Mods : It's my first "Tourer" post. So please advise me in case of any errors.

There's one ruling force in this world that's very hard to oppose and I'm friends with it. Laziness. But I've beat it two times this weekend. One was yesterday when I decided to hit the road and today when I determined to write this post.

I've been to work at 0400 yesterday and was back home by 1100. I went out for a short trek near my workplace that made me realize how much I've missed riding out this monsoon.



As soon as I reached home I called up a friend and in 20min we're on the road still undecided where we're headed to. The beauty of Pune is we can travel about 30km from home and get awed by nature's beauty. He suggested some places towards Solapur. But that meant crossing the city traffic and I'm not prepared for it. So we headed towards the Mumbai highway intending to take a left or right and get lost in the ghats.



We rode on looking for that lucky turn and after 35km reached Kamshet. We decided to take a turn here and ride on until the road ends in a ghat. We rode for about 15min when we saw this narrow road leading up to a small hillock. The mind always follows the heart and we took the turn on instinct. Something at the back of my mind told me whenever Ravee (my friend) takes a turn it's for our good and led us to spell-bounding locations.



When we reached the top of the hillock, the road didn't end there. It went on. Now wouldn't we tempted I was about to drive on when my friend suggested that maybe the road could lead us all the way to Lonavala and we may not come back in the same road. So we stopped for some pics. It's been quite some time since I've snapped my ZMA. Resisting the temptation to drive on I took some snaps.



The face of the ZMA is what I like most. It's that stern, aggressive face that caught on to me in 2008 and am in love since then.



My friend's Yamaha.



The last snap before we rode on.



We got on and rode on. I sometimes get a feeling that the ZMA is not made for conquering heights, but is for cruising along. I had another friend pillion-riding with me and we went up the initial inclines without any resistance. But as we rode on the incline increased and the angle at some turns and straights was almost 65 degrees If my weak maths is correct.

After about two turns we stopped as we're not sure how long upwards the road is. We heard a bike and saw an elderly "kaka" riding on his "Passion". He said it's another 3-4km and we cannot walk. There's a BSNL tower on the top and that's where he's headed. We rode on and stopped at a sharp U-bend. I was finding it difficult managing the balance and riding uphill. As if this is not enough the water flowing downhill added to my misery and my Michelin Sirac street were of very little help.

The rains have played havoc with the road and what's shown below is only the beginning.



We decided to park our bikes and trek our way up to see how the road's like. The next u-pin turn had a mini waterfall running off it with gravel and loose earth. Suddenly a flurry of thoughts flashed in front of me, starting from my left eyelid which was twitching from a week , people who laughed that I weigh 70kilos and why I wanted a 150kilo bike, the day I got the Sirac street proudly looking at it's tread thinking I'd just conquer every off-road to the fact that I'm still considering buying a term insurance.
I decided on behalf of all that we'd just trek as much as we can, take some pics and be off as the prospect of riding down the road till now didn't look pleasing.

We were walking heaving and panting wondering how our "kaka" friend managed to ride out of sight. I comforted the others with my gyaan that he's a local and is used to driving here. Another turn and we met a goatherd. He looked as if we've decided to park our bikes on a 8-lane highway and walk all the way.

"People drive all the way up to the tower even driving triples!! why are you walking. Put it in first gear and slowly move on." I said that I was apprehensive as the road didn't look good. He said it's only bad here. "People drive Pulsars all the way up. what do you have?"

That was enough to fire me up. I ran down and fired up my ZMA with all those images of Milkha Singh flashing past by. I avoided the running water clinging onto the outer edge of the road. Another two turns and it was all plain and straight. We smiled and looked up feeling relaxed only to see that the tower was further up and the road went on.



We drove on now and remembered the goatherd's words and cursed him for the road deteriorated further on and it's a constant 50 degree incline. I can see the deep valley onto my right through the thick undergrowth. Putting the bike in 1st gear we moved on at 20kmph. Suddenly I felt the incline increasing and felt a loss of grip from my rear tyre. My friend instantly got off and we found that the path was covered in moss.

The monsoon combined with the thick overgrowth made the path damp. I got off and tried to walk the bike as if I'm leading a Labrador on a walk. The wheel just spun in place. I really wonder for what sort of road conditions the Sirac street was made for. I'd be interested to know if there are tyres that are made for such wet paths.
We tried pushing and cajoling it to move on and finally managed. I rode on solo and found that we're just 2 min away from a clearing.




From the clearing we can see that there's a cobbled path leading up the way to the top of the hill where the tower is located.


We heaved a sigh of relief and were awed at the view this location commanded. The Mumbai-pune expressway and the old highway were visible across the plains.





We saw that the kaka we met was nowhere in sight but his bike is parked there. Talk about tyre grip and stuff; The Passion's rear tyre is like a balding head. Only hints that it had treads earlier. While we were busy a sound jolted us and a Sumo came up. We were so shocked that we just stood there looking at the vehicle and the people in it.
We got into talking with them and found that they were here for the maintenance of the tower up there. They used to come up here in a 4x4 earlier. If someone wants to test the new Duster AWD this would be a perfect track to test it's grip.
We went along with them to the top and we can't help but appreciate all those people who laid this road and constructed the tower there. They had vehicles transport material up onto the mountain top!!







We finally reached the top and it was windy and had awesome views. It's a pity that I forgot to take my 18-55 and had to do with my 55mm and mobile. The 18mm would've provided good wide-angle shots.

The expressway actually wound about this hill. This shot was from behind the hill. So it swung around this mountain towards Pune.



Adding this for a perspective of the height of the mountain.



Light plays hide and seek with the toy village







Viewing the villages below reminded me of "Age of Empires".



Finally we started our descent and apart from hot alloys due to the braking it was uneventful. All in all this short trip taught me valuable lessons on not leaving things at the fag end when you're almost near success.



Hope you enjoyed this and advise me. After all we all gain by sharing experiences.