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We decided to ride. I did not ride since long, Jegan wanted to do endurance. I was not sure if I could do it but then decided to give it a go. Jegan plotted out route. The plan was to leave Thane as early as possible to reach Amboli and stay there for a night. Next day, go to Sindhudurg fort then Vijaydurg fort and reach Amba village for another night stay. Last day of the ride, start the return journey via Bhor where the infamous Necklace point is located. Google showed that it is 1177 kilometers. We booked hotels and did our preparation. Jegan changed the cone set of the bike and did a servicing. I had to pickup my bike which was with Pace and Pixel Motors for a week for service, parts and tyre change. I got a soft rubber Pirelli Diablo Rossi II.
Day 1: September 2, 2017
We started the ride at 7.30. Both of us were very tired as we did not get any sleep the day before because of bike repairs, and yes because I had to buy riding jacket. Got Solace Sprint jacket and Solace all weather gloves. We filled up our bikes in thane, reset the trip meters. We stopped in Lonavla for breakfast where we saw a couple of Triumph Speed triples. Started moving towards Pune where we decided to take the second break. I was getting used to new Pirelli, wherein jegan had already started cornering in Khandala ghat section. We crossed Katraj and the took a short break. Clicked some photos and then we started off, we were doing three digits on speedo by the time we were in Satara. It was around 10.30 when we crossed Satara. It was drizzling after Pine every now and then but no heavy rains. One Duke390 guy crossed us showing friendly thumb.
We crossed Karad and there was a very beautiful ghat section road. Nice and wide road, good tarmac without potholes. I already figured out that I am going to have to catch up with Jegan as I was not able to corner with all my weight and lack of confidence after my last adventure on a divider. I knew that I was one unseen pothole away from red sirens again... So Jegan was enjoying cornering, I could see him sifting weight and bending the knee on each bend at 55 to 60 kph at least. If he was Jon Snow, it wouldn't have taken 5 episodes to bend the knee, all he needs is a corner!
It was good fun! I wish I had action cam on me at that time.
Jegan's right glove lost all the grip after 4 years of usage, his hand started paining so he removed the glove somewhere after Karad and sit on it. Then the inevitable happened. We were crossing some over the bridge and in one of the annoying tensioner gaps on the bridge, Jegan dropped the glove due to jerk. I must have been at 50 meters distance, saw the glove flying. We were doing three digits so it took me good 500 meters to safely stop and turn back for the glove. Jegan didn't even notice the mishap and flew ahead thinking that he is still sitting on the glove. I fetched the glove and gave throttle extra twist to catch up with Jegan. Gave the glove to Jegan and decided to stop for food after Kolhapur. It was almost 2 in the afternoon when we crossed Kolhapur and got in a hotel for food.
Both of us were tired however excitement of open road was overpowering. The weather was nice and cloudy. After finishing our lunch at around 3 in afternoon, we started moving towards Nipani. Rain caught up on us and I stopped to wear rain liner. Rain accompanied us pretty much till Amboli. Then we took Amboli road by turning right from Bengaluru highway at around 5.15 and stopped as we covered almost 450 kilometers. Restlessness was taking its toll on us at this point. Bad roads made it even worse. At around 6.15 in the evening, we were welcomed in Amboli village by a thick blanket of mist. Tripmeter was showing that we clocked 510 km. It was the very pleasant weather. We checked in the hotel, freshened up. Ordered food and were waiting for food. We were chatting and Jegan was napping between every two sentences (That tired he was). Food was delivered and we immediately regretted ordering Chinese over there. It was nothing but salt rice. We had a little bit of it due to hunger and we slept off.
Day 2: September 3, 2017
Got up early, it was a beautiful morning. I was expecting fog to be present. But it wasn't there. We went out with bikes to take some photos in the forest, the light was beautiful. Captured some nice frames of bikes and forest. We used all the gadgets for photography. Oneplus One, Oneplus Two, Garmin Virb Ultra 30 and Nikon D5200 with 18-105mm Kit Lens.
Back to the hotel via a quick stop for Burji Pav (Scrambled Egg with bread). Checked out from the hotel, thanked the staff for good service and revved towards Sindhudurg Fort. The second day was entirely Ghat road. It was around 300 kilometers of ground to cover but filled with twisties and twirling roads due to undulating forests in beautiful Sahyadri Range. We decided to take photos because on Day one was all about eat-ride-ride more-repeat. First, we stopped on a descend in ghat where sun rays were reaching the ground as golden arrows by pushing the thick canopy away. So Mr photographer spotted a nice frame and went into 'da lensman' mode with DSLR. We were enjoying the curves thrown by Amboli Ghat descend and we passed a lot of bridges on perennial rivers. One of the bridge had older bridge beside. Again we stopped there and Jegan took some candid photographs of bike and me. I returned the favor by clicking his favorite pose of presenting a flower to his bike on his knee. Then we reached Sindhudurg Fort, roads were bad on the way to Sindhudurg but the scenery was very good. We went to the ferry point from where a small motorboat takes you to the Sindhudurg fort which is in the middle of the Arabian sea. Frequency was very less(almost like an hour of waiting time and there were already some 30 people waiting for the boat) and they were taking only 10 people at a time so we decided to drop the plan as it was almost noon. So we parked the bikes on the beach sand and did what we were doing all the way since morning, photography. A couple of riders were there on RE Classic and Mahindra Mojo, one of them came and said hi. We exchanged pleasantries and parted our way to Vijaydurg. We missed a turn and ended up in Devgad, it was almost 2 in the afternoon so after consulting Google we decided to take lunch in Devgad and head towards Amba ghat. We did not want to miss beautiful ghat road of Amba and taking photos there. We took all seafood lunch (Visit Hotel Nikhil - serves great sea food varieties) and were back on road. The road was not good so there were more breaks in between till Rajapur. Needless to say, we kept clicking photographs. While we stopped at Rajapur we met a guy who said he saw us near Karad the earlier day, he was on duke390. We chatted a bit, refilled our water stocks, discussed route and back on the road. It was almost 4 in afternoon in Rajapur, roads were better from Rajapur so we picked up the pace and reached Sakharpa and marched towards Amba. No matter how much we hurried, curvy roads limited our progress and by the time we started climbing Amba, it was already dark. When only a 3 kilometers away from Amba village, complete darkness took over the road, the mist was covering the road, roads were getting worse due to heavy vehicles and we cursed our photography sessions because we missed daylight in Amba ghat. By 7.30 we reached the hotel. Hotel was well hidden and took some detective work to reach there. Now the property was good, rooms were nice (Mango Holiday Resort). We were the only ones in entire premises. The Sad part was the caretaker refused to provide any kind of services, not even hot water. After a lot of pushing around, we got lukewarm water for a bath. Around 9 we went out for food. Had food and went straight to bed with alarm for 5 in morning for capturing beautiful Amba ghat.
Day 3: September 3, 2017.
Got up, suited up and reached Amba on our bikes only to find out there is no fog. Clicked few landscapes and went for breakfast returned to the hotel. On the way, we had breakfast, burji pav again. Checked out, back in the saddle to complete return leg. We throttled towards Malkapur where we missed a left towards Karad due to lack of sign board. A couple of kilometers ahead we realized that and we consulted Google maps and found it eventually. At one point I thought let's continue towards Kolhapur as it was 40 kilometers only. But later when we took the en-route, I realized that would have made us miss the beautiful windmills and very photogenic scenery...
20 kilometers from that left and we found our wind mill spot on a hillock. Parked our bikes, took some photos and I suggested Jegan that there is one more frame merely 100 meters back. Promptly he went back on the bike to investigate, he reached there and I could see his face brightening from his helmet visor... He pointed from distance towards an off road track and went for it. I followed him obediently and by the time I reached there he already parked his bike on edge and ready to welcome me... It was the best spot so far. I was about to park but saw that I can go further. So I decided to up the ante and went little ahead and parked my bike parallel to edge. Jegan happily followed and we captured beautiful photos. Nice light... Morning breeze. It was a bliss to be there. It was nice camping spot and we decided to visit again with tents. Jegan marked the location on the map just to be sure because I don't think the map would be needed to return there...
We moved on towards Karad. Next spot was the Necklace point. We had a rather disappointing lunch (Hotel Nisarg) at around 1 in afternoon just after Karad. Left from hotel Nisarg, it was scorching hot. Since we were on Bengaluru highway, we picked up the pace. Turned left after Kapurhole towards Bhor. Reached necklace point. I was little disappointed because I was not happy from the scenery. Just U shaped river, but Jegan was very excited. Probably it was the hot weather, dehydration and rear battering 900+ kilometers of ride that was making me disappointed. That disappointment vanished after Jegan showed me the edited photos of the Necklace point I was very happy. We sat there in the shade of the only tree that was present, the canopy of that tree was not bigger than Prasad even though he shed few kilos now. We finished leftover water stock. The clock was showing 3.30 in the afternoon. We left and picked up the pace, till Katraj Jegan took the lead, and from there once the Pune traffic was approaching I went into beast mode. We filtered through traffic and reached Lonavla. We realized that we covered 100+ kilometers in just 1 hour 20 minutes. We bought more water, sat for 20 minutes and cooled off. We reached Chowk junction where we are supposed to part our ways, me towards Karjat and Jegan towards Thane (another 70 kilometers for him). He was very tired and on top of it, his hand was paining badly. He set his phone on handlebar mount with directions on Google maps. I bid him adieu at around 6.30 in the evening. It took me 20 minutes to cover 9 kilometers of distances full of potholes. I had to look for road between patches of potholes. Jegan reached at 8.30 in the night because of traffic and road work near Ghansoli.
Riders:
Jegan on Honda CBR250R
Hemant on KTM Duke390
Eye of the Photographer:
Nikon D5200 with Nikkor 18-105mm
GARMIN Virb Ultra 30
Oneplus Two
Oneplus One
Safety Gears:
Jegan: Rynox Tornado Pro Tri-Series Jacket, DSG Primal Gloves, Scoyco K11 Knee Protectors, MT KRE SV Momentum Helmet
Hemant: Solace Sprint Jacket, Solaces All-Weather Gloves, Mototech Knee Protectors, Studds Shifter helmet
Here are the pics from the trip:
Until Next Time!
Day 1: September 2, 2017
We started the ride at 7.30. Both of us were very tired as we did not get any sleep the day before because of bike repairs, and yes because I had to buy riding jacket. Got Solace Sprint jacket and Solace all weather gloves. We filled up our bikes in thane, reset the trip meters. We stopped in Lonavla for breakfast where we saw a couple of Triumph Speed triples. Started moving towards Pune where we decided to take the second break. I was getting used to new Pirelli, wherein jegan had already started cornering in Khandala ghat section. We crossed Katraj and the took a short break. Clicked some photos and then we started off, we were doing three digits on speedo by the time we were in Satara. It was around 10.30 when we crossed Satara. It was drizzling after Pine every now and then but no heavy rains. One Duke390 guy crossed us showing friendly thumb.
We crossed Karad and there was a very beautiful ghat section road. Nice and wide road, good tarmac without potholes. I already figured out that I am going to have to catch up with Jegan as I was not able to corner with all my weight and lack of confidence after my last adventure on a divider. I knew that I was one unseen pothole away from red sirens again... So Jegan was enjoying cornering, I could see him sifting weight and bending the knee on each bend at 55 to 60 kph at least. If he was Jon Snow, it wouldn't have taken 5 episodes to bend the knee, all he needs is a corner!
It was good fun! I wish I had action cam on me at that time. Jegan's right glove lost all the grip after 4 years of usage, his hand started paining so he removed the glove somewhere after Karad and sit on it. Then the inevitable happened. We were crossing some over the bridge and in one of the annoying tensioner gaps on the bridge, Jegan dropped the glove due to jerk. I must have been at 50 meters distance, saw the glove flying. We were doing three digits so it took me good 500 meters to safely stop and turn back for the glove. Jegan didn't even notice the mishap and flew ahead thinking that he is still sitting on the glove. I fetched the glove and gave throttle extra twist to catch up with Jegan. Gave the glove to Jegan and decided to stop for food after Kolhapur. It was almost 2 in the afternoon when we crossed Kolhapur and got in a hotel for food.
Both of us were tired however excitement of open road was overpowering. The weather was nice and cloudy. After finishing our lunch at around 3 in afternoon, we started moving towards Nipani. Rain caught up on us and I stopped to wear rain liner. Rain accompanied us pretty much till Amboli. Then we took Amboli road by turning right from Bengaluru highway at around 5.15 and stopped as we covered almost 450 kilometers. Restlessness was taking its toll on us at this point. Bad roads made it even worse. At around 6.15 in the evening, we were welcomed in Amboli village by a thick blanket of mist. Tripmeter was showing that we clocked 510 km. It was the very pleasant weather. We checked in the hotel, freshened up. Ordered food and were waiting for food. We were chatting and Jegan was napping between every two sentences (That tired he was). Food was delivered and we immediately regretted ordering Chinese over there. It was nothing but salt rice. We had a little bit of it due to hunger and we slept off.
Day 2: September 3, 2017
Got up early, it was a beautiful morning. I was expecting fog to be present. But it wasn't there. We went out with bikes to take some photos in the forest, the light was beautiful. Captured some nice frames of bikes and forest. We used all the gadgets for photography. Oneplus One, Oneplus Two, Garmin Virb Ultra 30 and Nikon D5200 with 18-105mm Kit Lens.
Back to the hotel via a quick stop for Burji Pav (Scrambled Egg with bread). Checked out from the hotel, thanked the staff for good service and revved towards Sindhudurg Fort. The second day was entirely Ghat road. It was around 300 kilometers of ground to cover but filled with twisties and twirling roads due to undulating forests in beautiful Sahyadri Range. We decided to take photos because on Day one was all about eat-ride-ride more-repeat. First, we stopped on a descend in ghat where sun rays were reaching the ground as golden arrows by pushing the thick canopy away. So Mr photographer spotted a nice frame and went into 'da lensman' mode with DSLR. We were enjoying the curves thrown by Amboli Ghat descend and we passed a lot of bridges on perennial rivers. One of the bridge had older bridge beside. Again we stopped there and Jegan took some candid photographs of bike and me. I returned the favor by clicking his favorite pose of presenting a flower to his bike on his knee. Then we reached Sindhudurg Fort, roads were bad on the way to Sindhudurg but the scenery was very good. We went to the ferry point from where a small motorboat takes you to the Sindhudurg fort which is in the middle of the Arabian sea. Frequency was very less(almost like an hour of waiting time and there were already some 30 people waiting for the boat) and they were taking only 10 people at a time so we decided to drop the plan as it was almost noon. So we parked the bikes on the beach sand and did what we were doing all the way since morning, photography. A couple of riders were there on RE Classic and Mahindra Mojo, one of them came and said hi. We exchanged pleasantries and parted our way to Vijaydurg. We missed a turn and ended up in Devgad, it was almost 2 in the afternoon so after consulting Google we decided to take lunch in Devgad and head towards Amba ghat. We did not want to miss beautiful ghat road of Amba and taking photos there. We took all seafood lunch (Visit Hotel Nikhil - serves great sea food varieties) and were back on road. The road was not good so there were more breaks in between till Rajapur. Needless to say, we kept clicking photographs. While we stopped at Rajapur we met a guy who said he saw us near Karad the earlier day, he was on duke390. We chatted a bit, refilled our water stocks, discussed route and back on the road. It was almost 4 in afternoon in Rajapur, roads were better from Rajapur so we picked up the pace and reached Sakharpa and marched towards Amba. No matter how much we hurried, curvy roads limited our progress and by the time we started climbing Amba, it was already dark. When only a 3 kilometers away from Amba village, complete darkness took over the road, the mist was covering the road, roads were getting worse due to heavy vehicles and we cursed our photography sessions because we missed daylight in Amba ghat. By 7.30 we reached the hotel. Hotel was well hidden and took some detective work to reach there. Now the property was good, rooms were nice (Mango Holiday Resort). We were the only ones in entire premises. The Sad part was the caretaker refused to provide any kind of services, not even hot water. After a lot of pushing around, we got lukewarm water for a bath. Around 9 we went out for food. Had food and went straight to bed with alarm for 5 in morning for capturing beautiful Amba ghat.
Day 3: September 3, 2017.
Got up, suited up and reached Amba on our bikes only to find out there is no fog. Clicked few landscapes and went for breakfast returned to the hotel. On the way, we had breakfast, burji pav again. Checked out, back in the saddle to complete return leg. We throttled towards Malkapur where we missed a left towards Karad due to lack of sign board. A couple of kilometers ahead we realized that and we consulted Google maps and found it eventually. At one point I thought let's continue towards Kolhapur as it was 40 kilometers only. But later when we took the en-route, I realized that would have made us miss the beautiful windmills and very photogenic scenery...
20 kilometers from that left and we found our wind mill spot on a hillock. Parked our bikes, took some photos and I suggested Jegan that there is one more frame merely 100 meters back. Promptly he went back on the bike to investigate, he reached there and I could see his face brightening from his helmet visor... He pointed from distance towards an off road track and went for it. I followed him obediently and by the time I reached there he already parked his bike on edge and ready to welcome me... It was the best spot so far. I was about to park but saw that I can go further. So I decided to up the ante and went little ahead and parked my bike parallel to edge. Jegan happily followed and we captured beautiful photos. Nice light... Morning breeze. It was a bliss to be there. It was nice camping spot and we decided to visit again with tents. Jegan marked the location on the map just to be sure because I don't think the map would be needed to return there...
We moved on towards Karad. Next spot was the Necklace point. We had a rather disappointing lunch (Hotel Nisarg) at around 1 in afternoon just after Karad. Left from hotel Nisarg, it was scorching hot. Since we were on Bengaluru highway, we picked up the pace. Turned left after Kapurhole towards Bhor. Reached necklace point. I was little disappointed because I was not happy from the scenery. Just U shaped river, but Jegan was very excited. Probably it was the hot weather, dehydration and rear battering 900+ kilometers of ride that was making me disappointed. That disappointment vanished after Jegan showed me the edited photos of the Necklace point I was very happy. We sat there in the shade of the only tree that was present, the canopy of that tree was not bigger than Prasad even though he shed few kilos now. We finished leftover water stock. The clock was showing 3.30 in the afternoon. We left and picked up the pace, till Katraj Jegan took the lead, and from there once the Pune traffic was approaching I went into beast mode. We filtered through traffic and reached Lonavla. We realized that we covered 100+ kilometers in just 1 hour 20 minutes. We bought more water, sat for 20 minutes and cooled off. We reached Chowk junction where we are supposed to part our ways, me towards Karjat and Jegan towards Thane (another 70 kilometers for him). He was very tired and on top of it, his hand was paining badly. He set his phone on handlebar mount with directions on Google maps. I bid him adieu at around 6.30 in the evening. It took me 20 minutes to cover 9 kilometers of distances full of potholes. I had to look for road between patches of potholes. Jegan reached at 8.30 in the night because of traffic and road work near Ghansoli.
Riders:
Jegan on Honda CBR250R
Hemant on KTM Duke390
Eye of the Photographer:
Nikon D5200 with Nikkor 18-105mm
GARMIN Virb Ultra 30
Oneplus Two
Oneplus One
Safety Gears:
Jegan: Rynox Tornado Pro Tri-Series Jacket, DSG Primal Gloves, Scoyco K11 Knee Protectors, MT KRE SV Momentum Helmet
Hemant: Solace Sprint Jacket, Solaces All-Weather Gloves, Mototech Knee Protectors, Studds Shifter helmet
Here are the pics from the trip:
Until Next Time!
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