Hyderabad to Pune Ride

Date: - 3rd July 2009
Route: - NH9
Time: - 1030 to 2045 [10 hrs 15 mins]
Distance: - 547 kms

So finally I came back to Pune after a year in Hyderabad. I was on so-called riding hiatus more because of non-availability of good riding destinations nearby. I came back on a Wednesday leaving Red Stallion in Hyderabad. Joined the office in Pune and again on Saturday took a bus back to Hyd so that I can ride back all the way to Pune.

Sometimes people do make a mistake of over-estimating themselves. This time I was one of them. I was so sure that I can leave Hyd by 1000 and reach Pune by 1900. I was wrong indeed. After confirming with the mechanic that bike was in a good shape to make this trip as silencer was making some noises, I headed towards Lingampally from Madhapur at exactly 1030 hours. Not even out of Hyd and heard some weird noise from somewhere. Again a stop at mechanic and did some cleaning of disc brake. Started off again but noise still persisted. I decided to carry on. The bike was loaded with almost 20kg of load in form of saddle bags and a backpack fastened on the back seat. So I started real slow occasionally touching 90s. I had to watch the Germany-Argentina encounter in the evening that was about to start at 1930. So I planned accordingly. That means only body-respite breaks and nothing else.

But this trip turned out to be a lot different than other trips. As I left Hyderabad city and entered countryside, I really didnt cared about time and speed and just watched the cities, villages, pastures, people I passed by. Initially I was about to take break after every 2 hrs, but soon I didnt mind the time intervals between breaks.Sometimes, it was 2 hrs, sometimes 30 mins. Was calling up my fiancée/mother alternatively updating my status (read "Read I was OK or not?"). I crossed AP without hassles.
Even about 50-70kms stretch of Karnataka was eventless. Then I entered Maharashtra and a homely feeling crept into me. I was sure now that even if something happens, at least I can communicate with people around me. And then eventually came the rains I never had ridden in such torrential rains. So this was a complete new experience. I just loved every part of its.. I loved the way nature changed its colours around me from time to time. At a time it was pitch dark and cloudy, then it started raining. No sooner than few kms and I could see sun some out and shine upon fresh greenery all around in a perfect magnificence. I loved every part of it. I didnt even notice when did my speeds dropped to meagre 60-70 as I was absorbed enjoying the beauty around me. And just when I was appreciating and thanking rain gods for showing me such a wonderful view, came another spell of rain. I didnt even notice the clouds gathering and all I saw was that people running helter-skelter in the next village I saw. The rains caught me unaware and I was drenched to the core. The visibility was very low and I was moving at 40s. Now being drenched back to reality I remembered the football QF in the evening and suddenly wanted to reach home early. Guess I was too late. I reached Solapur @280 kms in by 1600. Quite unlike me. On some other day I would have been there by 1400 itself.
Took a long break for body to get some respite. Already came to know that I gonna miss the match. But still tried to give it a go to reach Pune by 2000 at most. But the traffic increased and the road conditions degraded exponentially after Solapur because of 4 laning process of the highway. It was becoming pretty difficult to maintain the constant speeds. Moreover single lane bad NH was not helping either. As usual the ST buses never give a damn to bikers along with the innovas and scorpios. Wet roads worsened the situation. But finally found an able ally in a Sumo that was overtaking the slow moving trucks in all the fury. Got hold of that one and rode non stop was almost 2 hrs again untill my bum gave up and I had to take a halt. The roads were bad for almost 150kms from Solapur and by the time I hit good roads at 1900, it was already dark and as I am not that a good rider in dark had to follow a ST bus to avoid oncoming uppers. So finally reached Hadapsar at 2015 I guess. The last 15-20 kms inside city felt like the previous 500kms. But nonetheless reached home by 2045 and guess what saw that Germany was 3-0 up on Argentina. Quite unbelievable!!!

A turn in life

After a lot of resistance and lots of discussion, finally I permitted my mom to start looking for a perfect life partner for me. She was so confident that I would require at least a year or maybe more to zero out on the right choice. Even I wasn't ready to give up my freedom so early (I guess there is no lower limit for this so called "Early").

But how wrong my mom was and I stumbled upon my better half in flat one month. Now not that they forced me to accept her. It was a mutual agreement and now I am very glad that she is by my side today and forever from now on..

So today I broke up this news to all of my friends. So as expected received a lots of heartfelt comments and since morning I was busy attending calls. Tried completing some work between calls too.

But I noticed one disturbing trend. Most of my friends told me "Pushkar! Man now you will never be same again!!". Such is the impact of this society upon us that even I acknowledged them without even thinking about what I was accepting. Then after all calls were over, I just contemplated that why most of them said this same thing to me.

Why is it expected that a guy(girl) will stop meeting his(her) friends after marriage?

Why I wont be able to go out whenever I feel I want to?

Why I wont be able to work late in nights if the project schedule gets heavy?

Why I wont be able to attend the late night beer parties by my friends?

Why I wont be able to attend a rock show by Iron Maiden when they next time play in Bangalore or Mumbai?

Why I wont be able to take out my bike and head into some unknown road just because I feel like doing it?

I know she would also have the same question as me.

So many whys... Why everyone expects that once a guy marries, then his social life is over. His wife will take over all of his time so that he will never be able even think about something else (forget about someone else..) What I found was that I never even thought in my dreams that I would change. But its the change, whoever or whatsoever has initiated it, engulfs everyone and makes them bend to their knees and follow it. A person never changes. The society makes him change. Maybe I wont call up my friends as frequently as I used to do before, but they will stop calling me completely. I might have to hang out with them once in a while but they might be apprehensive in talking to me..

I know after marriage I will have to look after one more person in my life apart from me. It will never be for ME but it would be for US. That that doesn't mean that I should forget ME. It is ME who is sitting right now typing this crap on some dumb monitor.

I know sitting and typing all this bullshit is one thing and following it for all the rest of my life is another. But at least I am trying to resist this change.

It is said that after the so-called honeymoon period of marriage is over, the real life starts. It is because one gets carried to much into the newly found sensuousness, romance and affinity in this period and hence forgets what he was before marriage. But instead of using all this newly found bliss in my life in a single shot, I would like to use it in installments for the rest of my life. So that I will keep on feeling blessed forever.

Neither am I stoned nor drunk while writing this!! Guess today I didnt have much work, so I ended up writing this. Need to get something before I start acting like crazy!!

Hyderabad Nagpur round trip

Date: - 23rd Dec 2009
Route: - NH7 Hyderabad - Nagpur
Time: - 1345 to 2215 [8 hrs 30 mins]
Distance: - 497 kms
1345: Started from Hyderabad. Took NH9 as a bypass towards Bowenpally and off to NH7. The first 130kms are superb 4 laned along with electronic display boards for warnings. Was pleased to see that max. allowed speed as 100kmph. Didnt disappoint the authorities. No breaks for 3 hrs and managed to cover 220kms.

1645: Suddenly before Armur road changed to single lane and bad roads started. Again a small patch of 4 lane between Armur and Nirmal for about 40 kms and then started the worst roads. Firstly a small ghat section with a lot of monkeys on the road. Need to be careful, as there are monkeys all over. Even saw an unfortunate dead one lying in a pool of blood.

1740: I had crossed Nirmal and it was getting darker. My P200's stock light failed to help me. Took a break for tea at a dhaba. The road condition further worsened after ghat as there were practically no roads for about 20kms. Had to follow an APSRTC bus at meagre 30s.

1900: The last 20kms took me almost 45 mins and I reached Adilabad. A left turn inside city and I was again heading towards Nagpur.

1945: Once I crossed Bori, I was into Maharashtra. The roads again are no better here too. The complete NH7 is under 4 laning preparation. So one side of road was working and other under construction. So had to cross innumerous diversions. It was total dark around and at one point of time no one was following me too. So I decided to stop for a while as the night sky was too inviting. I have never seen so many stars in my lifetime till now becuase of the light pollution inside cities. It was scary as well as exciting to stop in middle of nowhere in complete darkness. A break for 10 mins and I started off. Found an Indica moving at some 60ish. So started tailgating. Very soon one more Indica overtook us and I started following that one as it was moving at 80-90s. It was getting damn chilly as night progressed. The Cramster jacket was keeping the torso warm but cargos didnt help much for my lower body.

2145: A small scary incident on outskirts of Nagpur. One dumb cyclist was crossing a crossroad on a 4 laned National Highway as if its his backyard without bothering about the oncoming vehicles. Sadly it was only mine. I breaked so hard that my front tire skidded. But thanks to P200s superb grip, I managed to keep it straight. The tires made sucha huge noise that we became a show for the others at that chowk. That dumbo smiled sheepishly and went ahead. I was also in no mood to get into an argument. So I made a move too.

2215: Home sweet home

Date: - 28th Dec 2009
Route: - NH7 Nagpur - Hyderabad
Time: - 0545 to 1345 [8 hrs]
Distance: - 494 kms

0545: Started from Nagpur and planed to reach by 1300 if my luck was good. Nothing special as kept on riding till AP-Maha border.

0730: Heard some strange noise from my bike's lower portion. As if someone had put a spoon inside an empty tin can and shaking it vigorously. I stopped and checked if some nut bolt had loosened or what. But no signs.

0815: Reached Adilabad. Tried searching for some mechanic but none of the shops had opened. Moreover the bad patch from Adilabad till Nirmal was about to start. I took the risk and moved ahead towards Nirmal. The noise was still there and I was not able to make out what was causing it. Most probably it was something related to silencer as I didn't notice any change in bike's performance.

1015: Reached Nirmal and found a mechanic. He said some part of silencer had fallen inside and making noise and it was not a major problem. I suspected catalytic converter. Now as the noise was really distracting me I put on my IPOD and started ripping as the road conditions bettered.

1100: A few kms after Nirmal encountered a road block on highway. I tried to negotiate from sides but everything was blocked. Reason... Separate Telangana.. The protestors had put about 8-10 bikes across the roads and also a Tata 608 after that just to ensure that no one escapes. It was nothing to worry about. They sang some songs and raised a lot of slogans. As I dont understand Telugu, I didnt get even a single word except that one of them involved the named Chiranjeevi..

1130: After half an hour they released the block. A commuter besides me told that now there will be a blockade after few kms.. Maybe more. As good patch had started, I ripped my bike as if devil was chasing me. And as a matter of fact, some guys were planning a blockade after some 30kms too. I made out this was the next batch of protestors. But they were just preparing and one out of the 2 lanes was not blocked. I didn’t bother to stop and sped away.

1300: Reached outskirts of Hyderabad.

1345: Finally reached at home in Madhapur.
Now as soon as I get time need to show the silencer to any decent Bajaj service station. Hope it’s not a silencer replacement.

Ride to Warangal

Date: - 31st Oct 2009

Route: - NH202 Hyderabad - Warangal - Hyderabad

Time:- 0630 to 1410 [7 hrs 40 mins]

Distance :- 345 kms

After a long hiatus from my riding trips, finally found a well deserving weekend off on 30th October. I had already decided the destination for my next ride and that was Warangal(… what is that???). It is only famous for its NIT and nothing else. Maybe I wanted to confirm this universal fact. By the way, it is also supposed to have a Fort and a thousand pillar temple(people make a big issue out of nothing..)

I sleep early on Friday night so that I can catch some good sleep before my ride. Saturday morning I wake up damn early – thanks to the bedbugs in my bed – I see that clock says 0415. Cursing the bedbugs I open my laptop and see that a live show by Iron Maiden named "Death on the Road" has been downloaded. Start watching the show. Next I look at watch and its 0545!! Man. I am late. This is what Maiden has done to me again and again. Make me forget time. A quick bath and a glass of milk and I am ready to go.

Leave my house at 0630. As usual I am always excited before my ride begins.Warangal highway is at other side of city. I prefer taking Uppal ring road instead of traversing in narrow lanes of Nampalli and Koti. Just near Warangal highway someone gives me wrong directions and I am almost 7-8kms ahead on the junction to Vijaywada. Ask the directions again and I take a U-turn. Don’t miss the Uppal circle this time and by 0730 I am cruising towards Warangal. Roads are quite empty for a NH. Catch a glimpse of Bhongir Fort on the way. It is built atop a big hillock. Don’t know its significance. Need to surf net for that.

I try hard not to rip through. But guess my instincts don’t allow me to. Soon bike is doing 110+ and I set my top speed of the day at 122kmph. But I did that with the help of a road with slight slope and that too with me fully ducted on tank.

At about 80kms from Hyderabad, find an unusual site on my left. The time is approx 0830. Two small hills, they seem to be wearing out on account of very old age (maybe thousands of years). Fortunately I find a detour that I feel that will lead me towards those hills. Take the detour and some photo session for my baby. I never get bored of these snaps.

The curious keeda inside me leads me inside the kutcha road. I can find no sight of any living creature. I go inside for about 5 kms and still no signs of getting any closure to the hills. I stop for one more photo shoot. Get off the bike after putting it on side stand. Hear a thud!! I look back and my bike is kissing the ground. Am still puzzled why it fell down??? I had put it rightly on the side stand. Don’t know, but some cynical feeling sinks inside me.(Maybe I am nervous because of all this loneliness and this bike falls for no apparent reason at all makes me more nervous) I take this as a sign to make a U-turn and head back to where I am supposed to go – Warangal . Lift my heavy Rosie with lot of effort (thank God there are no saddle bags.) Check what’s the damage. The leg guard has gone into its favorite position … inside where it is not supposed to be. Pull it out with some effort. Gear lever is just saved from breaking it seems. Not able to put my bike in the gear as it has also gone inside. But good news is that its not bent and just slipped inside. Do some hara-kiri and then finally its working. No more damage!!! Take the snaps and then head back to highway.

This is where bike fell down and I gave up chasing the mountain(in the background)

Civilization!!

Now no more timepass giri as clock is almost 0900 and I am still so far away from my destination. Get into top gear and start ripping.. Non stop I reach Hanamkunda at about 1015 hrs, the sister twin of Warangal @ exactly 170 kms. Make way to Warangal through crowded streets. Start asking locals for directions. Then I realize this is not Hyderabad and almost nobody knows Hindi. People want to help, but they just can’t. Also I start getting many weird looks because of my riding gear. Take off the gloves and the knee pads. Finally find a guy who knows Hindi and he tells me the route to temple as well as fort.

I really wanted to see 1000 pillars inside one roof. I thought it would be huge. But that was not the case. Most of the pillars are broken and it is after that I think Archaelogical Survey of India declared it as a monument of historical importance. Such a shame!!! I hardly spent 10 mins at the temple as some renovation was also going on.

The 1000 Pillars Temple.

Feeling dejected, I start finding route for fort. As usual, after many a wrong turns, I finally manage to reach the fort and guess what!! There is no fort. The fort has been destroyed long time back (similar to Tipu Sultan's fort at Mysore) and the whole fort has been converted to a part of city. Just in one corner, a small part of fort still stands that is also half park and half fort. I make way through the park towards a small old building that seems to be part of the fort at some point of time in history. Almost all the corners and secluded spots are pre-occupied by the couples. I feel like a fool roaming alone there in the lovers den. Take a few snaps to make myself believe that I was at fort. Eat up an energy bar as I didn’t have any breakfast. Wash up my face and I am ready to head back. .

Finding way out of city is a relatively less pain than earlier as I had marked a bypass from fort to highway in the google maps. Once out of city limits I again wear my riding gear. With Hyderabad reading 120kms, I start off non stop. I don’t even break for water. Keep going on and on. A Santro gives a challenge for a race. Accept it. That guy whips his baby with all the disdain. Whenever traffic comes, I lead and on empty roads he leads. This goes on for a while before he takes a turn somewhere and then there is no one to challenge me. Apart from the train. Oops! Where did the train come from. Most of this part of highway is parallel to a railway track. So I challenge the train. Unfair on my side as the road keeps on zigzagging while the rail enjoys a straight route. Somehow I manage to catch last 2 bogeys and then the road turns and I see train taking off like anything. Reach the Uppal circle and my bum is sore now, as I didn’t have any break since 120kms and almost 100 mins. Still carry on saying a break now will disturb my riding rhythm (as if city riding requires some kind of rhythm??). Trudge through the Uppal ring road but as soon as I hit Secunderabad, traffic hits like a bolt. I drain almost half of my battery only in honking till I reach my home by 1410.

Pune Hyderabad Ride

Date: - 8th Sept 2009

Route: - NH9 Pune - Solapur - Hyderabad

Time:- 0415 to 1300 [8 hrs 45 mins]

Distance :- 547 kms

Again my bike needed a transfer along with me to Hyderabad. Reached Pune on 5th Sep. Immediately gave the bike for servicing and all the marammat thing. Costed me a whooping 3k as bike neared 20k kms in almost an year. And as its a Bajaj I prefer to service it and replace parts as per manual because dont wanna take any risk on highways.

So my bike was ready. This was first time I was gonna sport my brande new riding gear. That means Cramster jacket, gloves, knee pads and my brand new Vega helmet .

Started from my home in Pune at 0415 after saying tata to aai. I left early because I planned to reach Hyderabad early afternoon so that I can attend office as I didnt have a leave for Tuesday. For first 50kms from Pune, road was a 4 lane with dividers. But as soon as it changed to single lane, my speeds dropped to as low as 60s. The upper light coming from oncoming vehicles was making life miserable for me. I had no option but to trail behind any big vehicle that can shadow me from the lights. For some time I was trailing a truck at meagre 40. Found an able ally in a pickup truck that was moving at respectable speeds of 70s. But soon he may have gotten suspicious about a bike following him at a close distance for such a long time and he too slowed down. I had to overtake him anyhow. So I trudged along the highway slowly till the daybreak.

At about 0545 the horizon lighted up and I took a small tea break. Feeling fresh from the break I started to rip the bike.By ripping I seriously mean it. I dont remember any instance when my bike was below 90 when I was on trafficless roads. Most of the times I was 100+.

Reached Solapur i.e 265 km by 0845. Tanked up my bike and also my stomach by sandwiches mom had prepared early in the morning. Well cant miss "Maa ke haath ka bana khaana"

Then started the ultimate part of the ride.

I started at 0900 from Solapur with Hyderabad exactly 300kms. Continuing the high speeds, I averaged almost 75kms per hour and managed to reach my room in Hyderabad @ 547 kms exactly at 1300. So that last 288 kms I covered in 4 hours with only 4 small breaks for water.

Yeah sometimes in between it did get monotonous. At one point of time I almost fell asleep. Stopped the bike immediately. Relaxed for 10 mins by just sitting down and closing my eyes and I was ready to go.

NH9 road condition is not great. But bikes, yeah they wont feel much brunt as they can easily ditch most of the potholes swiftly. Unlike cars that had to bear the brunt of the bad ditches on the roads. Also when a long lane of trucks comes in front of you, bikes can easily overtake and such is not the case with cars as they loose precious time behind stubbornly moving slow trucks.

So my take is that this route is doable by car as well as bike in 9 hrs considering road conditions. If the conditions improve, it maybe done in only 8 hours by car I guess. Need to try that too..Maybe next time