Pune-Bangalore-Pune

Biking has come to be a part of life for me and my friend Philip. Nothing compares to riding through Incredible India! Riding makes me realise what a beautiful country India is – nature, cuisine and culture. Our confidence levels rise every time Phil and I do a road trip. This makes us dream bigger, making us plan and execute longer and more challenging trips. The Bangalore-Pune-Bangalore trip was conceived a month and a half before the scheduled date. I was praying hard that my schedule at college would not ruin the trip. I had decided though that what come may the trip would not be called off! We decided to continue with our practice of riding sans spare parts. Thanks to the dependability and loyalty of Phil’s pulsar 150 we have never had to deal with a breakdown. We aimed at doing 850 km from our home city of Bangalore to the city of Pune in Maharashtra non-stop. Both of us knew that this trip was going to be a race against time. We planned to leave Bangalore at 5:00 am, ride through the day and make it to Pune by evening. We got the bike checked and were confident that she would run like a dream just like she had on previous occasions. Little did we know that this trip would make us do things we hadn’t ever dreamt of doing!

Good morning Bangalore!

I got up at 3:45 in the night and left in half an hour to reach Phil’s home in time to leave at 5. It was still dark. I was riding the pulsar, the bike we were going to use for the trip. I was a few hundred metres from Phil’s house when I missed a twin speed breaker followed by a ditch. The breakers sent me flying and I hit the road with a crash. I knew it was a bad one. I managed not to fall but noticed a troubling sound from the front wheel as soon as I landed back on the road. When I reached Phil’s house we examined the bike and were horrified at what we saw. The front rim was jammed and refused to move. We were discouraged and forlorn. I wanted to kick myself. I’m sure Phil wanted to too. How could I miss the speed breakers? I just could not blame unfamiliar terrain. The bike was in no condition to move. The only solution was to leave the next morning or to get the rim straightened. That latter meant we could not leave before ten that morning. We were losing precious time. Was there anything we could do to save it? I gave my friend Charan a call. He’s one guy who is brilliant at being practical and quick decision making. Sure enough, Charan gave me a solution I hadn’t thought of. He suggested exchanging the whole wheel with another pulsar’s. The friends whom I stayed with had three bikes all pulsars. But there was a problem again. All three bikes were later models fitted with alloy wheels which had smaller wheel bases. Charan offered to give us his pulsar’s front wheel. For the first time I felt glad about the popularity of the pulsar. We removed the damaged front wheel and took it to his place where he gave us his wheel. Back home, by the time we fixed the spare wheel and left, it was past six. We were a little disappointed by what had happened but were ready for the road.

Bangalore not letting go….

We hoped and prayed the bike would do it without any problems. When we reached the outskirts of Bangalore I realised a wobble in the back wheel. When we got down to examine, our greatest fear came true. The back wheel rim was badly bent. So bad the whole tyre shook and revolved more like a chapatti less like a wheel. We realised it had happened at the same breaker hit that morning. I was worried the bend might affect the new tyre. The worst part was that all shops were closed that day because it was pooja day. This time we were laughing at ourselves- dont know because of frustration or the situation. The search for a bajaj showroom in that area did not yield anything. Help came in the form of a puncture repair place - the only shop open early that morning. The guy did not sell new rims but was positive that hammering the damaged rim would allow us to ride on. We were ready to take the chance. The thought ‘something is better than nothing’ was ringing in both our minds. The wheel was done. It was better than what it was and we decided to ride. My cousin Arul was supposed to meet us at Belgaum, 500 km from Bangalore. It was decided that Arul would keep a new rim ready for us in Belgaum.

Adios Bangalore

It was past 9:30 am by the time we left the city. We were relieved to leave finally. Better late than never… but this also meant we would have to ride at night, something we wanted to avoid. National Highway 4 was boringly smooth. We did not have any time to lose now. The bike was a source of concern but we decided to forget about it and enjoy the ride. The only things in our way now were the irritatingly incomplete flyovers dotting the highway. We stopped near Chitradurga for breakfast – Phil’s mom’s numero uno sandwiches and some pictures. Our destination for now was Belgaum. We hoped to break there for lunch and a rim change. The road turned bad between Chitradurga and Hubli. We lost time and patience as we trudged slowly on the dusty road.

The Best Of Karnataka

Once the bad patch was over, nature started rejoicing too. We came across some picture perfect scenery. It was the beauty that kept us moving… wanting to see more. The ride from Dharwad to Belgaum was till now the most scenic stretch - lush green farmland, blue lakes, clear skies and a light drizzle. It was a treat to all our senses. Phil called it ‘India at its best’. It sure was. We were able to move at speeds in excess of 100 kmph on this stunning stretch and made it to the city of Belgaum by 4:00 pm. My cousin Arul took us to two Bajaj authorised showrooms. Both showrooms were open but refused to take the bike in stating time constraints and the fact that it was festival day as reasons. Phil swore to himself that he would write to bajaj complaining against the showrooms. We visited a few spare part shops but were not satisfied with the spares they presented to us. We were tired and hungry and desperately wanted to continue riding. We finally left Belgaum at 7:30 pm after getting the chain tightened and an awesome lunch or supper - call it what you may.

Nothings gonna stop us now...

Nothing stopped us now. The road was by far the best we got. Good roads present riders with the risk of dozing off because of monotony. Both of us did feel sleepy at times on the trip but we stopped for a chai as soon as this happened. Entering Maharashtra gave us the added impetus to carry on riding non-stop…Kolhapur, Satara and finally Pune. Night riding was not bad after all! We were riding in the moonlight, the stars were out, the weather cool and the bike felt as good as new. We were looking forward to this leg of our trip because of the tunnels that dot the ghats before Pune. Sure enough...the tunnels sure were worth the wait. We entered Pune at 12:00 am after conquering the dusty, lorry filled ghats preceding the city. We had done it. The ride had not been smooth but we fought back. We finally reached our destination in Kalyani Nagar, Pune after stopping a million people to ask for directions. Pune with its poor city roads reminded us that Bangalore is not too bad! We had a beautifully furnished bungalow to ourselves, complete with air conditioned rooms, attendants and food. All thanks to Phil’s friend Vanessa, who’s wedding the next day, was the very reason for our road trip.

In Pune City...

We lazed around in bed till ten the following morning. Phil was going out with his friends to explore Pune and for the wedding. I was looking forward to meeting my friends from school. The day was fun and brought back many memories. The bike did not move. We gave her one full day of well deserved rest!

Both of us got back at midnight after a well spent and enjoyable day. We tried changing the engine oil but couldn’t because of lack of tools. We decided to get it changed first thing next morning. Our plans of leaving Pune at 5 did not materialise because we were awake having a long due heart to heart talk till 2 in the morning! We gave each other some important advice on the most important issues in life.

Pune Blues

We left our Kalyani Nagar accommodation by 6:00 the following morning. But just like Bangalore, Pune also refused to let go of us. We somehow managed to hit NH 7 leading to Hyderabad. We failed to realise who misguided us… truck drivers, helpful people or the cop. Call it lack of understanding or sheer misfortune – we hit the wrong road.

We had covered a good 20 km when we realised we were in Saswad village in rural Maharashtra miles away from the NH. We had no clue about where to go to reach the highway. Villagers were not sure either. Help came in the form of the 'Lonely Planet' book Phil had somewhere in the depths of his backpack. We couldnt believe the wonder of a book had the tiny village in it! We realised we were totally off track on State Highway 64 thinking it was NH 4. According to the book, we had to take a side road to the highway through Nasrapur village. We took this scenic route after a breakfast of traditional vada-pav, kachori and chai.

Need for Speed

We finally hit the highway at around 10:30 am. The wrong route cost us precious time but took us through some of the most beautiful transfixing scenery I’ve ever seen. I felt India has so much of unexplored untapped natural beauty. This particular stretch comes close to the hill stations of Khandala and Lonavala near Mumbai. Wonderfully wonderful! It was probably the best I’ve ever seen. It was sad that our camera decided to die out at this very important time.

Once we reached the NH we averaged between 80 and 90 kmph on the Satara to Belgaum stretch. The impeccable concrete roads made us go for miles at 100 kmph continuously. We entered Belgaum at 1:00pm and went straight to my cousin’s place for a sumptuous lunch. We took a rather long time there and left at 3:30pm. From then on it was like a race against time. We wanted to make it back to Bangalore as soon as possible. The superb road helped us reach a max speed of 115kmph. We don’t consider ourselves Rossis but speed definitely thrills! We had to cover the bad leg this time at night. It proved to be the most difficult stretch because of dust and poor visibility. We broke for tea at Harihar and continued after the stop with one break in between for dinner. The road after Chitradurga was smooth. The gigantic wind mills with twinkling lights lit the horizon beautifully. We made it back to Bangalore by 12:00pm.

Mere Desh ki Dharti...

The Bangalore-Pune trip made me realise that covering close to 2000 kms in 24 hours of riding on a damaged bike is not as easy as it seems. Call it clinical insanity or madness of youth. Riding gives us the ultimate thrill…breaking the monotony of living life in a city.
It also made me realise what an amazing country India is. Each state is a country in its own right because it is so strikingly different in language, customs, natural beauty and flavour. The colours of India are truly rich, vibrant and diverse.

The bike needed a complete service, chain, sprocket and rim change. She’s now set for the ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari’ Road trip we plan to do with our both our dads in April ‘07. We hope to make it an epic journey across India. I can trust the pulsar for anything now. Thank you Bajaj.