Pune - Nashik Bicycling Trip - Oct 17-18, 2020
A few friends from our cycling group did a trip to Nashik over a Sat-Sun weekend. We did a distance of 210 km in 1.5 days.
Cyclists:
- Atul Gopal (Leader)
- Anil Jhamtani
- Devroop (Dev) Bhattacharya
- Samir Palnitkar (me)
Atul had a business meeting in Nashik. Instead of taking a bus, he decided to go on a bicycle. He suggested it to a few of us and we decided to join him on the trip. Atul had planned the route, so we had not even bothered to see the map :)
Day 1: Sat, Oct 17
We started from Pune at 6.00 am from Senapati Bapat Road and reached Dapodi by 6.30 am. We continued on Nashik Phata and took a right towards Chakan.
We continued on the Pune - Nashik highway till Narayan Gaon. It took us about 4 hours of riding time to get to Narayan Gaon. On the way, we stopped had fruit breakfast.
We had to pass Khed Ghat at the 52 km mark. It was moderate ghat climb. Anil got a little nap at Khed Ghat. The area was quite pretty.
Atul had Matar Karanji which vanished quickly with his ferocious metabolism.
We reached Manchar at the bottom of Khed Ghat. We saw delicious Coconut water and decided to stop again.
We reach Narayan Gaon around 11.30 am at approximately the 78 km mark.
When I went to pay the bill, the owner Sunil refused to take money from us saying we were guests. Then they also felicitated us. It was an incredible experience to connect with someone so unknown and to be appreciated for doing a trip like Pune-Nashik. We exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet them when they visited Pune.
As we left Narayangaon, I was wondering about the simplicity of this exchange between people. As a city dweller, I have become very wary and cynical about anyone trying to be nice. Distrust has become an integral part of me. This experience was refreshing and incidents like these restore my faith in the inherent goodness of human nature. No expectations, they were just trying to be good to us and recognize our effort. Interesting life perspective!
We left Narayangaon at around 12.30 pm pleasantly surprised at the unexpected reception. At Narayan gaon we went off the highway and went to the inside road towards Ozar. As we went off the highway, the traffic vanished. Hardly any vehicles on the inner roads.
We stopped to have some sugarcane juice. Devroop (Dev) found a new friend.
We stopped at Ozar Ganpati temple. The temple is one of the Ashtavinayaka, the eight revered shrines of Ganesha in Maharashtra, India.
After leaving the temple, we proceeded to Otur. From Otur at approximate 97 km to Bramhanvada at 115 km, it is was continuous gradual climb. 18 kms of ghat. Combined with the not so good road quality, that was a really tough climb.
We also had a lot of laughter moments. 4 strugglers climbing their way up the tough ghat :)
We stopped at Brahmanwada (at the top of the ghat). It was a small village. We bought some water and ate Parle G biscuits, Batatavadas and jalebi. Then we continued on, but now the slope was downhill for the most part. But the road was not very good, so coming downhill was a challenge.
We were getting very tired have done significant ghat cycling. But the views of rural Maharashtra were worth it.
Given our speed till Narayan Gaon we had expected that it would take us till about 5 pm to reach our destination in Akole. But it was already about 5.30 pm when we reached village of Kotul. As we passed Kotul, a guy came behind us on his motorcycle and shouted us to stop. We were surprised, but he had just come to tell us that the road we were taking to Akole was closed because the bridge had gone underwater due to rains. We had not told anyone that we were going to Akole. But he just guessed that and came to help us. That desire to help from every village we went to was a very satisfying experience. Again, no expectations, just a selfless desire to help!
We took the alternate route to Akole through Dhamangaon. Dusk was approaching. The scenery was getting even better with golden hours.
At his point, we were ready to finish the last 15 km before dark. Light would be around 6.30 pm. Anil's cycle tire got a puncture. We pumped some air using the hand pump and got the cycle till Dhamangaon. At this point, Atul suggested that we change the tube. That took about 30 mins.
It was already 6.30 by the time we left Dhamangaon, nearly dark. We were at the 134 km mark with 13 kms to go. We did the last 12 km in pitch darkness. Atul had his headlight on, the rest of us had not planned for riding in the dark. He was giving us verbal instructions like "khadda", "speed breaker", "maati" and we were following unable to see anything on the road. Luckily the road quality turned out to be not so bad. Finally at 7.20 pm, we made it to Hotel Gurukrupa in the vilage of Akole.
The last part of the journey was very challenging due to pitch dark conditions. The last 12 km was a near downslope. But we made it safely to our hotel. We did 147 km, in 7:52 hours of riding time and almost 13:20 hours of elapsed time. 3,400 calories. Crazy workout :)
We then went to a local restaurant Pooja Bhojanalaya and ate Thali dinner. We were very hungry. Just roti, sabji, dal and shrikhand. Felt so good!
We went to sleep at around 10 pm and woke up at 5 am the next day. There was a little soreness in the legs, but we were ready to do the next day.
Day 2: Sun, Oct 18
We started the day at 6.30 am (slightly later than the 6 am planned). The terrain was supposed to be much flatter compared to the earlier day. We would take the inner roads from Akole till Sinnar and then rejoin the highway for the last 20 km leg to Nashik.
The elevation profile was relatively flat or down.
Again the morning scenery was blissful.
We were doing pretty good time compared to the Saturday pace. In every place, villagers were extremely curious about our cycle ride. They were surprised that we had come all the way from Pune. One guy even asked me if we were cycling because we did not manage to get a car :) Villagers were extremely helpful with directions. One kid also decided to race with Atul for a while. We had fun together.
There are a lot of water bodies in the area. Views continued to be great.
When we reached Sinnar at around 9.30 am, members from the cycling club of Sinnar had come to greet us. Once again they treated us to a nice South Indian breakfast. We exchanged bicycling stories. It was great fun.
We left Sinnar at 10.20 am for our last leg to Nashik. About 20 km left. But it was mostly downhill. We increased our speed. There was a little mishap with Atul's bicycle battery falling off. Luckily, he was able to recover it without incident.
Finally near Nashik Road, we reached the bridge on Pravara river.
It was good to see the end in sight. But we made it to our destination Hotel Anand Lodging (where Atul was planning to stay) at around 11.30 am.
Compared to the earlier day, Sunday was a breeze. 63 km, 3:20 hours cycling time, 5:00 hours elapsed time, 1400 calories.
Within a short 1.5 days, we had a fantastic experience, something to remember for a lifetime.
Atul stayed back in Nashik and was planning to bicycle back to Pune on Tuesday. Anil's son Neerav had driven a car from Pune to Nashik to pick us up. Anil, Devroop and I put our cycles on the rack and drove back to Pune. We started from Nashik at 5:15 pm and were in Pune by 10.30 pm.
I look forward to more trips like this.
Unlike us who took the car back to Pune, Atul Gopal, our group leader, cycled both ways. He had some interesting experiences on the way back from Nashik to Pune. Here is a link to his blog.
9 comments
A milestone to remember!
ReplyDeletedefinitely a unique experience.
DeleteThis was amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the experience and beautiful pictures.
Brought out some new life perspectives
DeleteExcellent ride, nicely compiled
ReplyDeleteAwesome experience
ReplyDeleteWell penned. The imagery is so vivid while reading along with the lovely pics. It's indeed a blessing to be one with Nature. Parle G was worth the mention!
ReplyDeleteSamir, I went thru' your blog of Pune-Nashik trip on cycle. What a narrative, what a lucid language while reading I felt as if I am a pillion rider with you, enjoyed reading a lot lot.....Reading selfless humanity you experienced contented the mind.Mixing snaps with description felt a'walk thru'(ride thru') experience. Lastly, your enthu and stamina 'be an example to others.Very Very nice.
ReplyDeleteAshok Pampatwar
ReplyDelete