It was a Monday. Need I say more if I am to go ahead and state that I was in no mood to go to the office? Woke up late than usual and after some calls later Mandar came to my place to pick me up to go to the office. The plan was to go to Kothrud to get my bike and move on.
Now, Mandar bought this Bullet Machismo 500 recently and had clocked only 490 KM in more than 20 days. Pathetic is the word to describe this performance. What it meant was his bike was not due for servicing and he was looking for ways to get it over with. So on our way to Kothrud, on Nilayam Bridge to be precise, I asked Mandar, with certain amount of sheepishness in the tone, if he is interested in a quick drive to Tamhini Ghat. That's when I realized that we were on the same page as far as the matters related to going-to-office were concerned. He took few seconds to respond in the affirmative.
So the plan was plotted. We go to my place in Kothrud, dump all the bags, pick up my bike and move on. So we did. Started off from Mangeshkar hospital stopping on the way:
1. at a petrol pump where we tanked-up the bikes
2. at an ATM where we tanked-up the pockets, and finally
3. at a snack center where we tanked-up ourselves.
Thus satisfied with our efforts, we decided to continue on Karve road at around 11 AM. As Mandar's bike is going through its breaking-in phase we decided to limit our speeds to less than 60KPH but mostly 50KPH. We joined Katraj-Dehuroad bypass at Warje flyover and a right turn took us on the four lane road which we left at Chandani chowk and started moving on the Paud road. The weather was mostly cloudy with patches of Sun in between and the road condition was good. So we hit our pre-decided 50KPH and started to roll in the general direction of Paud. It was hard for me to keep going at 50KPH and once or twice I did twist the throttle and went ahead just to slow down so that Mandar can join back.
Thanks to the latest spell of rains, it was all green around us and we quickly went past Bhugaon, Pirangut and Paud. The road, having behaved like a gentle-man until now, suddenly decided that enough was enough, and after Paud it became temperamental. It was mostly a surface from which the tarmac was scrapped off here and there. But as we were anyway driving at 50, it was not much of an issue.
Moving ahead and after crossing the Tata Power Plant, the distant mountains came into sight with clouds covering the tops. The temperature dropped a bit and up went the helmet visor to soak in the atmosphere. We took our first break at a hotel just after Mulshi and discussed the next plan. There is a road up ahead which goes to Lonavala via Amby-valley and we decided that while coming back we should use that route.
A 10 min break and we were back on the road again and within minutes we were negotiating the curves which take one around the Mulshi lake. The road was now turning good to bad to good in patches and my throat was itching. SO I started singing out loud. Soon passed the village of Tamhini and started the climb up the Ghat. The Ghat roads for the initial part were pretty bad. but who cares?
Soon we were at the spot which gives a beautiful view of a gorge so took the opportunity for another butt-break and were off again. Previous experience was the road is usually bad on the Pune side and improves as soon as we enter Riagad district. But this time the road leading to the border on Pune side was smooth and lovely and the road on the other side, although offering quite a few hairpin turns, was not in great shape. Managing to get through safe and sound we reached the village of Vile at around 1PM.
Here we had to decide what we wanted to do. Post some suggestions of going to Diveagar or to go back on the originally decided plan of we finally agreed upon going to Mangaon and return via Varndha Ghat. Looking back now, there couldn't have been a better decision we took.
So we started off again on the Vile - Mangaon road a lovely road passing through tree cover and very little traffic. A slight scare by a bus which was overtaking a six-seater on a blind turn made me go right to the edge of the road and stop. The bus and the six seater as well as Mandar following me close by also had to stop. Some bit of maneuvering by the bus driver and some foul mouthing him by the six seater driver and all was well and we were on our way. Mandar was not sure about what KMPL his bike was returning and decided that he needed to tank-up a bit again. So we reached Mangaon and turned left on NH17 and started looking for petrol pump. We found one few minutes later and turned in. There was also a nice looking hotel near that petrol pump and sudden realization dawned upon us that we needed refueling as well. It was around 2.15Pm when we ordered some Paneer Butter Masala, Dal Fry and Roti. Called up Vindy to get the directions to Varandha ghat and it looked straight forward to reach there.
After half an hour and a fulfilling meal we started off again on NH17 and soon were on smooth tarmac with not much of traffic. Soon the sky became darker and lightning in the distance announced the presence of rain right where we were heading. Leaving behind the turn to Raigad on the left and turn to Mahad town on the right, we continued our journey. That's when out of nowhere it suddenly started raining cats and dogs. We stopped and shifted our cell phones in to Machismo toolbox, the wallets to back pocket and decided to keep moving. Few minutes later we stopped at a chai tapri to ask for directions and decided to wait and see if the rain will die down. It did after 15 mins and we started again. This time I put in some more gas in my bike and reached the square we were looking for. Post some enquiries we were directed to the right route through the town of Birwadi and soon were negotiating the curves of Varandha ghat.
I had been to Varandha ghat some god-knows-how-many years back and that to in summer time. Add to it a rash driver; I distinctly remember looking at the road instead of anywhere else. But this time round, the scenic beauty of the ghat as it winds up to the top most part of the mountain was simply breath-taking. The huge hairpin bends and a steep climb later we were at the top most point where we decided to halt. Mandar was all smiles when the realization of how much power he had at his disposal came to him.
We were just standing there trying to register all of what we were seeing in our memories. I am sure that a poet, if one was present, would have had all of his creative juices flowing to the brim, and would have delivered one of his best. As we mounted our bikes and kick-started them, satisfaction was written all over our persona.
The road on the other side of the ghat was no different. It went winding down for nearly 30 KMs before we reached Bhor at around 6PM. Mandar did practice the art of turning on the bends without using brakes and admitted later on that he still needs lot of practice.
Quick enquiries at Bhor and we were guided to the road which connects to NH4 and the rain gods decided that we had dried enough to give us another soaking. And when it came, it came down hard. It was impossible to put the visor of the helmet down as we couldn't see a thing and it was even more so with visor up as the rain felt like needles on our face. So with visor down and headlights on we followed a Scorpio all the way up to the NH4. When we reached NH4 at Nasrapur Phata, the rain had reduced to a slight drizzle and we braked for a hot cup of tea. It was already dark and I was keen on going through Katraj Tunnel to get back home, but Mandar was in no mood to take that road and insisted on going through Katraj Ghat.
The last part of the journey was a typical journey which one experience between Nasrapur and Pune. Lots of traffic, lots of idiots on the road driving erratically and the trucks competing with each other at 20KPH blocking, the entire road in the process. Negotiating the traffic and the ghat we were back home at around 7.30 PM.
We checked the odo and saw that we have covered almost 280 KMs and Mandar's problems regarding the first servicing seized to exist.
It’s always a very hard task for me to end a write-up for lack of proper closing statement. The words fail me when it comes to describing the emotions at the end of a bike ride. So, I guess, I will leave it at that.
