ketan_r15

For many Mumbai x-Men, Lavasa Mega G2G was the last ride. Main reason behind no one riding anywhere was the terrible heat. It was just worse day by day. Mumbaikars are waiting eagerly for the rain god to be kind but we have nothing but foolish predictions of the MET department in news papers and News channels. No signs of rain in Mumbai(atleast where I stay), even now as am writting this log.

We were hearing news that Rain has started in other parts of Maharashtra - not in full power but atleast there's some reliefe in those parts from the scorching heat. We wanted a ride very soon. Spider and other xbhpians decided to Ride to Bhandardara upon discussion. Bhandardara was chosen because it had to be a one day ride and something different than the usual rides. Something, someplace different. Some members suggested to ride there in July or August as the climate and environment is at it's best over there during that time of the year. But finally we decided to ride there on 20th June,Saturday.

I was in the tentative riders list ever since the plans started building up as I was supposed to undergo a small surgery to my Right foot toe. But then just a couple of days left to the ride and I decided to ride as a pillion with Shadowboy. And just a day before the ride, my friend Umesh(non xbhpian) decided to ride to Bhandardara and I was pillion with him.

Finally here's the rider's list -

Spiderweb - ZMA R
Bibekjyoti - P200
Motorbreath - P200
Samar - P200
Cosgeo - Unicorn
Mastermind - Aquila
Shadowboy - R15
Darknight - R15
Ketan_R15 - Pillion
Umesh - R15
Rockyflames - P220
Tushar - Discover 125
Samyaza - Pillion
Rishabh - R15


The day finally arrived and I rode to Mulund with my friend. Shadowboy and his colleague - Tushar were waiting for me under the Airoli Bridge. In a few minutes, Bibek came there on his P200. Without wasting time we started riding to Eternity Mall, thane, where we all had decided to meet before starting the actual Ride.

When we reached Eternity Mall, the only member present there was Mastermind on his Regal Kinetic Aquilla. After greeting everyone Good Morning and holding a cup of tea in hand we engaged in discussing about the ride, weather, bikes and plenty of things. We were waiting there for Panvel guys and guys coming from Western side.

Some time later Darkknight appeared on his R15. Cos had already reached Eternity before Darkknight. After almost close to hour's time, Spider reached there with a big gang behind him.

With a formal introduction with the guys meeting first time and a quick chai-sutta break we were off to our destination. Climate was overcast and rain had not started. Riding carefully and getting used to first time rider's riding style we moved towards Kalyan.

Group was automatically split up in three. Fast riders(who were not riding that fast though) including Spider, Rishabh, Samar etc. Moderate speed riders like DK, Ashish, Motor, Samyaza, Bibek and Umesh etc. And slow but careful riders like Mastermind, Cos and Tushar. This way it helped us because everyone was riding in their comfort zone and no one was pressurized by someone else's riding style. All the three groups were riding in close succesion and taking stops in regular intervals.

Riding was fantastic as the road is considerably good now. Earlier the roads were pathetic and very narrow. Now they are wide and sperated by dividers most of the time.

Before reaching Ghoti we had 3 major halts. Once for refueling and checking mastermind's bike as one of the exhusts of his bike were blow up. Second for the breakfast and 3rd and the biggest when Cos's bike was being repaired. His bike's rear brake paddel was brocken and it was supposed to be repaired at local mechanic.

No proper signs of rain till now and we were disappointed. Not much greenery around. But atleast the weather was not harsh. once on the move it wasn't that hot. When we entered the village Ghoti we faced a huuuge traffic jam. People were shocked seeing so many bikes and specially bikers in full riding gear back to back. Some shouted dhoom dhoom while some asked in their typical Gavthi accent "Kutha challi evdhi mothi team". While some just kept staring at us. Once we crossed the traffic jam and small railway crossing the road was totally free of traffic.

Riding at moderate speeds,as the road was narrow(but nice surface), we moved towards Bhandardara. After taking couple of left and right turns we were finally on the Bhandardara dam road. Took a small sutta break till the slow riding group arrived and moved ahead.

Rode for some time and we were greeted with breath taking views of valley and Bhandardara dam. We were seeing the water gushing out of one of the doors of the dam. Stopped there for pictures and boy o boy all the posers were let lose. Shit. So much posing. These guys nuts. Took some real neat pics of dam, bike line up, group photos, Helmet lineup, solo, ass kicking pics(guys please post those pics warna mera popat ho jayega) and what not.

DK knew there was an MTDC resort very close to the lake and we had decided to take our lunch over there. Searching for the hotel we moved ahead and missed the turn. Instead we reached on top of the dam. Posers were eveready for posing. Cameraman took out their cams and posers started posing on every nook n corner.

While DK, Spider, Umesh and I decided to get extra adventurous. We got down on the shaky stairs and on the doors which hold the millions of gallons of water behind them. It was dry now. But the real problem was that 50-60ft fall straight down. We walked on the mere a foot wide bridge and went on the opposite side of the bridge. Gosh. That was scary but fun. Ask DK and he'll explain u better. We were shouting for photographers but they were busy clicking for posers. Fortunately Mastermind was there and he took our photograph. Just see when he posts the pic to which level we have taken the xBhp. Literally.

Then once again we started searching for the MTDC resort and after lots of gol gol ghumaogiri we found the right route to hotel. The road to reach to MTDC was a practice of Leh Riding. Our ass were badly hurt and we needed some rest. There was some problem at MTDC resort(which I can't mention here) and therefore a local guide took us to another hotel nearby, Hotel Vaibhav. Nice place it was,except the toilet. Worst toilet I've ever seen in my life.

We spent there lot of time having our lunch, listening to radio mirchi of DK, sharing some old memories of past rides and discussing bout future rides. Food was nice so were the drinks..i mean Thumbs up, Mirinds, Pepsi etc.
Just as we ordered food it started raining heavily over there. It was the first rain of the season said the Hotelwala. As if we were the lucky charm. Climate changed in a matter of minutes. It was damn cold and pleasing.

At almost 3.00-3.30 we decided to move after finishing the lunch. Some wanted to leave immediately while some were insisting to visit a few places nearby. Guide was waiting for us. Finally we decided to do at least some sight seeing. DK took the guide as a pillion and he took us right at the bottom of the Bhandardara dam. I can easily say, that was one of the very few times I've been so close to a dam. Ohh man what an experience. Dense forest, raining, dam water flowing rapidly, that sound of water flowing, no people around. Phewww.. I am short of words. Taking lots of pics we moved ahead. And while we were enjoying this we didnt know the real fun is yet to be seen.

Just as we moved ahead, what we could see is only a huge white wall. A wall of water. Sorry, not water..but Milk. We literally ran towards that direction. We were just a few feet away from that huge huge waterfall formed due to the dam. Water splashes everywhere. It was unreal. The raw force of nature. I have shot a nice video of the place which'll give you clear idea of what I am talking about. It was like those Hollywood movie sets of forests. Amazing is the only word. We took so many pics..oh god. Crazy.

It was just not enough for us and we wanted to visit the Randha waterfall which around 10kms from the place. But the guide said there's hardly any water in it right now and we decided to skip it for next time as some of the riders were not that comfortable for night riding and weather could change anytime. We decided to roll.

Riding back to ghoti was the best part. Curvy roads and no traffic at all. Everyone road quite well and fast and we reached Ghoti in no time. On the way, Ashish and Cos stopped for taking pics of a moutain top covered completely with snow like clouds. It was something never seen before.

Took a chai-sutta break at Ghoti and we hit the Nashik highway. The raods were totally wet and it was raining constatly. My wish had come true as I wanted to get wet in the rain. I wasn't even wearing a rain jacket. Enjoying the rains and riding extra carefully we started cutting down the distances. Crossed the ever crowded Kasara ghat and it was dark by then.

Umesh and I were in the middle of the group while Ashish and Rishabh were at the start of the pack. After some time, near Asangaon I found DK riding literally in 20s and 30s. When asked he said he's not able to see anything because of the flair of lights coming from the opposite car's lights. He was struggling. I found a small tea shop and stopped for him. Took a small sutta break and DK asked me how's your toe. It was just ok not good. He asked me can you ride with your toe in that condition? Is it fine for you? Toe wasn't that bad and therefore I said it's ok. I'll carry on from there. I am an ok ok rider during night. so decided to take the chance. But the prob is I can't riding someone else's bike, even if it's the same model. But I had to do it.

We left the place and riding at good speeds reached Thane. Entered the pathetic peek hour traffic and after some wrong turns and ulta pulta riding reached Eternity. Ashish and Rishabh were already there. Mastermind and Cos soon followed. We wanted to wait for everyone else but we were getting late. So wished everyone good bye and left for our places. Mastermind accompanied us till Ghatkopar.

Just let the pics flow in and you'll understand why this ride sits ride up there in the top ride's list. The place is so so beautiful that we've decided we gonna visit the same place with some more time in hand in August or late July.

Here's my small attempt to cover up the entire day in words. Sorry if I've missed anything or for the limited range of words whch I have. I am sure others might have done justice by writting the log but I did it upon request.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a part of trip log written by Spiderweb and am adding it on the first log as per his request.
Further LOG of 2nd group: sO after splitting in 2 groups (the 1st is the above one) & second group consisted of me, Motor, Bibek, Samar, Samyaza, Tushar & Rockyflames. It was dark & Indeed very dark that my stupid headlamps were of no use n I was riding almost blindly using the light from other vehicles from the opp. direction. the Only proper light was with Rocky from his 220, still I was leading the pack with my so so good night riding instinct n experiance. Midway Motor's condition got bad n he was very sleepy, as he dint slept last night, So we took a break for some tea n sutta. Bibek n Samar were not with us, instead they stopped a few kms. away & till this time we hadnt even found Tushar. Finally Samyaza took the control of Motor's bike n Motor decided to do a pillion. We moved at a fair speed of 90 kmph as rains had stopped n the roads were almost dry. Later on we found Tushar riding alone on his slow but trusted Discover 125, we took him together, but he decided to be a pillion. Now Motor was riding his P200 with Tushar as pillion, Samyaza took control of Discover n now we were following a 70-80 kmph to everyones comfort. After a while I got irritated seeing a sign board saying THANE 49 kms. n I started with full throttle, everyone followed me a while, but after some time it was only me n Samar on his P200 following me closely. We reached Thane in about 20-25 mins, riding fast (as strret lights were good enough for a good vision) at 100-110 kmph. First I thought to take the right n stop for other at Eternity, but we decided to move on as it was already past 9 pm, so me n Samar constantly moving at 100, with no traffic around on the Eastern xpress higway, reached Powai & moved to our places. I called Motor n Rishabh n everyone had recahed their own Dens.
SO the day ended with very nice n happy memories...
Distance covered/logged - 478 kms.
************************************************** **************************************

Now let the pics roll in and guys please jaldi jaldi post karo warna next time usi Dam me dhakel ke maar dunga tumhe. Kamino...

__________________

IBA Number: 42110
SaddleSore1600K - Feb '10
Bun Burner 2500K - Feb '11
Top of the World, Ladakh - June '11
Touring on 2 wheels - Click

Aryan

Topic Approved.

__________________
...in search of that perfect world - My Travel Blog :)

Shadowboy

Had a Gr8 time , Thanz Spidey had a gr8 time , thanz for inviting us--we could have stayed back per next time when it's more green around.

It was an awesome ride, lovely roads, good weather, first shower and good food what more you need

Thanking all for making the trip memorable.

A Teaser Pic from my end




Bhandardara & our Ultimate Posers

cosgeo99

Nice log there & lovely pics, will start posting some from my cam sooon.

__________________
------------
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page

Mumbai - Banglore - Mumbai (1662 Km) in 24 Hrs.

Catch me @ TourerByTheLake

Shadowboy

Alright Let me fire the first lot




Our Sec Pit Stop—just before kasara.



Bibek and Spidey our gang having a fun time.











Motor Breathsss lol —Our Poser 2



Ketan Bhai --



Umesh Ketan's Friend



Dark Knight---aka MJPD



Master mind aka Deepak sir



Tushar- The Discover 125 calm and cool guy



Samar



Rishabh aka Blue our offical Joey Rocket Brand Ambassador

spiderweb

Ah! Some cool nice log there Ketan, jst luvd it, short n sweet.
**The mountain with lots of fog flowing down, I forgot to tell evryone that it was indeed Mt.Kalsubai, the highest peak in Maharashtra in the great Sahayadri Ranges extending from North Maharashtra to South Maharashtra from Nasik side to all the way thru Konkan Kinara till Goa...

Further LOG of 2nd group: sO after splitting in 2 groups (the 1st is the above one) & second group consisted of me, Motor, Bibek, Samar, Samyaza, Tushar & Rockyflames. It was dark & Indeed very dark that my stupid headlamps were of no use n I was riding almost blindly using the light from other vehicles from the opp. direction. the Only proper light was with Rocky from his 220, still I was leading the pack with my so so good night riding instinct n experiance. Midway Motor's condition got bad n he was very sleepy, as he dint slept last night, So we took a break for some tea n sutta. Bibek n Samar were not with us, instead they stopped a few kms. away & till this time we hadnt even found Tushar. Finally Samyaza took the control of Motor's bike n Motor decided to do a pillion. We moved at a fair speed of 90 kmph as rains had stopped n the roads were almost dry. Later on we found Tushar riding alone on his slow but trusted Discover 125, we took him together, but he decided to be a pillion. Now Motor was riding his P200 with Tushar as pillion, Samyaza took control of Discover n now we were following a 70-80 kmph to everyones comfort. After a while I got irritated seeing a sign board saying THANE 49 kms. n I started with full throttle, everyone followed me a while, but after some time it was only me n Samar on his P200 following me closely. We reached Thane in about 20-25 mins, riding fast (as strret lights were good enough for a good vision) at 100-110 kmph. First I thought to take the right n stop for other at Eternity, but we decided to move on as it was already past 9 pm, so me n Samar constantly moving at 100, with no traffic around on the Eastern xpress higway, reached Powai & moved to our places. I called Motor n Rishabh n everyone had recahed their own Dens.
SO the day ended with very nice n happy memories...
Distance covered/logged - 478 kms.

@Ketan: plz add this after your log in the first post itself, n u can also giv me a lil credit for this.

@SB: Superb pics man...

@ALL: plz mail me the pics too...
animatrio@gmail.com
__________________

On the Damn (Oops, I mean DAM!) door, higly dangerous n adventurous climb to a place people can only see from a far distance. Standing 60 ft. above the solid concrete surface on Iron Doors of Bhandardara Dam, taking xbhp to another Level...

Umesh, Spider, Ketan & darknight

__________________

Shadowboy

@Spidey: Thanz Brother, infact thank you for inviting me and making this trip memorable, the ride back home was another experience itself, it was raining, dark- we could hardly see but that's what it was risky but fun.

Lot more pics coming up later on...

waise when did u guys went here....where the hell were we and other camera man's.. this is awesome pic Spidey kidar kidar jate ho tumlog

@Ketan: Very good short & sweet log nicely written

spiderweb

Anytime man, anytime...
Missed everyone who wasnt present... the regular Ones!!!

Am waiting... Fingers crossed!

When you guys were taking the Poserbreath shots by that same DAM...

__________________

ketan_r15

[quote=Shadowboy;231664
@Ketan: Very good short & sweet log nicely written[/quote]

Thank you all you guyz...

@spidy.. I'll do that as soon as I get time..

My set of pics and video coming soon.

__________________

IBA Number: 42110
SaddleSore1600K - Feb '10
Bun Burner 2500K - Feb '11
Top of the World, Ladakh - June '11
Touring on 2 wheels - Click

cosgeo99

Nice pics ShadowBoy. Here a some odd 4 pics from my side.


Early morning @ Eternity mall.


Spidy tellin bout his crash I guess.


Bibiek with his P200


Samar & Spidy


The group pic.

Note: Click the pics for high res version.

__________________
------------
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page

Mumbai - Banglore - Mumbai (1662 Km) in 24 Hrs.

Catch me @ TourerByTheLake