Round Trip

Rippling Lake
Originally uploaded by vibhu

I went for a ride yesterday morning.

My bike had a bit of problem. Actually a lot of problem with the engine having seized up. Finally with the help of Praveen , we went hero honda workshop hunting and contacted the people at the HH showroom in Pashan, and they then dragged the bike back to their workshop. After a week at their place, i got back the bike on saturday. So , time now to put in some kms. Late saturday night posted on BN about going on a ride on sunday, and smsed a few people. Mostly got nay's as a reply - which was a good thing, cause a start at 7am as originally envisioned did not happen. I got up close to 8am, and was out of the house at 8:30am.

The route i took was Baner -> Chandni Chowk -> Mulshi -> Tamhini Ghat -> N17 -> Pen -> Khapoli -> Lonavala -> Pune. In all 280kms.

Ride to mulshi was a slow one. With people getting up on sunday morning, the small villages on the way were getting crowded. The road was good in parts and real bad in others - quite bumpy. stopped at Disha's Dhaba at mulshi, and ordered Omlet Pav with tea. Also picked up one bottle of mineral water to drink on the way. The stop was 20 mins and then i moved on, looking for a good place to take a few shots. The above pic is halfway between mulshi and Tamhini - you get a good view of the lake.

This stop was a long one. I felt at peace. Alone , and out there with nature. The gentle sound of the waves lapping on the shore. The sound of crickets. The wind. Bliss.


Shaking off my revere i moved on. Tamhini ghats is real bad now. The road surface is quite bumpy, and it takes all the fun out of the curves. The bike was behaving quite well and sticking well to the road. As I decended from Mulshi, the air started to become hotter. The road comes out at Kolad, and that place smells quite strongly of fish. The sea is near I think. From there took the right towards mumbai - the road is a single lane highway coming from Goa. Road surface is quite good, but the traffic is quite high.

Stopped after a time and saw missed calls and sms update from the GQ. thats when i noticed the leaking engine. The oil had come onto my shoes, and was dripping a bit. Hmm... took a swig of water and thought what to do. I was at the max point, and there was no shorter distance , so just started to ride back.

Took the turn from Pen towards khapoli. This is one great twisting road. Unfortunately my speed was severly restricted due to new piston riding limits and now the oil leakage. Still, it was a breeze going faster than the trucks inching up on the steep incline. Just before lonavala , this road merges with the express highway and for this brief stretch bikes can ride on the highway, and it was an ejoyable ride before taking the exit to Lonavala. At Lonavala stopped for a bit at RK for a limca. Checked the oil again, called the service center guy and talked to him.

Ride from here to Pune was uneventful. was at home at 2pm. Reached the service center at 2:30. The issue was found to be a problem with the engine gasket. The chap replaced that - and said 'sorry'. Man. i really like giving my bike here for service !

All in all, it was a good ride. Back in the saddle again after a long time. Back to riding solo after a long time. Gave a good amount of time to think alone. Also got feedback from the body that i have become soft. I had to stop every hour as the butts would hurt. But I enjoyed every single moment of it !

Ride Safe !