^rd of Jan to pune. Plan was to go till Dhapoli on Konkan coast after picking up my wife from Pune. Since the cold was a bit on more than I could tolerate normally with my regular gear, I decided to leave at around 9 AM. Over I was outside the urban environment in half an hour since I lived in Kukatpally (which is almost near outskirts of the Hyderabad city). Post fillining up and taking a PUC certificate, for date proof if required in other states, I was cruising comfortably on my bull along the Mumbai highway. The ride till Zaheerabad was quire smooth with occasional rough patches on the road. After Karnataka border, the roads were very rough at many places especially after Humnabad. Some smooth stretch for couple of meters and one would suddenly end up on rough patch. As experienced in my previous trips the bike was behaving extremely good and found itself at home on the long stretches on highways allowing me to reach upto 100 plus on some stretches whenever the roads allowed me to. The trip till Maharashtra border was bit troublesome with the tough patches of the highway. The best thing about bikes is that you need gap of 3.5 inches for your wheels to stick on and a gap of 5 feet for the entire bike to pass. But even this was proving to be difficult on this so called NH. I reached Solapur at around 2:45 and after lunch and a break pushed to Pune by 3:30. I was in pune by around 8 in night- I had reached Hadapsar. By 9 I was with my surprised wife at Hinjewadi.

(PS: Please excuse the low quality of some images- those were taken from my mobile phone. )

Somewhere on Highway between Karnataka and Solapur



Sunset over Maharashtrian Savvanah


Water reservoirs near Indapur- Ujani Dam

Machhar Maar Helmet
https://goo.gl/maps/2pn3G
The Road ahead


Mulshi Dam Reservoir



A gorgeous valley view along the route


View Atop Sanaswadi Ghats


Winding Roads of Sanaswadi Ghats





And the ghats dont end- between Mangaon- Khargaon-Shrivardhan



Finally at Shrivardhan Beach


The destination- Shrivardhan beach


Day-3
We started early at around 7 in the morning to take advantage of lesser traffic on the road and better climate. The morning mist had not lifted and the ride to Mangaon was like riding in the clouds once we climbed the ghat section just before Mangaon. Also we did not want to get late reaching Pune since I had to take the night train to Hyderabad. I had planned on coming back the coming weekend to collect my bike and come back.
We chose to stick to the NH and better used SH to save time. Plan was to ride to Pen and take Khopli road from there. A stop for breakfast and a quick consultation from locals, we found a shorter way to Khopoli via Khopoli Pali road. This road would be better known to Mumbaikars and Punaikars as Adlabs Imagica road. After a beautiful ride thru Khandala Ghats and a short scary stretch of ride on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, we found ourselves in Lonaval at 11:00 and a lot of time to kill. We decided not to take risk by visiting places around Lonavala (some of which we had covered in a previous visit during monsoons) and pushed to Pune after a delicious snack of Strawberries and figs which we had bought from a road side vendor.
We reached pune around 2:30 and had enough time to spare. I parked the bull in the basement and bid adieu to my wife, to catch the train back to Hyderabad, till we met the following weekend.

Distance To Shrivardhan


Fog on way to NH 17- Sun remain blocked due to fog till about 9 AM


At Khandala Ghats

Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The touring us.

Ujani Dam


Khan Chacha's Dhaba

Akkalkot-Wagdargi-Bijapur-Sedam Road- This one is exactly on the border- Towards Maharashtra Side

Towards Karnataka- The roads till Andhra Border is Tolled State Highway (Seeing a tolled SH for first time)


Crossed 40000 on the ride.


Day 6
Last evening I was having qualms about reaching Hyderabad on time so that I could go to office on this day. But once I started from Sedam at 6:30 in the morning, nature unraveled its beauty in front of me by greeting me with a beautiful sun-rise. Along the twisting, winding road I saw a lake and stopped by it to take some pictures. Never did I know that I would be having one of the most enjoyable stretches on this rides. The morning coolness and the wintery sun-light made the ride immensely enjoyable. I stopped for break-fast at Moinabad so that once I reach home I could un-pack and quickly dash to office. I reached my home at around 9:30 in the morning before dashing to office with the air of the country side still fresh on me.

Sunrise on the run- moment to spare and a moment treasured

The road ahead

An un-named lake just next to the road: http://goo.gl/maps/yqjPN