A long weekend is coming what’s the plan?
Let’s ride to Mahabaleshwar I suggested. But we covered that last year one of the friend said. Ahmm let’s ride to the statue of unity (SOU) few others recommended and we then realised only few have been to Gujrat and no one in our group attempted it on cycle. So around a month and half back (i e June end) we decided to visit the Statue of Unity Gujrat and the perfect occasion was in the month of Aug independence day and long weekend. Before finalizing the route we asked our friends who can accompany us for the ride. The final head count was 14 and this time 2 new members Mahesh & Abhijit joined the gang apart from usual regular rider friends.
Initial plan was to ride from Aug 13 to Aug 16 and came back to Mumbai via train on 17th
Then one of Mahesh’s contacts said that sou will be closed due to maintenance day on Aug 16 as Aug 15 is a public holiday due to independence day.
We revised the new plan and instead of 3 days we decided to ride for 4 days and came back by train on 18th of August.
Approx 25+days before the ride the group had their 1st (and final) face to face meeting at PBR (Palm beach road) & out of 14 people Narayan, Tukaram, Arun, Balaram & Sunil were able to attend and discussed the route.
Initial route was
Home to Hotel Fountain – Dapachari – chikli – Mandvi – Statue of Unity
But Tukaram Phadtare proposed a different route after few days and told us that the roads will be better in comparison with the previous route so we finalized with the new route which was :-
Meeting at the fountain hotel from respective homes- Talasari- Navsari- Ankleshwar- Kevadiya
Ekta Nagar and Statue of Unity
Around July 21 it was raining heavily in India so we got the news that the road condition is bad in Gujrat and what app group which we have created for the ride was super active. Let’s postpone the ride one said. Another rider said let’s go to a different place. I was scrolling through countless messages and tried to keep calm and positive. The thought of Postpone ride could have an impact on group enthusiasm and what worried me as 2-3 days before the news and rains, we had paid the train return journey amount and if all of a sudden if we have to change the place then we will have to start from the scratch. Such and many thoughts started playing in my mind and then we decided to sit tight and keep our fingers crossed.
It was the last week of July & in casual conversation when I asked my office friend who is from Gujrat itself, is it safe to travel there? when I heard the response yes from him it was a big relief and others from the group also got some positive response, we went ahead with the decision of going & Narayan finally booked the train tickets phew 50% the was job was done.
Day 1 Saturday Aug 13 ( Home to Talasari)
The day before the ride i hardly slept. One of the things was , I needed to be on time but adrenaline rush and excitement of meeting friends helped me to get up early.
As a group we decided to meet at 6 o clock at a fountain hotel. On Friday I tried to finish the office work on time and kept the target of sleeping by 11pm. I packed my bag.
For the 4 days journey I took a decision of carrying 1 pannier bag out of two
A pannier bag is a cycle bag which can be attached to a bicycle carrier and it is very convenient for traveling
Somehow able to stuff the stuff (luggage) in one bag and it was 7kg
Now ideally one should distribute the weight equally but i was confident that I will be able to manage and I’m glad i could do it by riding carefully especially on speed breakers. There is a possibility that the bag can fall due to the cycle speed and height of the speed breaker and I have myself experienced that a couple of times in the past.
Following things I had carried in my Luggage:-
Clothes
2 pair clothes for 1 set for the night wear And 1 for the last day of the trip.
Also have kept 1 running singlet as a backup
1 cycle jersey and 1 padded shorts
1 hoodie for the last day of train travel
Towel and undergarments
Handkerchief and socks (ideally one should avoid wearing socks in the rain)
Bag
Pannier bag
1 handlebar bag (it had cycle puncture patch portable air pump and medicine) which I kept inside the pannier bag as handlebar bag was not waterproof.
Other items
Bubble wrap sheet for cycle packing on the last day of train travel
Hydraulic disk Break pad (not required every time)
Cycle chain & toothbrush to clean the cycle chain
Gear Inner cable (backup option)
Brake cables (backup option)
charger for Mobile and cycle headlamp and tail lamp
Machine oil & 1 cloth to clean the cycle
Vaseline gel and coconut oil
Soap for clothes, toothpaste & brush
With Cycle, cycle Helmet, head and tail lamp, reflector vest for visibility.
The Day
I woke up around 3.15 am in the morning & got ready. Did the cycle set up with a pannier bag and left home around 4.30. Quarter to five met Narayan and Gita & then Sunil Gadgil to Jogeshwari.
Four of us started riding around 5.15 am.
The weather was cloudy but it didn’t rain till we reached the fountain hotel. It was 6.15 when we reached and then other riders from different parts of Mumbai started showing up. Nayana from Kalyan, Nayan and Abhijit from Borivali , Kishore Keni (KK) from Kandivali and Mahesh from Airoli, Sachin from Thane & last but not the least Panvel-Kars (Arun Tukaram and his wife Vidya Balaram) they got stuck in traffic but finally reached by 7.30 am.
Now the change of plan was to have brekkie in the fountain hotel and then start our journey.
Outside the fountain hotel we got heavy traffic till the bridge section after that road was open and less traffic as we started moving outside Mumbai. Each of us were riding on their own pace and we took a small tea halt in between. Around 1-1.15 we took a break for lunch. Usually the rider who is leading at that moment finds the hotel in the same direction but we went on the other side of the road. We went to the ‘hotel new kathiyawad bhayavadarwala’. All of us eagerly waited for food as we had a light breakfast of Idli wada in the morning. The service in the hotel was super slow but food was tasty.
The waiting period of food coming on the table really helped to increase the patience (pun intended) after 30 minutes the main course such as roti Sabzi came but before that the starter such as onion, stuffed chilli, pickle we ate whatever was available on the table. After finishing the food, in a few minutes started our journey towards Talasari. Riding in the afternoon I found it difficult for some period as I ate delicious food for lunch & felt really sleepy. I made sure to take a halt in between whenever I sensed that I am gonna sleep at any moment. These 1-2 minutes quick halts always help for the mind and body. The weather was really beautiful and so was the road. Whenever I’m riding I try to capture the random pics. I also recently started video shooting from.mobipe camera especially entering in a different state or city. 1st day of the journey was within Maharashtra. Below are the few snaps I captured in the afternoon to evening.
One of the advantages we had in this ride was that apart from regular riders like Sachin Samuel and Sunil Gadgil who are excellent in photography, Abhijit Paralkar who was riding a roadie(road bike) and Mahesh Dabholkar (he is a vlogger) was also excellent with the camera. Posting a few pics below beautifully captured by Abhijit. PS:-Those who are still reading you can also checkout Mahesh’s youtube channel https://youtube.com/c/MDCutMaheshChandrakantDabholkar
The place we stayed was at Hotel Sahyadri and around 6.30-6.45 in the evening we reached there. The destination for thr day was Talasari but the hotel was located at Achchhad. The total distance for the day was 147 km with the elevation of 1016 m.
The hotel had a swimming pool and also they had a water pipe facility in the garden so as soon as we reached, people immediately went there to clean the cycle. We unpacked the bags kept the cycle in the garage provided by the hotel and went straight into the swimming pool. It was such a bliss. It was so relaxing getting into the water after a long day on the saddle. Couldn’t ask for more 🙏.
After having a refreshing swim we had dinner around 9.30 and we went for sleep.
Day 2 August 14 Sunday ( Talasari to Navsari)
We started our day around 6 o clock. Everyone in the group got ready with the cycle and started saddling. The weather was good slightly cloudy and we predicted the possibility and chances of rain. We took a 1st tea break at a nearby stall outside the hotel after riding for a few minutes.
In Frame : Me Abhijit & Gadgil
After tea we started riding and halted for breakfast around 8.30. Nayan cycle had an issue so she, Gadgil & I decided to wait where we had breakfast and the remaining 11 went ahead towards Navsari. Gadgil had some contacts which I personally found pretty impressive and when I told him that he just smiled.
Around 9.30 Gadgil’s mechanic friend showed up. Guy came in a creta car and the clothes he was wearing were much better than mine so he didn’t look like a mechanic at all. After inspecting the Nayan’s cycle he suggested that it is advisable to take it to shop as there is an issue related to the cycle hub we can be problematic in the journey ahead. It was Sunday and in the Gujrat cycle shops shut down by 12 ,maximum by 1 pm. There was no chance that we would reach Navsari till 1. So he suggested we go to Valsad and visit the Salim cycle shop. So he contacted his friend Salim and told that 3 people will visit today by 1. He even assisted us with the route and it was inside the city not on the main highway. He gave his best wishes and 3 of us started cycling towards Valsad.
It was 11.30 and we were about to reach Valsad within the next half an hour. I told Narayan that we don’t know how much time it will take to fix up the cycle so it was decided that the 1st group will have lunch on their usual time wherever they find a place and the remaining 3 will have it in Valsad.
By the time we reached the cycle shop it was 12.30 and then Salim who was well versed with technicalities said that job can be done. It was a big relief especially for Nayan and enough to keep her spirits high. Apart from the hub issue she also told him to fix up the gear problem and Gadgil told them to do minor fixing in his cycle. But things were gonna take time so meanwhile Nayan and I had lunch in a nearby Udupi restaurant suggested by Salim’s brother. By the time we finished our lunch it was almost 1.30 in the afternoon. Before going to lunch we also did a showroom tour of the cycle shop. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that they have 480 cycles ready to sell.
Before leaving Valsad I and Gadgil did a small test ride of the Montra company’s electric bike. The bike was super smooth. We thanked Salim & his team for their awesome support on such short notice. Also told them that we will visit again if we come to that area. It was quarter to three and on casual discussion we were calculating how much time it will take to reach the hotel. The 1st group was 25+km ahead of us they would reach by 4.30. The road was beautiful and scenic. The advantage we got was that it was not the main highway. The road we took didn’t have highway traffic and eventually it will meet the highway for Navsari.
56km to reach Navsari
We were riding at a comfortable speed and normally after lunch we looked out for tea in a few hours. It was Sunday and all the shops on the road were closed. Normally I don’t crave for tea but that day and at a particular moment I wanted to have tea. I used to stop after 5 minutes and ask locals if there is a shop. A few people said you will get that in 2 km but alas! not a single shop was there.
When we were casually waiting to take a break for sometime we started interacting with the nearby locals. We came to know that Guy (white shirt) is from Mumbai. We were in Amalsad & our place of stay in Navsari was 32km approx from that spot. Gadgil told me that Amalsad is famous for its chikoo. When we started inquiring about tea the lady told us to wait for sometime because she will prepare it from her house. She also said that it’s Sunday so we won’t be getting it near by. PS. she was right when I asked Narayan at the time of dinner chai kidhar piya he said hotel main, Navsari where we had dinner. The lady came with a thermos and cups. Tea was next level and she prepared it with so much love and affection. They didn’t take money. They weren’t expecting anything it was so pure rare to find. These small gestures make an impact for the lifetime and I will never forget it. Gadgil was carrying chikki from our pandharpur ride & he offered them. After chatting for a few more minutes we thanked them again and began our journey.
The road was crystal clear and on the Google map it was showing a straight route towards our destination for the day. But I saw one “shortcut” which can save 3kms!! When we passed that I stopped and told my rider friends about it they said ok will take it and went back and took that road. The road which was shortcut was slightly narrow at one point we stopped at a nearby house because it was raining heavily. In front of us we had an option of two lanes and in the middle there was a house with a big hammock. One of the interesting facts Gadgil told me is that each and every house in Gujrat will have a hammock (झोपाळा). We asked one lady which way to go. She said take a left. When we went ahead I asked one more locals. What could understand and figure out from her hardcore local Gujrati is that we have taken a wrong route and she told Navsari is very far. Second thing i could translate and understand that it is a crazy thing to cycle from all over Mumbai to here. When I looked in my phone for the maps we were off track. After a few minutes one of the local guys started honking and tried to tell me in his language that we are taking the wrong road but he left and looked disappointed that I didn’t listened to him. He honked & went. After a few minutes we entered the village and it felt like it was dead-end. Gadgil asked few locals if there is any road that will take us to Abrama and eventually towards Navsari. They only said the road is there but it’s bad. (रस्ता खराब आहे).Gadgil said let’s take the road. There was no road only. It was an off-road footpath (पाऊलवाट) with a farm field on both the sides. I was leading the ride, Nayan in the Middle followed by Gadgil. I was going to shoot the video but didn’t dare to do it. Priority was to focus on the road and control the cycle. Those 5-7 minute off road patches were a big task and were glad that we managed to ride it and the cycle survived it .When I saw the main road it was a big relief. It was a mixture of feelings – thrilled that I was able to do off road. Slightly guilty that because of me the other two had to suffer. Even though everyone agreed to go, that moment I was the decision maker. But I learnt my lesson that one needs to avoid shortcuts. I was planning to save 3 km but it added 3-4km extra!!
Before taking the shortcut when Nayan & Gadgil asked me how much time it will take us to reach the hotel. I said 7pm. At first they didn’t believe it but after the shortcut and off-road adventure we actually reached the hotel around 7pm.
We did cover a total 112 km with an elevation of 523m on that day. We had dinner at Hare Krishna hotel. Being a long weekend the place was jammed packed and finally after 20-25 minutes we got a place to sit. Food was good and the service was really fast in spite of the crowd. After dinner we went to sleep around 10/10.30 pm & decided to meet around 6 am next day.
To be continued….
PS Day 3 from Navsari to Ankleshwar and Day 4 Ankleshwar to Kevadiya I will be writing in the part 2 of the blog
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