Rain Ride !

A steep downward gradient. Loose stones make up what some say is a road. Slippery mud at places where the stones have been washed away. Heavy rains. My breath mists up the inside of the helmet and my glasses as i mutter 'Oh Shit!'

The plan started off inocculously enough. Meet up at Lonavala to discuss about the upcoming trip to Leh. There were going to be 5 of us meeting up there. Bike ride to lonavla is about an hour. I left home at 10:15am - camera and rain gear in my bags. Not even a drizzle. Around Hinjewadi crossing it started to drizzle. Stopped, put on my 2 piece raincoat. Started off again, and voila .. the sun shines. Damn! It feels hot. This did not last long. The closer i got to lonavala, the darker the clouds looked. Finally ended up there at 11:10 just as the drizzle started. The stopover point was RK.

Waited . Waited some more . Ordered a cup of tea (where are the damn fellows). Smsd them that I had reached. Got sms from Hrishi - hes not coming - rains were too heavy in mumbai. PS was stuck in office. Nalin was on the way and so was Sravanth. Waited a bit more. Ordered omlet bread. Almost noon. :(

Went to buy some chocolate fudge. Called up Nalin - he had just arrived. Called up H, talked to him about the rain. Talked to S, he was 10-15 mins away. Headed over to RK and met Nalin. Decided to wait for S before we ordered anything.

Sravanth arrives on his Eliminator

The main agenda to discuss was the leh trip. Discussed a bit about luggage and the cramsters. It was then we decided to head to mulshi to test the jackets we all had got. N's was a First Gear , S had a DSG, mine was a Frank Thomas.

Off we went.

The first part of the road is great. Nice twisties. Full of water. I was the slowest one. Kind of psycological with me and water. Soon, the others were way ahead of me - i just cant get myself to lean on wet roads!

Stopped just before Amby Valley to call up shaunak who was going to meet us up at Mulshi. It had stopped raining - so took a few pics. We started off again. Just afterwards we hit the first Y junction, and too the one on the right. The road surface dramatically deteriorated then.

Sravanth and Nalin with Tweety

Kissing the Clouds

Ride up into the clouds

Stopped again at this place. It is tough riding on these roads, and the scenery was just beautiful. Had to stop for a few pics. The problem though - the cameras are not waterproof. And it rains incessantly here. These were the last pics i took before I gave up to the rain gods.

Rainy Lake

Over the mountain, and on the other side is mulshi lake. But just before that the road almost disappears - or rather becomes like the one I mentioned at the start of the writeup. Gingerly we went down the slope, and stopped at a vantage point. Oh man ! that place was worth it ! A gorge made of vertical cliffs, with the fog moving there - below your vantage point. The cliffs which towered above you had a thousand small fountains, the while lines squiggling off their surface.

Nature is amazing!

It was already 5pm now. Headed towards mulshi now. Did not stop at the lake for any pics, but headed towards Disha Dhaba where Shaunak was waiting. A cup of tea, and me and shaunak headed off towards Pune, while N and S decided to laze around a bit more.

Drenched . Cold. Heart in mouth most of the time. But oh - what a ride ! :D