Re: Short Camping ride

Thread Approved

Beautiful click there.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Short Camping ride

Looks amazing...

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Looks amazing...

Re: Short Camping ride

Thanks for the approval..

Thank you..

Re: Short Camping ride

There is no cure for the itch to ride.. Once you start doing it, there's no way you can stop.. You don't need elaborate plans or a lot of preparation to do it.. A small urge, seeing photos of a particular place or a simple call or a text from a fellow rider is all it takes.. This was one such ride..


It had been a while since I had last been on a ride.. Wake up, go to work, come back home and sleep.. This had been a routine.. The discussion about rides had been restricted to discussions.. Times like this, I envied my college days.. Once a plan was made, "tomorrow" would be the day to execute it.. Now, it was "maybe next weekend" every single time..

Time:- 1 30 pm, Saturday
My cellphone beeps, a text..
Nachiket - Hey, where are you?
Me - Starbucks with some friends, what's up?
(for coffee, i don't really bother about the time of the day)
Nachiket - Okay, so you are free.. Meet me ASAP..
Me - What happened? Everything alright?
Nachiket - Yea, we're going for a ride..

I called him up.. Nobody else was free.. He didn't even have a place in mind.. And still I finished off the coffee, apologized to my friends and left.. Come Monday, it would be the same old mundane schedule to follow.. The location didn't matter to me.. All I wanted was a small nudge to get on the bike and just go somewhere.. Coincidentally, this also happened to be the day I received my acceptance letter into the University of North Carolina for my masters degree.. I got back home and told my parents that I was going on a ride.. They were in a really good mood and "ride safe" and "have fun" was the direct response.. Nachiket called me up and told me to pack up the tent as well.. We were going to Matheran, about 120 km ride..

Time:- 4 15 pm
Me - Are you ready? I'm leaving in 5..
Nachiket - Already in the parking.. Come soon..

It had taken just 3 hours to decide and actually get into the saddle.. I put on my gear and left the house in a jubilant mood..





4 30 pm, all set..


At the beginning of the ghat to Matheran..


It was almost 6 30 by the time we reached.. We had missed the sunset.. So we decided to take up things slow and had some food at the MTDC resort.. We had planned to camp at the panorama point.. The parking guy was initially reluctant to let us go there with the bikes.. But on seeing the riding gear, saddle bags, and cameras, he thought we were some professionals and let us through.. A bit of convincing, a bit of bragging.. Wow, never realized all these things could be used for something like this..

The beginning of the forest trail..


And this is how dark it actually was..




Mid way halt..


\\

The "road"


Overview of Neral..


We spent some time locating a proper place to set up the tents.. It was bit tough when things like this were lurking around..


Finally, we pitched the tents.. But we still had to move around the things twice in the night due to various reasons..


On such occasions, we usually cook our own food as well.. From Maggi to khichadi to biryani to barbecue.. We've done it all.. However, tonight there was absolutely no time for any preparations.. So some packed up food from the MTDC resort would be our dinner..


That's my friend playing the flute.. A cool summer night in the nature, light breeze under the starry sky and the melody of a flute.. Bliss..


Once the moon came out, everything seemed to appear much more beautiful..


At such places, you don't need any alarm to wake up.. And when you wake up at such places, you feel really refreshed..
Happiness is, waking up to this view..


The first light..


Good morning..




For all the pulsar fans..


That's me.. Thinking if I could put my phone on the tripod and click..


Nevermind, lets leave the clicking to the DSLR..


That's Matheran in the background..


The railway tracks leading to Matheran..


Nachiket with his Pulsar 220..


The road back..


The arrow shows the road..


My bike.. Fully packed and loaded..


Ready to go..


The pulsar making its way down..


Some final pics before hitting the road..










The Matheran ghat descend..


A small halt for breakfast near Karjat..


Back on the road and home before lunch time.. A short ride of around 250 km in less than 24 hours.. Hope you guys liked it..

Cheers,
Pranav

Re: Short Camping ride

The morning pics are just beautiful.

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Re: Short Camping ride

Great trail you found there.. lovely pics!
Being in Pune I'm always on the lookout for company to go camping, so next time if you can accommodate another rider, please PM me.. I have my own gear and I like to ride easy.
Can you please list places where we can camp around Pune? I have only been to Talbaila near Amby Valley.

Re: Short Camping ride

Thank you..

Thanks..
Always happy to accommodate more people.. You've got a PM..

Re: Short Camping ride


Awesomeness!!!

Re: Short Camping ride

Thanks man.. Glad you liked..

Re: Short Camping ride

one pulsar fan did like it ...one of the best short rides

Re: Short Camping ride

Very beautiful story in every pic each pic build goose bump which camera you guys where using


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Re: Short Camping ride

What a nice short trip! The night view from the top must have been awesome..
Also, riding at night with a friend, then listening to the flute under a moonlit night, camping away from the busy city life is just great. Wish to have such a trip myself.

Re: Short Camping ride

Haha, thanks..

Thanks a lot..
The good ones are clicked using Nikon D7000, the 'not-so-good' ones are from my phone Sony Xperia..

Thanks a lot man..
This was an impromptu ride, a relief from all the hustle and bustle of the city life.. You should definitely do this..