Hello Bikers..
This is a small Trip log from our "SUDDEN" ride to Alibaug. Yeah, the exaggrated word here is SUDDEN. Thats the actual reason to ride. Will know the end of the log.
It was around 9pm on Saturday Night (4th April '09) at Raju da Dhabba & where in middle of a Party which was treated by our wonderful friend, Sunil Menon. We in all where Me(Rachit), Ajay, Adhir, Abhishek aka Bobs & Sunil.
Commenced the drink by a cheers with a funny but wonderful phrase "Cheers to the Lady we love & Ladies we lost..!". As usual we had only one & common topic to talk about is BIKES. No, we never get bored of this topic ever & never run out of words when it has to do everything & anything about bikes.
Suddenly, we went back to remembering the past amazing trips & imagined....... Wish we could go somewhere really far & chill out. The mere reason was not a Booze or Food, but none other than "To RIDE". Yeah, thats what we live for.. Ever since we each of us have discovered our feelings & desire about biking all we want to do is Ride, Far & Faster..!
So, someone of us mentioned, how about having a beer in the night on a beach, perhaps GOA. We started visualizing, & again SUDDENLY a thought without any efforts blowed out saying "How about Alibaug tonight..?" That was the time we started transferring into a species known as "Bikers" from "Human", like a man converting into the Wild Evil Wolf in the mid-night.. ;) It was almost 11pm, the thoughts started provoking our wild brains.. We all where virtually on the beach, feeling the ride on the cool roads. None of us had done a night riding in pitch darkness. This was our first time for a midnight ride, all where on the tip of their toes to RIDE. The plan started rolling & finally confirmed. We decided on going to Khim Beach. Sunil also desperately wanted to tag in, but unfortunately he had some restrictions & commitments from his family so he had to step back. No probs brother, next time sure..! As we had to ride, we didnt continued the booze. We all where drunked next to negligible. Only the taste was beer left out in us & nothing else. All in proper senses ensuring a Safe Ride & no unexpected consequences/casualties which may ruin our journer. We all wanted to pick up some stuff from our house before we could leave, Me went & picked up my Denim & Riding Gloves, Adhir picked up his glove (which was apparently lost later, fallen somewhere), Ajay took his gloves, & Bobs went & had a T-Shirt Change.
So the confirmed list of Rides & Riders where Me(ZMA), Adhir(Discover), Ajay (Unicorn) & Bobs (Passion Plus). Yeah, before moving ahead would like to mention here about a small fall which Bobs had unfortunately, due to the underconstruction of road. Nothing happend, just minor buises & a left indicator broke. This made Bobs very depresses & bit afraid, but we jumped in to cheer him up, & making him realize how wonderful the ride is going to be. He was again in. We all met with the needed stuff & it was time to live. I still remember the line which came up by the situation, "We dont need a Reason to Ride, We make a Reason to Ride", Thats what we did here.
Got collected at our regular spot, It was almost 12am when we gave the ignition to our machines & took off. To ensure a safe journey, we wanted a system to be followed while riding & it was more important since it was mid-night, where the percentage of judgement & visibility compared to the day, reduces.
We got our tanks filled up on a petrol pump somewhere at Sanpada. It was exactly 1am.
(At the petrol pump)
Next stop was little ahead of Panvel, where we can have a small pit stop as almost 50kms we will be completing. Once Panvel passed, we stopped at a small hotel for a while. We had almost completed 60 odd kms & it was 1.50am now. Got freshened up. We decided to have a sequence while riding which has to maintained throughout the ride. A line-up was decided; Adhir being a little experienced rider was leading, followed by Ajay then Bobs & I was at the tail sticking to Bobs. Since he has a bit less underpowered bike, I had to ensure he is not left back alone. His head lamp was also not at all powerful & was helpless in that pitch darkness. As I had a newly fitted Philips White HID Headlight, I sticked with Bobs so he can have a good visually. But my poweful light even helped the leading bikers. They kept an eye from the rear mirrors by finding the white light following them. The lights performed really well, this it the first time I got a chance to test them & was extremely happy to see them making the way brighter in the pitch darkness & helping us get the visibilities of the blind curves on ghat. Our cuising speed was 60-80kmph & we maintained a descent formation throughout the entire ride. We could feel the coolness once we left Panvel, VOW was the word as in Mumbai the Summer is killing us in Day, Afternoon the most & even in nights. We always thought Night Ride is no good being the risk factor high, the upcoming vehicles with their killing headlamps. But the ride which we experienced in the Night was beyond our imagination, the feel was ultimate & cannot be expressed in words here. Trust me guyz, Night is the perfect time in Summers to Ride Well, with utter coolness, Less Traffic. The enjoyment was truly overwhelming, winds breezing through our helmets, leaving a wonderful sound. But the most important parameters while riding in night are Stay Together, A fixed formation, A fixed Sequence, No Ripping & you will have an excellent time of a ride. Thats what we followed, no ripping.. Yeah, even I didnt & surprisingly I was the slowest one being at the tail. But thats what will return us a safe journey.
Finally we made it to the wonderful place, it was now 2.45am. Completed 100+ odd kms. Due to the cold climate none of us realised when did we completed 100kms, not a 1% stress on any faces. The night ride is indeed worth. We thought of checking some places for shelter to sleep. But after a 1 hour hunt, waking up some lodge owners didnt find a place where we can rest our asses. Having a bikers heart, we need no place to sleep. We loved roads. As our planned destination was a beach, we went on the beach. Parked our bikes facing the shore. All we could hear now where the pleasant Waves calling us to step on the sand. Bunch of people where busy sleeping next to their respective shops.
We spotted a boat anchored on the shore nearby. Walked down to the boat & hopped in.
(In Boat)
(The Boat)
Amazing guyz, Who couldnt come,.. You did missed this one.!
The feeling was just awesome, we couldnt expect for anything more. Sitting in the boat, watching the waves coming on the shore leaving back their footprints, The wonderful dark Sky & the Sparkling stars over our head blessing us. Sight was something which we can never forget & this treat was worth the ride.
We where chatting of some good old times, as this was the perfect spot. Had nice talks, leg pulling sessions & it was now almost 4.45 am when we decided to head back home. I was already feeling very sleepy. We started off from there, searching for a hotel where could find tea. Completed approx 30kms & found a hotel at 5.30am. had tea & got freshened up to blew my sleep away. I was wonderfully fresh. The formation was resumed & we where back on the wheels on the inviting roads. We could see the brightness making a way out of the pitch dark night now. Sun coming back to its place & moon trying to make a way out. :)
The curves at early morning 6.30am looked so enchanting & beautiful. Trust me, Much sexier than of a gals ;) atleast for us.!
Cause, we Prefer Bikes over Women.!
(Curve)
(Bobs)
(Bobs)
Curves near the karnala ghat almost turned me on. I couldnt resist taking those cornerings, bursted up my speed & tried taking a close watch of mother earth while making a lean. Sorry, no pix while leaning. Fews random pix, please forgive the quality as they are taken from my Mobiles Camera.
We reached on the neck of Panvel had a tiny pit stop for just 10min. It was 6.40am now.
(Me, Ajay & Adhir)
(Bobs, Ajay & Adhir)
Decided to take the JNPT route, as the roads are amazing straight & nice, where we can get a chance of ripping our bikes.
JNPT Road
Adhir
Ajay & Bobs
Ajay
We hit the JNPT roads at 7 am.
I managed to have a nice top speed of almost 140kmph after a long time, since throughout the ride I was on constant 60-80kmph. It was a feeling of satisfaction. After riding on a pretty good speeds we reached back out places by 8am.
All In all, a great package of thrill, excitement, ride & experience we had. I still remember the reason how we landed up on this ride & smile back. But thats how the plan get instantly cooked up when all bikers get along & it has to do anything with bikes. Since we all want to do is "Ride" till our last breathe.
So now you understand, the meaning of the word "SUDDEN" here. Waiting for the next SUDDEN plan & will roll out the log soon.
Until than Ride Hard you fellow Bike-Minded people ;)..
Got Wheels..?? Lets Ride..!!
