Friday, 28th January 2012
A Honeymoon Ride
Trip Log as narrated by Prashant Kumaran
Rides: 1985 Bullet 350 std.
Riders: Prashant Kumaran and Mrs.Prashant (Dr.Shreya)
Plan: This time we did plan (the ladies affect)
Route: Panvel – Lonavala – Pune – Satara Highway-Panchgani-Mahableshwar) – Panvel
I got married to the love of my life Dr.Shreya Kunder on 13th November 2011 and this was our first ride with our beloved Hurricane (Std 350) post wedding and so it was ... our honeymoon ride :)
The excitement began at 5 a.m. in the morning on the 28th of Jan. All geared up, jackets on, boots tied up, gloves, cramster bags loaded, motorcycle check and off we kickstarted on a very cold morning. First stop for fuel , then a left on the Mumbai-Pune highway and off we thumped
Empty highway, On-lookers, Awesome thump (cold air intake does the job), wind in hair, sky and the long road ahead with the love of your life, nothing seemed better in life.
Sunrise gave us a bit of warmth with its beautiful view and we did our first stop at Lonavala. did some pet puja. and ofcourse wen with a lady.. the powder room stop :)
There were other riders with the new classic including a Kawasaki Ninja.. but liked when they seemed more interested to watch my old standard still making the entrance.
Off then we went along Old Pune Highway caught up with the Satara highway, couldnt help to notice a joint on the Highway. It had CCD, McD, dominos etc in one location.. felt surprised. good for the kids
Then stopped at the Right turn from satara highway to Mahableshwar. Had a nice coffee and misal pav at the restaurant just at the corner. Cant re-collect the name but real good stuff.
next stop Mahableshwar. Through the sharp winding ghats. 2 way traffic at the thin road climbing the mountain ain't a piece of cake. experience counts, well mostly luck favours. It was dangerous but equally beautiful.
Passed panchgani.. lot of strawberries there all around.. and then searching our booked accomodation and wat a place it was. A true honeymooner joint.
on a cliff.. the view of the valley, the room with a bunked flooring. took us almost 6 hours to reach here from panvel and each minute worth it.
Took a break..rest... lunch.. a hot shower... and out to roam the hill station.
made the best of it with site seeing and shopping. Do not miss having the strawberry/Blackberry cream dish at Bagicha restaurant. you will never want to miss that.
Was night while returning back to the room through the forest. Tried an adventure of riding with headlamps off under the stars and moon. It was simply superb (warning : do not imitate the actions and stunts mentioned here, could be injurious to health and life )
Next day packed up in the noon and started off to ride back home. made sure to buy the strawberries (its worth it).sweet charlie is the type you should buy. the small sweet ones
Getting down the ghats without accelerating was fun and fuel efficient... first stop at our misal pav place and then ride back home. Only stopped for refuelling and at lonavala for a snack.
The best part is always the riding. clocked at 510 kms on the meter, fuel efficiency with me, my wife and fully loaded cramster bags (day total 150 kgs load) at 70-80 kmph with occasional 100 kmph was 26 kmpl and pretty impressive for a 1985 std 350.
And luking at all the photographs and memories of the ride... it was a perfect honeymoon ride with me my wife and our Hurricane
Born to Ride,
Bullet Riders Owned (our official Club)
bulletridersowned@gmail.com
