The following morning we began our ride by around 5.30 am and headed out towards Modasa on NH 5 after which we joined the Ahmedabad - Udaipur NH 48. All the roads right up to Udaipur are wide and super smooth to ride on and we thouroghly enjoyed this part. Along the way we stopped for some breakfast near Modasa.


We also met a cyclist from Kerala who was on a K2K ride. Much respect to this person.

After crossing Udaipur we entered GIDC where the roads are a little rough and broken but fortunately it did not last for too long. I guess my standards for roads are demanding especially after the smooth roads that we had ridden on before here. From Sukher, there is a left turn to Abu road and it is this stretch of tarmac that we had come all the way from Pune for. Some pictures from a water break along this route.




The Abu road as you can see is four-laned, curvy, smooth and relatively devoid of traffic. The only thing to be careful of are stray cows and animals. We reached the end of these wide roads and then began the twisties up to Mount Abu which is also in decent road condition. A few pictures from the climb up to Mt. Abu.








A litte later we reached the entrance to Mount Abu. The toll tax charged is Rs. 20/- per bike. At the toll plaza we met Kushal Jaiswal who had just finished his duty at the plaza and offered to guide us to our hotel. It is this kindness of strangers that we have encountered on many of our rides that reaffirms our belief in humanity.



Following our good samaritan Kushal through the winding roads of Mount Abu we reached Hotel Jaipur House about 20 minutes later. We thanked Kushal for his help and bid farewell. The hotel is situated atop a hill in the Aravalli Hills and is set amidst sprawling gardens with a panoramic view of Nakki lake, one of the sightseeing attractions in Mt. Abu. Jaipur House at Mount Abu in 1897. He was given the choice of selecting the best site by the then ruler of Sirohi State. Jaipur House was built in serene Rajput architecture on the high cliff over looking the magnificent Nakki Lake and the plateau below. The Present Maharaja of Jaipur, Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh , MVC and Her Highness Maharani Padmini Devi have converted this palace into a grand heritage Hotel.














A portion of the rooms were under renovation

We had Laal Maas for lunch at the restaurant. The only downside to this hotel was the food which needs to be upgraded for taste and downgraded for price.



We spent the evening in the open air sit out overlooking the lights of Nakki Lake and the city. A duo of musicians were playing some Indian classical music and gave the ambience of the place a royal feeling.






A picture taken at Sunset


Dinner at the restaurant (apologies for the blurry pic) before calling it an early night.

We began our return leg of this ride at 5.15 am with no confirmed destination booked for an overnight halt. The idea was to push for as far long as possible. The morning was cold and gave us the opportunity to don our jacket thermal liner. The pleasure of riding wrapped in warmth on a cold morning is a indescribable pleasure unto itself.



A few pictures taken along the ride in the morning.




This time around the route was to be via Ambaji, Vijapur and then Ahmedabad. The route for the most part is smooth with a few places where there was road work going on.



As the morning wore on we entered the Ring Road at Ahmedabad which is quite busy and takes a bit of patience to cross and then get on to the highway which goes past Anand and finally to Vadodra. We were now back on NH 48 and heading towards Surat. We made an online tentative booking at Vapi which we reached by around 4.30 pm but the hotel was just not worth it and so we continued. The sun went down and we continued riding till we stopped at around 6.30 pm for some chai. We were tired now and fortunately got a couple of rooms in an Inn right next to the restaurant. The Inn was run down but sported a bar and restaurant for some really kick-ass Malwani food..

We began the final leg of our Mount Abu ride about 60 km before Mumbai and made tracks through Thane which was very fortunately not jam packed with traffic. We stopped for some delicious medu vada and Chai somewhere in Airoli.


After crossing Thane we were back on the old Mumbai - Pune road and after a cup of coffee at RK in Lonavala we were home by around 11 am.. A fabbulous hard ride was over, rich in memories and having covered 2100 km in three days six hours.

I hope you like the Mount Abu video and urge you to explore this destination for a fabulous ride.

Manali is a known name among the Indian motorbikers' industry. And from Manali, the best DAY RIDE location is Hamta Valley. Since the topic is of day rides, I would love to mention that Hamta valley offers a very adventurous ride where riders climb from 2050m above sea level (of Manali's) to nearly 3000m above sea level (of Hamta Valley's) in less than 15km distance. The view of kullu valley moreover make it up to the riders. Check out our Manali Backpacker Hostel if you want to stay in Hamta Valley. Not promoting my place, but promoting my region. HAMTA VALLEY IS LOVE.

Thanks for posting. So far I haven't ventured that far up north, but you are tempting me

Given the ruined road conditions that places like Lavasa, Amby Valley and even recently the highway from Pune to Khambatki ghat have fallen to, it is always great news when we discover a new slice of paradise. Gurpratap and I rode to Veer Dam which is about 60 km from Pune and then returned via Phursungi and then Hadapsar. The roads are excellent tarmac and the ride is interspersed with the ride meandering through some rustic roads. We began our morning ride last Sunday at 6.15 am from Lullanagar Chowk and were home by 10.00 am. Upon my return home I felt like I was back after a really long satisfying ride perhaps because of all the beauty that I had witnessed and the changing nature of the terrain that was just ridden.

Isn't it exciting the day before you begin a long ride? That's what I was on the 24th of Jan 2022. What with packing, RTPCR test etc and trying to will one self to sleep (never works) for an early wake up the following morning.

Day 1

Finally, the alarm went off at 4 am Jan 25 and I jumped out of bed ready to hit the road by 5.30 am. We were off on a five day ride beginning with the first leg from Pune to Goa via an old haunt, The Anshi National Park in Karnataka.

The morning was brrrr cold at less than 10 degrees and the only thing going for me was my enthusiasm to ride my bike and a cuppa hot tea somewhere between Satara and Kolhapur.


Our next stop was at Hotel Satyawati, Nipani for some nashta of omelet and bread washed down by some more chai.


We reached Belgaum bang on time by around 11.30 am and just as luck would have it, Gurpratap declared his front tyre was flat. Fortunately we were not far off from a pump in Belgaum where we tried getting the tyre repaired but the puncture was so large that the bootch couldn't seal the tear. This left us with no option but to look for a replacement which was finally located at a MRF store just down the road. I came across this truck with slick tyres.



But, fate had something else in store for us. It took us almost two hours to get the wheel nut of, try searching for a No. 17 Allen key in a non-metro, let me tell you that it is real tough. The 120/70-17 costing Rs.7500/- was finally put on the Thruxton but it was already early evening, so we decided to shack up for the night in Belgaum and when in Belgaum, hotel Ramdev it is.

Hotel Ramdev besides being centrally located offers safe parking with AC rooms at around Rs.2000/- per night. It also has a bar which offers some good food and snacks. There are plenty of ice-cream parlors around the hotel to round up a good meal. Some pictures from that memorable chilled out evening at the bar.

Day 2

We began our ride in the morning a little later than usual and wound past the streets in Belgaum heading to Khanapur. It was super to see school kids all dressed up in their uniforms and waving the tricolor on account of Republic Day. There is four-lane work going on between Belgaum - Khanapur - Ramnagar. The ride has some super smooth tarmac interspersed with some short, rough and broken up patches of road. Patience is that virtue which you should be looking for till Dandeli. This description of the road is captured in the video. Some pictures taken along this route.



A little later on we stopped for breakfast before entering the forest. The tea was terrible here as I recall.

Picture taken from an irrigation stop



Pictures taken on the bridge across the Kali river.




From irrigation stop number two in the Anshi National forest somewhere




Fate is a funny thing. If Gurpratap's bike didn't have a flat tyre the previous day, then how would we have experienced this wonderful forest morning ride in all its glory?




The road conditions as I write this travelogue in Anshi National Park are decent. Again, there are some smooth roads which abruptly have some rough patches that loom up on you just when your guard is down. The last 30 kms before Karwar are just fantastic and that alone makes this ride worthwhile. Some pictures from a viewpoint (I just love the way these viewpoints are built by the KA govt which are not crowded and free to all - keep up the good work)

Our destination for the day Palolem Beach Resort, Goa was reached after a 200 km morning ride. We were in time for lunch which we had at one of the beach shacks. Some pictures from that afternoon..







Later in the evening we had an early dinner at the hotel restaurant and called it a night.

Day 3

We left Palolem at sunrise and in a short while joined the highway along the coast heading to Karwar and then on to Mangalore. The only being awake besides us was this cat as we opened the hotel parking lot gate to unleash the bikes for the ride ahead..


Somewhere near Hosmata we stopped for breakfast which was very so, so


The weather was getting warm and as we were riding along the coast I began ditching layer after layer of riding gear. The road condition from Gokarna to Mangalore is smooth throughout and allows for some brisk riding speed. The beauty of this journey is only really felt at Maravanthe beach where the road runs parallel to the sea. Here are some pictures




Our ride continued and a little later we began to encounter traffic, sweat and heat - we had reached Mangalore. The Mangalorean cuisine was something we were looking forward to try and Macchi's (family run restaurant) was our stop for lunch. The sea food was good and I over ate. The feast was so fast and furious that I forgot to take any pictures but did manage to take some video footage.

After this scrumptious meal, I just about managed to swing my leg over the saddle and pointed the Ninja's nose towards Charmady ghat. This is a good section of hilly terrain though has a fair amount of traffic. The weather began to thankfully cool down as we climbed higher and we stopped at this restaurant for a cup of tea which had an awesome view, good tea and a really strong breeze blowing across.



The ride carried on and soon we passed through Mudigere and then to Chikmagalur. We checked into Hotel Blue Pearl which was smack on the main road and had the bestest tea, I mean really super duper chai. The hotel offers basement parking and spanking fancy new rooms.




Day 4

It rained, Damn! The next morning's pull out of Chikmagalur was wet and slushy. Not Nice! We hadn't carried any rain gear so we began getting wet through our riding gear and I am sure you must have experienced that disgusting feeling of socks getting wet inside your shoes. There are some kaccha diversions just out of Chikmagalur which was really slippery and I remember at some point we were riding through someone's backyard with cows and haystacks. We eventually reached some good roads after which the speed picked up. It had stopped raining and the sun was out which dried our wet clothes pretty quickly. Breakfast was at a small town called Kadur and boy oh boy was it just kick ass or what. The most delicious masala dosa that I have ever eaten was presented before me with my first filter coffee of the ride. If you are ever riding this part of the Country, do not miss this joint.



I could have camped at Kadur and stayed on for lunch. Ha!

The remainder of the ride was uneventful as we joined AH47 at Devangere and opened the throttle to reach Belgaum our halt for the night. We reached Belgaum at around 2 pm and headed for lunch to KFC and Mcd after which we got our bikes washed and then chilled at the hotel and the bar. After another good meal of TC (really good at hotel Ramdev) we had some ice-cream.



Day 5

We left Belgaum at sunrise with the weather cold once again and after a quick breakfast stop at Sai Inn Kolhapur (check out the tandem bike at Sai Inn) we returned home at around 11.30 am.

I hope you like the video of this ride which is a kaleidoscope of memories