Having climbed Tamhini in dark few days back on CBZ, I wasn’t too worried of taking the same route again.

Once I reached Mahad, I saw Poladpur (to go towards Mahabaleshwar) some 15km’s away and there was no distance to Mangaon (to go towards Mulshi) given, I guessed that Mangaon can’t be too far away so I headed towards it, after few km’s I realized my mistake as it was still some 30km’s away and the sun has started to go behind hills. By the time I reached Mangaon it was 6:15pm and after filling some fuel (yeah twice I have started the climb to Tamhini with bike about to hit reserve – no way was I going to repeat that mistake).

The Mangaon – Vilhe road was almost empty of traffic and in lovely condition. Even though it was dark, it was fun riding in that section filled with twisties. After Vilhe, I decided to stay with couple of cars that were climbing Tamhini but with me not wanting to stress my new engine, mid way thru the ghat one car was too fast for me while the other was too slow, as a result I was left all alone. It was a bit scary and I was remembering only all the scary stories I have heard about this area. Hoping to catch some slow moving vehicle ahead, I kept on riding but I wasn’t that lucky. Once I passed the last dhaba on top of ghat, it was me and my bike all alone. Other than my bike’s headlamp, moon and stars were the only light sources visible. I wanted to stop and click some pictures but wasn’t able to gather enough courage to do so. After riding all alone for some 15min’s I caught up with some traffic as the bad stretch of road has started. Then on it was just a matter of keeping up with them.

Following with vehicles I reached Mulshi lake and what a beautiful view it was, I told myself I’m coming back here in night again, of course not alone :-). As I was feeling hungry, I halted for dinner and then it was a slow cruise till home.

Route: Pune – Bhor – Mahad – Mangaon – Vile – Tamhini – Mulshi – Pune
Distance: 300km’s
Ride Duration: 8hrs 30min

Click on image to view in bigger size.

Rain ride – Mulshi, 30 July 2006

Maharashtra, the country of great Shivaji maharaj and one of the best destinations if you are a travel freak. Central Indian tableland merges with undulating hill ranges, which grow into the majestic Western Ghats before swooping down to palm-fringed beaches. Place where you can explore Caves, Temples, Forts, Beaches, Hills, Forests, etc. One of the best place to be in if you love to travel. Only thing missing here is snow clad mountain peaks.

Summer is not the best time to travel in this part of country because of heat. Monsoon and winters are the best time to explore this place as during rains the complete country side is covered with a layer of greenery everywhere. So as soon as monsoon arrived in this part of country I decided to plan my rides.

It was some time back that I have ridden to Goa and also it is over a month that I’m riding Victor Edge. Every weekend I plan to go for a small ride to Mulshi on the bike and every weekend it keeps on getting cancelled due to some or the other reason. So I was very firm on the decision to go on ride this weekend. Came Sunday morning and I started to get ready for the ride. As I switched on TV, every news channel is showing different places in Maharashtra and Gujarat caught in floods. Many places in Maharashtra including Pune were in the list of flooded cities. As I look outside my window, there is no sign of rain and sun is also peeking out of clouds every now and then. I put on rain coat over riding gear and head down towards bike to kick start the much needed rdie.

Just after 9am I reach Chandani Chowk and wait for Dilip Bam to arrive. He arrives in few minutes, riding the new 125cc Honda Shine. Soon we start our ride on the recently widened SH60 towards Mulshi. The road is wet but in amazing condition, hardly any potholes, as compared to the roads oops you can not call what we got in Pune as “roads”.

Right after we started the ride we stopped for breakfast. When you are riding with Dilip Bam the menu for breakfast is mostly Ussal Pav and Missal Pav.

There is another good thing about riding with Dilip Bam, you will be taken to some of the roads which you might not have ever visited. Just before hitting Pirangut Ghat we went off the main road to climb up a small hill. It is too windy here but gives a very nice view of the Pirangut Ghat.

Since we are riding towards Mulshi, the direction from where all the clouds are coming towards Pune, we are greeted with sessions of no rains to drizzle to heavy rains. We took lots of breaks on the way to Mulshi. As we reach the main gate of Mulshi we took the road towards the house of one of Dilip’s friend. As we start the climb, road started to get narrow and broken at many places.

After negotiating a few hair pin bends we stop on a relatively flat surface. The view of the Mulshi dam and near by places is great from here.

As I talk to Dilip about the destination of this route I got to know that this is one more way to reach Lonawala. Though this route is also scenic with Mulshi Dam on one side and hills covered in clouds and having numerous small to big waterfalls coming down, on the other side but still the other route that I have taken last time to reach Lonawala via Mulshi is more spectacular.

I knew that we will not get much dry sections to click pictures so I came prepared so that I can click pictures even if it is raining. As I stopped to shoot some waterfalls, it started to rain, so I decide to try out my idea to click pictures in rain and this is what I manage to do. In the picture there are the two 125cc machines along with Dilip Bam.

Though in summer it is not much of fun to get out of Pune to ride, but in rains one can spend numerous weekends exploring the nearby places. Short on time, we are not able to stop every now and then to enjoy nature and click pictures, trying to capture the beauty in still images.

The road at places is not in good condition. Water is flowing over the road at many places. At many places gravel has come out of potholes and got collected on road making it difficult to ride over it, especially when it is in a curve. Soon we reach house of Dilip’s friend. It is located at a very scenic location with the view of Mulshi Lake right in front of it.

After spending around 30 minutes we start our ride back. While riding back I started to make plan for my next ride, which will be to reach Lonawala via this route and return via the other route (the one I have used to reach Lonawala last time around).

As planned we stop for a picture in the small section covered with trees.

Here after taking the pictures, Dilip made a surprise announcement, “Time to swap bikes”. As we resume the ride, I flick my leg over Shine and immediately I can notice a few differences from Edge. With Dilip immediately shooting off the block, I decide to take it easy in the beginning, trying to get used to the bikes handling, braking properties. With Dilip not in sight I decide to stop and click some more pictures.

Few minutes later I catch up with Dilip as he has stopped road side for a fag break. I park the bikes next to each other and decide to click one picture. Once again this image is taken while it is raining.

As we are approaching main road we could see more and more weekend travelers out of busy city life, enjoying themselves in the clean pollution free climate of hills. You can find people in big group’s right next to each of a decent sized water fall.

Once again as we start, Dilip just shoots off in distance with me taking it easy with the brand new bike, just 500 odd kilometers on the odometer. Having a nice time riding Shine I reach the beginning of the hairpin bends to reach Mulshi, meet up with Dilip here.

As we reach back Mulshi we decide to head back towards Pune as we are running out of time, it is already well past 2pm. While we are riding towards Pune, we can see many people still riding/driving towards Mulshi. As we are approaching Paud village, Dilip pulls over to venture out to the banks of overflowing river near by. He being an experienced tracker, just starts walking through the water filled slushy fields towards river leaving me behind thinking about insects etc which might be there in the water or the muddy field. Looking around for an alternate route, I found one a few meters away. This is a route made by farmers who would be taking this to reach their fields. To reach the river I still have to walk across muddy field. After I reach the overflowing river, the view is worth all the efforts taken. Following is the snap of the hill, which was always taken from the road side. In another picture you can see the overflowing river.

While walking back towards road I see a snake like animal just crossing the muddy track right in front of me. It was enough to make me run and quickly get back to the road. I am feeling hungry now so we decide to take a stop at Paud village for another round of Ussal Pav and Missal Pav for lunch. Post lunch Dilip again zooms off riding Edge leaving me enough time to analyze Shine with my past experience with Edge. Well lots of useful observations to put them down in another article.

As I am riding towards Pune, signs of rain is reducing with occasional drizzle only to make the roads wet all the way, except for Pirangut Ghat which is having road dried out completely at many places.

Enjoying the end of a small ride I reach Chandani Chowk where Dilip is already waiting for me to swap the bikes again and to end the ride.

The ride was a much needed starter of a never ending multi course meal. Hoping to hit SH60 back again on the coming weekend.

03 June 2006 Goa ride trip log added

Just completed the trip log of the recently concluded Goa ride. Check it out here