Topic Approved.

nice writeup(although still have to complete it) and lovey pics.

thanks aryan ...Pardon me guys if any mistakes this is first time when I post some written work on XBHP...ur comments are most welcomed...I believe corrections makes man perfect.

Good pics...

Ride to Purander Fort

My mobile was ringing. OMG its 0538 and I am still in my bed!!! Now I was supposed to be with Joel @ Lullanagar chowk, what should I do answer the phone or not. I can pretend to be on my way Oh but it’s too far might take 15-20 min no matter how fast I drive. "Hello Joel, I am really sorry I am still at home…"
I can never forget this thing. It happened first time in my life that I didn’t wake up on decided time. Well it has always been my nightmare especially in exam season, that I miss alarm and don’t wake up. Night before I planned everything that I would be getting up at 0400 hrs and wash my bike and get ready for ride. But somehow I was very much excited and was trying to gather some ideas from biking sites(xbhp.com) about photography.
Well surprisingly Joel was not angry for me not being there. In fact he asked me to reach Katraj tunnel in 10-15mins. Wow he had plan B with him. Ok no problem I can do that. I garbed my sweat shirt and some jeans and just rushed out of my house. All this took place in 5 mins . I kicked my bike and started towards Katraj tunnel I was cursing at the speed of 80-90kmph. It was dark and cold night. I was passing by trucks n cars making my way out. (Tip Loaded Trucks travel at the speed of 30-40 kmph). After reaching at tunnel entrance, there was no sign of Joel. So I decided to wait for him I put the engine on and indicators blinking.
I was still looking for some sign of Joel in that dark chilly night but all I was able to see was head lights of four wheelers. And then from those lights, I saw a light separating and approaching towards me. It was Joel on his Red Comet. After a small chat we started our ride towards Purander Fort from Katraj Highway. Joel was riding in front of me, we were cruising at speed of 80-90 kmph. It was empty highway(NH4) . From Kapurhol we took left and then a tar road started. As it was a road from foot hills so had lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. I love these kind of roads but Joel was speeding and it was getting impossible to keep up with him. But it’s a different pleasure to see Hysoung Comet taking those beautiful acute turns with power, smoothly and swiftly. Many small Lorries and jeeps were passing by and they had headlights on in upper mode which added to my problem. I was frozen in that chilly morning. I was praying for sunrise. On the way up the mountain we faced rough roads, only thing that scares me on these roads is flat tyres.
As we reached to the top we were shocked to see that gates to fort were closed, as that area is under Army guardian, since the time of British. Also there was a sign board which said the gates will be opened at 0700. We parked our bikes and started admiring the beautiful mountains with black roads wrapped around them. It’s a different fun to identify maker of (company/brand) those tiny vehicles from such a height and I believe we all love do it. We had some free time till the gates open, so Joel got his camera out and we stared with our favorite thing on Bike Ride that’s clicking pics of bike and nature. After few shots he also got hot coffee from his bag. Wow just can’t express the feeling of getting a hot coffee in a chilly morning and that to on a mountain top. When I was holding the cup Joel realized that I was shivering a lot. I was shivering just like someone playing a DAMRU(musical instrument) so was the coffee cup was shaking in my hands. Joel’s started to insist to wear his jacket. But I was waiting for Sunlight. All of a sudden I got a feeling that I used to get when I was in school, yes I realized I didn’t brush my teeth that day. All the things happened so suddenly that I almost forgot to brush my teeth. But who cares we are wild, I don’t think so Bear Grylls (host from Man vs Wild) must be brushing his teeth before breakfast.
“Hey I can see a solider walking towards the gates” ,I said to Joel . I was excited to go in and see the church and the pool which I was some years back. It was the same scene which I was 4-5 years back smoke on water and fog all around the place. That’s place really looks mysteries and haunted kind of. When we reached near the church Joel said are thinking what I am thinking. Yes again amazing place for photography. So we parked the bikes in front of church and stared our photography. I was describing all my ideas of taking pics to Joel and he was helping me and teaching me how to take pics. Well then we entered Church building, it’s amazing piece of British architecture with black rocks. There was beautiful golden sunlight making its way from long windows of church. And the dust partials added to its golden glory. But sadly some road side stupid Romeos scribbled names of their Juliet’s on those walls. After some shooting we moved ahead to see if we get some good things to shoot again.
There was a different drama waiting for us. We saw a person in military green pants and a white banyan with a huge stick, forcing a kid to take punishment. He introduced that kid with some military rules and principles. Later when that kid joined his group he broke down and started crying. I was ignoring that drama looking around and hunting for something good worth capturing in camera, but there was nothing that great. So we walked towered that person who was punishing that kid. We both were curious to know why he did that thing what was the fault of that kid. He told us that he is solider on duty and when he enquired those kids that where they were from, everyone replied Pune and only this last one acted smart and said Delhi. That answer made me go mad and I decided to show him Delhi…
As we were getting late we started to climb down mountain but suddenly Joel wanted us to take some old obsolete road. I am a lot concern about my bike as it often get flat tyres so was a little hesitant to take it. But said to myself no problem lets go for this adventure. But after going some 200 meters we discovered that there was a land slide and the road was blocked so we sadly took the road we came from and climbed down the mountain. On the way back home I checked both tyre pressure made it normal. But JO HOONA HOOTA HAI WO HOTA HI HAI. My front tyre got flat damn but thank God by that time I was near Joel’s house and there were Puncher shops nearby.

Video of Temghar dam Ride

Video of Temghar dam Ride


YouTube - Believe lowres(Joel n Enosh)

Ride to Lonavala

Friday late evening I was in office thinking its been a long time didnt go for a bike ride hmmm. And the thought chain was broken by ring of my mobile.Wow it was Joel asking me for a movie. He asked me for Avatar movie 1st day and of that 3D movie loaded with CG but i had to say no as I was totally engrossed in work and had to drop my friend at his home and also I was recovering from cold. He asked for a ride next morning n i jumped with joy. The way I said yes for ride made him laugh.
So the time n place was fixed. Next morning I got up at 0430, washed bike and started towards the decided place. Well I was surprised to see him getting a pillion rider.Joel was wear ing a leather jacket of woodland, a blue jeans and of course his helmet and hand gloves. Joel introduced me to his friend. His name was Shailesh and he had a bulgy camera in his hand and a glossy shiny black helmet. I don’t know where we were going I trust Joel now so didn’t even bothered to Google the map. For a long time we were riding in dark early morning. All that I could remember was I was following a red tail light of comet. After traveling for some hours we halted near a lake. It was amazing place but as it was dark waiting there was wasting time. I was able to see a nice reflection of a house with a lamp on the other side of lake a zoom shot would have given good results. But all the cameras were in bag. Oh missed that pic.
Then we headed towards Lonavala(place between Pune and Mumbai) on the way as it was time for sunrise we found some place and decided to take pics from that place. But shockingly it was closed with huge fencing gates, so no access for bikes sadly we left bikes outside the gate. Joel and Shailesh got busy taking sunrise pics I was busy thinking about the pics we have to take for that day. What we can do as we have two photographers… wow. I got all plan ready in my mind. After taking pics we were ready for tea.It was amazing tea with eliche in it. I was wondering Joel took so much efforts on it. Then he asked us how is tea we said awesome, soon he confessed that it was from swargate chowk(place in pune). We all started laughing. Then he showed us the calendar of 2010 he make, it was amazing with the 1st pic taking by me(well it the one with Janury n Feburay month ), where Joel got his friends Fazer on election day. After that we did some photography and left that place. We were heading towards Lonavla. On the way we did some photography again and also some video shooting. Joel handed his camera to me. I tried to take as many pics of bike I had in my mind and some videos too.
When we reached in Lonavla city, Joel said less check out Amby valley too don’t know when we will have 2 photographers and a nice place like that. I was happy and bit upset, happy because I will be doing some photography and exploring new place which I have heard is amazing and upset because I will be missing Sunday church. Then we headed towards Amby valley. Wow the roads were awesome. I love them when they are dark with white margins. We saw some bikes on the way I was happy to see them. I thought in my mind about waving at them, but they were busy checking out Joel’s bikes as its head turner. Which boy won’t give another look to a Superbike.
We were looking for some nice spots from where we could take some good leaning pics of bike. Well the spot we selected first was not that good as we were not happy with it. So we decided to go to another place. This time it was a good spot but again I was not that happy as rider was didn’t get entire visibility of the road. But the curves were good a left and soon followed by right. Joel tried first Shailesh was placed on the first outer curve of the first turn and he was trying panning shots with his Nikon and I was placed on the outer curve on the second turn with Joel’s camera. We tried to get some good shots of Joel. Then it was my turn I tried once it was good. It was the same feeling like we see in any bike commercials were the biker takes the leaning turns and some fast energetic music is been played in background. Next time I thought I will go slow as there is less visibility of road and in slow speed of 30-40 I can lean a lot. Ok then I started by buzzing the horn. I took first turn then next oh but this time I was too low I guess and when I tried to get my bike straight it went to left side in rocks and I guess… it also bumped one rock n then I did a slide on my chest...damn. I rested my face on ground. But didn’t want to scare them both so soon got up and said, “I am fine…I am fine”. When we checked my wounds they were minor injuries on palm and left knee. Thank you Jesus for keeping me safe. Well I was asking them how are the pics.I was feeling bad as my bike was hurt on head lamp and a rear indicator was broken. People were slowing down their cars and taking a peek at me and riding ahead. It recollected me the story of Good Samaritan from Holy Bible. Then a innova car came n stood at a distance of 20-30 meters. Then another car came and a lady was looking at us I was sitting, Shailesh was besides me and Joel was checking out my bike whether it was working properly. The lady from car asked us is it the way to Amby valley I was like what the @@#@ with anger I said politely go straight (I was not knowing d directions but what’s the problem it was the only road there). I saw a person getting out of innova and was heading towards us he was tall, athletic was wearing fasttrack glares,trimmed beard, grey t-shirt and red shots. I said to Shailesh without any doubt in my mind its Milind Soman world famous SuperMale Model. He was stunned and was looking at him no one moved a muscle and he passed by us then I told Shailesh arre take his pics…Oh we missed pics of his face. Soon his car came along and the driver offered us water and first aid. Well I forgot my pain. Then Joel helped me with my bike and we started towards the Lonavla city on the way we saw Red Yamaha R1 parked near a shabby hut. Shockingly and surprisingly there was no owner around it. Joel went to get some water for me. Shailesh and I were busy taking pics of bike. Soon Joel came with water and we all started checking out the bike. No sooner there were 3 white Hayabusas and a blue Yamaha R1 and shockingly they were not wearing any safety gear. Well they allowed use to talk pics of bike. I forgot my pain and injuries. I thought of speaking with those guys. They were speaking local mumbaiya hindi. So I asked them about their safety gear they said we have in hotels and they were there for just a small ride. Wow height of being unsafe.
After that we all started towards Pune, it was a perfect ride with riding in dark early morning, followed by pics of sunrise, action pics on bike my minor accident and checking out all those superbikes..Oops I forgot Milind Soman..hehe.

Great set of pics there mate...!!!

First monsoon ride to Pabhe ghat

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.-Rabindranath Tagore
Although the idea to ride all the breathtaking off road biking roads in Pune had been brewing in my head for more than 7-8 months and it always ended with “when will monsoon come…and earth go green”.
12th June 2010 I was as usual browsing internet and chatting with friends. Harshad Lamrood a recently added friend suggested for a ride at Pabhe ghat(place near Panshet dam approx 30 km from Lokmat office ), with Sagar Dani(aka Shadowfax) and Saurabh Avachat . With no second thought in my mind grabbed this opportunity with both hands.
All things were planed at night but early morning rain Gods blessed us with heavy showers which caused the delay in ride. I was waiting for guys in rain wearing rain suit at a well known meeting spot Lokmat office on Sinhgad road. Many thoughts were running through my head. I was not wearing any safety gear besides helmet and what if I had a fall…like in Lonavla. My bike has hit reserve yesterday night in Pune…and what if it dried in middle of ride. I was doubtful about them to join because I never went for a ride with them and history says rains usually scared most of my friends and cancelled the plans.
But a sigh of relief soon my wing riders Harshad and Saurabh(on Yamaha Libero) arrived followed by Shadowfax(on Suzuki GS150R)

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With a brief introduction our run to Pabhe started. Our pace was slow, still it was fun to enjoy the pleasure of riding rain. As soon as we entered woods the entire ambiance changed

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It was similar to that of some movie where they show ancient Indian jungles where there are tall green trees, Elephants, Horses and Peacocks chirps etc. And to our surprise there were 3 Peahens on road wow…I never dreamt I will see that scene. But, damn…all the training we got from watching National Geography and Discovery about how to behave with wild animals was in vain, as we scared them away. But soon we saw them at a distance flying and crossing the road, it’s very rare to for urban people like us to see peahens flying so must say for me it was jaw dropping and eyes popping view. Despite having camera in hands we were unable to click their pics as everything happened in fraction of seconds. Mysteriously those hills hide such beautiful birds in there bosoms what an amazing hideout God has created.
Wherever we halted for pics we heard the chirps of peacocks and other birds. It was all melodious atmosphere everywhere with a little drizzle all the time. We also had some company of cycle riders. Sometimes I felt ashamed when I saw them grasping for breath and perspiring, being in mid 20’s I am suppose to do some hard exercise like them and burn fats hehe.
Shadowfax and I exchanged some good ideas about photography

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I learnt one thing and that’s to carry an umbrella for keeping the camera dry. This is my first monsoon with digi cam so I’m learning to take its care.
My next attraction was Shadowfax’s bike… Suzuki GS150R as this was the first time I was going on a ride with it. I wanted to click all of its curves and prominent features. Suzuki people inherit the design in almost all of their products. They have same kind of head and tail lamps and bulging tank as if it’s in its genes. They try to keep the design bulging and macho. It’s very easy to identify maker of those bikes and cars.
Pabhe ridge is amazing place. This time we went a little further on the mountains to get some good shots of Sinhgad and Torna and Rajgad. They all were looking macho in their splendid glory surrounded by snow white clouds and sprouted wide open prairie. As Shadowfax , Saurabh and me sport Nikon D80, Nikon D40 and Sony cybershot W210 respectively

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We were busy capturing every charming and gorgeous lush green scenery spread around us. Soon after filling our appetite for photography, we checked for time and shockingly it was 9:30 am …damn this cloudy weather and rains deceived us. On our way home this time we saw crabs running on road. As we were out of woods a open stretch of tarmac was in front of us tempting me to release the beast of 15.2 bhp.



And as always I unleashed the beast speeding at 70-80 kmph( keeping in mind about wet road and gravel) and Shadowfax followed. Observing his biking skills must say he is well known to biking rules.
It was fun to ride home after enjoying photography with new friends, exotic glory of Pune outskirts and wondering what all things God has hidden in those Mysterious woods.

nice presentation. I loved the way you guys have experimented with different angles while clicking. Crisp and clear pictures..........Yamaha blue makes it more vivid) Thumbs up

Thanks enfro...here on our rides we all are amateur photographers almost every one carries a camera from mobilephone to DSLR's

Great Stuff!

YouTube - Ride to Pabhe by Enosh.wmv

Oye joel!

Nice pics!!

Good to see you folks here!! Say hello to the Real McCoy!!