the perfect ride

it was Saturday evening, 8pm. I had accomplished most of my weekend agenda, and had only one major thing left to deal with: the itch to travel.

my thoughts at the start of the weekend were, I'd wrap up my agenda by sunset, and set off to malshej to camp out by the lake, alone. not that I particularly needed the space at the time, but i just felt like randomly doing something I hadn't done before. 8pm was a little too late for such shenanigans though, so i had to make do with vegetating at my pc with a beer that's been waiting for me in the fridge for a month too many, munching on slices of grilled pork that I prepared that afternoon.

Sunday would be different though. I had the whole day free.

and given the weather, i couldn't think of anything better to do than ride.

and so, I called the first person I could think of: santosh. he was reluctant until I mentioned we'd do some off-road trail biking. and then he enthusiastically agreed.

we had quorum, the ride was on!

I still did the perfunctory whatsapp announcement, called a few friends who I thought would be enthu, but nobody was free all day on Sunday. and the ride i was planning was gonna be a longish one.

the rendezvous place and time were fixed, and i was ready to go to bed at midnight, when i remembered that I hadn't rigged my cam to use the waterproof case yet.

further inspection revealed both of my camera's two battery packs weren't charged, and to top it all, I hadn't transferred my last ride's videos either!

and so, I started working on preparing the cam.

3 hours later, the mount was ready, both battery packs were charged, and we were done and dusted. I had 3 and a half hours to sleep.

three and a half hours later, i was up and about, and ready to hit the road. it had been pouring all night, and it looked like it was gonna be a fun rain ride as expected.

rode till thane, and suddenly noticed the roads were drying out. kalyan, our rendezvous point, was completely dry. still, it was overcase, and one could only hope the clouds eventually turn into rain.

By the time we reached murbad, we were pretty hungry, but the stalls opposite the bus stand were pure veg... an i can't do without my morning fix of eggs! there was another group of riders, they were probably melting inside their raincoats, visibly disappointed at the prospect of not encountering rain. we rode on further, and finally stopped at a dhaba just before the ghats started. I had missal pav and bhurji, while santosh made do with what he could get (just potato bhajiya, sadly!) and chai.

breakfast done, it was time to rig the camera onto the mount. and it was positively sunny by then, so i even put on my sunglasses!

video on, we started climbing the ghats, and at one point, a biker pulled up and honked a couple of times - before i recognized him! we stopped, he was with a couple of friends (another of whom i knew as well). introductions were done, we exchanged notes on our plans for the day, and rode on.

malshej was good as always, other than the lack of rain. we reached the top minutes after the camera froze (it does that after every half an hour of video... strange!). we stopped at a shop at the next village, to parcel some lunch and drinking water.

my friends saw us there, stopped, and told us that they've decided that my plan (off-roading to naneghat) sounded more interesting than theirs (riding back to mumbai via junnar/talegaon). and so, we were now 5 riders instead of two.

they picked up lunch too, i swapped batteries in the camera, and we were off!

we took the turn off the highway a few km ahead, onto what used to be a broken tar road which should have given way to a mud road to naneghat - except that it had been recently paved, and was now pretty good, save for the occasional pothole. so much for off-roading.

we reached naneghat. had a good lunch (chicken curry with bhurji, lol), walked around, clicked photos, relaxed a bit, and generally took a break.

And then, we started back. Santosh had a flat tyre, so we figured Junnar was the best bet to get it fixed. And so, we ended up doing the circuit after all.

The roads to Junnar were excellent (much better than the roads from Malshej to Naneghat), but after we passed Junnar, there was plenty of traffic. Also, we finally got rain! It started off with about two hours of drizzle, the sort that leaves everything slicked with muck, and that wasn't helped much by the irritating traffic: unruly bikers, aggressive car drivers, and truck drivers that seemed out to mop you off the road at the slightest opportunity. We reached Chakan at about 6, and it started pouring. By the time we reached Talegaon, we were soaked, the traffic subsided, and we were back to enjoying the ride. Talegaon to Lonavla was an awesome ride in a downpour that made up for the rest of the day's dry spell. Despite it being dark by now, we enjoyed this stretch to the fullest.

By the time we reached Lonavla we were in dire need of comfort food. Egg Maggi and chai it was. we stood under a shed, juggling our plates and cups, as the two chairs were only enough to hold our helmets and bags.

By the time we were back on the highway, the rain was back to a drizzle. We took the Panvel - JNPT - Uran road - Palm beach route, and reached Vashi to bid farewell as everyone parted ways. I had company until andheri, but there was so much traffic on the way that it was pointless trying to ride together. We parted ways after SCLR, and I rode home at my own leisurely pace.

And so, i was finally back home: drenched, mucky, tired, but refreshed after 420 kms of almost every sort of road and weather conditions we could hope for. it was an amazing day of riding, and bumping into friends and the last minute change of plans made it even more fun than we were expecting when we left from home! A sunday truly well spent.

meta memories

until yesterday, I never noticed that I associate all my favorite songs with rain. I guess I have more than my fair share of happy times associated with rain (treks, rides, birthdays, and more). and rain even goes well with blasting loud music at home.

also, since memories are subjective, it's easy to confuse them, and as I realized yesterday, to even make them up.

I was listening to a song on loop, and it suddenly turned overcast outside, and I thought to myself: this song and rain, perfect! it reminded me of some generic rainy day.

but then I thought to myself: I've only heard this song two weeks ago, so it can't possibly be connected to rain. if anything, it should be associated with sunny weather (it's positively blazing, these days!) and yet, the association with rain has been created, and is probably going to be reinforced in a month.

and so, that's how it is: all my favourite things are associated with rain.

TREACHEROUS!!!

5 friends, after postponing for weeks, finally decided that last sunday, 25 August, was the day we attempt to conquer rajmachi on bike. this was my 4th attempt on bike, and my 2nd attempt this year. the previous attempt, we had to turn back barely halfway as one muddy patch was so bad that we weren't sure if we would be able to go back up it if we went down it. but this time we decided that caution be dammed, and we would get to rajmachi come what may.

we already started on a crappy note: everyone was late, and by the time we reached lonavla to start off-roading, we were already 2 hours behind schedule. we started without even a pause or a chai break. the first 15 minutes were just rough roads, and we probably covered 1/4th of the total distance. after that, the real fun started. mud patch after mud patch, some peppered with big stones that we had to dodge as well, spots where it looked like normal mud, but suddenly sank a foot the moment we set a wheel on it. pulling bikes, pushing bikes, half the time ankle (or worse, calf) deep in mud ourselves. a few streams, which would seem dangerous to anyone else, but which we welcomed as a chance to get some mud off our bikes and ourselves.

we finally reached the top at noon, after 3 and a half hours of mad off roading. and the distance was just 14 km!

after a chai or two, lunch of rice bhakri, gavti (village) egg omelette, pickle, we were ready to go. but just then, the skies literally opened up and it started pouring. after a 15 minute wait, we decided, shivering, that it would be foolish to wait any longer.

the ride back was equally slow, and although we managed to avoid most the tricky sinking mud we encountered on our way up, we actually managed to find new ones and get stuck again. we made it back in the same time, 3 and a half hours... but this time with even lesser and shorter breaks! when we were about to hit the highway, my friend summed it up with one exclamation: TREACHEROUS!

well, one thing's for sure. the treachery wasn't in vain. i've realized i still need to get my nerves on mud. i need to get better at ensuring i don't get into sticky (rather, slippery) situations. but all said and done, i'm still looking forward to the next opportunity to take carly off the tarmac!!!

petrichor dreams

like every year, i've been waiting eagerly for the rains to begin. this time, more than ever, because i have decided a *LOT* of riding and trekking shall be done.

anyway. the rains have finally made their appearance after playing hide-and-seek with me for over a week (it rained in karnataka the *DAY* I left... last week!)

I was in IC church. evening mass. with Sinatra and her two friends who I don't know. mass got over, and sin and i were leaving. I asked sin about this one friend of hers who had added me on foursquare, and who I in turn added on facebook. i had never met the girl though. sin was surprised I didn't know her. apparently she was some friend's cousin.

while we were walking out through the use parking lot, her friends started playing tag like kids. We walked to where I had parked my cycle. she thought I had brought my bike! I told her I'll reach her on my cycle. it's been years since anyone has sat double-bar, so getting on was quite tricky for both of us. i thought I'd reach her to the nearest ric, but she wanted me to reach her till orlem on my cycle! at the slow rate i was going, i figured it'd take forever... so i bucked up a bit. we picked up a bit of speed downhill, and that's when it started drizzling, and then raining.

we rode into this low-lying area after the slope that was slightly flooded with muck-brown rainwater. that's when i decided we shouldn't be cycling in this weather. took a u-turn and went to the nearest shelter, a tarp over a panwallah.

sin brought a cigarette. i told her to buy one for me too.

the petrichor was overwhelming. as we took shelter under the tarp.

that's when i woke up and realized it was raining outside. and the scent carried into my dream :)

aquaplaning

the much-awaited first rains were 2 days ago, on thursday. but surprisingly, this time there wasn't the much awaited petrichor, or scent of the first rain on dust. probably because of a drizzle 2 days before, which left my bike coated with a layer of muck within the 2 brief minutes that it lasted.

anyway. back to the first proper rain. as usual, there were reports of rain from other parts of bombay, culminating with mom looking out at the terrace and declaring that it has finally arrived.

i didn't waste a minute.

last year, the first rain was such a brief spell, that by the time i called nickolai and took my bike out, it had pretty much stopped.

this time, thankfully, it was different. nickolai was studying for her exam the next day, and the rain was mroe a torrent than a drizzle. 10 seconds on the road on my bike, and i realized i could barely open my eyes against the gusty downpour. fun times.

so yeah, i got drenched, passed teenagers dancing and frolicking in the rain, scouted the colony and areas around for puddles to splash through (this is probably the only time you can splash bystanders without affecting your karma, after all!), and finally found my share of rainy bliss.

unfortunately, the neighbourhood vada pav guy shut shop with the rains (he probably hadn't carried his huge umbrella), but there was toasted bun-maska and chai waiting for me at home to make up for it.

anyway, what was the most fun part of the ride (after the splashing through puddles bit, of course)?

attempting to engine-brake hard on a downhill sharp left turn, and doing a nice 90 degree spin. but no feet on the ground. yesh, my bike's tyres can now be proclaimed bald.

i love the rains.

the first rain (for me, this year)

i was in matheran yesterday. it rained for about 20 minutes, from 2am to 2:20am.

i woke up today morning, and the terrace was dry at 7:30am.

it was nice and cloudy when i left from home. i was happy to see my bike's headlight cast a beam as far as 50 feet away, even though it was past 9am.

and then the rain struck. first a drizzle, mild enough for me not to bother taking out my windcheater. till 5 minutes later, when i was navigating bumps in the road from memory.

needless to say, i was drenched when i entered office.

so drenched, that the security guard refused to xray my bag, even after i put it in the plastic tray.

so drenched, that i left puddles from the lobby to the restroom.

i squeezed my socks dry, emptied my shoes, wrung my pants. and then sat for my day long training session.

during our first break, i went to the coffee machine in the hope of getting something
niec and hot to combat my uncontrollable shivering bouts. and the machine was only spewing watery reconstituted milk no matter what button i pressed.

by lunch, most of my pants and shirt had dried, except for a section starting at my waist and ending 6 inches or so below.

my friend who hadn't seen me in the morning asked me how come my pants were wet in such a weird shape.

i had to explain to her in front of a couple of her teammates, that that was because my underwear hadn't dried yet from the morning's drenching (i didn't want to evade the question, since that would probably make them assume worse reasons :D)

anyway, i finally made it through the day, and was waiting for the reain to subside so i could make my hasty exit.

except that it didn't.

i took my time, rearranged my bag, put on my jacket, put all my important stuff in ziploc bags, and set off with some nice good house music blasting on my earphones at near-deafening volumes.

got caught in a traffic jam even before i could turn onto the main road.

inched my way through the rain.

realized the drops that were clouding my visor were now inside my helmet, not outside.

also realized that there was no traffic or pedestrians at the left side of the road.

but did not realize that it was because there was two feet of water all the way.

anyway, once i was drenched i was drenched, so i figured i might as well plow my way through, since i knew all the bumps in the road from memory anyway.

the only person i saw who was even more unprepared for the rain than i was, was this scooty riding girl, who was wearing such a flimsy white top that i almost managed to read the label on her bra while waiting behind her at the signal in malad.

let's trash some houses...maybe even drown some people!

my mom has some very strange philosophies in life. like just now she exhorted me to pray that "it rains heavily, we have floods, and it gets cool"

i asked her why she wanted floods. i wouldn't pray that some poor people lose their homes and belongings, some maybe even their lives, unless i had a very good reason to do so :D

apparently (and i'm not making this up!) mom feels it only gets cool when there are floods.

die, people...die!!! i'm sacrificing you all for the cause of better weather :D

infinite showers

either it's raining everywhere, or the rain has been following me wherever i go...i've been in the rain since 10:30 am when it started raining at dadar, in mumbai, and it's still raining at 7:30 pm here in aundh, pune. i have travelled about 170km, and it's been literally raining every second.

random thoughts:

i love my windcheater. it actually keeps me warm and (mostly) dry, without me feeling all sweaty inside it. it doesn't have a hood, so i can get my head wet (otherwise it won't feel like i'm in the rain, will it?)

i hate wet socks. especially when im forced to wear them all day after stepping into a puddle in the morning. yuck.

i'm immune to cold. i sit in an air conditioned bus for four hours after being fully drenched, and i still feel the need to point all available air vents at myself. even the ones on the row ahead and behind me.

the view along the lonavla ghats isn't any good. all you see are the clouds below you. now that's not something you get to see very often under normal circumstances, but it's pretty monotonous if you're traveling the same cloud covered route twice a week.

the carpenters were wrong. it's not "rainy days and mondays". it's just mondays. period. rainy days do *NOT* get me down.

song to listen to when drinking hot tea (i'm off coffee for now) and watching the rain patter 2 feet away from me outside the 'tapri' im standing under: "milk and toast and honey" by roxette. such a cosy number. just like my trusty windcheater.

the rain in spain stays mainly in the plains

...but apparently, in india it hits the plateaus first :)

the rain finally caught up with me today.

2 weeks ago, it rained in pune when i was in bombay for the weekend.

then it showered in bombay while i just got drizzled upon in pune.

then it showered in the half of pune which i wasn't in.

finally, it showers right where i am, with thunder and lightning and the floor vibrating and all.

unfortunately i have to watch from the window, because i have a killer cold, super sore throat, a 'productive' cough (thanks gillian for the medicalese) and as of 5 mins ago, signs of bronchitis :(