Started off from Home at 6:30 AM, Trip meter set at 0.00 Kms. This was my first ride with Cramster saddlebags and I was rather sceptical about the stability of the same. OTOT, my bags were just about 60% filled up to their capacity, hence I expected some amount of wallowing. First stop at the Pune RTO Petrol Pump for tanking up. Rode non stop out of Pune city, and couldn’t make good speed mainly because of getting caught in morning city traffic. Once outside the city limits the dual carriageway all the way till the outskirts of Ahmednagar was a good start for the day.
Saw the sunrise ahead of me as I rode eastwards and stopped at "Smile-stone" a nice and warm food joint just before Ahmednagar. I noticed that I had dropped my pen Enroute and the first loss of the ride had happened. Paused a while to think could this be jinxed, but then decided to carry on. Distance covered 105 Kms. Riding time 1 Hour 19 Minutes. After having a light breakfast I moved off into Ahmednagar city, as there was no by-pass available for the highway traffic to get diverted away. Managed to get out of Ahmednagar through absolutely rash and hap hazard traffic, obviously had a few “PASSION-ate” guys give chase seeing the bike loaded with Cramsters and me fully kitted.
Next stop was outside Jalna where I stopped to get on to the Jalna bypass and then on the highway towards Nagpur. Here I fuelled up at Essar petrol Pump, with their branded premium petrol called PUNCH. After that I was off towards a village called Vaghrul on the older Nagpur highway.
Here I dropped my cell phone somewhere. Completely my carelessness but then what had to happen had to happen. Villagers at Vaghrul tried helping me out by suggesting where to look for the same and all but it didn’t quite help. One kind hearted guy even gave me his pen so that I may now write down all the numbers. A few quick calls and I had the card blocked. I was in a dilemma whether to continue the ride or proceed home, but a “You had prepared for this and ...you should do it” statement from home made me continue. I had lost a lot of precious time here and hence was sure this ride could not qualify at all as a Saddle Sore 1000 but still decided to make it happen. Left Vaghrul at 2ish and moved towards Mehkar. Route was suggested by Harshad and it was an awesome road.
Stopped at Parivar Hotel for a quick bite. This hotel is between Mehkar and Malegaon and serves decent vegetarian food. Ambience of the hotel is also pretty cool. I had covered 438 kms by now and time was nearing 3:45 PM. The sun was pretty low on the horizon and fatigue had slowly started creeping in. After fuelling up for the 3rd time at Malegaon I moved towards Amravati on the newly constructed toll road. Rode like crazy and made it to Karanja around 5:30ish covering a total distance of approximately 540 Kms.
Had a steaming cup of tea at the friendly Chaiwala at Karanja and then took the road less travelled towards Nagpur, via Pulgaon and Wardha. This was definitely longer but then as advised by the Chai guy; it was way too smoother ride. I got lost a couple of times before reaching Wardha around 8ish. The temperature was now dropping and it was getting more and more difficult to ride fast. Finally I made it home safe and sound around 9:10 in the night after having travelled 751 Kms.
The icing on the cake was the surprised, shocked but extremely happy look on my Mom’s face as she saw me inside the house. Guess the ride was worth it.
The next day saw me getting up early morning and moving out around 7:30ish. I had a refreshing cup of tea; courtesy Mom, and then zoomed off towards Amravati. 1st stop was at a Reliance petrol bunk for filling up and checking the tyre pressure etc. Post which I kept zigzagging on the national highway at each diversion as the massive road is currently under construction and was paved in certain sections and had moon surfaces at certain sections. Finally after negotiating a lot of varied surfaces I managed to reach Amravati and by god’s grace or should I say some minister’s grace there was a by-pass road circumnavigating the city and leading towards Karanja. I took the bypass and rode like crazy. It was here that I managed to maintain a constant 100 kmph for well over 10 odd minutes.
In no time I was already out of the city limits on the other side and managed to identify a much less travelled rural road running straight out of Amravati and towards Karanja. I took that one and negotiated village after village experiencing rustic Indian life at its best and seeing the core of the country before hitting the highway once again. I saw vegetable gardens huge and vast, after a along time. India still thrives on agronomy and its but here where perhaps maximum productivity is. Industrialization is all but HOT AIR i believe. I havent seen much creativity andtangible visible changes in development of machines, material and even software code.
This Rural route was definitely faster, one being shorter and secondly as it did not have any traffic at all except the occasional bullock cart, tractor or cyclist. Of course I had to keep my eyes peeled for the huge herds of cattle and livestock who did not realise the difference between road and fields and walked on both in a similar manner. I was around 210 Kms down by now and the sun had already started climbing up.
I took a break at the same Chai guy and after refreshing myself set off towards Malegaon and Mehkar to make good time. The newly laid road was again a dream to ride on as I was still fresh after the morning ride. I was again at the same old Lunch point – Hotel Parivar – at Mehkar around 12:40 in the afternoon after travelling close to 311 kms. This stretch has fabulous tarred surfaces and I managed to make a good average speed of well over 80 KMPH. This was great as I had left late from home and I had to make good time towards Pune.
From Mehkar it was again a nice combination of rural twists and turns towards Jalna, passing Lonar Enroute, the place where we have India’s monumental lake caused by the impact of a huge meteorite. I crossed Sindked Raja village and reached Jalna around 3ish in the afternoon. Parts of the road in between were undergoing massive renovation and that was reason enough for the infrastructure machinery to create more diversions and obstacles in the otherwise seemingly perfect surface.
I had covered over 400 kms by now and fatigue was starting to get to me. I managed to reach Aurangabad just before sun down but passing through the damn city was a big pain not only to the butt but also to the wrist and fingers as negotiating traffic after a leisurely cruise on the highway wasn’t my idea of fun. I managed to squeeze through the hap hazard city traffic and stopped at Waluj for a snack break. Stuffing myself with some egg pakora and another good cup of tea I managed to coax my butt into the remaining 200 plus kms that remained of my epic journey.
Finally I managed to reach Smilestone, the eating joint between Ahmednagar and Pune by about 7:05 in the evening. Darkness had already enveloped the roads and the skies and I took a lavish 50 minute break here, relishing on the cool environment and doing some small experiments with my shutter happy heart. Finally it was time to do the last mile run and I zoomed off towards home.
I entered Pune around 9ish and immediately encountered hap hazard traffic and youngsters zipping in and out of traffic on their commuter bikes. At occasions I felt like telling them the tale of my journey and ask them to first check their endurance before demonstrating their enthusiasm. But, fatigue had already got the better of me and I decided to play safe and reach home, where the warm bed and home food was just inviting me. I managed to reach around 9:30sish and after freshening up just crashed off. A Well executed ride followed by a well deserved slumber episode. What a way to re-discover life. On the road the bike nomad way!!
I noted down my odometer reading and found out that the way back was shorter and came up to just around 711 kms, taking the total distance up to 1471 kms; which was definitely short by a huge distance for any saddle sore record. Anyways, looks like a little more planning and a different direction needs to be chosen.
Until then keep riding!!
Saw the sunrise ahead of me as I rode eastwards and stopped at "Smile-stone" a nice and warm food joint just before Ahmednagar. I noticed that I had dropped my pen Enroute and the first loss of the ride had happened. Paused a while to think could this be jinxed, but then decided to carry on. Distance covered 105 Kms. Riding time 1 Hour 19 Minutes. After having a light breakfast I moved off into Ahmednagar city, as there was no by-pass available for the highway traffic to get diverted away. Managed to get out of Ahmednagar through absolutely rash and hap hazard traffic, obviously had a few “PASSION-ate” guys give chase seeing the bike loaded with Cramsters and me fully kitted.
Next stop was outside Jalna where I stopped to get on to the Jalna bypass and then on the highway towards Nagpur. Here I fuelled up at Essar petrol Pump, with their branded premium petrol called PUNCH. After that I was off towards a village called Vaghrul on the older Nagpur highway.
Here I dropped my cell phone somewhere. Completely my carelessness but then what had to happen had to happen. Villagers at Vaghrul tried helping me out by suggesting where to look for the same and all but it didn’t quite help. One kind hearted guy even gave me his pen so that I may now write down all the numbers. A few quick calls and I had the card blocked. I was in a dilemma whether to continue the ride or proceed home, but a “You had prepared for this and ...you should do it” statement from home made me continue. I had lost a lot of precious time here and hence was sure this ride could not qualify at all as a Saddle Sore 1000 but still decided to make it happen. Left Vaghrul at 2ish and moved towards Mehkar. Route was suggested by Harshad and it was an awesome road.
Stopped at Parivar Hotel for a quick bite. This hotel is between Mehkar and Malegaon and serves decent vegetarian food. Ambience of the hotel is also pretty cool. I had covered 438 kms by now and time was nearing 3:45 PM. The sun was pretty low on the horizon and fatigue had slowly started creeping in. After fuelling up for the 3rd time at Malegaon I moved towards Amravati on the newly constructed toll road. Rode like crazy and made it to Karanja around 5:30ish covering a total distance of approximately 540 Kms.
Had a steaming cup of tea at the friendly Chaiwala at Karanja and then took the road less travelled towards Nagpur, via Pulgaon and Wardha. This was definitely longer but then as advised by the Chai guy; it was way too smoother ride. I got lost a couple of times before reaching Wardha around 8ish. The temperature was now dropping and it was getting more and more difficult to ride fast. Finally I made it home safe and sound around 9:10 in the night after having travelled 751 Kms.
The icing on the cake was the surprised, shocked but extremely happy look on my Mom’s face as she saw me inside the house. Guess the ride was worth it.
The next day saw me getting up early morning and moving out around 7:30ish. I had a refreshing cup of tea; courtesy Mom, and then zoomed off towards Amravati. 1st stop was at a Reliance petrol bunk for filling up and checking the tyre pressure etc. Post which I kept zigzagging on the national highway at each diversion as the massive road is currently under construction and was paved in certain sections and had moon surfaces at certain sections. Finally after negotiating a lot of varied surfaces I managed to reach Amravati and by god’s grace or should I say some minister’s grace there was a by-pass road circumnavigating the city and leading towards Karanja. I took the bypass and rode like crazy. It was here that I managed to maintain a constant 100 kmph for well over 10 odd minutes.
In no time I was already out of the city limits on the other side and managed to identify a much less travelled rural road running straight out of Amravati and towards Karanja. I took that one and negotiated village after village experiencing rustic Indian life at its best and seeing the core of the country before hitting the highway once again. I saw vegetable gardens huge and vast, after a along time. India still thrives on agronomy and its but here where perhaps maximum productivity is. Industrialization is all but HOT AIR i believe. I havent seen much creativity andtangible visible changes in development of machines, material and even software code.
This Rural route was definitely faster, one being shorter and secondly as it did not have any traffic at all except the occasional bullock cart, tractor or cyclist. Of course I had to keep my eyes peeled for the huge herds of cattle and livestock who did not realise the difference between road and fields and walked on both in a similar manner. I was around 210 Kms down by now and the sun had already started climbing up.
I took a break at the same Chai guy and after refreshing myself set off towards Malegaon and Mehkar to make good time. The newly laid road was again a dream to ride on as I was still fresh after the morning ride. I was again at the same old Lunch point – Hotel Parivar – at Mehkar around 12:40 in the afternoon after travelling close to 311 kms. This stretch has fabulous tarred surfaces and I managed to make a good average speed of well over 80 KMPH. This was great as I had left late from home and I had to make good time towards Pune.
From Mehkar it was again a nice combination of rural twists and turns towards Jalna, passing Lonar Enroute, the place where we have India’s monumental lake caused by the impact of a huge meteorite. I crossed Sindked Raja village and reached Jalna around 3ish in the afternoon. Parts of the road in between were undergoing massive renovation and that was reason enough for the infrastructure machinery to create more diversions and obstacles in the otherwise seemingly perfect surface.
I had covered over 400 kms by now and fatigue was starting to get to me. I managed to reach Aurangabad just before sun down but passing through the damn city was a big pain not only to the butt but also to the wrist and fingers as negotiating traffic after a leisurely cruise on the highway wasn’t my idea of fun. I managed to squeeze through the hap hazard city traffic and stopped at Waluj for a snack break. Stuffing myself with some egg pakora and another good cup of tea I managed to coax my butt into the remaining 200 plus kms that remained of my epic journey.
Finally I managed to reach Smilestone, the eating joint between Ahmednagar and Pune by about 7:05 in the evening. Darkness had already enveloped the roads and the skies and I took a lavish 50 minute break here, relishing on the cool environment and doing some small experiments with my shutter happy heart. Finally it was time to do the last mile run and I zoomed off towards home.
I entered Pune around 9ish and immediately encountered hap hazard traffic and youngsters zipping in and out of traffic on their commuter bikes. At occasions I felt like telling them the tale of my journey and ask them to first check their endurance before demonstrating their enthusiasm. But, fatigue had already got the better of me and I decided to play safe and reach home, where the warm bed and home food was just inviting me. I managed to reach around 9:30sish and after freshening up just crashed off. A Well executed ride followed by a well deserved slumber episode. What a way to re-discover life. On the road the bike nomad way!!
I noted down my odometer reading and found out that the way back was shorter and came up to just around 711 kms, taking the total distance up to 1471 kms; which was definitely short by a huge distance for any saddle sore record. Anyways, looks like a little more planning and a different direction needs to be chosen.
Until then keep riding!!
4 comments:
Zhakas attempt man. Im sure, next time will be luckier.
Cheers...
Hi Pravin,
An indeed good achievement for you,
M planning for Mumbai-Nagpur,
readin ur log is worth gettin info on d route.
Cheers
Yeah, the roads are pretty bad in some places, but still you did a great timing nevertheless! I admire your spirit! My trip from Ahmednagar to Nagpur was fraught with dilemma and doubts and too many questions - but now two of us have basically added a "hence proved" beneath the question titled "One way ride Pune-Ahmednagar-Nagpur possible in one day." Hope the blog entries help out more people in taking better decisions for their rides on these routes.
And you totally deserved that slumber episode!!
Cheers!
Hi Pravin,
Really Bravo!!!
I hope next time you will complete your SS1000.
But what I think is that if Pune -Bangalore highway stretch is considered for SS, it would be much better and almost 80% of stretch is really in awesome shape. sono worries about bad road.
Just a suggestion !!
Cheers!!!!
And happy riding
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