The Goa Ride (15 to 19 - 03-06)

The Ride
Pune - Goa - Pune ( Total distance covered ~ 1200 Kms)
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The Rider
Hari and Prabu on the trusted Red Bull (Bullet Electra - 2003)
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The Route
To >> Pune > Satara (National Highway 4 ~112 Kms) > Chiplun (State Highway 90 Kms) > Panaji(GOA -NH 17 ~300 KMs) - 15/3/2006 - Wednesday
And Return > Panaji > Kanakavali (NH17) > Kolhapur (SH 113, through Gaganbawda Ghat) > NH4 straight to Pune (280 Kms) - 19/3/2006 - Sunday
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Problems with the Bike :
Surprisingly None at all. Maybe because I was prepared with a complete tool kit, 2 sets of spare accelerator / brake / clutch cables, a Spare tube.

Only topped up on oil after I reached Goa.
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Welcome aboard flight MH03 - X5431, This is 5:30am in the morning on a pleasant chilly day(15th of March 2005) and this is Hari Iyer your Rider Pilot taking you on a ride to Goa. Written below is what is supposed to be my detailed trip report of the ride :-) Enjoy and have a nice bumpy ride ahead!

The day started early with us leaving with all our stuff loaded on the bike and we were out of the city streets on the NH4 Bypass by 5:30 AM. Thanks to some planning in advance we had a nice comfy saddle bag (Courtesy : Munna) and by 6 were out of town. By the time first rays of sun came out to warm us, we were already out on the beautiful n smooth NH4

running away from the chaos n traffic of the city. Early mornings is by far the best times to ride and with an excellent road like NH4 there is not much more that a rider can ask for.

We covered some nice distance in the morning, stopping regularly at the Ghats and the roadsigns

for photographs and to enjoy the views as usual. After all we were riding to enjoy the trip and not to set some distance time speed records ! Took a stop near Karad for a typical Highway Breakfast of Vadapav and Parle G + Cutting Chai. The road so far was as good as it can be except for the stretch just outside Pune near Katraj tunnel / ghats. Coming down from Katraj the road has been paved neatly with 2 lanes on each side till Bangalore. In fact certain sections in between (Satara to Kolhapur) have been completely paved with concrete. The only other vehicles other than us on the road were those ubiquitous TATA trucks like an endless line.

I found that the old saying about life is indeed too true( at least as far as highways are concerned), Life is like a busy highway, no matter how fast you go, there will always be vehicles ahead of you. This seemed especially true for us where on the highway no matter how many trucks we overtake there was always another one just on the horizon ahead. If you are riding just for Speed then this becomes a never ending race !

Note: It is very important to take sufficient rest the night before, as time and again both of us were feeling drowsy, even exchanging positions. Me as a pillion and he as a rider didn't help much. On a straight road like NH4 there is not much that the rider has to do except hold the handle straight and the accelerator pulled. This is where after some time it gets boring and monotonous, and then you start feeling sleepy. Very careful, for us we had enough water to wash faces time and again and we took enough breaks.
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Stopping for a Breakfast(Vada PAV)
By 10:30 at the leisurely pace that we were riding we had just reached Karad (Kolhapur still about 80+ Kms away). Our destination still seemed a long way ahead. A few Kms down we left NH4 to take the supposedly more scenic State highway to Chiplun from where Nh17 will take us to Panaji.
There are two routes to go from Pune to Goa
1> Leaving NH4 at Umbraj (ahead of Satara) Through Koyna, Chiplun and then on NH17, atleast 100 Kms longer because for a certain stretch you are actually travelling north and then going down again. This route is supposedly more scenic, with good Ghats, Winding roads and one big Koyna Dam

2> Leaving NH4 at Kolhapur > and getting on to NH17 through Gaganbawda ghat near Sawantwadi. This is the more shorter and easier route as most part of it is on the NH4 - a 4 lane concreted highway. Sort of Bland / boring actually, but when you are tired / late / want to speed this is the route to take.

After some thought we took the 1st route, Luckily for us almost all the roads in Maharashtra
After 4 hours of riding our bums were slowly becoming tough, so this was a break for our backsides to relax as we still had almost 6 hours of riding left.
Around 1.00 we reached the CHIPLUN and stopped for lunch. At the point where the State highway meets NH17 and stopped for lunch at this hotel called Relax.
Nice place with good food and decent ambience, the owner Datta Pawar(9371122140) was friendly and Quite knowledgeable about the area and spots around. There are nice shacks where travellers can rest for the night if requires and this would be very inexpensive too. The place is worth a stop if you are passing through NH17.
After a leisurely lunch we left to start on the next leg of the trip on NH17. and to our surprise just as we turned on NH17 there was this board telling Panaji /GOA was still 300 Kms away. I did a brief mental calculation : Even If we rode at an average 50 it would take us 6 more hours to reach Panaji.
this time we rode seriously , On NH17 you cannot afford being casual. No sooner than one ghat ends the other starts and this goes on till the end. Throughout the stretch on NH17 there was only one section which was straight enough for me to see about a kilometer ahead, the rest were all twisting turning roads, typical ghat types. This is a different kind of fun but nevertheless tiring. Throughout the while that you are riding , you just can't afford taking eyes off the road unlike NH4 where you can actually doze off. Here the road is good but continuously winding and narrow at places especially inside towns. The road completely tires the rider out , at least that's what it did to me. You cannot afford to be very relaxed every few kilometres there is this board >> CAREFUL GHAT SECTION AHEAD<<>g the bike on twists and bends and riding up corners gives you a feeling of achievement and of course fun (to speak nothing of the stunning views from the Ghats)

NH17 actually runs almost parallel to the famed Konkan railway route so the route is quite beautiful thick with vegetation and very very less traffic. In fact there were hardly any of those ubiquitous TATA truck that you see everywhere on highways. There is nothing that can spoil your ride more that dense traffic, and we were lucky in this regard. There were some nice warning signs on NH17 mostly in Marathi, very catchy slogans.
Some of them in English were >>
Safety on the Road is SAFE TEA at home.
Increase Speed - Decrease life. well the Marathi ones were better,, maybe next time i'll come back with the Pics.

With 300 Kms to go I and Prabhu exchanged the positions often, after almost every 50 - 60 Kms. The Pillion seat on a bullet is extraordinarily uncomfortable, we had actually added foam padding under the Saddle bag but even that wasn't of much use. After 400 Kms of continuous riding your bottom begins to feel numb , numb like frozen meat. There is no sensation, just a constant irritating Pain which is relieved for the first 2 minutes when you change positions on the bike, then the pain returns. Even standing straight was a relief, it felt as though our bottoms have calluses.
By the time we reached Sawantwadi (I think) about 50 Kms form Goa it was already dark, and I hate riding in the dark. So now we actually slowed down and rode very very carefully finally reaching Goa State at around 10.00 PM. Stopped to take Pics at the Welcome to GOA board

On entering Goa we were stopped at the first police check post. the Havaldar asked to see all the Bike documents / license and stuff which I showed him, On seeing we had all the necessary documents. This guy made asked us all police questions (Where from, where to , why , with whom, when , etc etc,) When nothing worked he shameless asked us outright > " Khushiney kahi tari dya?" (Please give some cash, whatever you can) - I was infuriated and gave him that look (You Pathetic ASS****) and moved away and went back to take my bike. Couldn't tell him anything back as we weren't in a very good position, for no mistake of ours this Government employee could still give us lot of trouble at that place, so I just moved away took my bike and started it. I turned around to see what the police guy was up to now and he had now lost interest in us and was looking at the highway to stop the next bakra. Very sad indeed the pathetic state of Excise / Police departments.

As soon as we enter Goa state the difference in Roads is immediately apparent, the roads become wider,cleaner , lanes are marked , in most of the places there are dividers. Having the impression of a Lazy / merry go lucky place there is some things the Goans are doing correctly. Finally we reached Goa (Porvarim at around 11 .00 Pm in the night) seasoned riders would actually laugh at this, we took more than 15 hours to cover a distance of around 500 kms. But then we weren't in a speed race, the purpose of the ride was to have fun and in that we did succeed.

I would spare you the details of the 3 lovely days spent in Goa, as those were some great times we had roaming around Goa, checking out spots / Beaches , catching up with old friends and stuff generally had a great time.

Few impressions about the City Panaji / GOA:
1) Streets as clean as they can be,
2) Intersections well marked, signboards / roadsigns / Distance markers everywhere.
3) Lanes neatly marked and for a change in India, traffic that respects lane discipline (except for one or two random outstation tourists, the locals follow traffic rules well).
4) Traffic signals that work.
5) Minimal traffic and smooth flow <>. Makes riding driving a pleasure

6) Saw this Different Three wheeler Enfield out there :-)

The city has lovely tree lined sidewalks / good breeze (no need to say, coastal area) and the classiness of any European city. From what I heard the Public transport system is almost non-existent, we were lucky to have our bike around. It seems you cannot live without a private vehicle. Goa is the most preferred place for Bike hires in India. 2^nd hand bikes (Especially Enfields) are dirt cheap here. Day starts late and ends early, so much so that you can't get petrol after 9:00 PM in the city the last petrol pump closes at around 9 and after that you will get only liquor of all the assorted types. Even in Mid level hotels you can get only drinks, the kitchens close at 11:00 in most places. (Atleast those main roads outside the city are in v good shape). About 2 Kms off the main road is the Koyna DAM. There is also a Nehru Udyan(Garden) built on the top of the dam, the place is really worth visiting if you are going with family as the garden is beautiful, very well landscaped and the place has some decent views to the Dam and the reservoir. In the interests of security , Photography is not allowed and to the best of my knowledge they follow it pretty strictly here. We didn't risk taking any pics, Just lied down on the Grass and took a good break. but even with flash only the board was visible :-(

The Indian tourist is worth nothing here and this is evident by the service (if you can call it service) you receive in the shacks / hotels everywhere. With so many foreigners around the Indian tourist with his comparatively limited money power and frugal means is sidelined everywhere unless you are of the type wads of cash to spend.

Return ride from GOA to PUNE

After 3 days of beaches , sun , sand , leering , fun , booze , etc , etc. We started off our return journey on 19^th March , Sunday. Again the ride started early morning at around 5 -5:30 and we covered some nice distance in the mornings. By 9:00 am in about 3 hours we had covered around 150 Kms. This time we took the route 2 for return via Gaganbawda ghat and Kolhapur. The roads this time around were also good. I think it was harvesting season in this area, where ever we went there were continuous lines of bullock carts and tractor trailers overloaded with sugarcane harvests. The Gaganbawda Ghat is a must see and this would look even better in the rainy season. Again there were those curves that riders love, zig zag twisting roads which you can see stretching endlessly into the Ghats. These are what makes riding interesting, what’s the fun in riding a straight endless road? Just holding on to the handle bars and managing to not fall asleep?

I was a slightly more worried about my tire going flat as any puncture here would mean pushing the RedBull to at least 5/ 6 Kms of Ghat roads before we can find some help. It was already dragging 2 people each weighing 85 + kilos each and our luggage in the saddle bag (With spares / clothes / bedding this was at least 35 kilograms)Also on the return journey the bike was more loaded with all the Goa stuff we had picked on (3 bottles Port wine / Feni / 2 cans of Cocam sharbat / etc).

Fortunately the bike performed immaculately giving us not trouble whatsoever.

We reached Kolhapur by afternoon around 12 or so. To go from the State Highway 113 to NH4 we had to ride through the centre of the city completely which in the mid day heat and the city traffic was not something I looked forward to. We decided to Skip lunch having already had a heavy breakfast and move ahead. It took almost an hour to cross the city and by 1:30 we were on NH4 again, the completely paved 4 lane NATIONAL HIGHWAY (Part of the Golden Quadrilateral project – Govt of India)

When you are on a highway like NH4 distance flies faster than time, you can comfortably do constant speeds of around 80 KPH without putting yourself at any risk. A totally uneventful return ride of about 250 Kms almost straight passing through Karad > Satara > Katraj . We entered Pune at 5:30.

End of a long memorable ride, bike performed perfectly. Our fair share of close calls While overtaking a truck on NH17. Surprisingly considering my history no spills / falls.

In all a great ride.

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