Announcement

**inder.cool** · 08-26-2010, 07:42 PM

Nice teaser pic there Surojit!

When can MG and Hyper pitch in with the other pics ...

**surojit** · 08-26-2010, 08:46 PM

Sunday was here again and this time we were going to visit something BIG… when I say BIG I mean it… read on for details…
Sunday morning 9 of us met at CME (pre-decided meeting point) and the other two (MG and Alok) were supposed to join us at Nashik Phata. We waited till 6:20 at CME for Beruoist and finally decided to drop a message to him and leave as it was getting late. MG was waiting for us at Nashik Phata and soon Alok joined us. The start of the ride itself looked promising as we could witness a beautiful sunrise.

Soon we started our engines and rolled out of Nashik Phata. We were supposed to follow NH50 till Malegaon and take a right turn which would take us to Khodad. As it was Sunday, the traffic was thin in the early hours. We made quick progress with Nikhil and Hyperion leading the group and MG tailing it. Soon the 4 laned roads made way to a narrow 2 laned one. We hit Rajgurunagar . All (especially me) started feeling hungry so we started to hunt for some place where we could temporarily fill up our empty stomachs. Nikhil and I went ahead to look for a suitable breakfast joint .After some futile queries and return from closed restaurant gates we finally found one who was ready to serve us breakfast. I went in and Nikhil waited to stop the others. We had a good, long, satisfying, break and then again we were ready to roll.
We were supposed to take a turn from Malegon as mentioned above, we were supposed to follow a route which had not been taken by any of us before. After descending the Awsari ghat, we reached Malegaon and took a right turn towards Awsari khurd. There were lots of turns and Y’s in the route and I must admit we got lost in them. We didn’t realize it soon as after taking the turn form NH50 and travelling some distance we were able to spot one of the HUGE objects that we wanted to see. But I guess we took some wrong turns after that we kept on riding through villages. The Green Machine helped us to draw some attention of the villagers. The inhabitants of those somewhat underdeveloped places looked at us in awe. They were like “ who are they? Why are they wearing all these?” but we kept moving on and on and taking turns and turns… Finally we found the correct path and now we just had to head straight. Nikhil, Alok , Siddharth and Me took the turn and then we stopped to let the others join us. But none came and Siddharth told us that Navendu’s Bull has a flat tyre and they are waiting for him to get it fixed. So we decided to head back and join them. Since the repair works was going to take a bit of our time, we decided not to waste any time, hence the cameras made their way out of their respective enclosures. A map of the confusing path and some other snaps clicked in the photo break:

After the small break we started again and this time we were on the correct route. En route we encountered a person carrying cattle feed on his bike and he was covering the entire road with this payload. All of us had to jump off the road to bypass him.
In no time we picked up our normal pace, but I soon realized that my speedometer was no longer functional. Still I was thankful that this was a technical problem and will not delay us in any way. We continued and after few more turns we were finally near our destination. En route we had seen two of the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescopes (namely S-04 and S-03 GMRT anteena) but now we were able to see a handful of them. This was a sight to behold.Unfortunately, we did not stop to capture this thinking we would do it later. However, as things turned out the opportunity never came again.
So we decided to continue and reach the site first. The road was not a smooth one, it was perfect for off-road ripping and MG exactly did that. Soon we were at the GMRT/TIFR entrance. Alok and Saad came in a bit late and informed us that Kashif's bikes chain had snapped, hence they went back to help him. Now the problem was ‘How to enter the premises?’ It was Sunday and we didn't have any permission from NCRA (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics). The guard asked us about our profession. We told them that some are working and some are students. Still he was not ready to let us enter. We told him that we had come from a long distance and all, but nothing seemed to work, he made some calls and suddenly some NOBLE RIDER introduced himself as a Scientist and gave his vcard to the guard. After some more ‘no-nahi-aapko nahi jane de sakte’ n ‘i-m-a-scientist, let-us-in’, the guard finally agreed. We had to keep our luggage there and switch off our mobiles. Then we went to the office where we were given an escort and we transported to the GMRT-antenna C-02. We meet R.Balu sir there who explained us the details. Before we move on some pics which were taken after we entered GMRT/TIFR and off course the GMRT:

The scale model of the entire area

Just look at the size of the TATA Sumo

These GMRT’s can detect radiowaves from objects that are 12 million light years away from us. Much beyond the range of an optical telescope. These GMRT is the largest in the world for low frequency. 30 such huge antennas have been placed in Y shape in a circle of 25 kms diameter . I won’t get into further details. But we were told that they move both vertically and horizontally, we just couldn’t imagine such a huge thing moving. As he was explaining this, we suddenly heard some powerful machinery come to life with a distinct whirring sound. We turned around and nearly popped our eyeballs seeing the the massive dish antenna slowly but surely move to a new position. It was majestic and quite a sight to behold.
We were elated to see such a thing. After a few photo clicks we decided to move back. And then suddenly the dish started its vertical movement (we were told that it can come down to a height of ~ 6 ft from the ground). We waited and waited and the dish kept on lowering itself more and more. Ok let the pics show you what I mean

Moment of Achievement

We had decided to walk back and hence we were being escorted by a security guard. Just before we were about to reach the main gate, Alok, Saad and Kashif joined us. It turned out Kashif had a broken chain linkage, which had got fixed and was now ready to move.
After taking some rest and a small photo session we decided to move ahead, in the mean time Nikhil had also discovered that his bike’s rear tyre’s air pressure was decreasing so he moved ahead to get it repaired.

**surojit** · 08-26-2010, 09:12 PM

Photo courtesy - MG, Hyperion, Anant, Nikhil and Saad

**surojit** · 08-26-2010, 09:13 PM

**antz.bin** · 08-30-2010, 11:25 PM

Surojit bhaai.. maana logo ko koi intrest nahi hai log / pics me.. but at least use complete to kar!

**tourer_kashif** · 08-31-2010, 03:36 PM

Awesome shots.

You guys had a blast that day.
Unfortunately I missed all the good parts of the day :P
But ya pushing the bike is also fun

**beruoist** · 08-31-2010, 03:59 PM

Wow..Awesome ride guys.

I missed this one bcoz of the Mumbai run

**JitenMistry** · 08-31-2010, 04:22 PM

Excellent snaps !!!

**surojit** · 10-14-2010, 02:01 AM

continued from post # 19

I Request Mg, Hyperion, Nikhil, Anant, Saad to uploas the pics ASAP....

But before he could touch the road, these people came back. We later learned that Anant had a minor crash and his brake fluid was leaking. Ok I ll let him speak his part

Originally posted by antz.bin

I got left behind as I was busy clicking pictures (at about 1.30PM). The heat was searing and i wished to catch up to the guys fast so that we can enjoy(cool off) in the dam reservoir. In my bid to go fast, i missed where these guys went off the road and to the water and went ahead.. I kept on searching these people for better part of an hour in the wrong direction. Eventually, the heat and the hopelessness of my search operation had slowed me down to an average speed of 30ish on a decent single-lane road with practically no traffic. Finally, at around 2.00, i was taking yet another blind left hander, when I crossed over, I saw an oncoming Red State Transport bus taking the same right hander(my left hander was his right hander) from the WRONG side! As soon as the bus driver saw me coming, he slammed the brakes but as Tata Buses dont have ABS and the road was Gravel-yukta

, the bus started skidding towards me.,and there was no chance in hell that it would stop before hitting me. So in order to avoid the bus from making my chutney, I decided against halting completely and kept the bike in motion and let it roll off the road and into the mountain-road-water-drainage-ditch. (in effect avoiding the bus.) This turned out to be the correct decision as when i turned around to see where the bus was, i could see its rear wheels behind my bike's rear wheel barely 6 inchs away. My right ankle was stuck between the ground and the steaming hot silencer with the weight of the bike pushing on it. But it was saved from breakage + burns by the Woodlands I was wearing (The side leather acted as heat sheild and the sole took the weight of the bike.). I escaped this one scratch/break/burn free as this time I was wearing all xBHP prescribed gear. i.e. helmet, gloves, camster jacket, knee guards (the 400/- ones), jeans and woodlands. The only damage luckily(or unluckily) to the bike was a leaking front disc assembly wich was actually rectified as soon as we reached the nearest town. (the ABS thingie had gone loose).

Even though all this appened in slow motion.. (I was doing barely 5kmph while going down the ditch) it did leave me shaken (As I didnt have the option of stopping). Me and bikey were helped out of the ditch by the driver, conductor, and a few passengers. They also informed me about my lost buddies. Thankfully, Anikt Khandelwal(xBHP ID Ankit63) found me within 500meters of my restart post crash. (Yes, They came looking like they should as I was an equal.. a True xBHPian even though I was the newest joinee in the Pune xBHP group). We finally left the place, everyone in one piece, at 2.15PM.

**bikerboysyd** · 10-14-2010, 04:05 AM

Originally posted by surojit View Post

I learnt later that the first group were doing approx 3 digit speeds..

Yes.. we were... and I had a task to keep up with a ninja and a 220 on my RTR

Announcement

Ride to the Unexplored :S02E06:Lost in Space,Lost in Time

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment