Cycling to Panchagani a distance of around 110 + km from my place, three ghats Katraj, Khambatki and Pasarni was the goal for Sunday 14th June as part of the Ladakh practise session. Although I am not part of the Ladakh tour, decided to join in and check out my personal endurance. My goal was to reach till Wai which is Panchgani base and decide whether to take up the last ghat.
Started early morning 4:00 AM to reach Rajaram bridge at 4:45. Here the other members started trickling in till around 5:00 AM. Katraj was a breeze as I was fresh and the dawn air did not make you feel tired. The Katraj tunnel was like a wind tunnel with Trucks racing past you making a jet like sound. The tail lamp and head lamp from Amazon cam in pretty handy during the ride in the dark.
Crossing the tunnel and making my way for Shirval at a good pace, was feeing pretty confident till two girls raced past me. Most of the others had probably already crossed past me. And suddenly I felt the cycle bumping and glanced down. My rear tyre had given way.
The cycle repair workshop came in handy as I dismantled my rear wheel. and removed the tube. I had carried an extra tube with me and i place the same into the tyre. In my hurry I forgot to find the source of the Puncture and started filling in the air. The Blackburn pump from Amazon came in handy this time. Paisa vasool for all the things Parag had carried from Needham for me. :-). By this time several other cyclist passed me and offered help but I refused as I was doing well and did not want to break their rythm. Another one informed me that a Support vehicle was on the way.
Soon enough the Support vehicle came by as I started assembling the rear tyre and found that the spanner which I carried fouled with the other partd and i needed a box spanner which would tighten the wheel fully.
Sanad, from the Support vehicle suggested putting the cycle in the Support vehicle and stop at Shirwal. We reached Shirwal a few kms ahead where most of the Cyclist had a pit top for Wada pav and Kande pohe at a road side eatery. But nobody had a box spanner and I started to tighten somehow both the nuts firmly. Another guy Pushkar had two gaping hole punctures which some of us tried mending but to no avail.
I had some Kande pohe and tea and proceeded as the last of the cyclists (a couple of senior citizens) arrived. I took the Support vehicle guy's cell number as I was now not too confident of my tyres as well as the repair job that I had done. About a 5 to 8 kms away from Khambatki and no man's land, the same tyre gave way. Punture no. 2. Got down cursing fate, I was not complete even Khambtaki and starte pumping air to check whether it was only the lack of it which had caused the flat. now I could here air leaking from some where else. I had no energy to dismantle the wheel and check the source of puncture and called the Support Vehicle. I was feeling reassured as I knew he was still at the road side eatery. he picked up the phone and tells me that he is started climbing Khambtki ghat and he passed me long back. And he could not take a U-turn as the road was one way.
He told me to flag any passing truck or small carrier and reach him as he parked his vehicle for me. There I was in the middle of the highway without help in sight. I waited for around 10 minutes trying to ask for a lift wit no avail. Finally started walking towards Khambhatki ghat but still on the look out for a lift. 10 minutes of walking and finally an empty mini carrier stopped by me, I hauled my cycle behind and got on board behind to hold the cycle. This driver stopped again to take a couple of vegetable vendors at a small village called Khandala. I helped those vendors load their gunny bag. The vehicle passed the defunct toll naka and started it way up for Khambatki and I sighted our Support Vehicle parked under a tree, the driver Santosh was sleeping soundly beside the vehicle and continued doing so as I loaded my cycle into the support vehicle and sat next to him waiting for him to finish his nap. I was dejected as there was no way I was to complete today's ride.
When I saw the last of the cyclist, a senior rider, making his way up the ghat start.
Tiredness and exhaustion was visible on his face and he stopped near our resting point. He mentioned that his gears were making a clicking noise which was very demotivating for him. he wanted me to check those as he had bought this Trek 4300 just last week. I checked briefly with my limited knowledge of gears and could not spot the issue. he told me to ride his bicycle over Khambtki to see if I experience the same problem ! Man, providence had come to my rescue with Trek 4300 and for completion of my goal. I adjusted the seat for my height and started the Khambatki climb. Two punctures, two cycles and two ghats so far ... The Trek was a cool machine and i regret not buying it instead of my Firefox. I was in high spirits now and passed two cyclists making their way up. This boosted my confidence, passed one more and was not sure whether it was my renewed energy or the Trek which was making a difference. Some children in their cars passed me by and atarted waving or smiling at me. I reached the top and started the descent. For any ghat the feeling of descent as you race at almost 40 km/ hr is a most thrilling experience worth the effort of going up at 5 km/hr. I raced past a fourth cyclist as Wai / Surur phata came into sight. I called up the Trek owner to ask him whether he wanted the Cycle back to continue his ride. He told me to carry on till Wai as he was now comfortably seated in the Support vehicle which was following the last of the riders.
The rode to Wai was a breeze, except for some Tar patching and gravel strewn for some distance, thrown up all over because of the speeding vahicles on the narrow rode. One needed to be extra cautious as overtaking vehicles from the opposite side came in front frequently. And i sighted Panchgani table land and the Pasarni ghat. I was feeling a little exhausted now and the time was around 10 :30 AM. Six and a half hours and I had finished my 1.5 litres of water, two bananas and biscuits. Took a halt mid way to Wai and finished some dry fruits as well and remembered the cereal bar. Took a bite but stopped short as there was no water with me to wash it down.
Started again and sighted Wai base. The support vehicle had passed me long back and the trek owner along with many other cyclists who had decided to end their cycling were waiting there. Was in tow minds whether to follow this buys and call it a day or continue as there were around 10 cycles whose owners had stopped and therefore no dearth of Cycles to conquer Pasarni. the Trek owner told me that I could continue on the his cycle as well. The time was round 11:15. I reloaded a litre of water from a restaurant nearby and another senior cyclist encouraged me to take up the ride as he followed me. he suggested that we could always turn back if we wanted to. This gave me more hope and I embarked on the last and the worst of the ghats.
Pasarni like it name is a long stretch winding up to Panchgani and the worst part is you can see the table land far ahead of you beckoning and at the same time threatening. Which is the reason you need to bow down and ride, joked the senior guy as we made slow pace amidst a trail of vehicles and trucks. .The sun was beating down mercilessly with no sign of monsoon clouds anywhere. I took two breaks and finished up the one litre water. The early riders who had made to the top were descending and wheezing past us waving as they went ahead. Man, I needed to go a long way. I must have cycled for around an hour or more now and was past the midway but the confidence had gone. I found myself getting down and pushing the bike more than riding it and taking frequent breaks under the sparse shadows of trees.
No cyclists going on top were in sight as I saw two more guys giving up and racing past. I had reached and surpassed my endurance limit, It was around 12:45 PM and I decided to turn back. Five minutes downhill, I stopped as I saw the senior guy, who had started with me, taking a sound nap under a tree with his cycle parked. I stopped by him and woke him up to see whether he was alright. He sure was and was relieved that I had woken him up and we started the descent together.
Back to the base a sumptuous meal was awaiting us organized by Ulhas Joshi in the restaurant. Ulhas had reached the top at 10:30 AM and descended long back.
Our way back was on the foot board of an S.T bus with cheerful conversation with the bus conductor who was curious about the journey and amused that we did not go to "enjoy" Panchagni and Mahableshwar points but started immediately for home.
Reached home at 5:30 PM where a hot bath and Idli Sambar awaited me with Sona and Siddhant :-)
Route Map
