535 km's of pure fun,hard biking and neck ache!!! :-)

23rd of May '09.Nothing special about the day in my life except the maniac in me had decided to ride down to Goa from Pune all alone.The previous day i was gettin goosebumps but as some wise men in sprite said "darr ke aage jeet hai".So the let the journey begin...

They say in Mumbai life starts at 12 midnight and ends at 6 in morning.you see Pune is lot different. People are still to wake up at 5am. After freshening up a bit i took my warm jacket and left the flat.I started the bike at 5.45am and within 15min i was out of Pune city. Not that i was speeding but except some sleepy rickshaw-wallas,just-reached-Pune travelers,a few news paper sorters there was no one on road. just complete contrast to what Pune exactly 12hrs later.

The above pic was taken at entrance of old Katraj tunnel at 6am. After crossing the tunnel i accelerated to average 60kmph.Next ghat was the Kambatki ghat.Not so mighty as compared to the one i encountered later along the journey but i was enjoying the turns.


I was betting on the weather not to play spoilsport(Not that i would have sued IMD for wrong sat. images :D).And as it turned out even though it was cloudy the wind was cool and the clouds saved me from the harsh sun.Overall the timing turned out to be just perfect.

7.30am and i was in Satara.110km on the trip meter.Still long way to go. though i dint have much the last night but i was not feeling hungry.Yeah i cant say the same about adrenalin though.For me the next stop in mind was Kolhapur. a 120km ride from Satara.But the 4 lanes of NH-4 hardy give any trouble and it was a smooth ride.Cutting across trucks and cars of which cars would eventually take revenge and zoom past you.but at least i defeated the trucks.lol.By now i was comfortable riding around 80kmph.for a small stretch i even hit 115kmph.
Around 8am in morning somewhere close to Umraj and my bike celebrated 30,000km.(finally after 5yrs)yeah!!!.

The clock showed 10am and i was 30km away from Kolhapur when the hunger for food took better of me. I stopped at a decent hotel for some snacks. After gobbling medu wadas and a glass of lassi(it was that thick!)i hit the road again.Next stop Kolhapur.

10.30am and i was in Kolhapur city.On a suggestion from my friend i decided to try Kolhapuri Misal at "Fadtare Misal".Had little tough time to find it since it was unlike what i expected.it was a small family run place no bigger than a 4x3m room with thin tables shared by at least 20-30 people.Although the misal was not that great and certainly not upto my expectations but it was different and good for a change.After the misal extravaganza i had to now search my way to the lake so that i can take the road to gaganbawda.After asking a couple of people i finally arrived on the banks of Rankala lake.



After some moments at the lake i hit the road. This by far was the worst stretch of road full of potholes and traffic.Another 50km from Kolhapur and i arrived on top of the mighty Gaganbawda ghat. The view was just breathtaking.I had seen the ghat at night(i could only see the road and nothing else that time :-))but now it was awesome.







Now it was time to leave the ghat. As i rode down the twists and the turns the ghat seemed never ending. If the road was better it would have been a more wonderful ride but even then the fear instilled in you by the shear height of the ghat makes you ride slow.
Once down the ghat(which seemed like after ages!) it was one of THE BEST stretch of road i have ever ridden on.Till Talere where the road meets NH-17 it was full of trees along both sides with not a single ray of sun falling on me and freshly laid asphalt. It was just pure biking nirvana.But by now my neck was starting to hurt badly and i needed a break.After joining NH17 at Talere i continued till Sindhudurg Nagari passing through town of Kankawali.Here is where i decided to take 5min of rest.After 5min and a glass of fresh pineapple juice i was back to my riding ways.
Now the neck was hurting even more.Every now and then i was counting every milestone on road as the figure next to "Panjim" became lesser and lesser.
After passing through Kudal,Sawantwadi and Banda i finally arrived in Patradevi at around 2pm. Another 60-70km and i was in Panjim by 2.30pm and in Margao at sharp 3pm.Its been close to 9hrs since i left from Pune.It was time to celebrate so i gifted myself a B&R scoop.By now i was feeling damn tired and needed rest but before that i had one more thing to do-Surprise my GF.you see neither she nor any one at home knew about my plan. So it was a nice little surprise for them.I got all the stupid questions like what?how?when? but what the heck here i was standing on my legs safe and sound!It was one the best experiences in my life.(Worth the pain).All i can say is thank you God.