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December 2008 - Home Coming!
Before the Ride
I moved to Namma Bengaluru close to 5 months back. Now Bengaluru is a tourer's paradise with hundreds of locations around Bangalore. But, sadly due to certain personal commitments I just could not make time over the weekends to ride! Five months is a long time to stay without going for a ride, I satiated myself to a certain limit by riding to Nandi Hills twice
, but that wasn't enough, I had'nt ridden long and hard enough to satisfy that itch.
I had quit my job and was serving the two month notice period in my company, Thank God for recession! 2 weeks were slashed of my notice period and thats the kindda gap I was looking for. 15 days is a long time, could have gone there done that, but tragedy struck...the awesome Bangalore roads gifted me a dent on my front alloy one evening. And as you know it with Bajaj, spares are always an issue. After a little persuasion, I finally saw a ray of light when I told Mr. Venkat Shyam of AutoService about my ride plans, he immediately swung into action and promised getting my bike ready maximum in a weeks time. And it was...
Left the bike for the alloy repairs on Friday, 26th December at AutoService. Went along with Ravikiran for JC road hopping, all I bought was a footpump. Next morning bugged Swagat a.k.a. Chicane1879, with whom I went to JC road again to buy bungee cords and what not. Thanks Swagat!
I still wasn't sure of where I wanted to ride, there were many options left for me to explore in a weeks time, I could explore Karnataka, Kerela, etc. Or I could just head to Bhubaneshwar to meet up my college buddies the other option I had was to ride home to Bombay. And all this is a day before the ride, anyway I headed back to service station to ensure every part of the bike was inspected and any niggling issues were sorted out. But with the 220 you never be sure....
The final hours
I called up my parents and informed them that I'm coming home, after a small argument they agreed as they had no other way out. I tanked up my bike, bought Glucon-D and biscuits. Reached home dead tired at 10 PM, managed to pack all my stuff into the saddle bags and tank bag. Fell on the bed like a dead pig by 11.30 PM. I had set the alarm for 3.30AM, but the sleep demons din't let me wakeup till 4.45AM. Had a quick bath, checked my stuff and loaded it on the bike....I was ready to roll!
The Ride
5:30 AM:
I moved to Namma Bengaluru close to 5 months back. Now Bengaluru is a tourer's paradise with hundreds of locations around Bangalore. But, sadly due to certain personal commitments I just could not make time over the weekends to ride! Five months is a long time to stay without going for a ride, I satiated myself to a certain limit by riding to Nandi Hills twice
, but that wasn't enough, I had'nt ridden long and hard enough to satisfy that itch.I had quit my job and was serving the two month notice period in my company, Thank God for recession! 2 weeks were slashed of my notice period and thats the kindda gap I was looking for. 15 days is a long time, could have gone there done that, but tragedy struck...the awesome Bangalore roads gifted me a dent on my front alloy one evening. And as you know it with Bajaj, spares are always an issue. After a little persuasion, I finally saw a ray of light when I told Mr. Venkat Shyam of AutoService about my ride plans, he immediately swung into action and promised getting my bike ready maximum in a weeks time. And it was...
Left the bike for the alloy repairs on Friday, 26th December at AutoService. Went along with Ravikiran for JC road hopping, all I bought was a footpump
. Next morning bugged Swagat a.k.a. Chicane1879, with whom I went to JC road again to buy bungee cords and what not. Thanks Swagat!I still wasn't sure of where I wanted to ride, there were many options left for me to explore in a weeks time, I could explore Karnataka, Kerela, etc. Or I could just head to Bhubaneshwar to meet up my college buddies the other option I had was to ride home to Bombay. And all this is a day before the ride, anyway I headed back to service station to ensure every part of the bike was inspected and any niggling issues were sorted out. But with the 220 you never be sure....
The final hours
I called up my parents and informed them that I'm coming home, after a small argument they agreed as they had no other way out. I tanked up my bike, bought Glucon-D and biscuits. Reached home dead tired at 10 PM, managed to pack all my stuff into the saddle bags and tank bag. Fell on the bed like a dead pig by 11.30 PM. I had set the alarm for 3.30AM
, but the sleep demons din't let me wakeup till 4.45AM. Had a quick bath, checked my stuff and loaded it on the bike....I was ready to roll!The Ride
5:30 AM:
I started on the ring road in front of my house towards Mysore Road. Was moving a slow place even after hitting Mysore road, I din't wanna go all guns yet, was waiting for all my senses to get tuned to riding bike. Even on the totally deserted NICE road I was just doing about 60-70 kmph. At the end of NICE road the guys at the toll gate asked me to pay toll fee's, for a few moments I was taken aback. Then I remembered that this was in the newspapers too, but the funny part was they were asking for 18/- bucks as toll. I asked them again, from Mysore road to Tumkur road is the fees 18 bucks for a two wheeler, he replied back in broken hindi that it will be lesser for coming from mysore road. It costed me 8/- bucks finally and was rolling again. From Tumkur road I started towards, Nelamangala where I was to take a right.
Tumkur road till Nelamangala was a bit bad with potholes springing out of no where. Took a left turn at Nelamangala from NH4, to NH48. My destination was Channarayapatna. Here the road was decent, can't expect much more from a single lane highway. There was a particularly fast M800, thanks to him I tried to keep up with him as that way I can ride faster when I have someone else to keep up with.
7:30 AM: Took a small break, I had covered about 120 kms till then.
Tumkur road till Nelamangala was a bit bad with potholes springing out of no where. Took a left turn at Nelamangala from NH4, to NH48. My destination was Channarayapatna. Here the road was decent, can't expect much more from a single lane highway. There was a particularly fast M800, thanks to him I tried to keep up with him as that way I can ride faster when I have someone else to keep up with.
7:30 AM: Took a small break, I had covered about 120 kms till then.
I had decided not to test my limits too much and take breaks every one hour or hundred kms. Took a brief pee+water break here, and I must say that it was damn cold even at 7.30 am I was shivering inside the jacket. Anyways, din't waste much time and pushed forward.
I reached Channarayapatna, and crossed the town. A little ahead of town there was a diversion with leads to Arsikere. This is small SH that goes through villages.
8.40 AM:The sexy SH roads were super smooth and there was hardly any traffic at that time. The road was so good that I was riding slowly at 70 and enjoying the road.
I reached Channarayapatna, and crossed the town. A little ahead of town there was a diversion with leads to Arsikere. This is small SH that goes through villages.
8.40 AM:The sexy SH roads were super smooth and there was hardly any traffic at that time. The road was so good that I was riding slowly at 70 and enjoying the road.
Big mistake of moving slowly on these roads, because the stretch from Channarayapatna to Arsikere is about 40+ kms, the first 20 kms is damn good like in the pic, the rest is very very bad, so bad that they aren't even laying a new road over it.
On reaching Arsikere I took a right onto NH 206. From here on the road was just about ok, there was a odd ball pothole that you would have to deal with and at times the roads would just vanish
, but you could continue, it was nothing back breaking. From Arsikere I just took pee+water breaks for 3-4 mins in between. I had started feeling hungry by then and was looking out for places to eat, somehow I din't find any place.
10:15 AM: I took a breakfast break somewhere off Kadur itself, decided to have my hide'n'seek biscuit packet for breakfast along with my glucose paani. I sent an sms to a few people updating them about my position.
On reaching Arsikere I took a right onto NH 206. From here on the road was just about ok, there was a odd ball pothole that you would have to deal with and at times the roads would just vanish
, but you could continue, it was nothing back breaking. From Arsikere I just took pee+water breaks for 3-4 mins in between. I had started feeling hungry by then and was looking out for places to eat, somehow I din't find any place.10:15 AM: I took a breakfast break somewhere off Kadur itself, decided to have my hide'n'seek biscuit packet for breakfast along with my glucose paani. I sent an sms to a few people updating them about my position.
There would be time when passing through a small town or village I would feel that I on the wrong road, but with the sun behind my back I was assured that I was heading due west only 
. From here on I increased my pace and was doing between 90-100 steady.
I was thoroughly enjoying my ride, as the it was not a boring GQ rode where one just goes WOT. The varying landscapes, road conditions was just too very mesmerizing.
I entered Shimoga town and got lost for a bit, lost a good 20 mins in the slow moving traffic there. Finally after asking a lot of people I managed to reach back onto NH206.
I can't say that the roads were bad, but can't say they were good too....the road had all shades of the good, bad and the ugly. But, I was enjoying every moment of it.
I badly wanted to pee, but takes a stop breaks my rhythm and getting back into rhythm takes a bit of time. Anyways, the pressure of nature was pressing hard and just when I was about to pullover for a pee break, I spotted a Lion & Tiger Safari park. I was like, WTF, how did lions come in Karnataka, and that too on this stretch. The road here was passing through a dense dry forest area, I looked around both sides and it looked quite like a typical tigers hideout. I forgot all the pressures of nature din't stop for the next 30 kms till the jungle area had cleared out.
12:15 AM: Finally took my pee break after holding onto to it for gwad knows how much time.
. From here on I increased my pace and was doing between 90-100 steady.I was thoroughly enjoying my ride, as the it was not a boring GQ rode where one just goes WOT. The varying landscapes, road conditions was just too very mesmerizing.
I entered Shimoga town and got lost for a bit, lost a good 20 mins in the slow moving traffic there. Finally after asking a lot of people I managed to reach back onto NH206.
I can't say that the roads were bad, but can't say they were good too....the road had all shades of the good, bad and the ugly. But, I was enjoying every moment of it.
I badly wanted to pee, but takes a stop breaks my rhythm and getting back into rhythm takes a bit of time. Anyways, the pressure of nature was pressing hard and just when I was about to pullover for a pee break, I spotted a Lion & Tiger Safari park
. I was like, WTF, how did lions come in Karnataka, and that too on this stretch. The road here was passing through a dense dry forest area, I looked around both sides and it looked quite like a typical tigers hideout. I forgot all the pressures of nature din't stop for the next 30 kms till the jungle area had cleared out. 12:15 AM: Finally took my pee break after holding onto to it for gwad knows how much time.
I can't stop appreciating the beauty of this route, I don't know if it was the gap after which I was touring that I found this interesting or was it really this interesting. Very Beautiful will not be enough to express how much I enjoyed this road.
This how the roads became soon after....
Day 2, The Ride
03:15 AM: Eyes wide open I was staring at my mobile which said that I underslept and my alarm won't ring for atleast another hour. Tried hard to sleep, but it just wont come to. I just lay in my waiting for an hour to pass as I wanted my body to get enough rest for todays ride.
04:30 AM: Finally got out of bed, re-packed my stuff and was ready to move.
05:50 AM: Good Morning Goa
This how the roads became soon after....
The roads were like this for about 2 kms and then it was back to the same good, bad and ugly roads.
After I crossed Sagar the roads changed and became twisties.
1:30 PM:
After I crossed Sagar the roads changed and became twisties.
1:30 PM:
I reached Jog falls and since it was hardly abt 8 Kms deviation, I decided not to miss it and have a look. Quite frankly it was disappointing, in fact I was disgusted with it....I din't even get of my bike to check out this place.
Plus the heat was just getting to me, I did not want to stop again. And that I did not, because the next 80 Kms was pure twistie madness.....I had a gala time on those ghats. The road was really narrow and it was difficult to stop almost anywhere coz almost all the turns were blind turns. But I found one view point which gave me fantastive view of a river emerging out of Nonamakki reservoir.
02:00 PM:
02:00 PM:
From here on it was 60 Kms of unending ghats all the way till the coast in Honavar.
This strech of road is a must do for any tourer, its simply too beautiful.
03:30 PM: I stopped at Kamat's in Honavar for lunch, a nice south indian meal. I was told that Honavar can be my stopover for the night, but it was just 3.30, and I had done some 400+kms since morning and I had also seen the milestone market for Panaji which proudly read 197 kms. Now I was hungry for some goan vindaloo and decided to make a run for Goa, but since Karwar is midway at 100 Kms from Honavar. I decided that I'll decide what to do on reaching Karwar. I reduced the number of breaks I was taking was going full steam ahead for Karwar.
04:40 PM:I found a beautiful bridge I think it was off Kumta where I just had to stop to click pics.
This strech of road is a must do for any tourer, its simply too beautiful.
03:30 PM: I stopped at Kamat's in Honavar for lunch, a nice south indian meal. I was told that Honavar can be my stopover for the night, but it was just 3.30, and I had done some 400+kms since morning and I had also seen the milestone market for Panaji which proudly read 197 kms. Now I was hungry for some goan vindaloo and decided to make a run for Goa, but since Karwar is midway at 100 Kms from Honavar. I decided that I'll decide what to do on reaching Karwar. I reduced the number of breaks I was taking was going full steam ahead for Karwar.
04:40 PM:I found a beautiful bridge I think it was off Kumta where I just had to stop to click pics.
Next stop Karwar. As I was entering Karwar I could the entrances for Project Seabird. It was a beautiful setup, they have walled the ghats so no one can see the base from the road. And the places where the wall was yet to be constructed, there was a guard standing. I did not stop here to take pics, as Seabird is a matter of national security and pride. 8 Kms from here I entered the beautiful town of Karwar.
05:25 PM: I took a slightly longish break here.
05:25 PM: I took a slightly longish break here.
I called up my dad and took his viewpoint about what should be my next step. The dilemma that I was facing was that I had reached Karwar too early and if I start for Goa I'd reach it a bit late, as In I would have to ride in the night. Not that I don't like to ride in the night, but just that evening time is not particularly the best time to ride on a single lane highway, especially when you are on a long trip alone.
I decided to push till Madgaon which was about 80 Kms from there. From here I went full blast doing 100+ speeds, Karwar to Goa had okayish to very bad roads.
I stopped at the famous Karwar bridge to click a pic of a intersting thing.
I decided to push till Madgaon which was about 80 Kms from there. From here I went full blast doing 100+ speeds, Karwar to Goa had okayish to very bad roads.
I stopped at the famous Karwar bridge to click a pic of a intersting thing.
There were lot of places where I was tempted to stopover to click pics, but destination Madgaon had to be reached and soon.
At the Goa border, I slowed down as I thought I'd be stopped. I was informed by Chennai x-Men a day before about the infamous corrupt cops at the Goa border. But I was lucky and that guy did not even stop me to check my papers.
On entering Goa, the roads suddenly became super smooth, too smooth actually to the extent that I was scared that I'd slip. The setting sun coupled with the curving roads with blind corners snaking through small village roads slowed down my pace considerably.
It was only 7.15 PM that I entered Madgaon. I decided not move till Panaji as I was feeling tired and did not want to shell out exhorbitant amounts of money for staying for the night. But most of the cheap hotels that I saw in Madgaon were on the open road I feared for my bike's safety. Coz the last thing you want on such a trip is someone tampering with your bike. I found a hotel facing the NH-17, costed me 600/- bucks for a double room. Its a bit steep, but thats the price I payed to keep my bike safe for the night rather than me being comfy.
I had a hot water bath to ease my tired muscles, and settled down in the hotels restraunt for some goan food. I orderd for Chicken Xacuti and jeera rice, but I think the cook was a not a goan. Coz what he made tasted like chicken kolhapuri. There goes my run for goan food down the well. I hit the sack by 9.45 PM and din't take more than a few seconds to doze off....
End of Day 1
Stats
Kms covered - 660 Kms (Bangalore - Madgaon, Goa)
Total Travel Time - 14 Hours, including breaks (5:30 AM - 7:30 PM)
Roads Till here - Very Good (5%), Good (20%), Ok (50%), Bad (20%), No road (5%)
Route Scenery - FANTASTIC
Availability of Petrol - Easily available every 30-60Kms.
At the Goa border, I slowed down as I thought I'd be stopped. I was informed by Chennai x-Men a day before about the infamous corrupt cops at the Goa border. But I was lucky and that guy did not even stop me to check my papers.
On entering Goa, the roads suddenly became super smooth, too smooth actually to the extent that I was scared that I'd slip. The setting sun coupled with the curving roads with blind corners snaking through small village roads slowed down my pace considerably.
It was only 7.15 PM that I entered Madgaon. I decided not move till Panaji as I was feeling tired and did not want to shell out exhorbitant amounts of money for staying for the night. But most of the cheap hotels that I saw in Madgaon were on the open road I feared for my bike's safety. Coz the last thing you want on such a trip is someone tampering with your bike. I found a hotel facing the NH-17, costed me 600/- bucks for a double room. Its a bit steep, but thats the price I payed to keep my bike safe for the night rather than me being comfy.
I had a hot water bath to ease my tired muscles, and settled down in the hotels restraunt for some goan food. I orderd for Chicken Xacuti and jeera rice, but I think the cook was a not a goan. Coz what he made tasted like chicken kolhapuri. There goes my run for goan food down the well. I hit the sack by 9.45 PM and din't take more than a few seconds to doze off....
End of Day 1
Stats
Kms covered - 660 Kms (Bangalore - Madgaon, Goa)
Total Travel Time - 14 Hours, including breaks (5:30 AM - 7:30 PM)
Roads Till here - Very Good (5%), Good (20%), Ok (50%), Bad (20%), No road (5%)
Route Scenery - FANTASTIC
Availability of Petrol - Easily available every 30-60Kms.
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03:15 AM: Eyes wide open I was staring at my mobile which said that I underslept and my alarm won't ring for atleast another hour. Tried hard to sleep, but it just wont come to. I just lay in my waiting for an hour to pass as I wanted my body to get enough rest for todays ride.
04:30 AM: Finally got out of bed, re-packed my stuff and was ready to move.
05:50 AM: Good Morning Goa
It was 30 kms to Panjim and was not rushing just yet, carried relaxed speeds of 60-70 Kmph. Passing through the smaller villages in between I could the various forms of Christmas decoration people had done to their home. Since I wasn't feeling cold I had just put on a tee under my dsg and it really wasn't that cold. But that was not to be!
Had a few close calls while passing through Panjim where I narrowly missed a few big potholes on the Panjim bridge and next there was this white Tata Safari heading right into me, I don't know if the driver was sleeping at the wheel or was drunk, but no amounts of blinking the pass lamp was moving this bozo back to his side of the road. He diverted back to his lane in the last moment much to my relief.
05:50 AM: By now I had passed Panjim town and was heading further into northern goa. But my progress was hampered by this....
Had a few close calls while passing through Panjim where I narrowly missed a few big potholes on the Panjim bridge and next there was this white Tata Safari heading right into me, I don't know if the driver was sleeping at the wheel or was drunk, but no amounts of blinking the pass lamp was moving this bozo back to his side of the road. He diverted back to his lane in the last moment much to my relief.
05:50 AM: By now I had passed Panjim town and was heading further into northern goa. But my progress was hampered by this....
NH-17 was fairly decent till now, but then it showed its ugly face in the form of no roads. There were quite a few patches of road where the road would just go missing to give way to a very rough mud patchwork kindda road.
06:30 AM: Dawn was just setting in, and the sky was looking beautiful...but this is best I could get with my cam
Navigaton
Follow these links to reach other parts of the log :-
Mumbai/Pune Madness
The Return Dash
There were quite a few patches of road where the road would just go missing to give way to a very rough mud patchwork kindda road.06:30 AM: Dawn was just setting in, and the sky was looking beautiful...but this is best I could get with my cam
Soon after this patch I crossed the GA-MH border, the road quality decreased slightly here, but it was still better than KA roads. Since visibility had improved considerably I increased my speeds by a bit. But the dangerous never ending blind corners just din't let me increase my pace. At this point I was wondering if the entire road is like this till Mumbai, then I'm screwed. Thankfully after a little while the NH-17 roads opened up a little and did not enter into any of the smaller towns and villages. But the temperatures had dipped considerably and I was shivering because of the high speeds that I was doing.
07:15 AM: Shivering cold along with hunger in my stomach made me stop and take a longish 20mins break here where I polished off some chocolate to ease my hunger.
07:15 AM: Shivering cold along with hunger in my stomach made me stop and take a longish 20mins break here where I polished off some chocolate to ease my hunger.
By now I had covered about 110 kms from Madgaon at a slow pace and decided that I will take lesser breaks. But that was not to be, the rising sun posed another issue, Glare! I took another break within 20 mins of starting to change over to my darker visor for day riding.
07:55 AM:
But that was not to be, the rising sun posed another issue, Glare! I took another break within 20 mins of starting to change over to my darker visor for day riding.07:55 AM:
I could see my plan of taking less breaks was going to fail today I there were so many places where I wanted to just stop to take pics. In just half hour was the start of the first set of ghats...
08:30 AM:
08:30 AM:
Thankfully the temperatures had risen up to comfortable levels and even my hunger pangs had subsided with the chocolate. There's not much to write about the road hereafter as it was pretty 'monotonous', but in no way was it boring. Just superfast straight roads followed by ghats and then again straight roads. This patter was repeated all the way till I reached Bombay.
09:45 AM: Pee break
09:45 AM: Pee break
900 Kms from Bengaluru done!
10:10 AM to 10:40AM:
10:10 AM to 10:40AM:
One of the never ending ghat sections, the roads where more or less good and the fun was never ending. I had decided that I'll have lunch in Ratnagiri, but I din't know that the roads don't enter into Ratnagiri town just get diverted at Hatkhamba. There were just too many places to stop to click pics.
There was this one particular place where I had stopped to click pics and there were a few monkeys around too. Two monkeys go interested in my bike and came to have a closer look. I had not removed my helmet or the rest of my riding gear. They were actually giving me raised eyebrow looks. When I decided to leave, I got onto to my bike and started it, immediately after starting I revved the bike a bit hard in neutral, both the monkeys expressions were like --> . They got so scared that they feel back a few steps . I just couldn't stop laughing for the next 5 minutes.
I noticed one river that was running alongside for most of the time along the route
11:20 AM: I finally stopped at Satkar for breakfast as I wanted to eat something solid. A funny incident happened here, I was told by the waiter that vada's are available. So I told him to get a plate of vada's, he then asks me if I would like Pav with the vada, I started at him in disgust wondering who has pav with vada.....it took me another 30 seconds atleast to register that he meant vada with aaloo i.e. vada pav and not the south indian vada with a hole . I was laughing at my stupidity...:
There was this one particular place where I had stopped to click pics and there were a few monkeys around too. Two monkeys go interested in my bike and came to have a closer look. I had not removed my helmet or the rest of my riding gear. They were actually giving me raised eyebrow looks
. When I decided to leave, I got onto to my bike and started it, immediately after starting I revved the bike a bit hard in neutral, both the monkeys expressions were like --> . They got so scared that they feel back a few steps . I just couldn't stop laughing for the next 5 minutes.I noticed one river that was running alongside for most of the time along the route
11:20 AM: I finally stopped at Satkar for breakfast as I wanted to eat something solid. A funny incident happened here, I was told by the waiter that vada's are available. So I told him to get a plate of vada's, he then asks me if I would like Pav with the vada, I started at him in disgust wondering who has pav with vada...
..it took me another 30 seconds atleast to register that he meant vada with aaloo i.e. vada pav and not the south indian vada with a hole . I was laughing at my stupidity...:
12:00 PM:
220 kms from my destination ;-).....and 999.9 Kms from Bengaluru. After this I just stopped for pee+water+pic breaks. The road conditions were more or less the same with never ending ghat sections never letting me get bored. Here are a few pics from my stops between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM.
End of Day 2
Stats
Kms covered - 611 Kms (Madgaon, Goa - Mumbai)
Total Travel Time - 13 Hours, including breaks (5:00 AM - 6:15 PM)
Roads Till here - Very Good (5%), Good (10%), Ok (80%), Bad (5%)
Route Scenery - FANTASTIC
Availability of Petrol - Easily available every 30-60Kms.
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1271 Kms and the trip is only half over till now, half the fun is still left! Summarizing the entire experience, I wan't to say that Goa-Mumbai stretch is a must do for every biker. Even the Bangalore-Goa stretch is no less beautiful and is also a must do for every biker.
The P220 performance was simply SUPERB all throughout the trip. I was always overtaking any cars that I encountered. There was only this particular Corolla that was insistent on staying ahead of me, but come ghats it had to make for the raw power of the 220. The effortless overtaking, the surge of power that the 220 has in reserve all the way till 120 Kmph was a pure joy. No doubt the handling is a bit skittish around the corners in the ghats, but the new Vyde and front tyre was giving oodles of grip, still its the smile that comes on my face when I 'twist the wrist' that has made me fall for the 220 all over again.
I have not exactly logged the fuel I've filled, etc. But my mileage figures through the trip each time filled went like 33.5, 35 & 37.
Since Bombay is at MSL, the tuning is slightly leaned out and boy oh boy...the bike is now accelerating like a ROCKET.
More pics and logs once the second half of the ride over, please pray for my safety and well being!
220 kms from my destination ;-).....and 999.9 Kms from Bengaluru. After this I just stopped for pee+water+pic breaks. The road conditions were more or less the same with never ending ghat sections never letting me get bored. Here are a few pics from my stops between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM.
Hereon, I was looking for a place to stopover for lunch, but I was either going to fast and would miss something or the ghats where I was slower did not have anything. This dance of missing out on places to eat would continue for the next 1.5 hours. It was only after Mahad around 3PM that I spotted a place to eat and quickly pulled over.
Mumbai was less than 150kms away now and I wanted to eat something better, so I gorged on some chicken masala, dal and rice. Was lying on the chair of the sofa for a while to rest my back as it was hurting a bit by now. After I started from here, I din't wanna stop anywhere till I get home. And that I did, my next stop was was Pen before which there are some awesome straights. The roads before this were arrow straight and then a slight left/right turn and then another arrow straight. There was a particularly fast Swift Dizire which overtook when I was doing about 110+, he must have easily been doing speeds in excess of 150.
04:00 PM: Pen is 75 Kms from Mumbai and messaged my folks that I'd be be home in another 2.5 hours.
05:00 PM: Mumbai, I see you....
I'm was not sure about roads and was sure to encounter some of the evening rush hour traffic. By now, my backside din't have any feeling left in it and my back was also hurting a lot. I was a funny sight on the Eastern express highway with the reflective visor and saddlebags, etc on the bike.
06:15 PM: Finally home, My Bike Reached Home!
Mumbai was less than 150kms away now and I wanted to eat something better, so I gorged on some chicken masala, dal and rice. Was lying on the chair of the sofa for a while to rest my back as it was hurting a bit by now. After I started from here, I din't wanna stop anywhere till I get home. And that I did, my next stop was was Pen before which there are some awesome straights. The roads before this were arrow straight and then a slight left/right turn and then another arrow straight. There was a particularly fast Swift Dizire which overtook when I was doing about 110+, he must have easily been doing speeds in excess of 150.
04:00 PM: Pen is 75 Kms from Mumbai and messaged my folks that I'd be be home in another 2.5 hours.
05:00 PM: Mumbai, I see you....
I'm was not sure about roads and was sure to encounter some of the evening rush hour traffic. By now, my backside din't have any feeling left in it and my back was also hurting a lot. I was a funny sight on the Eastern express highway with the reflective visor and saddlebags, etc on the bike.
06:15 PM: Finally home, My Bike Reached Home!
Stats
Kms covered - 611 Kms (Madgaon, Goa - Mumbai)
Total Travel Time - 13 Hours, including breaks (5:00 AM - 6:15 PM)
Roads Till here - Very Good (5%), Good (10%), Ok (80%), Bad (5%)
Route Scenery - FANTASTIC
Availability of Petrol - Easily available every 30-60Kms.
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1271 Kms and the trip is only half over till now, half the fun is still left!
Summarizing the entire experience, I wan't to say that Goa-Mumbai stretch is a must do for every biker. Even the Bangalore-Goa stretch is no less beautiful and is also a must do for every biker.The P220 performance was simply SUPERB all throughout the trip. I was always overtaking any cars that I encountered. There was only this particular Corolla that was insistent on staying ahead of me, but come ghats it had to make for the raw power of the 220. The effortless overtaking, the surge of power that the 220 has in reserve all the way till 120 Kmph was a pure joy. No doubt the handling is a bit skittish around the corners in the ghats, but the new Vyde and front tyre was giving oodles of grip, still its the smile that comes on my face when I 'twist the wrist' that has made me fall for the 220 all over again.
I have not exactly logged the fuel I've filled, etc. But my mileage figures through the trip each time filled went like 33.5, 35 & 37.
Since Bombay is at MSL, the tuning is slightly leaned out and boy oh boy...the bike is now accelerating like a ROCKET.
More pics and logs once the second half of the ride over, please pray for my safety and well being!
Follow these links to reach other parts of the log :-
Mumbai/Pune Madness
The Return Dash
still waiting eagerly...
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