Republic Day Special-615kms! Mumbai-Hedvi-Mumbai

[ketan_r15]

This is one of my absolutely unplanned and bone breaking rides till date. Most of the people were out on friday night itself. Even I was free for 3 days but couldn't think of any big ride due to shortage of money. By big rides i mean is where I had to stay for 1 or 2 days. No money for hotel

But I needed a one day ride badly on any of the three days. Previously planned to leave on Sunday but being lazy couldnt wake up on time. So postponed it to Monday..

Just reached home after munching 615kms in a single day. This isn't a big deal as such because many of us have done more than this in single day rides. Even I myself have done 750kms in a single stretch. But what made those 615kms bone shattering was the condition of roads... ohh...absolutely Fcuked up....

Anyways.. will post all pics and log later...
For the moment just a teaser pic...

[MG]

Topic Approved

Bad Roads?Where?

From Mahad to Hedvi the roads are in superb condition.I did the stretch two months back.Did you took any other route?

[Aryan]

Looks tempting! Waiting for more pictures, and nice log(s)..

[ace619]

Trip log and pics mate ???

[ketan_r15]

I'll post the log n pics as soon as i can guys...just a bit busy with work...will try to post it by tonight...

[Shadowboy]

Waiting for Log and Pic Ketan and thanz a ton brother for all the pointers you gave me for touring..oh by the way we went to pachagani instead of Goa as we heard it was declared some ban or dry day for 3 days.

I must say i am in love with My R15 it's one hell of a touring machine..it can just go on and on and on...amazing machine. Hats off yamaha.

[archistar]

we are waiting ketan....

615 kms is good enough for a day...

[ketan_r15]

Waiting for Log and Pic Ketan and thanz a ton brother for all the pointers you gave me for touring..oh by the way we went to pachagani instead of Goa as we heard it was declared some ban or dry day for 3 days.

I must say i am in love with My R15 it's one hell of a touring machine..it can just go on and on and on...amazing machine. Hats off yamaha.

Hey come on buddy... anytime for biking...no probz...
cool to hear u enjoyed ur ride...
hope to ride wid u some day...
tc bro..!

we are waiting ketan....

615 kms is good enough for a day...

Thanx archi...
Wont make u wait for long.. will try to get the log n pics up here by tonight...

[ketan_r15]

All right guys... sorry for the delay.. was a bit too busy... also bought a new digi cam.. so spent some time with it... anyways... so here i go with the log n very little pics that i managed to click through out the journey...

[inder.cool]

All right guys... sorry for the delay.. was a bit too busy... also bought a new digi cam.. so spent some time with it... anyways... so here i go with the log n very little pics that i managed to click through out the journey...

Arre details to aaye nahi...???

btw, Ketan when you had been to GOA you didnt go on an evening cruise..??

[ketan_r15]

Republic Day Special Ride - 615kms! 1 Day! Solo ride to Hedvi from Mumbai!

24-25-26 Jan 09. An ideal 3 day holiday period for riding in this beautiful winter climate. People must had been planning for those 3 days since long before 24th. Even I was free for those 3 days, but couldnt think of a long ride which includes stay, because it wasn't long when I came back from my last long ride to Goa. I was running short of money.

Though I was following all the threads here as well as on Mumbai Bikers Club's forum regarding rides on 24th-26th Jan. The condition was more or less the same on both forums, no ride was finalized until the moment. Though there was some planning going on here but it included boozing and I m not in to boozing that much. So wanted to keep myself out of it.

Actually the plan was to spend the entire day of 25th Jan with my girl friend at some near by place from Pune. But due to her exams she wasn't able to come for any ride on 25th. A huge dissappointment for me.

Finally I decided to ride solo on either 25th or 26th of Jan. Destination couldn't be fixed until 24th night. Finally I sat down with the map and tourist guide book in front of me. Spent a lot of time but couldn't zero in on one. Problem was I wanted to get back home before 7 in the evening and aslo was bored of visiting the same old places again and again like Amby and pune. Also another major deciding factor was that the place should be such that I need not have to leave my bike alone for long like any fort or museum or any temple that's far away from parking because as you know R15 is still an object of curiosity in cities itself, let aside villages. And people try all sorts of things when they see such a bike parked alone with it's owner away from it. And I hate this thing.. really.. from the core of my heart.. Yeah..it's not that much of a problem when riding with a group as then it gets surrounded by other bikes which people are used to seeing...

I literally scanned the map till late in the night on 24th. Searched all the major roads for a place that's close to Mumbai and also safe for a solo ride like Mumbai- Bangalore highway, beyond Pune and before Satara. Then the Mumbai-Ahemadabad road till bordy. I thought for a second of going to bordy but I have already been there recently with my family, so discarded it. Other places up north were Malshej and Shivneri, same case here also. So out of options. The only suitable road left was Mumbai-Goa highway. I started searching for a place there. I found 3 options on that road, 1) going to Alibaug and visiting Kihim beach. 2) going to Shrivardhan-Harihareshwar and visiting the beach there.. 3) going to hedvi.

I was more interested in Hedvi, because I had heard a lot bout it that it's a gorgeous beach which is still away from tourist's chaos and pollution. And riding to my own konkan is always a treat for me. But he only problem was, Hedvi was a bit too far away. 300+ Kms from Mumbai. And I was in a stiff situation because It was a going to be a race against time because I wanted to be home before it's dark and that meant I must rip the bike off from the very beginning. But ripping the bike means fuel efficinecy will be kicked off. And here was the second condition - I was gona ride with very little money in my pocket. So I must get maximum millege from the bike to return home without any problem.

I was very confused between all the three places. Kihim was doubtful because 3 day holiday means people will storm the kihim beach as it's one of the most favorite places to visit near Mumbai. Crowds go crazy on that beach and I wanted peace. Not the usual city chaos. Shrivardhan was doubtful because I had been there. Not recently but still it was not that interesting. Fhheewww... It was tough time deciding where to go.

I fell asleep without any decision that night and thought of finalizing the destination spontaneously next morning. But guess what, I couldn't wake up the next morning on time. Lazy you know...

That day was as good as a waste just sitting back home. So then I decided to ride on 26th - The Republic Day. Conditions were the same and hence couldn't fix the destination. But atleast I was sure that I m not riding to Kihim. It was only between Shrivardhan and Hedvi. I decided to make the decision while riding itself. I decided to make the decision when I reach the diversion to Shrivardhan on NH17 depending upon the enthusiasm and time in hand.

Next day I woke up on time, at 4.45am sharp. Got ready and went down stairs to clean the bike. It was pretty cold out there. Cleaned the bike, came back upstairs, picked up my hip sack, took my wallet - map and my cell phone and ran down stairs. I was good to go now.


Here a pic of my bike in the parking....just before I was about to leave..

I left my home at sharp 5.30 am. As I said it wasn't long since I had been to Goa, the road was quite fresh in my mind and it wasn't any problem cruising at moderate speeds as cold was keeping me back from ripping off. It was nice and slow until I reached my dream stretch of road, Road between Deonar and Vashi. It's a beautiful straight patch with no pot holes and very less traffic early in the morning. I just entered that strtech and still was cruising at descent speed of say 60-65km/hr and that's when a sardarji came side by side on his Pulsar 180. He could easily get pass me but no..he was riding right next to me for some time. I was ok with it. I just tried to pull my bike a lill faster..and guess what, he wanted a comptition.. It was obvious from his moves. Suddenly he slowed down faded in the RVM. I thought he chickened out, but no.. he slowed down because he wanted to prepare for the race, he tied a hanky to his face like a helmet while he was riding because he knew the wind was cold and he rips the bike hard, it'll be tough time for him. He came back speeding and again started riding with me and nudging me for a race. It was then I lost my control, shifted 2 gears down and bang..off went my bike.. He was literally smoked.. It was damn fun..

I continued my journey with a descent speed there after. The route being Vashi - CBD - Panvel - JNPT by pass - Diversion towards Goa - Pen.

Climate was absolutely stunning. Cold wind singing in ears and fog flowing in front of my eyes. When I left my place, I had some 200 bucks worth of fuel in the bike. By the time I reached Pen, it was down to one stick on the meter and bike could go on reserve any time. I started looking for a fuel station then. Also I wanted a small break after this much riding. Just before Vadkhal I found a good HP petrol pump and pulled over for refueling. As usual, that fellow there was surprised seeing me with jacket, gloves and helmet on a bike like R15. I put fuel worth 200 bucks, clicked a couple of pics and got back on the road again.

Sun was still hiding behind the mountains and trees. It was dark yet and what a fun riding behind those people movers. When people sitting in those cars see sucha bike following them, it's a reaction worth seeing.. They show others in the car in such a way that sometimes it even disturbs the drivers..

I kept riding till I reached Vadkhal, pulled over to my usual pit stop there, Hotel Milind Vihar. But it was closed. So went to another hotel near by. Had a nice cup of tea. Called back home for the status and carried on with the journey. It was around 6.45-7.00 am and it's usually the time when school children head out for schools. But since it was Republic day, there were no schools today, but morning march - Prabhat Feri as we call in Marathi. Teachers were dressed up in sober white color dresses children with Tirangas in their hands. They were marching on the road, singing Vande mataram and calling out Jai hind loud and together. It was so good to see. i saw many such school march everytime I reached a village on the route. All of them used to cheer and wave at me seeing me coming towards them.

When I reached the Shrivardhan - Hari Hareshwar diversion, I automatically decided to skip the turn and keep heading towards Hedvi. I dont know what made me take that decision but it just happened.

On the way, I stopped at a place for a couple of clicks when I saw Sun rising right in front of the road. One of the pics is the one I used as teaser pic. Here's the other one.. Just casual pics..

I then continued the journey and kept riding at am average speed of around 80km/hr. Roads were nice and winding. It was fun bending and tilting the bike. Fog used to make guest appearances in between. Some times it used to get so dense that I couldn't even see what's there a few feet away from me.

As time was one of the major factors for me, I decided not to take much halts, not even for photography. So kept on riding and on and on... When I was riding on the patch near Mahad where the road is close to the river, memories rolled down in my mind because I remembered the exact spot where I had stopped when I was going to Goa. Continueing the journey, I went past Raigadh - Poladpur and then started climbing the Kashedi ghat, one of my most favorite roads in Maharashtra. The road now seemed even better than it was when I went to Goa about a month ago. Nice and smooth with proper marking on the road. This is one road where I never feel nervous and can rip the bike hard irrespective of the feeling that I am crossing a ghat.

Instead of stopping at the usual stop in Kashedi, the famous hair pin turn, I decided to stop at some different place this time. After some time I stopped at a place for a couple of clicks and some breather.

No company means...using self timer of the camera..and that means..not so good pics.. Here's one of mine...



To be Continued.......
Regards,
Ketan Nikharge.
+91970078695

[ketan_r15]

Extremely sorry guys..couldn't complete in one go...

@ Inder.. Bandhu..bauaht kam hai yaar.. I was working while writting this thing.. is liye late ho gaya...

And about Goa ride.. I had gone there for new year celebration..28th Dec to 2nd Jan '09. You can read my log too..
Yes I had been on the cruise... I have put the pics as well...

[Shadowboy]

I just entered that strtech and still was cruising at descent speed of say 60-65km/hr and that's when a sardarji came side by side on his Pulsar 180. He could easily get pass me but no..he was riding right next to me for some time. I was ok with it. I just tried to pull my bike a lill faster..and guess what, he wanted a comptition.. It was obvious from his moves. Suddenly he slowed down faded in the RVM. I thought he chickened out, but no.. he slowed down because he wanted to prepare for the race, he tied a hanky to his face like a helmet while he was riding because he knew the wind was cold and he rips the bike hard, it'll be tough time for him. He came back speeding and again started riding with me and nudging me for a race. It was then I lost my control, shifted 2 gears down and bang..off went my bike.. He was literally smoked.. It was damn fun..

This was best part smoking the competition that too when some one's got more CCs to talk about.

Sun was still hiding behind the mountains and trees. It was dark yet and what a fun riding behind those people movers. When people sitting in those cars see sucha bike following them, it's a reaction worth seeing.. They show others in the car in such a way that sometimes it even disturbs the drivers..

I have experience this so many times, people literally fall out , stick to the windows in the cars, and tell everyone around that " Hey just look at that bike" ...i wonder they must be saying Dhoom Dhoom

No company means...using self timer of the camera..and that means..not so good pics.. Here's one of mine...

which Digi cam you bought????

[ketan_r15]

Nah man.. those pics aren't taken with a digi cam.. they are with my N95.. I bought the cam yesterday.. Had planned for Panasonic FZ28..but couldn't stretch the budget that much even after trying hard.. So finally settled down for Nikon P80.. Specifications are the same as FZ and am quite happy with the reviews as well.. I didn't have any super expectations u see.. and it fitted well in my budget..

[MG]

Bad Roads?Where?

From Mahad to Hedvi the roads are in superb condition.I did the stretch two months back.Did you took any other route?

Ketan I'm still awaiting your reply for this question.