LONE RIDER (April 13, 2013)

Friday, April 13, 2013
LONE RIDER
Saturday, 13th April 2013

LONE RIDER
Trip Log as narrated by Prashant Kumaran

Rides: 1985 Bullet 350 std.
Riders: Prashant Kumaran
Plan: I felt an urge to RIDE
Route: Bangalore-Mysore- Bandipur tiger reserve- Mudumalai forest- Edakara- Nillambur- Pallakad (kerala)


Friday night I finalized that I would ride to Kerala. There were questions on distance, the unsafe forests, MY DAD knowing :P, but eventually had a WTF moment and said this is what I am passionate about, so RIDE I will. Could hardly sleep that night. All i could think of was the videos of Animal Planet - When animals attack. The forest reserve on the way to Kerala didnt just have Wild Elephants as a threat, there were stories of Tigers, leopards and strangely wild buffallos as the Worst. Thanks to the videos posted online of elephants charging at vehicles via Bandipur forest road, which would keep me thinking... AM I CRAZY??

Well the 4 00 a.m. snoozed alarm got me up and in 30 mins I was all geared up. Kissed my sleepy wife goodbye and in a minute my motorcycle roared to life. Kept it into idling while I decked it up with my Cramster saddle bags (they are awesome for bulleteers. Has impressed me beyond my expectations). Another minute and I was on Bangalore roads surely disturbing many people's sleep. It was a sight seeing bangalore roads so unobstructed. Within 30 mins I was already cruising on Mysore Highway. Strangely didnt think that Bangalore could be crossed that fast. I realised Bangalore does have a unresolved traffic problem.

Next 150 kms there was no need to stop. Cool breeze empty roads and a healthy thumping engine, a rider could ask no more for a good start. Crossed towns with quite interesting identifications, Ramanagara (town of silk), Channpatna (town of toys), Mandya (town of sugar)and Srirangapatna (town of Temples). Reached Mysore in a couple of hours. I did not wait much, just stopped to tank up my ride and crossed Mysore via outer ring road (longer route but good empty road). Was on my way to the next town, Gundlupet, last town before the forest reserves. Stopped for breakfast at a good Cafe (CCD) on the outskirts and rest for my motorcycle to cool off.

Next would be a non stop ride until I reach Kerala border, crossing 3 states of Karnataka then Tamil Nadu and then Kerala.
I reached Bandipur Tiger Reserve entrace, where a forest guard would just give you an ok nod and you ride in. This would be my first ride into an actual forest and it did give me the chills. My last experience of a forest was being chased by wild elephants in the deep forests of Thekkady (Kerala) while we were trekking. And I am not a bit embarrased in accepting the fact that Elephants can make you shit in your pants. The ride was a bit scary since I could not see any vehicle ahead or behind me. I did get distracted by the beauty of the forest. Nature does its magic on the landscape we humans can never match. I did spot few animals, the smaller ones, deers, monkeys, giant squirrels, wild boars and an old slow moving wild elephant whos legs the forest officials keep chained. The ride was slow and pleasurable with a lot of caution sign boards saying DO NOT STOP, or ELEPHANT CROSSING, or the scary ones.. IF ELEPHANTS ATTACK, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE - Forest Dept. :P Crossed the Karnataka border within the forest and entered the Mudhumalai Forest of Tamil Nadu. The roads were still beautiful with same sign boards but with a little more traffic than before. I was thinking about spotting a tiget or leopard on the way like I saw in some videos posted online, but I ain't complaining. I took a break at an Adivasi village and decided to call home and update them. Was talking to my parents and then I let them know that I was travelling by my motorcycle towards Kerala. They hit the roof alright but now there was no choice but to accept it, since I was half way already.

Another hour or two and I crossed Kerala border into the Nadugani forest reserve. This would be the most thrilling part of the ride. Going down the mountain towards Nilambur via hairpin curves and ofcourse occasional wild animal caution sign boards. This was the most dense forest of my ride. Huge massive trees, the ones you have never seen. Beautiful as ever and yet dangerous if you venture stupidly. All through out my ride into these forests I could see many signs of elephants crossing, Elephant dung, broken trees, ravaged path through foliage. It did seem dangerous than I assumed, but as I found out many people travel through these routes and as far as you respect the wild and dont cause trouble they would never do any harm in return. But the real thrill of riding here were the hairpin curves. Kept me on full alert. Sliding through every curve was an adrenline rush. I stopped counting after 20 hairpin curves. Took a 5 min water break at the foot of the mountain. And man it was hot. I had reached near Edakara in Kerala. Next destination was my native place at Natukkal, another hundred odd kms. Kickstarted again and rode into kerala. The roads here are quite fast and never straight, so it was fun riding through kerala. Its never got traffic here expect the main junction, so always top gear. Up and down and left and right the road went, and again not at all boring travelling in kerala. Straight roads tend to make you bored and sleepy. In another couple of hours I reached home and had clocked around 400 kms within 9 hours. Got a lot of firing from my native folks for being crazy to travel all the distance on a motorcycle but followed by a lot a love, care and pampering, a well deserved fate for the ride. It was quite hot in kerala. Around 40 degrees someone told me. Always keep yourself well hydrated on a long ride. That would be the most important thing. I spend the day resting and visiting nearby places and relatives and lots of superb mallu food.

Next day was Vishu, our new year. Grand celebrations and relatives visiting with cousins being all exicted about my ride. Stories were shared and in the meantime I was all geared up to head back to bangalore. I left the place at around 10 am. With lesser stops I reached Nilambur, got my tank filled up and started off back from where I came. The same Nadugani forest reserve. Now a climb unlike the descend and I was a bit apprehensive about my motorcycle being able to handle it with an extra luggage of goodies from my relatives in Kerala. But my Hurricane just seems to love the whole ride. It went as smooth as it could without any hicups. While going back home I took stops to click snaps. Had more confidence today to ignore sign boards and take a few photographs for the memory of the best ride till date. It went on all the way a with forest guards checking you out at check posts. I crossed Kerala into Mudumalai National Park - Tamil Nadu and then Bandipur. A certain metal noise from my ride put me to a stop. Found out that the chain cover had broken and clanking against my chasis. Not a big thing but the noise hurts. Thought to take a break and tie up the chain cover until I reach the next town to get it welded. Was just looking around when I stopped a Tusker elephant down the ravine bathing in the river below. Man it was a beautiful creature. Took out my Camera clicked a lot of pics. It was the back view and I had no intentions of getting a closer view. It was enjoying its bath and I thought not to make it more aware and rode further. Crossed the checkpost and rode fast to the next town Gundlupet and got my chain cover fixed. I thought next stop home and rode towards Bangalore. the route now started getting boring compared to the thrill of the forest. I rode till kengeri, outside bangalore only stopping for a drink break. The traffic starting beefing up and slowed me down. The next strecth was not that happening thanks to the pathetic traffic towards bangalore. I made a note that next time I would ride to reach Bangalore early morning or late night. I reached home in around ten and a half hours making it my longest ride ever.

I clocked around 800 kms in two days and 20 hours, my biggest achievement in my riding life until next time ofcourse. I was convinced about the Rider personality in me who could just enjoy riding alone for all this while without feeling any kind of boredoom. And no doubt that the route I took is the most beautiful route. I would recommend the route and yes a motorcycle is anytime better than a closed 4-wheeler if you really want to enjoy the beauty of travelling. Next ride would be the best. I am planning to go to Leh- Ladakh for the Ride of my Lifetime on the end of June. Until that keep riding :)

Prashant Kumaran
Rider at Heart,
Bullet Riders Owned
email : prashant@bulletridersowned.com
www.bulletridersowned.com

A Honeymoon Ride (28th Januray 2012)

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

Ride to Nowhere (20th November, 2009)

Friday, 20th November 2009

Ride to Nowhere
Trip Log as narrated by Prashant Kumaran

Rides: 1985 Bullet 350 std. + 1981 Bullet 350 std.
Riders: Prashant Kumaran and Saurabh Wadikar (The Gent)
Plan: We never plan
Route: Panvel – Lonavala – Pune – Wai – Mahad – Goregaon (near Srivardhan) – Panvel

Yet another never planned. Me and Saurabh wanted to go on a ride desperately and all credits to the stressful weeks we had. So where to go was the question and answers not known. So we decide to meet early morning round 6:30 all geared up. Tried asking our mates to join us, just once for this time to Mr. Dhanoop, coz knew the answer already. And so on Friday the 20th of November, we meet. This time Mr. Wise guy a.k.a Saurabh, compensates my last ride getting late by making me wait. And there he comes with his high raised self made handle bar (hope I gave it enough words). First long ride on the doubtful handle-bar, so being the wise guy he carries along his spare handle-bar and God knows what not. Coz he carried stuff to fill 2 bags, and trust me the whole ride of 2 days he never needed to open the bag, yeah, not even to change his historical clothes, whew! He might be able to fill in the details of that. So we get our tanks filled to the brim and next I say, “Let’s go to Pune and try to convince Praveen to join us for a ride to nowhere”, who had plans already and was not planning to join us.

So we leave from Panvel, thumping along, of course letting the whole sleeping neighborhood know our presence. And quite a FOG for the start, almost blinding, but faded away with the rising Sun and off we go. An empty beautiful road was a gift for us and we made sure to relish it well. Along the old Pune Highway we rode for about 45 mins till we reached the Ghats to enter the expressway to Lonavala with my frequent Pee breaks (was full of water in this cold morning, what do you expect Saurabh?). The motorcycle climbed pretty smoothly for our doubts and then after the steep climb we took a photo break at the entry to the Expressway. It was a clear sky, so got a good picture. Then we resumed again to Lonavala along the expressway. Not to forget the weird stares and “luks gr8 maan” stares to Saurabh’s new HIGHLY RAISED Handle bar. So we reach Lonavala and stop at our usual Omlette Pav stall, we never miss that.

Suddenly I realize that the medication I am on has some what got Laxative effects (Yes, I am under medication which also requests me to take rest, but I prefer riding) and I need a washroom with an obvious bit of desperation. So, like any other human would do, I go to a restaurant and order coffee while I use their privileges for my desperate needs. Why a special mention? Mr. Wise guy insisted my tragedy to be mentioned in the log so he could laugh out about it.
Ok! Enough melodrama

We leave for our next stop, PUNE, only stopping for a Pee break or two, until we reach the crossing where one road goes to the city and the other one outside. I suggest the city road like my brother told us, but Saurabh said we will take the other road to avoid traffic and I agreed coz we wanted to ride and not slither along the traffic. And then, for being smart we got lost. Had a hell of a ride going in circles in Pune city asking for directions and guess what everyone has a new version. Eventually reached my Bro’s office and he took us to his house and what a house! An ideal Bachelor’s Joint, Untidy, dirty, lots of rubbish here and there… of course we got comfortable soon enough. Saurabh was having some problems with his Motorcycle, his footrest was getting swanky and needed some attention. So we are out searching for a bullet spares shop and that’s when all hell broke loose. Trust me guys, you never want to be in Pune when you don’t know the roads to places. You end up reaching the same places from different directions, a vicious circle I would say. And when you commit the mistake of asking directions, everyone has a new version of it. Both of us went crazy with it and let it stay for round 2 hours. Eventually we gave up and went for lunch. A decent one, disagreed by Saurabh. Back to house then, getting bored. Praveen left for his work at office and would return in the evening. We decided to resume the ride next morning. Good I had bought my laptop along. We watched Russel Peters and were laughing crazy all the while. Russel Peters show is one of the most amazing comedies I have ever seen. You should check it out. In the evening we did a bit of local shopping for water and stuff.

Then late evening we left for dinner pretty hungry. We went to a joint called HAKA, a famous Chinese outlet and really good food. The food was too good for Saurabh and I guess he was pretty hungry too, didn’t mind picking the fallen chicken piece and eating it, Yeah!!! I saw that Saurabh.

We left and reached our place at 23:30 and guess what Saurabh has a flat rear Tire. And at this hour how to get it fixed coz we had to leave pretty early in the morning. Praveen rushed out to find an open shop who would fix it. He returned with a positive response. Saurabh and I removed the wheel ASAP and Praveen and Saurabh left with it to get it fixed. I stood back guarding the rides. They took really long to come back. Supposedly the valve ripped off and luckily the Great MALLU Puncture Man they had gone to was the only guy who knows how to fix it, with a guarantee that it would last a ride up to Kerala. Coconut power I guessed. And then we crashed at home. We watched Russell Peters for some more time to have a good end for the day and slept off.

Early morning we woke up got ready and planned to leave. Praveen would not join us, had some serious business back home. We dropped him at the bus stand and left for God knows where. We entered the Satara Highway (NH4) via some Ghats, and what a ride that was. Wide, smooth roads on the Ghats with the perfect twist you always want. Then after an hours ride we reached a junction with a right turn. Didn’t know where but somebody said MAHAD and we said ok lets go. We rode along the road for quite some time, till we reached a dam (Khondari) and did a couple of pictures. Then we entered pretty bad roads; got kinda pissed. Then we entered more Ghats and those were the most amazing ones we had ever been on. One could never have the time to straighten ones ride, once u slide through left curve then comes a right. It was very thrilling and not to forget very dangerous. We were taking serpent turns at 40-50kmph fully leaning on to the road having no idea what could be ahead. It could be a head-on collision with a vehicle or the known ST bus from the front in the Ghats. But we were really good at riding our machines; it seriously brought our expertise in riding. Saurabh was pretty confident coz he thought we were pretty slow. His speed box was not working so he never realized his speed.

I have to admit that Saurabh and I have amazing co-ordination with each other. When we rode we rode as one. When I was leading I would act as the Head and he the tail, I am responsible for the front and he just follows watching my back and keeps communicating and vice versa. And so we ride together. Hate each other, maybe, but when it comes to the Bullet we manage to be the best riders together.

Coming back to the trip, as we were cruising the Ghats, we ended up at this place in the Sahayadris. And trust me people, its one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my entire life. You will have an idea of it in the pics we upload but the real deal is the Real deal. We were awed with the beauty of it. It was this deep valley between the Sahayadris which was closed was some Dams. And this Valley was holding water and the whole scenario was breathtaking. No wonder we stopped there, let our rides cool while we went on clicking pics for the record. We left the place back to the ghats and more amazing views and more stops for clicking around.

Then we reached NH17 took a right from there. Felt good to be on smooth roads and let ourselves rip through the roads. Then we stopped at this place called Goregaon and took a right towards a place called Shrivardhan. The roads started getting very nasty so we came back after a while and had a good Malvani Lunch at Goregaon. We left that place and resumed the ride on NH17 towards home PANVEL. Another 100 kms to go. It was good for a while. But after the thrilling experience at the Ghats the straight long roads started to get us bored. So to add up the thrill we open up the throttle dodging traffic and stopping for none. Saw a couple of nasty overturned trucks on the way but didn’t slow down coz a cozy Home was the destination. Stopped at a fuel station and filled the tanks up. Another couple of hours ride and we reached home at around 16:00 hrs. Saw the meter reading; we had done a good 475 kilometers ride. All worth it I would say.

And that would be our ride number two. A ride to nowhere…

Born to Ride,
Bullet Riders Owned
bulletridersowned@gmail.com

Mahabaleshwar Ride (4th July, 2009)

Saturday, 4th July 2009

Mahabaleshwar Ride
Trip Log as narrated by Saurabh Wadikar

Rides: 1981 Bullet 350 std. + 1985 Bullet 350 std. + 2003 HH Splendor (from Pune)
Riders: Saurabh Wadikar (The Gent), Prashant Kumaran and his elder brother Pravin Kumaran
Plan: We never plan
Route: Panvel – Lonavala – Pune – Wai – Panchgani – Mahabaleshwar (Same way return)

As I said, we never plan. This was one of the first trips Prashant and I had made as a formed Bullet Club “BRO” (Bullet Riders Owned). Pretty exciting considering it was never planned to happen. However, we did talk about it last year when we made a sudden plan to ride the next day (in the rains) to Pune; the reason being Pravin’s B’day on 8th June `09.

We were stabbed on our backs when one of the BROs refused to join us for the ride, the culprit: Dhanup Pillai, with his deluxe 350 cc engine and recently worked upon bullet. Apparently, his Dad didn’t allow him to ride for 500 KMs (yeah right!).

Anyway, Prashant and I were supposed to meet up at the New Panvel flyover at 06:00 hrs, but as usual, he turned up late at 06:30 hrs. It was a good wait though, analyzed the sky for clarity, all geared up and talking to my bullet. We filled our rides up at the New Panvel BP petrol pump and rode off with a mighty presence on the highway; people waving their hands, looking out of their windows and admiring us. We took a small halt (engines running) just before the toll booth on NH4 (on the outskirts of Panvel) and took out Prashant’s trusty Kodak digicam and began the first photo-session of the ride. It was a little risky considering it was cloudy dark and the road had a blind bend. I had to stand guard for all the notorious ST buses and passenger transport vehicles. It was a good 5 minutes and we rode off again; this time below 60 KMPH (It is fast enough to kill you and slow enough to make you feel you’re safe) and believe it or not, almost alone on the highway, not an entity in sight. A good and smooth ride till Khopoli and as soon as the ghats started (Khandala), we were giving it a rev up. Soon we realized, it was not at all required as we were climbing like riding on an open road, just like butter (Did I mention, I had my head valves replaced with reinforced metal and ported & polished the head for a thundering performance?). Once atop the ghats, we stopped for a little “pee” break, and what a break it was. The picturesque mountains with cloud-caps almost seemed to welcome us to paradise. Dew wet roads and nice breeze throughout; very calmly we took to the Pune Expressway for a while till Lonavala (a good run of 5 KMs). This was almost like a movie scene where we couldn’t see a thing ahead of us, all fogged up for about 5 minutes. No sooner did the fog clear than the people started waving their hands out of their cars again. This time, they had cameras with them, clicking photos of us while we were riding. Celebrities? No way. Just Riders… I must admit, we felt like celebs for a while. Anyway, it was a good run till Lonavala and I even got to test the newly installed fog lights (just a day before the ride). We arrived at Lonavala at 08:00 hrs. at a small roadside snacks vendor where we ordered a double-egg omelette with “paav” & tea. Puffed a smoke and started riding again at 08:20 hrs. Have to admit, the b’fast was amazing as always!

Once back on the highway, we began talking to each other over any topic that was crossing our minds, be it traffic, rules, motorcycles and bikes. Yes, Motorcycles and Bikes. Big difference! Running our steeds at 60-70 KMPH was a lot of fun as we watched little wimps on their small bore engines trying too hard along us. We don’t do much boasting of the road thumping, it comes naturally. The roads too were like a blessing from God, not a single pothole in the entire stretch; felt like we were hovering. An hour of riding and comes a fork in the road. Which way to take? Both roads lead to Pune. We’d taken the left one last year, so we decided to go right, and what a choice! Never in my life have I seen a road made so beautifully, surrounded with trees, a full-fledged divider and a straight view towards the horizon. A good 3-4 KMs later, we met with the end of the Pune Expressway on NH-4 where we had to face a little traffic of container trucks, Volvo buses and unruly cars driven by the demi-“Schumacher” copycats. We stopped a few kilometres away asking for directions towards Kothrud, the place where Pravin was supposed to touch-base with us. Decent run in the outskirts of Pune till Kothrud seemed precarious as the traffic flow was mean and deceitful. However, we managed to reach the spot which was the start point of the Bangalore highway (still on NH-4) but only to wait for almost an hour for Pravin. Seems he had a turmoil elsewhere.

Pravin on his HH splendor with a side-bag and helmet only. Prashant was forced to give his jacket to his bro. Yes, he was wearing two! We started off slowly till both Prashant and I began to wonder if Pravin could keep pace with us. But Pravin was also a pro, as we found out. He usually commutes between Panvel and Pune on his 100cc splendor which is quite a feat considering the roads and the time of the year. We continued our way gradually uphill till we were close to the Katraj tunnel, 1.3 KMs long and dark tunnel. Amazing! The only thing we could see was the tail lights of the vehicles in front of us, and hear only the loud roar of our bullets echoing in the tunnel, deafening other commuters. We got hungry after a while and so we stopped at a small and decent snacks & ice-cream parlour. Grabbed a bite of one of the best “Misal-Paavs” I’ve ever tasted, while our photographer (Mr. Prashant) got on with his photo-session. We let the engines cool down after the terribly long, but gradual, incline till this place and fired our bullets for our destination. Staggering roads, wide and empty, almost like a scene out of the movies. Riding steady for about ½ an hour and we reached a small junction where we had to take a right towards Mahabaleshwar. Pravin had to fuel up his splendor at the petrol pump just close to the junction; while he was at it, me and Prashant waited with our engines running at low rpm. A few on-lookers asked us very curiously where we were headed, asked us about our rides and admired among themselves, commenting on the highness of the bullet.

We let Pravin ahead while Prashant and I started a few seconds later on the diversion at the junction. The roads started to look a little bad as compared to the heavenly freeway we’d just left behind. Nevertheless, it was not that bad, just a little test of our maneuvering skills over the small and despicable potholes while still at 60. The ghats started just after Wai and we began our ascent to the hill tops. Trust me when I say this, it was one of the best inclines and the safest roads I’ve ever been to (as against the popular belief of it being very dangerous). All it takes is a decent judgment and the rider’s experience… Of course, the roads are very tricky, but be in your limits and respect the traffic, it’ll respect you back. School going children, college guys and girls and the elderly, everybody had turned their faces on us while we went majestically cutting through the town. Soon, we had crossed the first hill of the five and decided to take a small break and enjoy the view from earth to the path we had to traverse. Hell, it turned out to be another “Pee” break. I still don’t recollect drinking water to that extent! Anyway, we let a few trucks cross and resumed our journey to the top. Cars, bikes, people, we let nothing come in our way. We rode and rode steady till everybody was left behind. It was just us (mostly Prashant and I) swerving all the way up. There was one point when we could actually hear the echo of our thumps across the hills. We were on such a good rhythm that we didn’t even bother to stop at the infamous Mapro Strawberry Garden, where all the tourists lined up their cars and bikes to pay a visit to the strawberry farm. Well, we didn’t really care. We straddled on till we reached a small cleft on the road and pulled over to enjoy the bliss that Panchgani had to offer. It was just exhilarating to picture ourselves on the brink of the steep cliff and overlook the valley. Prashant, as usual, got on with his Picasso image and started capturing the unforgettable memories of the ride. Good pics though! Dhanoop buddy, you missed it bro.

Things were going so well that it made me wonder, How? Why?? What’s the catch? I got my answer in a short while when a freak decision led me to get off of the road into a small deserted house just below a small hill, a few metres away. I made my way in only to realize the road wasn’t a road. It was one stretch of pure clay and silt soil. I got bloody stuck. Both my tires got caught in the fenders with clay in them acting like cement. It was a hell of a situation with me totally stuck in the mud and Prashant and Pravin looking at me and laughing their asses off. They came to my rescue trying to chug the bull out of the strip, and what a strip! A mere 5 metres of pushing took roughly an hour. Man! We were in deep *@it by the thought of rains. That really would have made things worse. It took Pravin’s hand to shove out all the clay from between the fenders and the tires to chug it for less than a metre. All that effort finally paid off and we brought the motorcycle out of the surface. Cleaned off the remaining soil and fired the engine to take it for a quick run for a kilometre, just to free out the wheels. In the process, we began hunting desperately for a service station to give my bullet a high pressure wash. I went back towards Panchgani only to find that there was no electricity in the service station. He told me I’d find one on the way to M’baleshwar and so I did. It was a pretty decent service station. The guy prioritized my motorcycle over others and did a good job. Damn! Cakes of soil came out of the fenders. He even gave all of us a free pressure wash. Yes, we were covered in mud, especially me! Well, gave him a hundred bucks instead of his demand for a measly twenty. But, he deserved it.

The ride continued till the heart of Mahabaleshwar, tearing through the foggy roads with near-zero visibility and snaky but beautiful roads. Felt almost like being in an old European village at the break of dawn. Now we got desperate for a hotel room, went on from hotel to hotel only to find “No Vacancy” boards all over. It wasn’t even peak-season and already?? Anyway, we caught hold of a few brokers offering rooms at 800 bucks for a night, but they didn’t seem very welcoming. We ignored them to find our own hotel. It took us an hour to find a good hotel named Pankaj Executive. They charged us 1200 bucks for the night; Large room with double-bed occupancy and good food at our disposal (expensive food!).

We rested awhile with our steeds neatly parked at the porch of the hotel. Tipped the attendant to take care of them while we catched a siesta. Both Prashant and I moved out in an hour to visit the marketplace and hunt for some souvenirs, but were out of luck as the only thing M’baleshwar is famous for was out of season, the strawberries. However, we did manage to find a nice joint where they specialized in Strawberry Crush, one of Mahabaleshwar’s finest delicacies priced reasonably. Packed one for Pravin (he stayed back in the hotel to rest) and moved around the marketplace in the rains looking for anything that met the eye. Sadly, nothing did! So we went back to the hotel, ordered some food & alcohol and went off to sleep.

The second day was very welcoming for us. It wasn’t raining but still was cold as hell. We started off at 09:30 hrs. and made our way through the snaky roads back to Panchgani where we made a quick stop for some cash at the ATM. While on our way to Wai, we came across a beautiful Tableland, a small cliff protruding out of the fourth hill of Panchgani. Beautiful! We halted for quite some time, relaxing, enjoying the picturesque and clicked some pretty amazing photos for our travelogue. Well, we rode off again with great poise all the way downhill till Wai and from there hit the road, a little shaky again, till NH-4. Stopped for a quick Cigarette break at the junction and headed towards Pune on the great highway. Mind you, the traffic is one of the easiest and the roads may get to your head, but a little concentration is all it takes. We were welcome by moderate-heavy showers till Katraj Tunnel and as if it was a time warp that when we emerged from the other end, it was all bright and sunny. Man! That’s one long tunnel… Anyway, we were “Dry as a stick” as Prashant exclaimed, by the time we reached Pune (It took us only an hour and a half from M’baleshwar this time) and started hunting for good food. Pravin took us to a decent hotel nearby where we ate voraciously to last us the winter, bid him goodbye till next week when he’d visit us, and Prashant and I started riding again for Panvel. Just as we reached Chandni-Chowk (outskirt of Pune), my speedo cable broke and had to ride blindly following Prashant to keep me notified of my speed as I didn’t want to break it in so fast. It was a good road ahead of us with no rains and no clouds in sight, only the sun seeming to bless us to prove Prashant’s provocative statement.

It was almost 16:00 hrs. by the time we reached Panvel and made our way home; parked out steeds nicely in their stable and an hour later washed it with diesel-water colloidal solution to a sparkling shine. We met late that evening at our favorite joint “Auberge” to exchange pics and the experience with Dhanoop and make him jealous of the trip.

Well! That was a brief of our first ride as a club. The experience is something that would never be lost but can be felt if you are willing to join us for a ride soon to come. Till then ride safe, ride steady and enjoy.

Cheers,
Bullet Riders Owned
bulletridersowned@gmail.com