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The Strawberry-Cream Run
Prologue
So it was a Friday.
Late afternoon in office. People discussing their weekend plans. My Duke 390 was a month old. I hadn't had a *long* ride in yet. The idle mind, they say, is the devil's workshop and this devil loves riding. I put down my cup of coffee and exclaimed, "I am riding to Mahabaleshwar tomorrow". To have strawberry-cream. Yes, that's a plan.
"Hey I'm riding to Mahabaleshwar. You guys wanna join in? You'll can come in your car, I'll ride my bike"
"Are you serious? Goa to Mahabaleshwar? That's soooo far man"
"Uh... it's not even 400 km away dude"
"No man, you go"
"OK"
I don't mind a solo but some company always helps. So I call up my good friend Jeren.
"Dude, I'm riding to Mahabaleshwar tomorrow. You want in?"
"Huh??? What are you serious?"
"Yup"
"OK I'm in"
So that's how this ride got planned. Not sure if you face a similar situation when you want to go for a ride when most of your friends are not much into biking
The Ride to Mahabaleshwar
So early morning at 6 the next day, a D390 and an R15v2 set out from Panjim (Goa) for Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra). We tank up at Porvorim. We don't have a McDonald's outlet in Goa (really?) so we decide to have breakfast at Kolhapur. The March air was crisp and fresh. Hunger was the last thing on our mind as we climbed up the Amboli ghat.
The roads were slightly broken till Amboli but then we got a good patch of tarmac and that made us happy. After a stretch, it was a good time to get off the bike and click some pics with the 500D instead.
We had some quick tea just before we hit Nippani. Thereafter, it is the Pune-Bangalore highway. THE road I wanted to ride upon. Or at least, that's what I thought my bike was made for. We decided to let our bikes rip till Kolhapur. Contrary to popular belief, I actually don't ride *very* fast, so touching 147 kmph was enough for me. The R15v2 managed to clock up 130 kmph. You really need to give it to Yamaha, they have such an amazing 150cc motor in there. Also, the road till Kolhapur is a sweet, black ribbon. Past Kolhapur, it a gray strip of cloth. Still, pretty nice if not for those morons changing lanes without any indication. Or those ones that make a U-turn in same lane. And then we have those zombies crossing the road without any regards to on-coming traffic. That scared the shit out of us and we decided to take it easy.
After some unappetising breakfast at MacD's at Kolhapur, *I* tank up again. The R15v2 is pretty frugal. It is late morning and after riding till Satara in the hot sun, we realised that we skipped carrying the most basic of necessities on a ride - water. Lesson learnt. We take a halt at Satara and then proceed ahead in anticipation of the ghat road up to Mahabaleshwar. Riding on the highway made us realise how much we craved carving corners instead of just ripping on a straight road. Maybe it was just us.
The ghat arrived and riding up that thing was the balm we needed. There was barely any traffic so we let the bikes do what they do best. The D390’s Metzelers lived up to their reputation. The R15v2 wasn’t lagging in any respect. It was a match on those curves to say the least. The sharp handling of the bike made up for the difference in power.
Mahabaleshwar arrives quickly and we check-in into a hotel in the town. The R15v2 *finally* filled in some fuel. I tanked up again for the return journey.
We had what we apparently came all the way for - Strawberry-cream. And yeah it was delicious and stuff. So much for the title of the post
After roaming around till Mapro and buying the customary sweets and stuff, we chill out at CCD before have late dinner. Our plan was to leave early and get the ghat road to ourselves on our way back.
The Ride Back to Goa
We sure did wake up early. The morning was amazing. It made the roads even more fun to ride. We even managed to spot a peacock on the way down. No, I didn’t click the peacock. But we did click the bikes and road. And some pics of the riders too
Down the ghat road, the ride was uneventful. It was just a matter of getting back home. One amazing thing was what mileage the D390 showed on the highway on the way back. Take a look for yourself.
I'd take that with a large pinch of salt
Since I already stated that the ride back home was uneventful, here are just some pics as an epilogue.
Hope you liked the post. First thread so any feedback is appreciated.
So it was a Friday.
Late afternoon in office. People discussing their weekend plans. My Duke 390 was a month old. I hadn't had a *long* ride in yet. The idle mind, they say, is the devil's workshop and this devil loves riding. I put down my cup of coffee and exclaimed, "I am riding to Mahabaleshwar tomorrow". To have strawberry-cream. Yes, that's a plan.
"Hey I'm riding to Mahabaleshwar. You guys wanna join in? You'll can come in your car, I'll ride my bike"
"Are you serious? Goa to Mahabaleshwar? That's soooo far man"
"Uh... it's not even 400 km away dude"
"No man, you go"
"OK"
I don't mind a solo but some company always helps. So I call up my good friend Jeren.
"Dude, I'm riding to Mahabaleshwar tomorrow. You want in?"
"Huh??? What are you serious?"
"Yup"
"OK I'm in"
So that's how this ride got planned. Not sure if you face a similar situation when you want to go for a ride when most of your friends are not much into biking
The Ride to Mahabaleshwar
So early morning at 6 the next day, a D390 and an R15v2 set out from Panjim (Goa) for Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra). We tank up at Porvorim. We don't have a McDonald's outlet in Goa (really?) so we decide to have breakfast at Kolhapur. The March air was crisp and fresh. Hunger was the last thing on our mind as we climbed up the Amboli ghat.
The roads were slightly broken till Amboli but then we got a good patch of tarmac and that made us happy. After a stretch, it was a good time to get off the bike and click some pics with the 500D instead.
We had some quick tea just before we hit Nippani. Thereafter, it is the Pune-Bangalore highway. THE road I wanted to ride upon. Or at least, that's what I thought my bike was made for. We decided to let our bikes rip till Kolhapur. Contrary to popular belief, I actually don't ride *very* fast, so touching 147 kmph was enough for me. The R15v2 managed to clock up 130 kmph. You really need to give it to Yamaha, they have such an amazing 150cc motor in there. Also, the road till Kolhapur is a sweet, black ribbon. Past Kolhapur, it a gray strip of cloth. Still, pretty nice if not for those morons changing lanes without any indication. Or those ones that make a U-turn in same lane. And then we have those zombies crossing the road without any regards to on-coming traffic. That scared the shit out of us and we decided to take it easy.
After some unappetising breakfast at MacD's at Kolhapur, *I* tank up again. The R15v2 is pretty frugal. It is late morning and after riding till Satara in the hot sun, we realised that we skipped carrying the most basic of necessities on a ride - water. Lesson learnt. We take a halt at Satara and then proceed ahead in anticipation of the ghat road up to Mahabaleshwar. Riding on the highway made us realise how much we craved carving corners instead of just ripping on a straight road. Maybe it was just us.
The ghat arrived and riding up that thing was the balm we needed. There was barely any traffic so we let the bikes do what they do best. The D390’s Metzelers lived up to their reputation. The R15v2 wasn’t lagging in any respect. It was a match on those curves to say the least. The sharp handling of the bike made up for the difference in power.
Mahabaleshwar arrives quickly and we check-in into a hotel in the town. The R15v2 *finally* filled in some fuel. I tanked up again for the return journey.
We had what we apparently came all the way for - Strawberry-cream. And yeah it was delicious and stuff. So much for the title of the post
After roaming around till Mapro and buying the customary sweets and stuff, we chill out at CCD before have late dinner. Our plan was to leave early and get the ghat road to ourselves on our way back.
The Ride Back to Goa
We sure did wake up early. The morning was amazing. It made the roads even more fun to ride. We even managed to spot a peacock on the way down. No, I didn’t click the peacock. But we did click the bikes and road. And some pics of the riders too
Down the ghat road, the ride was uneventful. It was just a matter of getting back home. One amazing thing was what mileage the D390 showed on the highway on the way back. Take a look for yourself.
I'd take that with a large pinch of salt
Since I already stated that the ride back home was uneventful, here are just some pics as an epilogue.
Hope you liked the post. First thread so any feedback is appreciated.
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