Route: - Pune - Dharwad - Yellapur - Sirsi - Jog Falls - Murudeshwar - Sawantwadi - Amboli - Kolhapur - Pune
Distance: - 1400 kms
Day 1 : Saturday 21st August
0530 : I am ready. The bags are packed and hauled onto the Red Stallion. I am a bit nervous like I am before every long ride. But this time its gonna be 1000km+ adrenaline gushing ride through mountains, jungles and beaches. I just cant wait to start. My mother is in the parking to wish me a happy journey. She is as usual cynic about why I am going for such a long ride again. I don’t have an option to kick start (it feels so good to kick start a bike) so have to push the start button to bring the RS to life. Start from my home at 0540 to meet the rest of fellow bikers at Chandni Chowk. When I reach there, I find only Faiz along with his yellow FZ-S. Ayush comes after a few mins on his black Thunderbird. Sagar astride his black P150 is waiting for us near Sinhgad bypass.
0545 : Rest of the team is going to be late so we three decide to start the journey and head towards Satara leniently so that others will catch up soon. Sagar starts on his own.
0730 : We reach Satara without any break leisurely cruising on dear NH4. (NH4 has went on to acquire highly sentimental value among bikers in Pune. Such is the beauty of this road). Sagar joins us too. Come to know that Bharat is not gonna make it to the trip because of his tooth surgery and Royd will be catching us up on his Red Fazer very soon. Ankur and Arti join us on his black CBZ.
0800 : 5 bikes start from Satara. Hardly after 40 kms I notice Faiz’s rear tyre is low on air. We stop to check and find that the rear tyre is almost flat. Sagar goes ahead to find a puncture-wala. The guy says he will not be able to mend tubeless tyre. So its decided that Faiz will walk back some kms and mend the puncture in that village. Meanwhile Royd joins. Enthusiasm somewhat subsides because of this event but still we decide to move on.
0530 : I am ready. The bags are packed and hauled onto the Red Stallion. I am a bit nervous like I am before every long ride. But this time its gonna be 1000km+ adrenaline gushing ride through mountains, jungles and beaches. I just cant wait to start. My mother is in the parking to wish me a happy journey. She is as usual cynic about why I am going for such a long ride again. I don’t have an option to kick start (it feels so good to kick start a bike) so have to push the start button to bring the RS to life. Start from my home at 0540 to meet the rest of fellow bikers at Chandni Chowk. When I reach there, I find only Faiz along with his yellow FZ-S. Ayush comes after a few mins on his black Thunderbird. Sagar astride his black P150 is waiting for us near Sinhgad bypass.
0545 : Rest of the team is going to be late so we three decide to start the journey and head towards Satara leniently so that others will catch up soon. Sagar starts on his own.
0730 : We reach Satara without any break leisurely cruising on dear NH4. (NH4 has went on to acquire highly sentimental value among bikers in Pune. Such is the beauty of this road). Sagar joins us too. Come to know that Bharat is not gonna make it to the trip because of his tooth surgery and Royd will be catching us up on his Red Fazer very soon. Ankur and Arti join us on his black CBZ.
0800 : 5 bikes start from Satara. Hardly after 40 kms I notice Faiz’s rear tyre is low on air. We stop to check and find that the rear tyre is almost flat. Sagar goes ahead to find a puncture-wala. The guy says he will not be able to mend tubeless tyre. So its decided that Faiz will walk back some kms and mend the puncture in that village. Meanwhile Royd joins. Enthusiasm somewhat subsides because of this event but still we decide to move on.
0900 : Faizs heads back and we move on. Decide to stop at Sai International before Kolhapur for breakfast and reach there by 1000 something.
1130 : After a good and heavy breakfast, we target Hubli straightaway 230kms ahead. Top up the fuel tanks and start the ripping. The NH4 stretch after Kolhapur till Belgaum is heaven. Sparse traffic. Excellent roads. Even speeds of 100+ feel like its nothing. Stop in between for some photoshoot while crossing some random lake on highway.
1130 : After a good and heavy breakfast, we target Hubli straightaway 230kms ahead. Top up the fuel tanks and start the ripping. The NH4 stretch after Kolhapur till Belgaum is heaven. Sparse traffic. Excellent roads. Even speeds of 100+ feel like its nothing. Stop in between for some photoshoot while crossing some random lake on highway.
1300 : Reach Belgaum and rains start. They start as if there is no tomorrow. We keep on continuing but speeds drop a little.
1415 : We are in between Dharwad and Hubli where we find a turn straightaway going to Yellapur by passing Hubli. 15 mins gone but Ankur fails to turn up. Ayush goes back and both the bikes re-appear after few mins. Ankur’s bike is not picking up speed. Try a lots of stuff. Also my bike shows low battery. I ignore it. A couple of good hearted villagers come and help out by cleaning the spark plug. But still that doesn’t help. To worsen the matters, rain starts again. We take a shelter under a bridge as Ankur shows the bike to a mechanic we find luckily. He is unable to help and tells us to go to Dharwad to mend it. After half an hour of rains, we start towards Dharwad towing Ankur’s bike (actually pushing it with our legs). I go ahead to find a mechanic. Luckily find one just 2-3 kms ahead. Tell him the problem. He goes back on his scooter and somehow manages to bring bike to his shop. When he opens spark plug, he smiles and just resets the distance between two point at head of spark plug and voila!!! The bike is up again. Then it strikes that we are hungry and have skipped lunch. So munch on bananas at the shop besides the mechanic. Now its my bike’s turn as it refuses to start. The mechanic suggests a battery shop 2 blocks ahead. He says starter relay is gone and needs to be fetched from a Bajaj shop on other side of town. Royd takes the guy as we are new to the city and I sit at his shop to man the counter (Yeah!!! This is what he requests me to..). After almost 25-30 mins, he turns up and fixes the new relay. The bike is working again. Look at watch and its 1730. Our plans to reach Jog Falls that day itself falter. We decide to target Sirsi.
1730 : We start for Yellapur. The state highways are in a pretty bad shape and somehow we reach Yellapur and fuel up the tanks again.
1845 : Catch the road to Sirsi. Now this road seems to be a single lane without street lamps and completely submersed in a jungle. We decide to ride in formation. 1. Royd. 2. Sagar. 3. Ayush . 4. Ankur .5. Me. The ride through jungle starts. Its pitch dark and nothing else except 4 sets of tail-lights before me and sinister night behind me. Some occasional vehicles pass by. Otherwise its just dark. After almost 60 kms, and more than an hour we reach Sirsi. Decide to take a halt and find a suitable hotel. Find it very soon.
2030 : The owner says dinner will close by 2130, so quickly change and come for dinner only to find that the menu consists of Rice Plate and nothing else. Being grateful that at least some food is there and we pounce upon rice plate like anything. After super heavy meal, just head to the rooms and crash on beds. Even before I hear something its already bright outside window.
Route: Pune – Dharwad – Yellapur – Sirsi.
Distance: 560 kms
1415 : We are in between Dharwad and Hubli where we find a turn straightaway going to Yellapur by passing Hubli. 15 mins gone but Ankur fails to turn up. Ayush goes back and both the bikes re-appear after few mins. Ankur’s bike is not picking up speed. Try a lots of stuff. Also my bike shows low battery. I ignore it. A couple of good hearted villagers come and help out by cleaning the spark plug. But still that doesn’t help. To worsen the matters, rain starts again. We take a shelter under a bridge as Ankur shows the bike to a mechanic we find luckily. He is unable to help and tells us to go to Dharwad to mend it. After half an hour of rains, we start towards Dharwad towing Ankur’s bike (actually pushing it with our legs). I go ahead to find a mechanic. Luckily find one just 2-3 kms ahead. Tell him the problem. He goes back on his scooter and somehow manages to bring bike to his shop. When he opens spark plug, he smiles and just resets the distance between two point at head of spark plug and voila!!! The bike is up again. Then it strikes that we are hungry and have skipped lunch. So munch on bananas at the shop besides the mechanic. Now its my bike’s turn as it refuses to start. The mechanic suggests a battery shop 2 blocks ahead. He says starter relay is gone and needs to be fetched from a Bajaj shop on other side of town. Royd takes the guy as we are new to the city and I sit at his shop to man the counter (Yeah!!! This is what he requests me to..). After almost 25-30 mins, he turns up and fixes the new relay. The bike is working again. Look at watch and its 1730. Our plans to reach Jog Falls that day itself falter. We decide to target Sirsi.
1730 : We start for Yellapur. The state highways are in a pretty bad shape and somehow we reach Yellapur and fuel up the tanks again.
1845 : Catch the road to Sirsi. Now this road seems to be a single lane without street lamps and completely submersed in a jungle. We decide to ride in formation. 1. Royd. 2. Sagar. 3. Ayush . 4. Ankur .5. Me. The ride through jungle starts. Its pitch dark and nothing else except 4 sets of tail-lights before me and sinister night behind me. Some occasional vehicles pass by. Otherwise its just dark. After almost 60 kms, and more than an hour we reach Sirsi. Decide to take a halt and find a suitable hotel. Find it very soon.
2030 : The owner says dinner will close by 2130, so quickly change and come for dinner only to find that the menu consists of Rice Plate and nothing else. Being grateful that at least some food is there and we pounce upon rice plate like anything. After super heavy meal, just head to the rooms and crash on beds. Even before I hear something its already bright outside window.
Route: Pune – Dharwad – Yellapur – Sirsi.
Distance: 560 kms
Day 2 : Sunday 22nd August
0800 : Packing up we decide to head to Jog Falls straightaway as breakfast will eat up most of the time in Sirsi. Nitin + Gita are gonna catch us at Murudeshwar from Pune astride Red P150 .
0900 : Leave for Jog Falls from Sirsi. Some directions from locals and we are on way to Jog Falls. And that is where I find the shit-iest road I have ever rode upon. For every 50m, I could find loads of dung cakes happily lying on road waiting to be cut across by not so fortunate wheels of the tourist vehicles. I am finding it pretty hard to avoid cutting these (dung) cakes as I don’t want any part of those things upon my riding gear or my bike. At last reach Mavingundi on the SH towards Jog Falls. Reach there by 1030 something.
1045 : Security guards tell us that we cant go to the base of falls during monsoon and also they cant keep a vigil on to the bags we have put up on our bikes using bungee cords and all. Again a super heavy breakfast. The bill amounts to some 600 for 6 guys and what we east is only idli-wada, dosa and omlettes. Roam around Jog Falls. The water level in falls is at normal level so do not find the views as breathtaking as we saw on internet. But still the view is amazing. We laze around for quite some time.
0900 : Leave for Jog Falls from Sirsi. Some directions from locals and we are on way to Jog Falls. And that is where I find the shit-iest road I have ever rode upon. For every 50m, I could find loads of dung cakes happily lying on road waiting to be cut across by not so fortunate wheels of the tourist vehicles. I am finding it pretty hard to avoid cutting these (dung) cakes as I don’t want any part of those things upon my riding gear or my bike. At last reach Mavingundi on the SH towards Jog Falls. Reach there by 1030 something.
1045 : Security guards tell us that we cant go to the base of falls during monsoon and also they cant keep a vigil on to the bags we have put up on our bikes using bungee cords and all. Again a super heavy breakfast. The bill amounts to some 600 for 6 guys and what we east is only idli-wada, dosa and omlettes. Roam around Jog Falls. The water level in falls is at normal level so do not find the views as breathtaking as we saw on internet. But still the view is amazing. We laze around for quite some time.
1545 : Start again and fog disappears very soon. The twists and turns are too good to resist and our speeds increase. But the roads are not so good and we really cant rip off. One scary incident when I almost go offroad on the wrong side while negotiating a left turn. I come back to my senses and reduce my speed.
1630 : Reach Honawar and make some amendments to Ankur’s bike. My battery is gone and it requires push start every time (courtesy – no kick). Start for Murudeshwar and reach there by 1730. Get to hear from Nitin that Gita is not feeling well, so they halt at Yellapur itself.
1800 : Check in RMS residency at Murudeshwar. A beautiful resort overlooking beach on one side and Arabian Sea on other side. Feels really peaceful. After a walk on the main road, decide to have dinner at Naveen beach resort. It is for those tourists staying in RNS residency who wanna booze and have non-veg. Both these things are not allowed in RNS as it is adjoining the Murudeshwar temple and also a gigantic statue of Lord Shiva resides in RNS as well. Funny indeed!!
2000 : A nice dinner at Naveen beach resort. Come back to rooms and celebrate Ankur’s birthday as well.
2300 : Sleep off after another eventful but satisfying day.
Route: Sirsi – Jog Falls – Murudeshwar
Distance: 160kms
Day 3 : Monday 23rd August
0600 : I wake up and start packing my bags. I am gonna head back to Pune alone as I need to be home for Rakshabandhan the next day. The other guys gonna head to Goa for a day and then to Pune the next day. Royd has to attend an important call at 1300 and he decides to accompany me till Goa so that he can reach his uncle’s house before the call.
0700 : Push start the bike (I keep on doing it till end of trip) and head towards Goa. The roads are bad from Murudeshwar till Honawar (30kms). After that the good stretch starts and we keep up the good speed. I call up Nitin asking should I come to Yellapur in case he needs any help as Gita’s health is still not so good. She has high fever running. We decide that they can take rest that day and head off to Kolhapur / Pune next day depending on her health. Push start…
1030 : Reach South Goa border and take a break to tank up as Royd’s Fazer has hit reserve. We continue together till Panaji.
1130 : Reach Panaji and Royd bids good bye. I continue towards Sawantwadi. As soon as I hit Maharashtra border, bad roads start and continue till Sawantwadi. A right turn and I head towards Amboli ghat. Once again rains decide to accompany my lonely soul. Even if I need to take a break to drink water, I search for a slope so that push start will be easier.
1230 : Start ascending Amboli ghat. Rain is pounding. I feel thirsty so I just open up my visor and taste the sweet rain. The water is sweet indeed. But decide to stop nevertheless as quenching thirst through raindrops means I will require rain all the way till Pune. Just before Amboli waterfall, witness a part of road battered by a landslide. It scares the shit out of me. Its like I am travelling on a road climbing a ghat and suddenly there is no road. On your right is a huge mountain, a muddy stretch of 100m in front of you about 3-4 meters wide and a plunging valley on the left without any barricade. I just halt there although I know that is the way I have to go. I see a vehicle coming after some time and entering this patch from other side. So I start again and make it to the falls and decide to have hot bhajji- wadapav, etc. The stall owner explain me regarding the landslide and how I wont encounter rain after crossing Amboli. Push start…
0700 : Push start the bike (I keep on doing it till end of trip) and head towards Goa. The roads are bad from Murudeshwar till Honawar (30kms). After that the good stretch starts and we keep up the good speed. I call up Nitin asking should I come to Yellapur in case he needs any help as Gita’s health is still not so good. She has high fever running. We decide that they can take rest that day and head off to Kolhapur / Pune next day depending on her health. Push start…
1030 : Reach South Goa border and take a break to tank up as Royd’s Fazer has hit reserve. We continue together till Panaji.
1130 : Reach Panaji and Royd bids good bye. I continue towards Sawantwadi. As soon as I hit Maharashtra border, bad roads start and continue till Sawantwadi. A right turn and I head towards Amboli ghat. Once again rains decide to accompany my lonely soul. Even if I need to take a break to drink water, I search for a slope so that push start will be easier.
1230 : Start ascending Amboli ghat. Rain is pounding. I feel thirsty so I just open up my visor and taste the sweet rain. The water is sweet indeed. But decide to stop nevertheless as quenching thirst through raindrops means I will require rain all the way till Pune. Just before Amboli waterfall, witness a part of road battered by a landslide. It scares the shit out of me. Its like I am travelling on a road climbing a ghat and suddenly there is no road. On your right is a huge mountain, a muddy stretch of 100m in front of you about 3-4 meters wide and a plunging valley on the left without any barricade. I just halt there although I know that is the way I have to go. I see a vehicle coming after some time and entering this patch from other side. So I start again and make it to the falls and decide to have hot bhajji- wadapav, etc. The stall owner explain me regarding the landslide and how I wont encounter rain after crossing Amboli. Push start…
1330 : Start from Amboli towards NH4 near Nipani. The roads are boring, bad, monotonous, etc. Moreover I am completely drenched. So open up my jacket a bit to let some fresh air in. I take a bad decision for the route ahead. Instead of heading towards Sankeshwar via Gadhinglaj, I take the internal route to Nipani to save a few kms. Road quality worsens intermittently. I cross into Karnataka and I loose track of route as all sign boards are in Kannada. So I use Indian GPS i.e. locals at every next village to ask directions.
1445 : At last I hit NH4 and I feel relieved as if I have reached home which although is almost 300 kms ahead. Deciding not to waste time I hit the accelerator and reach Kolhapur.1530 : A stop at McDonalds for lunch. I want a dal-roti kinda thing but settle over here as I need to move quickly. Fast food literally. Push start…
1630 : The battery is almost discharged and my horn is working infrequently. Indicators are dull . I fear for headlight. So I forget everything and make a point to reach Pune before daybreak. Practically impossible. But still I can try. Again fuel up the tank and I am off to Pune. Push start…
1715 : Reach Karad. Make mental calculation that I covered 83 kms in last one hour. Its amazing as the bike has been seriously battered in last 2 days and still its running this good. But however I try its not hitting top speed in excess of 100. So I cruise along at 90-100.
1800 : Reach Satara. Lubricate chain as its making some noise. The mechanic gives me a stare looking at my bike, me, my attire, my body language. I am hopelessly tired and ignore him. Push start…
1900 : Reach outskirts of Pune and cross Katraj tunnel. Traffic starts.
1930 : I reach home. Notice that I did Kolhapur-Pune in just 3 hours including a couple of breaks.My fiancé is dead worried for me so she comes home to visit me. As usual mother is happy to see me. Manage to change and take a bath. Have dinner.
2100 : I am dead asleep.
Route: - Murudeshwar - Panaji - Sawantwadi - Kolhapur - Pune
Distance: - 680 kms
Total Distance :- 1400kms (Approximate as trip-meter got reset during the battery fiasco..)
