Riders:
Winsey - Winzee (Official Cameraguy)
Alankar - alankarmisra
Satyen - satyenpoojari (Lead)
George - Centaur (Sweeper / Back-up Cameraguy)
Husain - j4zb4
Pinak - Pinak-the stunenr
Harshit - harshittailer
Rahul - rkakkar
Raman - Romeomike

[The tags are just for fun - Hope you guys (Winsey/George) are not offended]

This is the first ever log being written by me... So kindly bear

The day started early after a late night... I was doubtful to join the gang as having returned home well past midnight and the idea of riding 450+ kms in the rains wasn't a pleasing idea... But, since it had been a couple of months since I went for a ride I was desperate... So after a lot of deliberation I left the decision for early morning...

After snoozing my alarm several times I finally managed to awaken from my kumbhkaranish slumber at 5:45... After a shower I felt very fresh and decided it would be ok to go... Was on my way to Panvel McD at 6:30... Pinak joined me on the way and we made good time and reached McD at 7:20 am... Although I thought I would wait for the rest and then order food, but, me being me couldn't wait to hog any longer ... The rest of the gang arrived by 7:45, stuffed up and we were off to Harihareshwar at 8:30...

The first hour passed uneventfully... Satyen leading away and the rest of us trying to keep up... Eventually Satyen halted for a tyre pressure check and I didn't spot him... So the stop was cut short with everyone trying to chase me down instead... lol sorry Satyen... A couple of kms on we eventually stopped for a pressure check... After a smoke break we were off again... Only to find our way blocked by a lorry...

In the ruckus we took a wrong turn and 30 minutes later found ourselves repeating the scenery... Trying to find the right way there was a slight blip to our ride... The dude whose name I forget had a slight fall... Although it appeared slight could have been a terrible mess... Thanks to the riding gears he was just shaken and not stirred... We halted for a bit (any excuse for a smoke ) then started off again...

And no sooner did we do that the rain God's decided to bless us... The rains that had been chasing us for a while finally caught up with us... We were forced to halt... After almost 20 mins of halt we needed to refill our tummies... A nice plate of garam bhajjis and chai did the trick... As we sat chatting over a bhajjis and chai the clouds cleared and the sun beckoned us again... But where to...? Now since we were thrown totally off our schedule we decided to head towards Murud...

An almost uneventful ride to Murud... So the roads thought they should throw us some challenges with marbles at strategic places in every corner down the ghats... By the time we reached Murud it was well past lunch time... And with the likes of Alankar and me lunch presided over everything else... Reaching the Golden Swan Resort there was a loooong discussion... I don't know about what... As without food I couldn't concentrate on anything ... After a loong discussion it was decided we had to find some place else to stuff up... And the hunt began again...

At long last we did find a small dhaba who were willing to serve 9 hungry rakshasaas... The order being placed they took their own sweet time preparing the stuff... As they were preparing everything from scratch no one complained... And when the food finally arrived it was well worth the wait...! One of the best prawns I have eaten in a while...

After what seemed like a century, having eaten our fill and feeling rejuvenated we started off... Only to stop a km away at the beach... Although the beach stop wasn't very long we decided to ride along the beach and go out the other end... No sooner did we reach the exit yours truly got his rear wheel stuck in the sand... I did huff and puff but I just kept sinking in... Finally a couple of local lads came to the rescue... They pushed the bike out and Satyen then rode it out the last few metres...

Starting off again it was almost uneventful till the time I missed Satyen AGAIN waiting at a turn and he had to chase me down again... lol sorry again Satyen... No sooner did we touch the highway the rain came down... Hard fast and with passion...! Alankar and me were the last to move out and were quite some way behind the group... In the heavy rains on one corner my glasses suddenly fogged up very bad... it was a total whiteout... The last thing I saw was a turn coming up... I just stopped my bike in the middle of the turn... Lucky Alankar saw me on time and avoided colliding and that there were no other vehicles at that point of time... The only thoughts were "f*** I am going down that valley"... But then alls well that ends well ...

Then onwards a sedate ride to reach panvel... Another chai break later we were on our way home... Reached home at 10 pm just in time to celebrate my wife's birthday...

Thanks all you guys... Had a good trip...

Some pics which I stole from george's picasa album I am pasting below: