Started : 6th July morning.
Returned: 8th July night.
* approx total distance : 1470 kms
* Bikes and riders in the Trip:
Yamaha FZS - Mr Jhala
CBR 250R - I
Yamaha FZ16 - Mr Mittal ( our STIG ..who loves drinking CHAI more than anything else)
* Gear: Helmet, protection gloves , knee pads , spine guard , elbow guards , raincoats over that and trekking shoes for the rains.
* Main stops: Gokarna ; Jog Falls ; Murudeshwar

The route 1470 kms approx.
The initial plan of the trip involved 2 more friends along with us and our STIG heavily depended on riding " partly pillion " with one of them, but 2 days before, our 2 friends had to cancel their plan and simultaneously by some divine intervention our STIG was commanded in his dream "THY SHALL MAKE THIS TRIP SOLO" ,so hours before departure, our STIG was shopping for "riding gears" with me. The "Decided Plan" was to start early, around 3 am ,.... forcefully we tried to squeeze some sleep before the trip , I managing around 3 hours for that night, Mr Jhala a brilliant 6 + something ..and our STIG ..so excited ... was awake all night .
We were to meet @ Jagtap Dairy Chowk @ 3 am and begin the journey. With an inevitable delay of 1 hour and all our trips set to "0" ,we started @ 4 am.
It was still dark and by the time we were on NH4, it had begin to drizzle a bit which soon turned into heavy rain.
With I and Mr Jhala having tinted visors, it was extremely difficult to ride the bike as you had to keep the visor down because of the rain and that meant a lot of glare from oncoming trucks. As we reached the ghats section the rain had died down and with a full moon, the view was brilliant. It was sheer pleasure dominating those curves on our Bikes with the Moon applauding our progress. After the ghats, the driving was a mix of wet and dry stretches which allowed us to cover distances quickly.
We had misinformation that there would be a McDonalds outlet on the highway with a BIG M, lit high on the roadside, around 100 kms from Pune. That led me imagining every city lights far away, as THE BIG M,.. which never came. That really added to the agony of driving on an empty stomach. It was dawn now and we were hungry and convinced that burgers for breakfast was far from reality and decided to stop @ the next dhaba that comes.
Our first stop was @ around 138 kms from Pune and it was around 6:30 am. We had poha , chai, cake and biscuits for breakfast, took a few clicks of us , the bikes and the DADDU who was sweeping there... our STIG insisted. We resumed riding @ 7:45 am and decided to meet again @ 350kms on the trip meter.

Yes ..it was this beautiful that we had to click it !


Our STIG tasting human food for the first time .. !

the ladies.............................. !
After breakfast and with the little sleep I had had, riding the NH4 became very boring and sleep inducing so I decided to increase the speed from, that time averaging 100 to keeping it in the 120 - 130s range and that did the trick. I was alert , awake and getting low on fuel @ a high rate.
Reached the 350 mark (Belgaum) @ around 9:30 am and after a refuel from a nearby station, I was waiting for the lads before a flyover.
Mr Jhala arrived after 10-15 mins and our STIG a little while later which was good because we had a good window to stretch and relax and as soon as he arrived we said "LETS GO"

We left NH4 after another 80kms something and were greeted by an almost single lane " ubad khabad " dirt track errrrrr... road. We decided to have lunch first.
After filling ourselves with pulav , upma ,sambhar ,a South Indian sweet dish and most important .. a post lunch tea... we were riding again.
That bad patch lasted for only a few kms and post that ..the road till Gokarna was epic to drive on . New grippy tarmac, adrenalin filled turns and forest trees on both sides...it was very refreshing. We arrived @ Om beach around evening. Two other friends joined us @ Gokarna.
Some pics on the way...

this is how Mr Jhala makes his mark on a place !


our STIG in his best mood after a cup of tea !

but i didnt !

glad it was clicked ... before i realized .. the Hot Engine !

Next day, We started amidst random rainfalls towards JOG FALLS , I and Mr Jhala with pillions and our STIG sticking to THYs word... RIDING SOLO

To JOG FALLS .. again it was a wonderful ride, being greeted with same good grippy tarmac , challenging road curves and breath taking greenery on both sides.
@ JOG FALLS ...


our STIG was mesmerized by the monkeys there !

after a long ride ! even the tarmac starts to feel like silk !

my Fav !
We spent quite a lot of time @ Jog Falls and next headed for Murudeshwara .Riding on potholes filled NH66 was the worst experience of the trip. We reached Murudeshwara @ 8 pm Saturday. We were tired as hell and only thing we did was book a hotel, have dinner with an intense discussion on "origin of Hindu mythology" and then off to bed .Our two friends left for Mangalore the next morning and the three of us after breakfast and temple darshan were on a return journey to Pune @ around 11 am .
@ Murudeshwara


HARI OM !
Return journey was pretty much the same route except for a DETOUR THROUGH BELGAUM CITY , a wrong turn which involved 20kms of extended riding and us almost heading for GOA


The last 2 hours of driving was like pushing the body to limits. It was night and my body was aching like anything but I was so involved into driving that this pain was felt only when I slowed down @ Toll booths. Still it was a mix of pain and pleasure , pain from the sore limbs,feet and butt, and pleasure of driving the CBR.I reached Pune around 10:38 pm with still a few kms left to my flat. Reached home , took off my gears and was straight away into bed ..snoozing off with a happy face

Next morning met Mr Jhala and our STIG and we were discussing each others experiences on the return trip .. ohh and about our STIG
"some say that this was the first time he had actually driven his bike for more than 4 kms in a day .....and that it takes him 37 mins to finish a cup of tea"..
all we know that ....HATS off to him for riding 1470kms in under 3 days.
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Throughout the trip the CBR performed brilliantly as a capable tourer.
The bright headlight , especially the high beam turned out to be a big boon for driving in the rain @ night .
The soft suspensions were spot on to handle rough roads ...all the while maintaining respectable speeds.
The riding position is excellent for long hours of riding.
AND the healthy torque never lets you down on the highways.
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