Eager to explore the strange lands...

Hi...do you know Joel ? However I have no idea if he has a profile in Xbhp or not.

same here buddy..few months ago I was feeling I know Pune and places around it. But shockingly when I took my bike off roads...it seems Pune outskirts has lot to be explored and captured in camera. And guess what its raining and d best time to be Bear Grylls n do explorations and photography

Great snaps there buddy! Keep it up and enjoy safe riding!

Beyond Torna

It was Sunday morning 05:25 am of 9th May, 2010. As usual excitement of going on a ride kept me awake almost entire night. And the result was blood red eyes. This time my wind riders were Joel(Comet), Govind(Bajaj XCD). Joel and Govind were waiting for me in front of Loakmat office on Sinhgad Road. Our plan was to go near Torna fort(It is historically significant as one of the first forts to be captured by Shivaji in1643, forming the nucleus of the Maratha empire. The name derives from Prachanda (Marathi for huge or massive) and gad (Marathi for fort)) which is behind Sinhgad fort (The Lion's Fort or Previously called Kondana).
So we started our run towards Torna. Roads till Donje and little ahead were familiar to me, so it wasn’t that interesting till there. However as our journey continued…we had to climb up and down mountains and believe me really steep mountains where there was kaccha roads barely 8-5 feet wide.
Now the adventure begins…we were pulling our breaks and clutches, changing the gears. Climbing the rocky roads among the woods and climbing them down with steep valley on our right. Everybody as cautious as possible, buzzing the horn at all the turns though it was wilderness we didn’t wanted to take our chances.
As our journey continued from valleys, woods, villages and small dammed water here and there, the Sun had risen already. The sun rise was on my back and when I saw in my rear view mirror, I was able to see a beautiful image which we never see in the city. It was golden sunrise among the splendid blue shaded mountains and dark fields. No sooner we were on a little bridge and from there we were able to see some dammed water surrounded by some green fields…so as it was already sunrise and almost end of magic hour of photography, so that was only the place where we could possibly get some great snaps.
So we climbed down the bridge and went near the water with our bikes. It was very still water on one side of the dam and on the other side it was a brook flowing making melody.



Joel had a surprise for us, it was his new PENTAX waterproof, dustproof, 12mp and 5x zoom digital camera from U.S.A which he purchased from ebay.com. I knew he would be bringing it on this ride. I was looking at it like a kid who sees some new toy for first time with a sparkle in his eye. Anyone can imagine the look on my face with that 70MM huge smile and eyes popping out hehehe .



And now it was the experiment time…so Joel and Govind got close to water and tried to take underwater and partly underwater pics. I was busy taking pics of them while doing those experiments. The view of them per forming those experiments was like doing CAMERA VISARJAN. Some kids around us were astonished to see two fully grown men doing a foolish act of submerging a digital camera in water.



After a while we all got busy in capturing beauty of nature surrounding us. Joel explored some amazing features of that camera and it was ‘underwater shooting’ mode. He called me and Govind to show what he has captured. And while we were watching the video and snaps…”OH FISH…” was the Govind’s reaction. Yes, Joel had captured fishes moving underwater and some beautiful snaps of sunlight penetrating in water.




They were jaw dropping video and snaps for us... It might not be new for us…we all have seen it on Discovery or Nat Geo. But we were excited because now we were able to get similar underwater snaps like pro. Now Pentax (waterproof cam) is a door to explore and capture amazing new underwater world.



Later Joel also showed us the new stove he has recently purchased for night treks. Now we can make tea without any hassle for gathering dry wood for fire. And he has also purchased a rain suit. It’s very light and compact to carry around. It looked somewhat like a High Court Judge or Advocate suit.
After that we had a tea break and clicked some snaps of Joel’s bike having sunbath on dam shore, we were feeling fresh and charged up for more riding. So decided to go little further and do little more exploration of that place.



So we reached at the foothills of Torna fort, from there we got some information that if we travel a further more approximately 20km we will reach Madheghat from where we can see Mahad and the Konkan belt. As we rarely travel this far so we decided to venture it. As Govind’s bike hit reserve, we planned to keep his bike near foot hills of Torna and he can be my pillion rider. So as we headed further, we had to climb ghats again and I don’t know how but my bike was struggling to carry us both…perhaps because we halted so that Govind can take some snaps of Torna and it was an incline road.



So Govind became pillion of Joel’s. We were soon encountered by under construction roads. After travelling a little further we decided that we won’t jeopardize our bikes. And we turned back.
On our way back we saw some abandoned cottages. They could be a wonderful place for camping and especially in monsoon season. Soon after taking a shot bio break there we headed back to Torna’s foot hills. On our way back we saw dam along the road and Joel pulled over. It was Gunjavani/Chapet an earthen dam constructed on the waters of Kanandi river and other streamlets from the adjoining hilly terrain. It’s a relatively small dam in comparison with Panshet or Varasgaon dams. But unlike the dams on the outskirts of Pune, It is quiet and serene. Away from the hustle and bustle.



We halted because Joel saw a dry tree in middle of Dam. Being a hot summer dam was mostly dry. Govind and I went as near to water as possible to get a good snap of that tree (main reason was my camera has only 4x of optical zoom).
By now it was 8:30am and we all were hungry so we decided to have breakfast in that village. We quickly scanned the area and spotted a fairly neat snacks center (hotel kind of). We ordered for Maharashtra's fav. snack Misal Pav and got engaged in checking out what everyone has clicked especially shots from Pentax were center of attraction.
Soon arrived the Misal Pav . Hmmmmmm Yummmy we never imagined that in that small village we would get such a lip smacking Misal Pav.
We were enjoying that moment…praising tasty breakfast, sipping hot tea, checking snaps, and sharing our riding experience. Followed by a run towards Sinhagad Road.

Liked the pics vry much.

Hey enosh - nice pics!

I know him from campus days. Joel was my junior. I started freeriders along with other friends

Lovely Pictures of your ride to Purander Fort.

Thanks for sharing , keep riding and ride safe

Chan ahet photos!!!!

Thanks a lot tourer_kashif, hitanshu, im_underdog and neal swapnil.


Well for all Photo lovers here is Lady in Red enjoy

Lady in Red

Lady In Red


After a long wait at last my childhood friend (Nitin Pawar) got his dream bike. This is the same person who few weeks ago got so frustrated of going to office(25km) on TVS Scooty and asked me on one fine afternoon, can I get any bike from Yamaha delivered today itself…
And it’s today June 20th 2010 clock ticking 5:00am. Well this is the first time I am going on a ride with him. So, I gave a wakeup call, and shockingly he didn’t answer it. But I said to myself no problem if he didn’t turn up I will go alone for a run. At 5:25am I was at meeting stop, I was 5min early. No sooner I heard thumping sound getting deeper and deeper and a bright light getting brighter as it was approaching me. It was a Nitin fully geared up for a ride. And he was sitting on 346cc engine which generates maximum power of 19.8 bhp at 5250 rpm with maximum torque of 28 Nm at 4000 rpm. Yup it’s lady in Red “Royal Enfield Electra Twin Spark”
As it was dark I did not explored the bike much. We decided to go to Velhe and also do a little photo shoot on our way. As his bike didn’t had its first servicing, so we had to ride slow @ 40kmph as our top speed. Well nothing much to write as we didn’t do a ride but a photo shoot with Sony Cyber shoot H50 and DSC-W210.
I never liked a bike in red accept Ducati and must say now Royal Enfield Electra so I dedicate this song to both of them
by Chris De Burgh - Lady In Red
I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance
They're looking for a little romance, given half a chance
I have never seen that dress you're wearing
Or the highlights in your head that catch your eyes I have been blind
The lady in red is dancing with me cheek to cheek
There's nobody here, it's just you and me, It's where I wanna be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I'll never for get, the way you look tonight

I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight
I've never seen you shine so bright you were amazing
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side
And when you turned to me and smiled, It took my breath away
I have never had such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight

The way you look tonight
I never will forget, the way you look tonight
The lady in red
The lady in red
The lady in red
My lady in red (I love you.)

hey these pictures are really outstanding....ride safe and have many other great trips...you guys from pune??even i am here..do let me know if i can join you'll...

hi

very nice pics!!!

@ kthelord and raj0690: THANKS

Yup we are from Pune ...sure you can join us. I will let you know our next ride.

nice video guys...u have worked very very hard do create it...im impressed...WOW