Ride + Trek to Mahuligad - The highest peak of Thane district.

It was lazy 4th weekend of August 2019. Wifey was in Panchgani with our little one for her Homoeopathic Seminar and I had nothing to do. The never ending urge to explore just needs an opportunity and this was a perfect one. 

Was looking for trek where I could easily reach by train and also get to ride my bicycle for some distance. Quick googling brought Mahuli gad to my notice which is appx 9 kms from Asangaon station. I got prepared for it. Woke up at 3.30am, packed my bag with 1 extra set of clothes, 2 water bottles and a tiffin of omlet + bread. Boarded 4:48am local train from Seawoods for Kurla and then a 5:28am Kasara local for Asangaon. Apart from a small adventure while boarding in luggage compartment of local from Seawoods, the journey was smooth and as per plan.

After a cutting chai at Asangaon, I started padelling towards base of Mahuligad. Crossed Nashik Highway and continued further with Lush greenery all around. Narrow country road, paddy fields, flowing river, drizzling rain and lonely me - Absolute Nirvana. I reached base in appx 50mins (including photo breaks), locked biclycle there and enjoyed 1 quick vada pav. Vada pav vendor told me that there are just 2 more groups who started before me. After that chota recharge, I started my walk. Loved the entrance of sanctuary that is at base of the fort. There was also a Registration Office at base to keep track of people going up and returning safely. The friendly person in charge of office briefed me about the path ahead and cautioned me to return well before sunset. 

I must have started the actual trek at around 8am. Wider path in sanctuary narrowed down to small footpath after crossing couple of streams by bridge. Those streams were so inviting to take a dip but I had a full day ahead for that. I was half wet as it stopped raining and body's heat half dried the clothes. Flowing stream on the right side, dense forest on the left, crabs and frogs crossing my path, I was walking non-stop. Initial part wasn't steep and that helped in warm up. Steadily it became steeper, forest denser and trek tougher but nothing bothered me. What surprised me the most was there was no sign of fatigue even after trekking 1 hour. 

I realised that 

we talk a lot when with friends and that interrupts our natural breathing rhythm thus causing breathlessness. As the breathing was in proper rhythm, there was no sunlight and light drizzles in between; water requirement too was very less than usual. After trekking continuously for 2 hours, it started raining heavily, further cooling me down and I saw a group of 5 boys in early 20s going uphill. After a quick intro I wondered whether to walk with them, but they were playing music on Bluetooth speaker and making lots of noise which turned me off. I soon overtook them and escaped that noise. Height is, even after walking for 2 hours, I had no clue how far the top is as the fort was covered with dense fog. Walking walking all alone, clueless but still fresh and energetic. After 3 hours 15 mins I reached top and then started searching important points to be seen on the fort.

There I came across a group of 3 friends who too were searching for those points. I found a sensible group to explore the fort. Jio's network was good so information on net plus few signages on fort led us to Shiv Temple, Caves, Shivaji Maharaj Smrarak and Kalyan Gate. In those caves, I enjoyed my tiffin which I also offered to the trio but they being veg, we're happy with biscuits that they carried. View from cave was too good as rain water was flowing continuously at the entrance of cave and Kalyan gate in spite of being close was 50% visible because of rain and fog. What a satisfying experience to enjoy breakfast at such location with background music of rain! 

We spent 15 mins after breakfast and started descending as there was hardly anything to see due to dense fog. Those trio were funny people pulling each other's legs all the way and me just enjoying their jokes. Some part of fort was clear now as fog shifted elsewhere. We got good chance of photography, we all clicked each other and progressed further to descend. It was just start of the descend, trio were leading And I was following them as the path was narrow for walking parallelly. Still busy chit-chatting we realised late that the descend was much tougher compared to ascend. After few discussions and arguments, we concluded that we missed the right path. We again had to climb back at least 50 meters. Me being last, had to climb up the least. Luckily we realised sooner and got back on track. 

It always helps when you start early as you miss out the heat and also reach back home for afternoon nap. And this you realise more when you see people climbing while you are descending. People are sweating, exhausted and ask with high hopes, "How far ahead?". If you tell them the truth, they get demotivated and if you tell them that it's closer, they curse you later. Generally, at other trek spots, descend seems much shorter. But this being Mahuli gad, highest peak of Thane district, even descend took 2.5 long hours. Like ascend, descend too felt like unending. I fared bye to trio 1 hour earlier and increased my pace as I wanted to board the 3.44 local back home. Streams were inviting and quick - dip was irresistible. Enjoyed 5 mins of natural jacuzzi, changed to dry clothes and approached sanctuary. 

Reached base, 1 cutting chai later paddled back to Asangaon and reached home at 5:30pm. Had a stupendous Sunday special non-veg lunch cum dinner after a warm shower. What more one can ask for in a single day?? 

Background leaf turned to skeleton, still adding value..

Process of nature to keep multiplying..

Wild Banana Flower..

Vihaan Tidke's Collection

My son Master Vihaan Tidke likes to collect various items. Recently, he started collecting bottle caps of soft drinks and beers. Posting a photo of his collection. The actual

volume of his collection is 200+ but posting photo of only single caps avoiding repeat ones.

Bullet of pleasure..

Bikes of Royal Enfield, especially Bullet, needs no introduction. Everyone from a small child to senior citizen knows it. The thump itself is enough for people to identify it. I have test ridden almost all bikes of royal Enfield either at dealers or of friends/ relatives and the list includes Bullet 350 standard (old), Bullet Electra (old), Classic 350, Classic 500, Chrome 500, Thunderbird 350, Thunderbird 500, Continental GT, Himalayan, Himalayan FI, Standard 500 (carb), etc. Out of these, have ridden Thunderbird 350 and Chrome 500 (fairly modern with conventional 5-speed gears and self-starter) for more than 200 kms. Every ride gives a new high. Being a regular reader of Auto mags since 1995, have gone through numerous reports of various publications about how pathetic the gearbox of Bullet is. There is a constant "False neutral" between every two gears. This term of "False neutrals" has been bombarded on my mind. I have myself experienced them on old as well as new bikes of RE but never to the extent of irritation/ frustration. On the contrary to these journalists who has defamed the REs; is the class of people who own these machines and love them more than their wives/ GFs. They know how to do most of the maintenance on themselves, they like to polish the chrome to keep it shining, they lubricate the chain regularly and they treat their bikes like extensions of themselves. I somehow never understood the contrasting outlooks of these 2 different set of people.

My cousin maternal uncle who stays in Ahmednagar district, owns a 2003 model Bullet Electra 4 speed with old pattern gears on opposite side. He expressed his willingness to sell it off. He offered me to take the bike with me to Mumbai and sell it off to some genuine buyer in Mumbai who respects that machine. Having sold our Duke 200, I jumped on this opportunity so that I get a bike for local use till we get a new one. I went to my native place at earliest available opportunity and kick started my new (temporary) possession towards a new experience. The take off itself was very poor. This particular machine is having one typical issue in first gear which slips off within first 10 meters or so and the gear shifts to neutral. I started in 1st, gear slipped, I shifted to 2nd, false neutral, I again shifted, again false neutral, again attempted and I was in top gear at speed of 10kmph. I must be looking like a fool in front of all relatives waiting to fare goodbye to me. The first ride itself was of appx 100 kms to my another maternal uncle. The ride was mixed experience for me with initial excitement+pain of missed gearshifts. I stayed there in Nashik district for a day and left from there the next day at 10am. I again kick started my new ride of pride in front of all relatives waiting to wave me a goodbye. First kick and it thumped, I shifted to first, freed my right hand to wave goodbye and it stalled. I kicked it, failed, again kicked it, again fail, kicked it appx 10-12 times and it failed. I was embarrassed in front of my nana-nani, mama-maami, cousins, labours, and what not. Finally it started and I took off without waving a final bye fearing another engine stall. I wanted to leave early morning to avoid heat of a summer but due to some job or other, got delayed. Ahead of me was a journey of appx 250 kms on a hot day riding bike which I hardly know how reliable it is and how well-maintained it is (Looks wise it is well-maintained).Already done with a filling breakfast, my target was to ride non-stop as long as possible to avoid extreme heat of afternoon. Gear pattern is one up and three down on the right side. I thought that I had mastered the act of gear shift. Almost every upshift was a breeze, but come speed breaker or some traffic and downshift was a pain. I always had to pull up the tacky gear lever to downshift and almost every shift was a "miss". Hell, after sometime, I cursed every speed breaker or traffic and never wanted to downshift. On some instances, I also tried to ride without slowing down on speed breakers or burn the clutch to avoid downshifting but a machine lover in me cursed my conscience and warned me to not to abuse any machine whether it belongs to me or someone else. So, I continued my ride trying to respect the machine. Post 12 noon, it was very hot, I was wearing my helmet but no other riding kit and to top it, I was wearing a T-shirt of half sleeves. I had crossed Shahpur but the ride was becoming unbearable. Hot weather, half sleeves and endless “false neutrals”. The lines of Auto journalists and the term “false neutrals” kept on bombarding my mind which was also frustrated with heat and sun burn. Having ridden for 20 years (2 years before adulthood) never in my life, a ride become so painful for me. The clutch was feeling heavy, accelerator too seemed slightly hard and both my hands was numb. I started cursing myself for choosing this new painful possession. Every passing kilometer tested my patience. At around 1pm, I reached Thane. At this point, weather was very hot, I was very stressed, traffic was very slow, engine was hot and it was becoming hotter because of reduced flow of air and very slow traffic. To top it, the engine stalled atleast 5 times within the Thane-Kalva stretch. A thought kept running on back of my mind, “Who will buy this pain after paying 85-90k that my maternal uncle is expecting”? I reached home at 1.45, burnt up, stressed up, tired and frustrated. Mithilesh was glad that he too will get to experience a antique machine and was keenly waiting for my review when I reached home. I gave my negative review and he was OK with it as it was just a temporary possession. After couple of days, Mithilesh went for a local ride and he too came back cursing the machine “Tell me, who will buy this one?”.

While the bike is in Mumbai, I have to ride it atleast once a day locally for some work or other. After couple of days while riding the Bullet in a relaxed manner I sometimes managed to downshift successfully. I also managed to kick start it in a single kick sometimes. After another 4-5 days, I mastered the act of downshifting too and started the bike in single kick. With this new found perfection, I started enjoying. After each passing day, I started enjoying more and more and started getting attached to it. I also mastered the act of taking off in first gear and quickly shifting to second before the first gear slips off. And I never thought a day will arise when I will ride just for the heck of it. The current situation is such that if I don't ride it with some reason through out the day, I ride just for the heck of it at 10-11pm. Same with Mithilesh who also started enjoying the ride. I spend my sunday mornings washing it and polishing the chrome. I marvel at its looks, I appreciate its classic thump, I enjoy its endless curve of torque and keep on admiring its sheer beauty.

This old school machine is not just a means of transport from A to B. This is an experience, an adjustment in initial phase but an addiction later, its really an extension of owner as most claim it to be..! It has that pure unadulterated mechanical connect missing in modern machines. There is a "connect" in every thump, every gear shift and every kick start.

To sum it up, its like a wife; she throws tantrums, nags, does not co-operate sometimes, heats up, stalls but slowly you start adjusting with her. You learn how to bypass the trouble, strike the right chord and continue living with her. The only difference is once you adjust with a classic bullet and get into comfort zone, there are only pleasures thereafter which is not the case with wives.. ;-)

:)

Exploring the UNEXPLORED within the EXPLORED..!

Been riding my GT Aggressor 3.0 since last 4 years. Have done few long rides to Korlai Fort - 115 kms (and back), Karjat-Kashele-Neral-Karjat - 46 Kms, Nerul to Neral - 70 kms (and back) and also numerous local rides in Nerul, Seawoods, Belapur, Juinagar, Sanpada, Vashi, Kharghar, Panvel, etc. Almost all these rides were on-road primarily and I hardly focused on a off-road ride even after my bicycle being a MTB.

The itch to ride off-road started last Sunday (16.08.2015) when I went to Pandavkada waterfall in Kharghar with Sameer. Had trilling fun crossing the river stream numerous times.

After this first so called Off-road ride, I started thinking of places where I can enjoy off-roading. The first place that came to my mind was off-roading on Kharghar Hill from Phanaspada village to the source of Pandav kada waterfall. And the same was planned on next Sunday i.e. today.

23.08.2015

Left home at 6:30 am today for Kharghar Hill. Reached base of Kharghar Hill in 15 mins and was surprised to see many cars and bikes parked there. I started paddling uphill and was stopped by security informing me about new rule which prohibits cycling on the hill road and only walking is allowed. Slightly disappointed I turned back and started riding to random places. I rode through Sector 5, 4, 3, 1A of Belapur and then the most beautiful Sector - 1. I was impressed with the way small bunglows are constructed close to forest. I passed through "General Arun Kumar Vaidya Marg" which had dense trees on both sides. And in the way I came across a park named "Valley park" near sector-1. A tar road approached to forest but again bicycle entry was restricted inside. I was told that the road is of almost 1 Km inside but entry is allowed by walking only. Again disappointed, I turned back and thought of some other place where I can enjoy the ride. Then came the idea of attempting to ride on a road which always looked mysterious to me. The road that goes other end of Parsik Hill and the approach of which starts from "Belapur Khind" on Sion-Panvel Highway. The road goes to some temple on the small hill, 100 meters from approach is all I knew.

I decided to follow that route without having any clue about it.

I reached the temple (two temples actually) and saw a small road going further into forest. There was knee high grass on road hinting that nobody ventures on it. I halted at temple for 5 mins thinking whether to proceed further or turn back.

Proceeding further was a more attractive option to me, so what if it was risky being alone? Without thinking twice, I proceeded. There was dense forest on both sides and the road was all kuccha and uphill. At some places, I was forced to get down and walk as it was tough to maintain traction on the uphill road with pebbles on surface. I stopped at some places to click pics and one thing was running continuously on back of my mind, "Whether it is safe to proceed further to unknown forest alone or to back off?". However, the journey was just started and I hardly had a dose of adventure. While clicking pics, I observed that there were many small mosquitoes in the forest and they attempted to bite me every time I stopped. Those were special mosquitoes with silver legs. I continued further and came across one board that mentioned that the road and premises belonged to Electricity Board. I again thought whether to proceed or turn back and again I chose to proceed.

Road further continued to be uphill and I was enjoying as well as wondering what lies ahead. After around 600 meters from temples, the incline ended but forest continued. I could hear sweet melodies of birds from all around as if greeting me. I imagined what fun it can be with company of 3-4 cyclists. After around 1 km, I came across three boys in early 20s which looked like labourers and were holding a saw each. I greeted them "Kya Bhai log?" and one of them replied, "Bolo Bhai". I asked whether the place is safe enough and how far the road exists. They said, the road goes very far but its not good, there are too many "khaddas" and "Patthars" on road. I said, "No worries but its safe naa?', they replied, "Yes it is". I continued and suddenly I noticed a snake crossing my path. I braked slightly to let it pass and it got just saved by a feet from being injured by front tyre of my bicycle. Slight current passed my body but continued ahead. Further, there were two trees damaged and their trunks were lying across the road. I had to get down, lift the bicycle and then cross the trunks. I also checked whether snake was following me by any chance ;-).

Proceeding further made clear the purpose of this road. The road was constructed by Electricity Board to make access to the huge electric towers that form a chain on range of hills starting from Turbhe to Belapur. From here I could see the chain to towers till quite far and realised that the road must be existing atleast 10-12 kms ahead. Forest was cleared in this section for making place for towers.

 

I passed two towers and then came the edge of hill. It was valley on left side and forest on right side. The grass on road was denser and it covered the stones that were lying on the track. I over-rode stones of atleast height of 10 cms on 3-4 occasions. Some section was uphill, some was downhill, some was plain and some times it so happened that uphill came immediately after downhill and I was caught in wrong gear forcing to stop. Some small streams were passing from the tracks. By this time, I had already covered appx 4 Kms. I could see D. Y. Patil Stadium on my left side.

I continued further and then came the view of stone quarries of Nerul to the right side. I realised that I have come atleast 6 kms from the temples and was close to LP. There was a big hard rock on the right side of the track. I parked my bicycle over there, took a break of 15 mins eating  bananas that I was carrying and drank water. While I was relaxing and observing around, I realised that 6-8 mosquitoes are sitting on both of my hand and enjoying my blood. In a jerk, I rubbed both hands killing all the mosquitoes and decided to return.

I made my mind to turn back finally. Return journey was real fun as the track was somewhat known, I could easily avoid stones which I over-rode before and gained good speed while downhill ride on track which was moist, full of pebbles, crossing the knee high to waist high grass and realising every second what a great track I have discovered! I reached temples in no time, clicked some pics, joined Sion-Panvel Road and reached home.

I took a small bucket full of water, a soft cotton cloth and cleaned the bicycle fully including every corner of frame, cables, gears, chain, rims, tyres, etc. I also grabbed the opportunity and took out wax polish from the car and polished the bicycle to its shining glory. I realised what a great service my GT Aggressor has given to me over the period of 4 years and how well she has aged without any trouble whatsoever, not even a flat tyre..!