Ratnagiri To Pune…On Apache

Ratnagiri To Pune…On Apache

It’s been 6 months since I left my first job. I somehow cleared CDAC entrance and barely managed to get into ACTS, Pune for DAC (Diploma in Advanced Computing) course (Such situation is not new to me :) ).

All these days since I left my job, I was in Ratnagiri, my home town. After a long time I was enjoying mom’s food and had already put on lots of weight :)
Well, now it was time to go away from home again and this time it was Pune.

Idea of going to Pune on bike alone… was obviously contradicted by my parents. They suggested me to go by bus and send the bike via transport service. I could not imagine putting my bike in a transport service where the merciless transporters (who think the transport good is the most “to be neglected” thing of all) will handle my lovely bike. Moreover, an enthusiastic roadie will never sacrifice his biking spirit on a transport service. Finally after some discussion I was able to win over my parents and I was all set to start my odyssey.

It was February 16, 2008 morning. My mom and dad gave me blessings and gave 100+ instructions for safe journey. I was told to give a missed call after each 1 Hr of my journey. Nice way to inform that “I am safe”, isn’t it?

Well, it was 8:00 AM when I started off my engine. The bike started cruising on the calm roads of Ratnagiri. Just after 5 km I took my first stop…Shree Mahalaxmi Mandir which is situated on boundary of Ratnagiri city. Almost all drivers of Ratnagiri stop at the temple to pray for a safe journey and I am no exception.

I started off again and it was no time when I reached Hatkhamba (13 km from Ratnagiri). Only thing I know about Hatkhamba is, it has lots of petrol pumps. So…I did check the tyre pressure and satisfied the petrol tank.

It was this point when I started my odyssey in true sense. Well, this was not my first long journey on the bike. Earlier I had two such journeys, one from Mumbai to Pune and the other from Mumbai to Ratnagiri. I was accompanied by my best friend Amey in both rides. We enjoyed both the journeys like anything. But this time he was too busy to come and hence I decided to go alone. With this much of biking experience with me, I decided to stop after each 50-60 km to let an engine to catch its breath.

The bike started zooming at about 80-90 kmph on NH-17. It was 8:30 AM and the road was still empty. I crossed beautiful Niwali ghat and then a pretty stretch till Sangameshwar. Within just an hour I reached Arawali (9 AM). It’s a small village on NH-17 where it gives out a route to Makhjan….my village. As a tribute to nostalgic memories…I decided to take a Wada-paav break at Arawali.

9:00 AM: Wada-Paav break At ARAWALI

At about 9:20 the trip continued and soon I left NH-17 (near Chiplun) and took a right to continue to East. The road though not up to the mark was bearable.

When I started my lonely journey I thought it will be a boring one. I was absolutely wrong. The bike never lets you feel lonely. She starts talking to you as and when you feel alone. Mile after mile you fall deep in love with your bike. You feel the gear shifting sound to be coming out of your girl friend’s lips.

As I gusted through the road, I arrived at the underside of great Sahydri. It was about 10:15, when I decided to take a much required ‘road side’ break.

10:15 : Road side break underside Kumbharli ghat

I continued and it started off with the most exciting part of my journey. Yes, I was leaning and angling the corners. It was Kumbharli Ghat. You just climb up and up and up. As you climb up, Sahydri’s beauty starts revealing. I could not stop thinking of the scenario in Kumbharli during Monsoon. I bet itwill be worth doing a trip in Monsoon again.

Kumbharli Ghat is safe to ride and is filled to brim with nature’s beauty. I could not stop myself of taking yet another break to quench my eyes.

10:30 Kumbharli Ghat

On the top of World

In the memory of “Amar Riders”

It was 11:00 when I reached the plains of Maharashtra. Immediately I could sense change in surroundings. It was dry; red (Kokan) soil was replaced with black soil; all ups and downs, left and right curves were gone…It was plain straight road. There were no Mango trees. All I could see was just sugarcane. I already started missing my home.

To infinity and beyond…

I reached Patan at around 11:15 AM and soon to a place called Umbraj. It was about three and half hours since I started and the distance covered was 170 km. It is Umbraj where I really started pushing my bike. Yes, it was Pune-Bangalore highway. The road is clean and potless. On this highway all you have to do is press the throttle. It was 90 then 100 and even 110; still bike gave no sign of distress. It was going as smooth as butter.

Till this point no one dared to overtake me. All of a sudden an unknown foreign bike passed by me and I could do nothing other than just looking at it. Mostly that bike was burning its tyres at about 150 kmph+. Feeling jealous of that rider I continued with my journey thinking how fuel efficient my bike is than his… :)

After a while it was Toyota Qualis (What’s the spelling?) which was challenging me. Toyota took lead over TVS on a straight road without traffic, but obviously I was not going to give up. Soon a few curves came when I reached at the rear of Qualis. Then came a comparatively sharp right turn; I geared down, leaned and passed waving the refined Toyota engine. I don’t know why but the driver’s flag went down.

The Sun started showing his power. I was thirsty and hungry…constantly zooming at 90 on the tree-less road. I saw a watermelon stall alongside road. Stopping at the stall was impossible at that speed and I was not interested in riding back to the stall. I hoped for yet another ‘Kalingad wala’ to douse Sun’s fire. It was 1km and then 2 but no watermelon. I was blaming myself for not stopping at the first stall. I thought what if I have to go like this to Pune… I slowed down and was desperate to eat watermelon. Finally, I could see fresh red and green color. I was so thankful to god.

Emptying third plate of watermelon I started the engine again. This was my last stop before I reached near Pune. As a complete stranger, I had no choice other than following the road signs. Because of the misleading sign “To Pune city” I joined the old Katraj road instead of new one. The road was terrible. It was terrible even inside the Katraj tunnel.

Soon, I was caught up by Pune traffic. I was just a few kms from Swargate, near a signal which was red. The only person who bothered to look at Red signal was me; everyone else was just passing by me and yelling at me as I was in their way!! “Welcome to Pune” I said to myself. Soon I realized that stopping at a red signal in Pune is a sin. No wonder if Pune traffic starts stopping at green signal!!

Finally after tolerating Pune traffic for about half an hour I was home…Safely…

After writing all this, I would say, “Riding in Pune is much simpler than writing a chunk of words!!”

Short Summary:

(Especially for those unlucky people who got bored and just scrolled through whatever is written above :)) )

Starting Point: Ratnagiri

Destination: Pune

Path followed:

Ratnagiri –> Hatkhamba –> Arwali –> Chiplun –> Kumbarli –> Patan –> Umbraj –> Pune

Ratnagiri to Umbraj (170 km) -> Avg. Speed: 45 kmph, Road condition: Average

Umbraj to Pune (155 km) -> Avg. Speed: 69 kmph, Road condition: Good

Total Distance: 325 km

Total Time (Including all breaks): 6 Hrs

Average speed: 54.16 kmph

Total Number of breaks: 5 (Each after 50-60 kms)

Total time of pure riding: 5 Hrs

Pure riding average speed: 65 kmph