Mumbai-Someshwar-Shirdi-Hanuman Ghat-Mumbai
By Ujjwal Dey www.ujjwaldey.com
Destination:
Nashik is renowned City of Pilgrimage with many places for a pilgrim to seek spiritual solace. Legend dictates that the name "Nasik" is derived from the Ramayana. During the exile of Lord Ram, Shoorpanakha the sister of the demon king Ravan tried to seduce Maryada Purushottam Ram. Angered, Lord Ram ordered Lakshman to cut off Shoorpanakha's nose nasika/naak. According to the Ramayan, Sita was abducted by Ravan from the area called Panchavati in the Western Ghats.
The Trip:
Bombay Bikers decided on a 2 day trip. Ride to Someshwar Temple at Nashik, Bhosala Military College at Nashik and Shirdi from NH3 and return via Malshej Ghat to Mumbai. First visit was to Someshwar Temple at Nashik and then on to Shirdi. 8th and 9th March 2008. Total running of 580 KMs approximately.
Trip Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/udey11/MumbaiSomeshwarShirdiMalshejGhatMumbai
Meeting Point:
8th March 2008.
1. Dahisar check naka: 5:30 AM
2. Eternity Mall Thane: 6:30 AM
Group:
Bombay Bikers http://www.bombaybikers.com/
Saturday 8th March 2008:
It all started with Std 350 Bulleteer Ashish deciding on a trip to Someshwar Mahadev Temple at Nashik. He was determined to go on Sunday 9th March even if he had to go alone. This was Ashish's first Bike Trip since his marriage in February 2008. I readily agreed for a single day Sunday trip as I have a 6 day work week. But then soon the Bombay Bikers gang joined in and plans began to stretch the pilgrimage to Shirdi in Ahmadnagar. So the planned ride was an overnight trip to Shirdi via Nashik for Saturday and Sunday.
By day end of Friday we had 14 riders confirmed including one coming from Pune. At the Eternity Mall, Thane I was there at exactly 6:30 AM waiting for the gang who meticulously followed Indian Standard Time showing up by 7:30 AM. So we were 8 bikes with one pillion starting from Thane and were to meet a Thunderbird rider coming from Pune with a pillion. Dinesh sir, a senior member of our trip met us at the mall and had sold his Electra for an astronomical price of Rs 73000 to buy a brand new red Thunderbird which was only 200KMs old. I had already serviced my Bullet Electra 4s after the Ganpatipule Inddiethumpers ride so was ready with spares for the trip.
I noted down the emergency numbers and names of all riders at Thane meeting point. Kamal the Big Boss of Bombay Bikers was facing problems after the servicing of his "Raven" Bullet Deluxe 350cc. He called in and said that he would catch up later and that we should move ahead. So after tea and smokes we roared on to the road with me keeping company with Dinesh sir as he kept below 60 KMPH for the run-in period.
As I had noted in my Trambakeshwar trip log last year this Thane road towards Bhiwandi Pass is the best road I have been on. Again I thundered at 80+ KMPH at the road where I had touched 100KMPH for the first time on my Bullet during Trambakeshwar trip. If you want to test your bike's top end speed, this is the road for you in early morning sparse traffic.
We stopped before the Ghats started on NH3 for breakfast. Himanshu and his friend joined us from Pune on their Thunderbird here. After breakfast and more tea we waited a few more minutes for Kamal's Bullet Deluxe's unique exhaust note to revive the snoring highway. After a few quick photos we rolled on towards the Ghats on NH3. In my Independence Day Trambakeshwar Ride http://www.royalenfield.com/app/IN/trip.asp?sID=17679 I had noted how awful the NH3 was. But this time the monsoon potholes and craters were repaired. Some parts of the road are under construction and we had heavy traffic flow but were able to keep a steady 60 KMPH average speed.
We reached Nashik City by 1:30 PM and had lunch while waiting for the 10th rider to join us , big boy Ashok riding all the way from Navi Mumbai. He reached by 2:30 PM and we rolled on towards Someshwar Temple. At the temple premises parking is only Rs 2 per motorcycle and we headed straight towards the lake. The gang was in full fun and frolic mood and after 30 minutes of this natural water resort fun I decided to head back to the temple for darshan. Photography is allowed here and I clicked many snaps of the deities here. Soon the gang joined me for paying their respects to Lord Someshwar Mahadev and we packed to head towards the alma-mater of 3 of our champion / Maha-Rathi riders.
Bhosala Military College is on the way towards Someshwar Temple. Kamal, Ashish and Uday were college friends since their time here in military discipline. So we thundered into the campus with our Enfields and at the entrance were welcomed by a Centurion Main Battle Tank with a Rolls Royce petrol engine used in Indo-Pak War of 1965. The trio of alumni brothers showed us around the campus and Uday joined an on going volleyball match with the present day students at the playground. Ashish and Kamal took us to the Hostel where they used to stay and recounted their adventures, mischief and punishment borne in their best years. Dinesh sir was previously mistaken as the Tutor of the military college at Someshwar being a huge well built man. The trio then met up with their old teachers there and we clicked snaps sitting on top of the Centurion Battle tank until the watchman chased us with his whistle. Another round of tea and smokes and we rolled on towards Shirdi at 6 PM. This was just around sundown and we had to assign numbers to tail each other in formation so that no one gets separated. Being a busy road we of course got separated.
Dinesh sir, Gauresh and myself were ranked first, third and second in formation. We had decided to stop at the first petrol pump to fill up Gauresh's Bullet 500 Cast Iron. We saw the HP petrol pump shining ahead and moved into the petrol pump. Unfortunately here the rest of the gang kept on going. Gauresh filled up his tank and was ready to leave to catch up on his monster 500cc engine. Just then Rajesh who was number 4 in formation called us from behind. Gauresh had filled over 10 liters of petrol and not paid a dime. So he went back to settle the bill and then we left. Here is the second goof up. We didn't recognise Rajesh LOLz. We thought some villager had called us to pay the bill. So Dinesh sir leading on his new Thunderbird, me and Gauresh left the petrol pump to go towards Shirdi leaving Rajesh wondering what was going on. We were eager to catch up with the rest of the gang but the new Thunderbird was not to be taken over 60 KMPH so we decided on a non-stop steady ride into the night towards Shirdi. The best thing is that there are many sign boards showing us the way to Sai Dham.
On one stop at a dhaba to confirm the turn to be taken, Rajesh caught up with us. He was riding for almost 2 hours all alone. The dhaba waiter told us several big bikes went by this road long back. The 4 of us decided to stay in formation till Shirdi as the mobile phones were showing poor network. Soon we rolled on to Shirdi at 10 PM and saw Ashish, Kamal, Uday parked on the left hand side of the road sipping tea. After quibbling over whose fault it was we took a headcount. Pune Thunderbird rider Himanshu number 5 in formation had kept on going ahead even though he didn't see any of our riders in front; so we phoned him to come back at the hotel just before the Temple to meet us. Same orders for Ashok. Nilesh confirmed our booking for overnight stay.
Now Shirdi is a holy place and Shri Sai Baba has promised that "Whosoever puts their feet on Shirdi soil, their sufferings will come to an end." But pilgrims should beware of the many touts and conmen here. The place is highly commercialized and corruption is seeping in or rather flooding in here. We were duped by one such person who promised us cheaper group accommodation and parking facility. So 2 of us saw the rooms and the parking space and the gang went there to find out that the parking space is not that of the Hotel owner. Our original booked rooms were forfeited by this hour. After cursing our fate we checked out 2 new places for rooms with similar cheating touts. We finally settled at a hotel who allowed us to park on the condition that we won't lock our handle-bars so that they can move the bikes to make way for cars to move out. After much thought on security we decided on staying there with our faith on Shri Sai Baba. I was very angry at the attitude and actions of the residents of Shirdi. I even suggested heading back to Mumbai even though it was 11:30 PM and we were riding in the hot sun all day.
After locking our saddlebags in our rooms we went to a restaurant by 1 AM for our dinner. Shops and hotels work till late in the night here as people queue up for darshan since 3 AM itself while the gates open at 6 AM. We reached our rooms by 3 AM and some of us decided to still wake up for the darshan. We had booked 3 rooms at Rs 500 for each room with capacity of 4 people to be vacated by 2 PM on Sunday.
Our plans were delayed due to our extended halts at the lake in Someshwar and the Military College. Otherwise I too was eager for the morning aarti/prayers. We had ridden 4 hours in pitch darkness on Saturday and there was worse yet to come.
Sunday 9th March 2008:
I woke up by 7:30 AM on Sunday after just 4 hours of sleep. Friday night also I had the same amount of sleep due to preparations and excitement. Dinesh sir who was also sharing the same room woke up as well and he said we should go for breakfast and have darshan so we can all leave early. We freshened up and Kamal also woke up to queue up at the huge serpentine line for darshan. Dinesh sir and I decided for "Mukhadarshan" which had no queue and we were able to clearly see the altar and the idol of Shri Sai Baba on a golden throne. We stood there for 10 minutes with no one asking us to move on every millisecond as in the Darshan line in front of us. After a silent prayer and namaskar we left to see the other shrines at the temple premises including the neem tree under which Shri Sai Baba meditated. We bought the famous Prasad Ladu at a counter at Rs 10 for a packet of 3 ladus and headed outside where there are other shrines of Shri Sai Baba.
Other sleepyheads woke up soon and we gathered everyone to decide how we will be riding back. Dinesh Sir suggested the Malshej Ghat route back to Thane. We settled the bill and loaded our saddlebags on our steeds. We moved out and stopped at the first petrol pump to refill at Shirdi itself. Some of the riders were left behind. Rajesh's bike was punctured. So we waited in the hot sun at 12 PM for them to join us. At Nashik route and at Shirdi as well I noted that the petrol pumps don't accept credit cards; cash only. We utilized this time to line up the bikes and have a photo session with Gauresh standing on his Std 500 and even a passing decorated horse posing with our motorcycles.
We sang our new anthem from the caller tune of Nilesh:
A song titled 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach
"Cut my life into pieces
This is my last resort
Suffocation
No breathing
Don't give a f*** if I cut my arm, bleeding
This is my last resort"
At about 1 PM we moved ahead in formation maintaining the group unity in traffic and we reached the open road and soon the group stopped at a dhaba for lunch at about 3:30 PM. Dinesh sir ordered his customary Chicken Handi. We had a nice long lunch break and at about 5 PM packed up again. We decided to make 2 groups , first group will ride fast as per their wish to find thrills in speeding and the second group would ride at a leisurely pace. So 5:30 PM we rolled out of the dhaba and Dinesh sir led the second group with me Gauresh and Ashish in formation. Kamal and Uday were at the tail-end. Our next stop was to be Narayangaon.
The road we took was scenic at sunset and the vast land stretching to our right and left was photogenic but we never stopped for photography. At the end of one Ghat Kamal stopped and asked us to move on as again his Deluxe 350 was giving problems. Later we found out that his petrol was used up and after the servicing he had done earlier in Mumbai his Bullet was suddenly giving very poor mileage. He had a bottle of petrol with him and he purchased 2 more bottles from a village-woman as there were no petrol pumps visible till Narayangaon.
Ashish and I reached Narayangaon bus depot soon and saw the first group parked there. Dinesh sir had fallen behind as he had stopped to take a leak. Uday and his pillion joined us soon followed by Dinesh sir. Now we waited for Kamal who showed up surprisingly soon as he with his hefty body can really maneuver the Bullet at high speeds. After some tea and smokes we said goodbye to Himanshu and his pillion who were to ride their Thunderbird back to Pune. The remaining group decided to ride together through Malshej Ghat.
Here was our major goof up. Dinesh sir and Ashish led followed by me. There was heavy traffic at Narayangaon at that hour and the trailing group got separated. The villagers told us there are 2 roads to Malshej Ghat. The one from the village itself was very bad, rough road and another road which was 12 KMs towards Nashik had a very good traffic free smooth road. The 3 of us headed back towards Nashik and couldn't see our group for 4 KMs so we headed back to Narayangaon. There again no one was there at our bus depot halt. We asked others again about the route to Malshej Ghat and they suggested the same road towards Nashik from where we had come twice already. So we took that road and after 12 KMs heading towards Nashik from Narayangaon found the NH 222 route to Malshej Ghat.
This road was smooth and traffic free. Dinesh sir leading, me in between and Ashish behind me we kept a steady 60 KMPH. We met the rest of the gang at a petrol pump before the Ghat and they recounted the horror of the terrible road they had just come from.
Again we were determined to keep the group together and this route would make it feasible as it was good and free from traffic unlike NH3. So onto the Ghats, thundering Enfields and bright headlamps with left turn-signal-light on to track each other as the rear view mirror didn't help us recognise our group otherwise in the night.
We halted now at Hanuman Ghat at the end of Malshej Ghat and here I clicked my last few photos. Malshej Ghat is very scenic but we missed its beauty due to the darkness all around. We now had one more stop for Std 500 Bullet refueling LOLz. Gauresh who weighs probably 40 KG handles his 500cc monster very well. We stopped at a dhaba for tea and smokes at about 11 PM. After this stop Kamal's Bullet Deluxe had used up all his petrol again. So we stopped again, did some R&D and rode on to the petrol pump. Then while Nilesh, Ashok and I reached a village at the end of the Ghats the rest of the gang got delayed due to another stop by Kamal's 30 year old Bullet. They caught up with us by 12:00 at night. Soon we gathered and rode to the petrol pump where Dinesh sir was very upset as it was past 12:30 AM and we had taken too many halts. He simply took off from there and I followed him to ensure he was not alone. The rest of the gang was too far behind very soon.
At Kalyan, I asked Dinesh sir to take a halt to wait for others but he was very frustrated with the lack of discipline and rode on saying that this is the only road and they will catch up at their speed since we were at 60 KMPH. I took a decision from my heart to stop for others as the road was unrecognizable at night. Dinesh sir rode on.
I honked at passing motorcycles but none from our group. As a God send Rajesh showed up and told me that this road goes to Dombivili and then a long road to Thane while others had gone on Bhiwandi Bypass road. He advised me to follow the huge trailers which were heading there. I took a U-turn and sped at 80 KMPH throughout and onto Bhiwandi Bypass at nothing below 80 to catch up. The road was wide, smooth and clear. Within minutes I reached Thane and took the road towards Mulund check naka as no one from our group was in sight. My mobile battery was completely discharged and of no help here. I stopped at Eternity mall, Thane for a last sip of tea.
Later I learnt that Kamal had sped on to home and Ashish, Uday and Gauresh took to Eastern Express Highway by mistake. They then turned around and rode to Ghodbunder road. I reached home by 1:30 AM and charged the phone to call Dinesh sir who said he reached home a few minutes after me. Dinesh said he just reached after he took a turn from MIDC where he realised he was on the wrong road and got on to Bhiwandi Bypass. I SMSed others and most of them had reached home by 2:30 AM.
All in all, a hell of an experience. After 4 hours of Saturday night riding we had done 8 hours of night riding on Sunday via Malshej Ghat. All is well that ends well.
Author: Lounge of the Lazy Mind