Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Topic Approved

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

The last two pictures are very good.
Bring on the rest!
And why is this 'A farewell ride'? Very curious to know.

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Beautiful pics! Waiting for more.

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Superb Clicks Pranav...especially last two...Why is this a last ride for your beast...what is going to be your new one...Curious to know

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Me too curious....why last ride??.....Nice pics.... and we are waiting!

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Nice clicks there. Waiting for more...

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Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Farewell ride nice clicks by the way

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Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Thanks for the approval

Thanks..
I'll post the rest tomorrow..

Thank you..

Thanks, the last one is my favorite too..
I'll post the details soon..
PS. The "next beast" part is going to be a let down..

Thanks.. Glad you liked..

Thank you..

Thanks a lot..

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Superb captures and Amazing Konkan display through your photography skills.
Waiting for more.
Keep Posting

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Great start there Pranav! Bring on the rest!

Ride Safe

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Teaser itself is enough to say what we are going to enjoy. Super clicks.:thumbup:

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Those are some really good pics. Bring the rest on....
Sometimes i feel my pics are a sham when compared to the clicks posted by members here.

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

A few days before the ride:
The phone rings..
Me: Hello?
Caller: You're selling your bike, right? I saw the advertisement on olx..
Me: (uncomfortable silence)
Caller: Hello? Is the offer still there?
Me: Yes, I'll text you my address.. You can come for a test ride..
Caller: I really liked the photos you posted there..
Me: (after so many rides, there were bound to be some good pics) Thanks, goodbye..

I hung up the phone.. What was I doing.. The worst nightmare of a biker was coming true.. Separation from his bike.. But yes, I had to do that.. Why? Was it because I was upgrading to a bigger machine? Sadly, no.. It was because I was leaving India for a few years.. I always knew that when the time came, I'd have to sell my bike.. But when I received a call from a potential buyer, the reality hit me..
I remember watching the OLX commercial on the television where the guy sells his bike online.. I had laughed about it so many times with comments like, "that's impossible", "no biker would give away his bike so casually".. And here I was.. Doing exactly the same thing.. A hypocrite..

It had been just 3 and a half years that I've been riding.. But the bond had been really strong.. So many memories.. I had never imagined this would be so hard..
Now that selling the bike was inevitable, I needed a proper goodbye.. I did not want my final memory of the bike to be some boring commute within the city.. I needed one last ride.. Whether short or long, highways or offroad, sweltering heat or night, it didn't matter.. I just wanted to get in the saddle and ride.. The sun and wind in your face, the sound of the engine, the unobscured view of everything around you.. I needed to experience it.. One last time..

I didn't have a plan.. I did not know where I had to go.. I just needed to go.. I sent texts to my friends..
Me: This might be the last weekend with the Apache.. I'm going for a ride.. Anyone interested?
And here were the replies..
Friend 1: In this heat? Are you out of your mind?
Friend 2: How about we wait for the rains and then go riding?
Friend 3: It's too hot dude.. Even you shouldn't be doing this..
I smiled.. I had almost predicted these replies.. I was waiting for 2 other guys and they said what I had thought they would..
Rohit: Done, cya on saturday..
Nachiket: Just the weekend? How about something more?


We've been riding for a while now.. So many rides together and we almost always know what the other person was thinking.. For others, it seemed a crazy idea of going out in the sun when you can spend the weekend lazying around at home or at some mall.. As for these two, they knew what was going in my mind.. They knew the bond I shared with my bike.. The destination was still a question mark, yet neither of us were bothered about that.. We knew that we'd figure out something..





Thursday, The day before:
I had to go for some work with my father in Konkan.. And once we descended the ghats and had the first glimpse of mango and coconut trees and the red soil, I decided that somewhere in Konkan would be the ride destination..
I informed my friends about that.. That night I received a call..
Nachiket: Can you get a day off tomorrow?
Me: Yes..
Nachiket: Good, let's leave tomorrow..
Me: I'm still out.. It'll be at least 2 am by the time I reach home..
Nachiket: So? We'll leave once you wake up.. Good night..
Me: Wait, what's the plan?
Nachiket: We'll leave tomorrow once you are ready.. We're going to Shrivardhan beach.. A friend of mine has a house over there.. Rohit will join us for dinner directly once he finishes off his office work..

Day 1:
Pune - Shrivardhan
After a really long previous day, I woke up quite late.. I hastily grabbed some clothes and threw them into the saddlebags..

Facebook status update: On the road with the Apache, one last time..
The comments followed..
So what's next?
Ninja? CBR 250?
Waiting for the RC?
How I wish I could have said yes to them..


Around 12-30 pm, we left..

Surprising good roads in Tamhini ghat..


So may times I had been on this road.. With every passing turn I could think of the waterfalls in the monsoons that I had religiously visited every season.. We took a roadside break for some food.. We had some parathas packed for us.. The dense trees provided some respite from the afternoon heat..

Off the road..




Lunch time.. Parathas and pichkoo tomato ketchup..


Don't we all feel much more energetic once the bellies are stuffed..


The good roads continued and we descended that ghat in no time..


A small halt midway.. In the summer heat, you HAVE to stop at something like this..


Sugarcane juice, anyone?


That's Nachiket keeping his options open in case his business doesn't work out..


We had a couple of glasses each.. All of this while other customers and passers by kept staring at us with confused expressions.. Apparently, they all thought we were nuts riding on a summer afternoon wearing jacket and gloves.. But that's something car owners would never understand..
After a refreshing break, the ride continued.. Except for a little traffic at Mangaon, the roads were a delight..


Me.. Trying my luck with the camera.. Although most of the good ones were clicked by others, I did manage a few good ones..




I envy the Pulsar 220 riders for this.. No matter what angle, she looks stunning..


Posing.. I can do this really well..


With absolutely zero traffic, we owned the road.. We could have sat down in the middle of the road with nobody to bother..
Nachiket trying some physical stunts..


I can do it better..


Finally, Shrivardhan beach..


Any ornithologists in the house? What birds are these?




Sunset..


Don't we all enjoy this view..






The photographer at work..


The result..


Irrespective of how often you've been on the beach, you still like to click pics like these..




Dunno why exactly, but I liked this..


Even after the sunset, we stayed on..




At night, Rohit surprised us by joining us much early than we had expected.. Truly, I don't think I'd have ever matched his speed and stamina while riding solo..
We had simple konkani food for dinner that night.. The first day was over.. We were having a discussion about the stuff that we could do the next day.. I wasn't really listening.. I was lost in my own thoughts.. All I could think of, day one was over.. Just 2 more days and no longer riding the Apache..

Tomorrow: The real fun begins!!

Cheers,
Pranav

PS. Sorry for rambling on so much before posting the pictures.. I failed to realize the bulk of text in the beginning..

Re: The last ride: A short Konkan escapade

Nice clicks especially the moon and glass on beach...superb:thumbup:

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