Part 1: We decided to ride
"Let's go Goa!" College group of friends and families announced the yearly Goa trip.
Some said: We are flying.
Some said: We will take train.
Some said: We will drive.
Shree (my friend) and I: (our wives not coming because of prior commitments) let's ride our RE Meteors!
That's how we decided to ride. And a plethora of things started. Route search, Road condition R&D, riding schedule, packing list, load distribution, checking on safety gear, rain preparations, pre-ride maintenance and so many. We searched a lot on the web. read a lot of articles, blogs, updates and finalized on Pune-Karad-Anuskura-Rajapur-Goa route.
While preparations were in full swing, Shree caught Chikungunya infection and was down with high fever! There was no possibility of him riding! However, I decided to ride solo and complete the trip.
With Solo riding decision, few things changed.
Non-stop one-way ride changed to a break journey. I decided to stay at Karad on both to and fro routes. That gave good relief to me as well as my family and friends. Full rest between one-way journey reduced chances of fatigue.
Distributed responsibilities did not remain so. e.g. one of us was to take chain maintenance kit and other was to take medical/first-aid. Now with riding solo, I had to take both.
Leader-follower advantage was lost. With buddy-ride/group-ride, leader-follower technique helps a lot. While leader is fully focussed on the manoeuvre and pace, followers can be a tad-bit relaxed while following a leader. Riders switch positions to give everybody some rest. With solo ride, one has to be focussed on the route all the time. That adds to stress and fatigue.
This stress and fatigue can be mitigated by more frequent breaks. I chose to take more breaks and spend more time per break to my satisfaction. This gave me good relief. I also decided to send frequent and definite updates with photos and videos on friends and family Whatsapp groups. This kept them much at peace.
Part 2: Packing and loading the bike:
There are umpteen options to mount luggage on a bike. Tank bags, tail bags, saddle-bags, regular sacks, panniers and so on...
I chose to use a saddle bag because... I had blindly bought one :-) It turned out to be a good option. They fit on both sides of rear seat and can be secured with in-built/additional straps. These are not generally locked. Hence you need to carry them to the room in case of an overnight stay.
Packing a luggage is a tricky affair. First, both sides of saddle bags should be of same weight to keep the bike balanced at speed and during manoeuvres. Unbalanced bags call for easy loss of control and hence some accident.
Any type of luggage option is a hassle to mount and unmount. After mounting, they are covered with rain or dust protection, high visibility covers and/or secured with bungee cords/ropes. hence they are a hassle to open/close too. An additional sack to keep essential items comes in handy. Concepts like cabin / check-in luggage work best here too.
I took time to plan and organize which items go where and packed my bags in rounds. I still made some mistakes and learned some lessons.
The lessons learned:
- Imagine every possible scenario where some item from luggage may be required. If it is required more than once while riding, put it in a regular sack. e.g. if weather changes more frequently during the ride, pack the rain suit, wind cheater, sunglasses in the sack. Chain cleaning kit may be kept in a check-in bag as it is not required during the ride.
- Quick access items such as spanner/ Allen key to tighten the mirror/ mobile holder/camera holder may be packed in a sack. Additional tools may be packed in a check-in bag. Pressure gauge may be packed in a sack. Puncture kit may be packed in check-in bag
- Always pack a 500ml water bottle in a sack and additional water in check-in bag
- Pack the check-in bags as compact as you can. Reduce the size but balance the weights
- Side pockets of check-in bags may not be as handy as you think, because the whole luggage is wrapped with rain/dust/ high visibility cover.
- Mind the added width with saddle bags while manoeuvring through the crowd as well as while parking the bike.
Part 3: The D-day - The ride day.
Day 1: The shorter stretch, and the night ride!
I started in the evening from Pune after completing Ganapati visarjan at home. Destination for that day was Karad. As I approached Khambatki ghat, it had started getting dark. However, twilight helped me climb the ghat with good visibility. No overtakes, no riding gimmicks. Steady, smooth, safe ride helped cross the ghat without any hassle.
A solkadhi break at Surur phata was a refresher! After that, all the way up to Karad was a night ride. My riding gear and luggage has good amount of reflective strips. plus, I was wearing a reflective vest. The luggage had a high visibility cover as well as a reflective vest. How much ever you add the visibility, more is always sought.
I strongly felt the weakness of Meteor default headlight. Most of the time, I followed a vehicle by keeping a good distance. kept the speed well under control and reached Karad by 9 PM. Reached the hotel which is situated on the lonely outskirts, only to realise that I have to fill up the tank and need some cash! Go to the city to withdraw cash, and go to the pump to fill up. Did so and finally checked in at 9:30 PM.
Unload the luggage, remove all the gear, have dinner and go to sleep! Even after the leisurely dinner, it takes some time to unwind. Unlike trekking/hiking, riding gives lot of NVH (noise, vibrations, harshness) to the body. That adds to mental fatigue and requires some unwinding before one actually sleeps. One needs to account for that time as well. I spent some time in the room before going to sleep.
Next day was the longer leg!
Part 4: The ride continues...
Day 2: Longer stretch
Got up afresh at usual 5:00 AM. A hot tea and hot shower starts the day on a high note. Wear the gear, load the luggage, ready to ride, check-out, a snap or two, and vroom.... I started the next leg. Cold morning weather, soft sunlight, a mild cloud cover, and fresh greenery all around! Optimum conditions to rev-up and zoom through. I had a small tea-and-toast break at Malkapur and headed towards Anuskura ghat. The road was as smooth as ironed cloth all the way! Another small photography break and I reached Anuskura ghat entry point.
I was welcomed by a cloud cover and fog!!! I stopped, wore the rain jacket and carefully started riding down the ghat. The winding road soon crossed the cloud/fog cover and became sunny and bright. Ghat turns are tight hair-pin bends and the gradient is high. Carefully manoeuvred through and reached the base village. After this point the road had a lot of potholes and I had to avoid them. My speed reduced and took some time to cross this stretch. Another bio-break and reached Oni village where road joins NH66. Took left on NH66 and rode up to Rajapur.
At Rajapur, it was a long enough break, with Misal paav and tea for breakfast! Removing the safety gear feels very comfortable. Sitting on a normal chair with back rest, feet resting on ground, looking around freely, quiet surroundings and a steady, refreshing view are the small pleasures you tend to enjoy during such a break.
After the breakfast, bio-break and drinking some water, I changed the shirt as it was a typical Konkan weather, hot and humid. Started on the remaining part of the ride. It was already 3 hours of ride and almost 3 more to go. Now the road was a national highway, fully concretized and without any diversions. I put a good speed. Took another small break at Kudal sipping 'Thums-up'. Tasting the thunder while riding the thunder :-)
After another hour's ride, I reached Goa border. First things first! Strictly follow speed limits here! even if 50 kmph feels like crawling, do crawl! After a bit of tricky roads and turns I was near the place of stay. It was 1 PM and friends were already out for lunch. They shared the location and I directly reached there. It was a grand welcome by friends with a good hug, and photos sent on other friends and family groups. I was in Goa after about 450 km of solo ride and it was a dream come true. Had a good meal with lot of chat and laughter. Came back to the room. It was a pure fun time from now on. I had achieved what we planned for, thus, first part of my ride was over.
With family saying farewell on one side, friends welcoming on the other, and good food, ride, views and weather in between, what else one wants in a blessed life??
Part 5: Goa and return
Day Three:
Full fun in Goa with friends... Nothing to write… What happens in Goa, Stays in Goa ;-)
Day Four: The ride back. longer, day stretch
With heavy heart, filled with the feeling of leaving Goa and friends behind, I start packing things. This time it is faster as all things already have place and some lessons learned in previous ride. My plan was to start after the breakfast and reach Karad for stay before sunset. But we spend extra time in the swimming pool and have the home brunch instead of breakfast! As soon as I take the bike out of parking, I find that right mirror has fallen off. Yet another typical RE meteor failure. RV mirrors crack at their joints with the support bar. I had already faced this and mended the both the mirrors so that they held the positions. But at this point one of them gave up! That too at a critical point when I was to start my return journey. I searched an accessory shop and got both of them replaced.
As soon as I loaded the luggage, all friends wanted a small ride J. Each one had a small round with their wife/daughter, which takes half an hour.
Finally, I started at 2:00 PM. I started without rain jacket. As soon as I reached Banda, it started raining heavily. Stopped, and put on rain jacket and started further. My hand gloves and shoes were wet. As the rain was intermittent, I could not get on and get off every time, so continued till Rajapur. Small break with Vadapaav and tea, and started further towards Anuskura. This time I was worried that I may have to climb the ghat in dark! That would be a nightmare. Quickly filled up the tank and headed towards Anuskura as quickly as I can.
Finally, it was last hour before sunset when I climbed Anuskura ghat. very quiet, no traffic, no rain. It was one of the most pleasurable moment in the return journey. I completed the climb when sun was still setting. I had a moment of relief. Took a little break and started off for Karad. Now the journey was through twilight and it was getting darker and darker.
By the time I reached Malkapur, it was totally dark. Excellent quality road was the respite. I again followed some vehicles and kept on riding for 2+ hours. Riding in the dark is taxing on eyes as well as mind. There is a very narrow dark high-contrast window as against bright, wide full daytime view. Full concentration and extra care is needed. Once again felt the inadequacy of headlights.
Reached Karad by 9 PM again. This time no cash and petrol was required as I already had enough cash and tank could be filled on the next day. With plans to leave after the breakfast next day, I had my leisurely dinner, unwound on the room and slept well. This was much quieter and stress-free sleep as I had the satisfaction of having covered most of the riding route and remaining Karad-Pune route was rather familiar and was a daytime ride.
Part 6: Day Five: Ride back home
Got up as usual at 5 AM, and got ready rather slowly. Had a good breakfast at the hotel and decked up for the remaining ride. Putting on wet socks and shoes was the most hated part, but had no choice. Loaded the luggage, filled the tank and started back. It was softly sunny hence no sweat and all. Sun-glasses also not required. Traffic was rather low as it was Anant-chaturdashi holiday. Reached Pune by 11AM without taking a break. Reached home with all the luggage, tired body but refreshed mind full of achievement and success of a long enough solo ride :-)
This time it was friends saying farewell on one side, family welcoming on the other and blessed life had one more memorable ride experience with all the goodies :-)
Seriously missed ride-buddy Shree.... Already determined to have equally long ride with him sooner than later :-)
What this ride did not have…
was - By God’s grace - any failures, break-downs, accidents, mishaps. Not that every ride will be flawless, but chances of making a ride flawless are greatly increased by proper maintenance, care of a bike and very high presence, focus, concentration and awareness of the rider.
👌👍🌹
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