Tweet
In continuation from here ...
Ride Details :-
Date : 31st October, 2010 (Sunday)
Riders (Ride) : Rony (XCD 135), RISHIS (P220) and gautam_k (RTR FI)
Meeting Point : Eternity Mall, Thane
Route (in brief) : Thane-Ghoti-Trimbak-Nasik-Thane
Total Distance : ~380 km
Start Time : 5am
End Time : 5pm
Fun : Unlimited
Detailed route :-
View Bike Ride to Trimbakeshwar !! in a larger map
I would like to thank gautam_k for coming up with this well narrated trip log transforming our unforgettable bike ride into an eloquent and engrossing thread. I have added pictures wherever applicable.
And he writes ...
“Next stop, Trimbakeshwar” read Rony’s facebook update on 18th October. I wanted to confirm right away but I had my vivas and submissions pending. But to my fortune, the date turned out to be 31st October, the very next day after my last viva. It was a perfect way to mark out the semester end and reboot the mind before the preparatory leave. So I immediately confirmed my presence and rony started the planning and sent his customary event invitation to everyone he knew. Some declined, some weren’t sure, and others just didn’t have the time to reply
. Finally, me (gautam_k) and Rishi (RISHIS) confirmed our presence.
On 30th October, I came home exhausted after finishing all the semester end formalities at 10pm and just crashed into bed. After what seemed like a span of just 2-3 seconds, I opened my eyes in disbelief to see the clock ticking 3.55 am and a couple of missed calls & a message from rony that read “Are you awake? See you at eternity at 5 am sharp”. I somehow dragged myself out of bed, had a quick bone chilling shower, dressed up, gulped 2-3 bananas and left home at 4.30 am. Inserted the key, started the engine and left it for warming up while I got into my gear. Did a quick checkup, set the trip meter to 0 and took off at 4.40 am.
Quickly got on to the Thane-Belapur road and maintained a healthy pace of 70kmph dodging the trucks that lazily dragged themselves to their destination. I crossed airoli node soon after and as expected the bridge was jammed with hundreds of trucks. Only thing, it was worse than I had expected. Then I noticed many vehicles going in the same direction on the other side(wrong way) of the road. I somehow managed to get my bike onto and cross the grassy, 6” high divider and slid in the line of the rogue vehicles on the wrong way. Within no time I got on to the Eastern expressway and reached thane by 5.10 am. Phew so much to get through a 20km journey.
Rony and Rishi were already there waiting for me, since god knows how long, with exasperated looks on their faces. After a quick chat and exchange of numbers, we started our ride with Rony leading on his “humble XCD 135”, Rishi as the tail on his rim-stickered P220 and I sandwiched in between them on my RTR FI.
As Rony and Rishi hadn’t tanked up, we had planned a fuel stop after the bhiwandi-kalyan naka. After riding 4-5 kms, my bike started to handle weirdly and I was feeling a little nervous going above 80. Soon it began wobbling, especially at corners. I began to doubt a puncture but then I crossed it off thinking that a puncture would mean not being able to ride above 30, leave alone 80s. And thanks to the impatient tourist cars and mind numbingly deaf truckers, I was left behind. I finally decided to leave it as it is and check the bike at the fuel stop. When the fuel stop finally came, I slowed down and the moment I came below 40, I could distinctly hear the sound of a hollow tube/tyre rolling on the road with the periodic tiny bump of the air pin. Yes, it was a rear flat!
After tanking up, we asked the bunk attendant for puncture shops nearby. Being the highway (for that matter, the majestic NH-3), we found a puncture “shack” right next to the bunk. Rony swooped in and said the mandatory sugar coated things that are meant to be said while waking someone from deep slumber. Eventually the puncture guy woke up and started getting his things together. To make things worse, sun hadn’t come up yet plus the rear disk caliper just wasn’t letting go off the disc. The drowsy state of the puncture guy wasn’t helping.
He finally managed to get the tyre out and immediately announced “tube gaya hai”. And indeed the air pin had come out leaving a gaping hole in the tube. And since we were kind of choiceless, we had to opt for a product of Populer tubes™ as the only replacement. Then again came the hard part –assembling of rear tyre with disc. IIRC, most of the time was indeed wasted on disassembling and assembling of the tyre.
So without the reliability of an ISI mark on my rear tube, we resumed our run at 6.45 am. This time Rony was leading, Rishi was second and I was tailing. This formation was somewhat naturally formed and everyone was comfortable in their position, so we let it be. Now the sun had come up and we could clearly see our 7 am shadows riding besides us. NH3 is a 6 lanes highway with butter smooth roads, huge assuring dividers and road markings as good as new. Most of the times when we were on the NH3, we could see atleast 500m of the road ahead of us. All these factors didn’t leave us any reasons not to go above 90. Even the cagers and truckers are kind enough to switch to the slower lanes once they sense that you are faster than them. It was a great experience all in all.
We stopped at Hotel Parivar garden near Asangaon station for breakfast and tea. Initially I wasn’t so sure about it, esp. with the memories of the zombie like waiter service that we got during our last visit. But fortunately, all the waiters were quite lively, in complete consciousness and made sure we got a prompt service.
Ride Details :-
Date : 31st October, 2010 (Sunday)
Riders (Ride) : Rony (XCD 135), RISHIS (P220) and gautam_k (RTR FI)
Meeting Point : Eternity Mall, Thane
Route (in brief) : Thane-Ghoti-Trimbak-Nasik-Thane
Total Distance : ~380 km
Start Time : 5am
End Time : 5pm
Fun : Unlimited
Detailed route :-
View Bike Ride to Trimbakeshwar !! in a larger map
I would like to thank gautam_k for coming up with this well narrated trip log transforming our unforgettable bike ride into an eloquent and engrossing thread. I have added pictures wherever applicable.
And he writes ...
“Next stop, Trimbakeshwar” read Rony’s facebook update on 18th October. I wanted to confirm right away but I had my vivas and submissions pending. But to my fortune, the date turned out to be 31st October, the very next day after my last viva. It was a perfect way to mark out the semester end and reboot the mind before the preparatory leave. So I immediately confirmed my presence and rony started the planning and sent his customary event invitation to everyone he knew. Some declined, some weren’t sure, and others just didn’t have the time to reply
. Finally, me (gautam_k) and Rishi (RISHIS) confirmed our presence.On 30th October, I came home exhausted after finishing all the semester end formalities at 10pm and just crashed into bed. After what seemed like a span of just 2-3 seconds, I opened my eyes in disbelief to see the clock ticking 3.55 am and a couple of missed calls & a message from rony that read “Are you awake? See you at eternity at 5 am sharp”. I somehow dragged myself out of bed, had a quick bone chilling shower, dressed up, gulped 2-3 bananas and left home at 4.30 am. Inserted the key, started the engine and left it for warming up while I got into my gear. Did a quick checkup, set the trip meter to 0 and took off at 4.40 am.
Quickly got on to the Thane-Belapur road and maintained a healthy pace of 70kmph dodging the trucks that lazily dragged themselves to their destination. I crossed airoli node soon after and as expected the bridge was jammed with hundreds of trucks. Only thing, it was worse than I had expected. Then I noticed many vehicles going in the same direction on the other side(wrong way) of the road. I somehow managed to get my bike onto and cross the grassy, 6” high divider and slid in the line of the rogue vehicles on the wrong way. Within no time I got on to the Eastern expressway and reached thane by 5.10 am. Phew so much to get through a 20km journey.
Rony and Rishi were already there waiting for me, since god knows how long, with exasperated looks on their faces. After a quick chat and exchange of numbers, we started our ride with Rony leading on his “humble XCD 135”, Rishi as the tail on his rim-stickered P220 and I sandwiched in between them on my RTR FI.
As Rony and Rishi hadn’t tanked up, we had planned a fuel stop after the bhiwandi-kalyan naka. After riding 4-5 kms, my bike started to handle weirdly and I was feeling a little nervous going above 80. Soon it began wobbling, especially at corners. I began to doubt a puncture but then I crossed it off thinking that a puncture would mean not being able to ride above 30, leave alone 80s. And thanks to the impatient tourist cars and mind numbingly deaf truckers, I was left behind. I finally decided to leave it as it is and check the bike at the fuel stop. When the fuel stop finally came, I slowed down and the moment I came below 40, I could distinctly hear the sound of a hollow tube/tyre rolling on the road with the periodic tiny bump of the air pin. Yes, it was a rear flat!
After tanking up, we asked the bunk attendant for puncture shops nearby. Being the highway (for that matter, the majestic NH-3), we found a puncture “shack” right next to the bunk. Rony swooped in and said the mandatory sugar coated things that are meant to be said while waking someone from deep slumber. Eventually the puncture guy woke up and started getting his things together. To make things worse, sun hadn’t come up yet plus the rear disk caliper just wasn’t letting go off the disc. The drowsy state of the puncture guy wasn’t helping.
He finally managed to get the tyre out and immediately announced “tube gaya hai”. And indeed the air pin had come out leaving a gaping hole in the tube. And since we were kind of choiceless, we had to opt for a product of Populer tubes™ as the only replacement. Then again came the hard part –assembling of rear tyre with disc. IIRC, most of the time was indeed wasted on disassembling and assembling of the tyre.
So without the reliability of an ISI mark on my rear tube, we resumed our run at 6.45 am. This time Rony was leading, Rishi was second and I was tailing. This formation was somewhat naturally formed and everyone was comfortable in their position, so we let it be. Now the sun had come up and we could clearly see our 7 am shadows riding besides us. NH3 is a 6 lanes highway with butter smooth roads, huge assuring dividers and road markings as good as new. Most of the times when we were on the NH3, we could see atleast 500m of the road ahead of us. All these factors didn’t leave us any reasons not to go above 90. Even the cagers and truckers are kind enough to switch to the slower lanes once they sense that you are faster than them. It was a great experience all in all.
We stopped at Hotel Parivar garden near Asangaon station for breakfast and tea. Initially I wasn’t so sure about it, esp. with the memories of the zombie like waiter service that we got during our last visit. But fortunately, all the waiters were quite lively, in complete consciousness and made sure we got a prompt service.
to be continued ...
. 
Comment