Destination: Goa !!!
http://www.ujjwaldey.com/
Trip: To do 600 KMs in one day in height of Indian summer on Indian roads and back. Plan for 4 days, 12 Bullets, and one solo ride. Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai.
Meeting Point: Center One mall, Vashi, Navi Mumbai.
All Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/udey11
Thursday, April 2009, 0530 hours:
Well, Anoop ''the Dreamer'', the man of many adventures, is a resident of Goa. So while he planned to go home from his job in Mumbai, I pestered him to take me along. So the 4 day weekend was on; Anoop on his Machismo 500 and me on my Bullet Electra 4s.
Then the word spread around, 2 Bullets going to Goa.
The ride was to start at 5:30 AM from Center One mall at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. When I reached there at 5 AM, I was told by another buddy Karthik (Electra 5s) that ''others'' are on the way.
So at 5:30 AM there were 12 Bullets ready to roar onto NH17. This was expected says Anoop, ''because it's Goa''. We started off and first stop was Vadkal Naka for breakfast. Up to here the morning traffic was sparse but prominent.
Soon we rode on and the gang raced ahead, thundering in the early morning like beasts hungry for their prey. The target was a group ride to Goa before nightfall. Soon Ashish, Karthik and I were leisurely thumping along while the more gung-ho guys raced ahead cornering on turns and enjoying the awesome landscape of NH17.
Karthik and I decided to take tea/smoke breaks every 100 KMs. So when we reached Mahad, we parked under a tree and the Kaka at the stall served us hot tea. After stretching our legs we checked our mobile phone and realised the gang has halted just a few KMs ahead before Poladpur Ghat at a proper restaurant.
Anyways, since I wanted to enjoy the ride and see, smell, hear everything on this awesome NH17 route, I decided to thump along with next stop only after another 100 KMs.
* * * * * * * *
Karthik is a great wingman; patient and determined and tireless. He tailed me and we reached Chiplun. The gang joined us within minutes with their speed and all of us refuelled at the BP petrol pump. There is a HP petrol pump opposite this one on the other side of the road.
Here all were spending lot of time cooling off. The sun was rising and the heat was getting intense.
Me with my Cramster touring jacket, helmet, riding boots and gauntlet gloves - I just wanted to get on with it. So Karthik and I decided to carry on toward Goa while the others would catch up with us soon for lunch.
Anoop as a true Road Captain stayed on at Chiplun to ensure everyone was OK and that the ride was going along as planned. Normally he likes his solo NAP rides (No Action Plan) at high speeds on his 500cc Enfield engine; but in a group he takes charge to make it worthwhile for every rider.
Karthik and I rode on till Ratnagiri at a restaurant where we were all to meet for lunch. Here already 2 Enfields from our group were waiting for all of the others. Gauresh (Cast Iron 500cc) was sleeping there on a low border wall under the trees. They seemed to have been ahead of all the rest of the pack for a long time.
So the 4 of us decided to have lunch and then go onward since the ''Maha-Rathis'' would catch up soon anyway.
The lunch turned into a feast!
Bhupesh and his pillion joined us (they came from Pune) at the restaurant at Ratnagiri. And paneer and fish and rotis and rice and curd was being passed around and consumed as if 6 men were packing their bellies in anticipation of a famine.
I said goodbye soon enough and decided to keep riding to avoid night riding.
* * * * * * * *
Thumping along now, alone and ahead of the pack, I was more alert and my senses seemed to see more colours, hear more sounds and smell the Earth and the sky.
I stopped at Sawantwadi and made the dozen calls to realise the gang was still enjoying Ratnagiri cuisine due to a tyre puncture on one of the Bullets. I waited at Sawantwadi for 30 minutes to stretch and relax and drink lots of water.
Soon it was 7 PM and the sun disappeared into the horizon. So onward bound - Goa just few KMs away. I rode smooth and steady to get my eyes adjusted to the darkness. After about 10 KMs I was able to do a good 60 KMPH at the pitch dark highway into Goa.
Here on Mhapsa Road, I got my final instruction from Anoop - ''wait at the big Hotel Green Park, we will all be there in another 3 hours'' - this at 9 PM.
So I sat there with the watchman staring at my biker gear and I drank 2 pouches of Electrol with plain water.
Thundering sounds of Bullets resounded around midnight. The gang was riding in - a right turn from the hotel and we were all heading toward Calingute beach, Goa.
* * * * * * * *
A beach side hotel was ready for us and while half of us just wanted to crash into bed, another half decided to ride around Goa past midnight - ''we're here, so let's see Goa'' - and they kept riding on.
Friday, May 2009, 0800 hours:
I had slept in a small room with twin-sharing basis and was alone since Karthik had decided to ride around Goa at night. I was surprised to see him soundly asleep in the room since I had locked the room from inside.
Well, that surprise was nothing compared to the fact that Karthik told me of how I had opened the door at 4:45 AM.
Apparently I was fast asleep and he called on my mobile. I told him I didn't get any missed calls. ''Check your received calls'' says Karthik. And sure as hell, I had answered my mobile kept for charging and then opened the door for Karthik and went back to bed. I was in such intense sleep that in the morning I had absolutely no memory of having got up to open the door, forget about answering a mobile phone at 4:45 AM for the same. So that surprise is something I still can't believe.
Soon the group gathered around by 10:30 AM and we visited half-a-dozen beaches. Anjuna, Baga, Morjim, Ashwem beaches, etc. and the day turned into night in a matter of minutes in our enjoyment.
Happy things don't last forever and with a job in an IT company during recession means as an Indian, I expect to be by the ''Management''. So I am to be in Mumbai and it has been just a day since I am in Goa.
So Saturday I will have to leave alone to Mumbai. The gang stays on in Goa for the planned group ride back on Sunday.
I refuelled at Mhapsa petrol pump to top my tank. And sleep comes as the happy bikers outside my room go on to party the night away at yet another beach.
Saturday, May 2009, 0440 hours:
I woke at the mobile phone alarm at 4 AM. Not a single shop open nearby and no tea, only my cigarette to get me going. So I ready myself, check my Cramster saddlebags and put on the touring jacket, boots and helmet. The bike kick starts to life and I thump along on a long lonely road back home.
No one on the road to NH17 and no vehicles either. I started off via Mhapsa Road at 4:40 AM and rode on to the petrol pump on the highway to top my engine oil. I bought the smallest can at BP of 500ml. No one seems to have 20W50 so had to pour in 20W40.
Next stop Sawantwadi for the first tea of the day. It felt so good and warm in the early morning chill that I wanted to down another couple of those Rs. 2 cuttings. But I decided to ride on. So left Sawantwadi at 7:20 AM.
Now the non-stop ride went on till the same Hotel Alankar of Ratnagiri where we had done the huge lunch on Thursday. From Goa to Ratnagiri I encountered very few vehicles and did good speed and a relaxed cruise as well. I refuelled at Ratnagiri to top my tank. The food is very good at Hotel Alankar and at reasonable prices. After a good halt here for a big breakfast, I decided I could probably reach Mumbai by 5 PM. So planned for it without a lunch break - the big breakfast should hold me well till 5 PM. Then I left the Hotel at 10:30 AM and thumped along at my Bullet's steady safe defensive pace.
* * * * * * * *
Lots of good things were on the way back. But I couldn't stall the ride back home to partake any of it. Sindhudurg Fort was just a left turn away and too tempting. I rode on and Mahabaleshwar seemed enticing. But I stopped now directly at Mahad at the same Kaka's teashop.
Here at Mahad there is the Baudhakalin Caves dating back 1000 years and more. This is on the NH17 highway itself. This was very tempting but again, I didn't want to see another sunset on the highway. I had a cold drink instead of tea this time. I don't know if the Kaka recognised me, but I didn't want to spend time in chit-chat so had my customary smoke and rode on. He is a nice guy, working all day there in the sun in his small shop. Helpful as well. So after a good 30 minute break at Mahad, I left at 2:45 PM.
Now everything seemed relaxing. I was as good as home.
I rode more leisurely and enjoyed the road and the looks from villagers as they saw a single man riding on his Bullet, on the highway with no worries. School kids giggled with awe at this sight when I passed villages and adults wondered where from and where to this mad man is heading.
Whichever teashop I had stopped at, the villagers were very helpful and cordial. Especially, way back at Nandgaon (near Sawantwadi) and at Mahad. They would offer water and ask where I was from and why I went to Goa and ''Ektach challaye ki kay?'' (means ''Going alone all the way?'').
After Mahad my only stop was at Vadkal Naka for another cold drink. As I was passing the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, the damn monkeys were chasing all the vehicles including my Bullet, trying to scratch and bite the passing vehicles. And this was another place on NH17 worth a small trip in itself.
* * * * * * * *
The traffic from Vadkal Naka was terrible. And from JNPT to Panvel to Vashi bridge to Eastern Express Highway the traffic grew bad to worse. It took me almost 2 hours from Vadkal Naka to Eastern Express Highway in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Finally reached home at 6 PM and had a hot cup of coffee.
A grand solo ride from Goa to Mumbai - I enjoyed the road more than the destination - and that can't be a bad thing.
Best Wishes,
Ujjwal Dey
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