Its been quite a while since I had gone on a ride. Couple of weeks back, the bike was due for servicing so didnt go out. After that, the H1N1 festival started in Pune,and I had contracted flu like symptoms the following weekend and hence for every one else's safety I opted out of the ride. So by this weekend I was itching for a ride.
The plans were made, the invitations were sent out and the confirmations received.
This was going to be another ride to a new unknown place. The day was to be our national Independence day.

The route decided was as follows,




We were to head off in direction of Satara on NH4, then turn right near Kapurthol,head towards the Bhatghar dam, then turn around and head through the base of Rajgad and Torna forts towards
Velhe and then finally Panshet , before heading back to Pune. With lots of incidents,stops,pics and chit-chat to fill in the pockets of time in between.

A lot of people turned up for this ride,

Ashutosh (Hyperion) - RTR 160
Sahil (dragking)- ZMA
Sarang (Sahil's brother) - P-200
Nikhil (niks_devil666) - Mach V (Machismo 500)
Sandeep (kr4zy54n) - RTR 160
Shriram (BlackStallion_200) - P-200
Prasun - (previously RevMan) - P-200

The plan was that Nikhil and the rest would meet up at Chandani Chowk at 6 :30 am. I along with Sahil and Sarang would wait for them at Double barrel.
I had just recently bought a new tank bag and wanted to try it out on this ride. So I also got my brother's S5 IS along for the ride. This was a last minute
decision and it turned out to be very fortunate indeed, as you will see.

Nikhil messaged me at around 6:45 am that they were starting from CC, but I was still waiting for Sahil to turn up. I told him to go ahead and wait for us
at double barrel. Finally, Sahil turned up around 7 am and we left for Double barrel in a hurry.we were able to catch up with the rest of the gang on the way to Double barrel.
But Sahil had stopped somewhere along with sarang to start the GPS route tracking, and also Nikhil had stopped and wasnt seen. So the rest of us went ahead and stopped just ahead Double barrel.
It didnt take long Nikhil to come along. It seemed his bike was leaking oil and also his fuel was low. Soon after Sahil and Sarang turned up.
Nikhil had also got his camera but he had forgot to get the batteries along. It was just as well that I had got a camera otherwise wouldnt have any pictures at all.
We also came across a couple of superbikes riding past the spot we had stopped. One was a black Busa and the other a Ducati.









So we left from the double barrel towards our destination. The first stop was a BP fuel station about 20 kms from the spot. As most of us had to get a refill done.
We reached there in little time, while refuelling Nikhil noticed that the oil was leaking quite alarmingly now. We had to find a mechanic to look at it. Nikhil went ahead
in order to search for mechanic. We left afterwards. It was a nice little stretch of road. There was little traffic and there were mountains to either side of us. In the cloudy weather they looked a mixture of blue and green and their peaks covered with white clouds. It was all very scenic indeed. Nice way to begin a ride and raised our expectations for the rest of the ride.
We soon reach Nasrapur, from where there was right turn. THinking this was the turn we had to take we waited near the turn. Nikhil meanwhile had gone ahead searching for a mechanic. He had found a shop but it was closed this early. He called me up asked if there was a mechanic nearby to us. Shriram had gone ahead to look for Nikhil. Sandeep and Prasun went into the town looking for a workshop. THey soon found one that was open. We called up Nikhil and told him about the shop. We finally had Nikhil's bike all fixed up at the shop.









It was time for some breakfast, so we stopped at a local eatery and had some Misal-Pav,Wada Pav and chai. After settling the bill, we asked for directions to Bhatghar dam. We had taken the wrong
right turn. The correct turn was near Kapurthol further down NH4 from where we we had turned. We turned back and were on NH4 again. We reached Kapurthol and took the turn towards Bhor which would
lead to Bhatghar dam.

The road from here was rather narrow but very quaint. After a few kilometres, we came to a fork in the road. Asking the locals there, they told us to take the road to the right. We followed that road,
but we soon realized that the road doesnt seem to lead anywhere.Nikhil spotted one of the locals walking down the road, he stopped , but Prasun was riding too close to him and had to brake hard.
But there was gravel underneath and the bike gave away under heavy braking. Thankfully neither the bike nor the rider had any damage.The local told us, that we should have taken a left at the fork
and not right. So we turned around once again and headed back the way we came.No sooner had we reached the fork, that I heard another screeching and cashing sound. I turned around to find that it was
Prasun again who had taken a slide. This time the fall was little more serious. He had a damaged finger and some scratches on his hand. The bikes rear brake lever was bent. Now Prasun, had got his friend's
P-200 and was not used to it. The bike also seemed to have a near disfunctional rear brake causing two falls in as many kilometres. Prasun vowed to be real slow from here on.After administering some basic
first aid to Prasun, we moved on towards Bhatghar dam. Not long after, the dam's huge bund wall appeared on our horizon confirming that we were on the right path indeed. We arrived at the dam, only to find
the gate locked and the gate keeper asking us to go back. It seemed that there had been bomb threat and nobody was being allowed inside. But the gatekeeper told us that there was a garden at the far end
of the dam that was open. So after clicking a few pics there, we left for the Bhatghar dam garden.










Now the road to the garden was again back to the old road where Prasun had had an accident but instead of going straight from there, we had a to take a small left turn which he had not taken the last time.
SO again we went back on the same road and this time took the turn we had missed. We soon came to the other end of the dam, only to find that it too was locked. Deciding not to prbe any further we moved on,
soon we were on an open road , with a nice view of the dam. So we pulled over and decided to take a break.


















From here, we started off on the road which would lead to Gunjavane and then to Velhe. Or so we thought.The road not the worst I have seen, but was a little dangerous due to all the gravel on the road.
Nevertheless it was a scenic road with lots of turns.We managed to grab a lot of attention as we passed through numerous small villages which had probably never seen a group of bikers ride through.
After 30-40 Km, we still seem to be anywhere near Gunjavane. No signs or milestones to indicate the location. All the place names we came across were not on the map we had along. So we pulled over.
Prasun was coming along cautiously, taking his own time. Happens to all of us, after a fall.









We decided to keep going straight, we should end up somewhere near Velhe eventually. So the road continued on, until we came to passing stream which provided an idyllic photography location. Also, for the
first time we had an indication as to our exact location. We could see Rajgad looming tall to our right. This would mean we were on a completely different road than planned. We were on the south side of Rajgad
when we should have been on the north side.Even so, we would eventually reach the base of Torna and could then turn right towards Velhe, our next waypoint.
















After a few photographs,we moved on. Now the road had gotten decidedly worse,we hadnt ridden much further, when we spotted a nice waterfall and decided to pull over for another stop. Everybody loosened up and
refreshed themselves at the small stream.It was a little dangerous, with all the slippery rocks but since the waterfall wasnt too high it wasnt much of a risk.

















Moving on from the waterfall, we soon came across a diversion in the road. One road went to the left in to a village and another went away from the village. Shriram went into the village to check for
directions to Velhe. As it turned out , we had to take the road to the right.As soon as we took the road, we noticed that Shriram's tyre pressure seemed to be really low. Shriram, went into a nearby village
to get it checked. He came back soon. It seems , there was no one repair a puncture but he did get his air filled so that it would last a little longer.











Shriram went ahead of all of us, to quickly find a place to repair his puncture.The gravel ridden road soon gave way to a relatively smoother tarmac surface. It waded through a thick jungle with barely a soul
on the road aside from the occasional star-struck shepherd boy. Soon we all caught up SHriram, who was waiting for a us at a turn. At the turn he pointed us to a most welcome sight. A map!
For once, we would have a clear idea of where we were. It seems we were at a village called Vajeghar. Taking the turn would lead us to a village called Pabe and from there to Velhe. Velhe was less than 11 km
away.
With renewed vigour, we followed the road as per the directions. The road was now really good. The rain had gone away and the sun was out bright.We made good time. Until we came to another fork in the
road with a map too. If we took the road to the right it would lead to Nasrapur and the road left would lead to Velhe and eventually Panshet. We had to make a wise choice as Shriram's bike's tyre pressure was low.
We decided that Nasrapur was too far anyway and that we would certainly find a tyre workshop in Velhe. After another 5-6 Kms we finally reached Velhe. Shriram and Nikhil went into the town to look for tyre works
while the rest of us, stopped at a dhaba on the road.We waited while Shriram and Nikhil returned. After they came we ordered rice plates for each of us(the only thing available immediately), which was filling enough.








After lunch, Shriram mentioned that we had enroute to Velhe passed a turn to Panshet. So went back to the road which we took to Velhe, after another 2 or so kms, we came to the turn that lead to Panshet.
Now this road was really bad, with large rocks,gravel and mud.Me and Nikhil were leading. We went too far ahead, until we came to a very muddy road in a village. Doubtful whether this road was the correct one,
we asked the locals and found that we had missed the correct turn through village that lead to Panshet.So it was about turn back another 5-6 kms on this terrible road.After that we were on the correct road to
Panshet, as indicated by the milestones that appeared. The road was really bad now. It was a ghat section full of rocks and gravel. The surroundings were scenic,but we were really rushing through them
as we wanted to get over with this road soon.After another 15 kms (which seemed twice that), we came to a narrow but smooth road. We had reached Panshet. After a little rest stop, we started off towards
Pune. The roads were really good now, they seemed more so after the bad roads we had been on recently. We really lapped them up and were doing good speeds.









We soon reached Khadakwasla, thankfully, swine flu had scared a lot of people away and there was no traffic there, which is the case on weekends.We soon hit a bit of traffic as we reached the outskirts of the city.
Just ahead of Dhayari phata we decided to pull over for some chai. All of us reached, Prasun, altough didnt seem to notice that we had stopped and continued on merrily.He didnt answer our calls either. So we
decided to take chai without him.After some chai and debriefing about the ride. Each of us left their own way. Nikhil,Sandeep were heading for home through Chandani chowk.
Me,Sahil,Sarang and Shriram, would head through Katraj into the city.

The actual route that we took was this



More information about the route here,
Independence day ride | Author Sahilatre | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service