W.E.D Baap

Saturday, when the whole world in Pune was going huff and puff over W.E.D (World Environment Diwas) I was riding the “Godfather Ghat” in local lingo “Bapdeo Ghat”, which is enroute to a place called Saswad in Pune.

The highlight of the ride was an opportunity to ride along a BZ regular who logs an average of 500 km per week , rides a cross breed MTB with drops and is an inspiration to all the bystanders like me. No prizes for guessing ….

The meeting point was Kondhwa Road where two of my colleagues, who, like me are regular commuters and weekend riders in spurts had already reached. All three of us waited for Boni to come by and he arrived soon enough and after the sundry introductions started our ride.

The whole of Kondhwa, I suppose, is also on a hillock as the inside roads are Rolling as well and the base of Baapdeo ghat is just a few kms away. The June morning is bright even at 6:15 and the early monsoon breeze hit us as well and had me fishing for my glares from the waist pouch. Soon we were riding inline until Parag and Nitin were left behind, Boni was steadily increasing the gap and I could see him on each switchback doing a steady state effort . I had already shifted to the biggest rear and had the granny as a fall back. The wind assisted us at some sections but became a side wind threatening to blow us off not to mention the occasional truck. The roads are fairly good compared to Pune standards, some sections have gravel strewn as the road widening work is in progress. There is a temple at the top and the descent to Saswad starts after that. I reached the temple, without having to resort to the granny in probably 45 minutes and Boni was nowhere in sight, wondered whether he had descended down Saswad to climb from the other side. Then noticed him coming down off road from behind the temple.

Parag and Nitin followed in ten, fifteen minutes. We started the descent soon after a short hydration break and passed a cyclist who just reached the top. The descent was scarier because of the side wind now but managed to come down in one piece hitting a top speed of 52 kmph once. Also I usually lower my seating during any descent and forgot to do it this time. I always have this imagery of me going over the handle bars in a descent with the high seating that I use. Boni stopped at intervals to snap a bird’s view of Pune city whereas the others made good head and reached the meeting point to part ways. Before which we took short trial rides on the now famous drop barred Trek and admired the difference, no wonder he left us all behind during the climb

Later I passed the WED rally, the participants were enroute to a club for a breakfast session, then I passed another rally who had culminated their’s at Empress Garden (a huge Botanical garden – a welcome relic of the Raj days, like most of our relics), thankfully not yet renamed by our sycophant you-know-who.

Reached home before 9 AM, beaming at the wife for having kept my promise, which, is an exception. Next weekend ride seems a good possibility now with the wife in a good mood.

The last I heard Boni repeated the ride next day, Sunday, bettering his previous day PR, while I was lazing. Keep burning those miles, Boni ! Way to go !!

My group riders



The Top



The climb



The fruits of labour

Randonneuring humility

This is Shri Gulab Pandey



and this is yours truly ...




The only thing common between us - we were attempting a 200 km Brevet which is part of a Cycling event called Randoneurring.. This was being held for the first time in India, in Bombay and around 56 people had taken part. Most of us barring Gulab were on Road bikes and MTB's, not to mention the other cool accessories.

Back to Gulab Pandey, I first sighted him somewhere near Santacruz as he feverishly pedaled to keep pace with the others in the group. I took a diversion to climb the fly over, he went under it and was dismissed from my thoughts as another commuter on a Roadster. I enjoyed the coolness of the morning and sights of people going around their morning chores in spite of a Sunday. It was Bombay after all, the city which never sleeps. We had started the event at round 6:15 AM from Worli, passing numerous joggers, walkers and traffic cops as well !! The latter breed is a rarity in Pune even during the day !

My aim was to keep an easy pace and bike the equivalent of LSD so as to finish in good shape. The practice rides during the run up to this event in Pune - two back to back 150 km and a 100 km ride had given me some confidence. It had also showed me that the body needs constant feeding and liquids. After all the engine for the bike was the body. I was carrying four sandwiches, a bottle of my mother's famous lemonande and a litre of water. According to plan, 7:20 am would be my next water break an hour after my start.

On the Andheri flyover, I passed Gulab again and asked him where he was headed. “Tumhere saath he aa raha hoon” was his reply as he patted me on the back. Was he kidding I thought to myself and accelerated ahead stooping low at the descent to simulate a road racer on an MTB :-). Soon after passed Sunita and Roopa (her friend) who were cycling till Dahisar as part of their Enduro practice. (edit : they joined the elite group of "Enduro finishers" the following month, read that here )

Passed Dahisar and then took a break after the toll naka for some water. The road had now turned into a two lane highway with North bound vehicles,heavy trailers and passenger cars zipping past us. The traffic and pollution was relentless as I passed a Road biker who had a flat and Satish was helping him out. Would have stopped but looked like he did not need additional help. Soon came across a pit stop manned by a couple of volunteers with bananas and water. God bless them the bananas looked inviting Took a big break as more riders stopped by.

By now the sun was showing its presence felt, I had almost finished my water and therefore replenished from the pit stop, also wet my towel and wrapped it around the head to keep myself cool. I had planned to do this only post lunch at around noon, seemed like it was going to be a long day. The cyclo comp was showing some erratic reading of 120 odd kms only after 4 hrs, this was impossible and I figured that the setting was screwed up. It would then be only the roadside milestones and signboards for me to space out my endurance.

To cut a long ride story short, reached the Dhaba which was the 108 km point at around 11:20 AM to find some ace riders on their way back after food. After a brief re freshening, decided to have lunch on our way back. Therefore continued to the U-turn point which was 10 kms ahead, therefore a return trip of 20 kms. One of the volunteer was patiently waiting in the hot sun. He had to stamp our Brevet cards at the U-turn, the last Controle point.

Finally back at the Dhaba 12:45 PM had a quick meal of two rotis and dal, tastiest when you have 130 kms under you. Chaas served in beer bottles - Chilled. Utopia. this did not last long hit the road with a wetter towel and a paracetamol in the stomach. Prevention is better than the cure, aint't it ?

The biking pace reduced and the bottled water started warming up. The taste was ugh. Stopped at a roadside hotel and bought some cold water to quench the thirst and the towel.
Met Aman (on the carbon Wiler, drool) and rode along with him till I took another water break (the early morning kind). Resumed with the jettisoned cargo and found Aman and Divya catching their breath inside some concrete pipes. Finally after some rolling terrain and traffic reached the end point after Vasai bridge at around 6:00 PM. Almost 12 hrs since i set out with 10 hrs of ride time on the saddle.

And what about Gulab ? He passed the end point soon after. Did not stop, cycled all the way to the start point at Worli where he stays !! He was a fellow Randonneur after all, I realised. Humbled and the catch phrase "Its not about the bike ..." comes to my mind whenever I remember him.

Waiting for the other Brevets now ... with Gulab as an inspiration and thousands like him who depend on this simple machine for their sustenance - The Bicycle


some more pics below

Shirval and back - metric century ride

I was planning the Pune –Lonavala- Pune stretch as a practice ride for the Randonneurs 200km ride, but then a member on cyclist.in posted her ride plan for Pune- Shirval- Pune and I decided to join her

The best part of the ride was a chance to ride with a professional cyclist Kaivalya who had come in the first 15 of the recently concluded Mumbai- Pune race. I was awed by other statistics that he shared with me regarding ghat timings that they achieve. 40 mins for Sinhagad climb and 12 minutes for the Katraj Bhor ghat which they repeat 6 times ! And he rode with us on a single speed 52/16 customised Hero Hawk frame !! On the climbs he would ride on the brake hoods and power his way out of sight while we down shifted and struggled to keep a more than walking pace. His company was inspiring as well as intimidating !

I started my morning journey at 5:00 AM and reached the Katraj bypass meeting point at 5:45 AM which is 18 kms away from home. That puts an average speed of ~25 kmph ! Waited for the other guys till 6:15, nobody turned up, and worst my cell battery conked off. I could not get in touch with Divya who had organized the ride. Borrowed a passerby’s cell and messaged her that I was starting off without them. Dawn was breaking out but the sky was cloudy and therefore still dark. It was a gradual incline uphill till the Katraj bypass tunnel which was around 1.45 km long. With the other vehicles zooming past and lack of breeze inside, I was sweating as the end of the tunnel was in sight. A scary sight was a bearded guy shrouded in a blanket standing in my lane at the end of the tunnel. I made my way past him and it was a beautiful downhill and rolling section till shindewadi. I was humming the 3- Idiots song “ Give me some sunshine, give me some rain. Give me a nother chance … I wanna grow up once again … na na na na, Nanananananananananan … “I was on a roll as I saw a McDonald sign ..12 kms ahead. Probably a recently opened outlet. Was planning to take a break at a Pohe / wada pav stall at Shirval … Took a few stops for snaps and water break as the Sun came out bathing the landscape and bringing out nice hues in the fields. Shirval was 10 kms away and I made it in another 30 minutes reaching Shirwal junction at 8:45 AM. total Bike time was 3.5 hrs excluding the 30 min wait.

Was wondering whether to continue ahead but decided against it as the return trip of another 60 kms was at the back of my mind. Lifted the Trek and went to the other side when I saw a cyclist waving at me, he was part of the group I was waiting for and they had caught up with me, The rest of the group followed and post introductions we decided to cycle till the toll post around 10 kms away (Khandala), this is the base of Khambatki ghats.

Reached the khandala at 9:30 AM and we all crossed over to the other side at a roadside shack for Misal Pav, Wada Pav and Tea. Got to know then that Kaivalya was a pro, not that I did not guess before during our short 10 k ride as he was pedaling at ease his single speed roadie bike which appeared to be a customized Hero Hawk. Some photo-ops and freshening up and we were ready to start our return ordeal as the sun made its presence felt at around 10:30 AM. The return was with more stops as the road was more uphill than down and the last killer was Shindewadi which was a enjoyable downhill some hours back. We also took a Sugarcane juice break, instant sugar energy booster just before the Shindewadi uphill road. Kaiwalya had convinced me to take the old Bhor ghat and we parted ways wth the rest at the junction. I prepared myself for the climb which was a short 1.5 km ghat which I climbed on 39/19 I think. Saw the descent just round a corner and braced myself, shifted to 42 and powered ahead on Kaivalya’s trail as we sped past motorcycles and trucks with my heart in my mouth. This is the only time I was keeping pace with him, well sort of, as he quickly steered to the right of a truck and sped past it leaving me behind the truck. Soon we finished the descent and the rest of the road till Bibewadi was a downhill as well but the traffic did not allow us to take advantage and speed up. The sun was up maybe 1:30 PM and I was feeling a slight nausea and headache as Kaiwalya pointed the diversion I needed to take as he stayed nearby. Another 10 odd kms for me to ride and I was exhausted, not in the legs, but the head. Stopped at a shady tree spot, washed my face, poured water on the head, wrapped it in a towel and started the last lap slightly refreshed.

The last lap would not have been an ordeal but for the sun and the headache which came back. Overall the first metric century ride was very satisfying and on a road bike probably an hour faster. Reached home at 2:45 PM in the afternoon.

The map till Panchagani is below via old Bhor ghat.



Some pics