The F1 Roadtrip : Pune to Noida

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I take over the wheel and we continue on the road till we reach Jaipur. When you compare GJ roads with RJ roads, the latter wins hands down. But when it comes to planning bypass for the cities with clear directions, GJ cities are far better. Now when one reaches the outskirts of Jaipur, the road signs are there for the bypass route. But what they do not tell you is Jaipur is also at a crossroads of NH8, NH11 and NH12. Also the bypass initially feels like a bypass, but soon it becomes a two lane road and you start feeling as if you have somehow ended up inside the city. Add to that at 11 in the night, there is hardly anyone on the roads, so we have to manage with Google maps. The idea is to keep on going straight till you come to a T-point with the third option being a right turn. Look out for Kendriya vidhyalaya on your right side, that's your cue for taking the right (straight would take you to the airport and NH12 onwards). Now the right turn would take you through the city, but its a straightforward road and once you pass a few crossroads, the directions start coming up indicating that you are on the right road.

Attaching the Jaipur Bypass route snapshot


Giving a short description about the route we took to bypass Jaipur :

Keep on NH8, you'll pass Surajpol, Transport nagar, a flyover that is yet to be finished (the left turn at this flyover would take you to Agra via NH11, keep on going straight), Jawahar nagar, till you reach a T-junction with Jhalana Quary road on your right. The Kendriya vidhayala should be on your immediate right just after taking the right turn. If you miss this right turn you would soon reach Jagatpura railway station which is your cue to turn back.

Once you have taken the turn, keep on going straight - you'll pass through Bajaj Nagar, Agrasen Nagar (the road is now known as Gopalpura Byepass). If you start seeing metro station constructions, then you are quite close to the NH8 expressway, and only a few kms away.

[ninjatalli]

Day 7 (Oct 31st)

Route : Kishangarh - Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Vadodara - Thane - Pune
Kms : 1209

The last day of the trip beckons. However we are far from home, and there's yet a lot of distance to cover. Of course, we aren't complaining. If given an option, we would have probably gone ahead and done a south trip too. Sigh.

The late night dinner, however tasty it was does have a side-effect. Learning from that dinner - oily subjis & dals with fresh buttered tandoori rotis taken with a thick buttery chaas leads to only one thing - sleep! Within an hour of our dinner, we quickly stopover at a roadside dhaba and catch a short nap in the car. Thankfully, I remember to keep an alarm and wake up 2 hours later, feeling quite refreshed. A cup of tea and a quick trip to the loo, and both of us are ready for the next part of the drive.

We drive non-stop for the next 4 hours till we reach the outskirts of Udaipur, just minutes before the sunrise. I decide to finally take out my camera and get a few shots of the sunrise while my friends grab another cup of tea to refresh themselves.

We take the Udaipur bypass and within minutes we rue not going through the same route as we did earlier. The entire bypass is a two lane road lined with several craters all over the 20odd kms. However the road is empty considering it's only 7 in the morning and soon we reach the other end of the city which is the cue for our breakfast as well as for tanking up the lady.

A glorious morning


The lady agrees too


Still a lot of road to be traveled!



A brief description about the place : Shrinath Kathiyawadi Restaurant and Guest House
The place is a refugee for Gujjus . Seriously. Outside GJ & Mumbai, this is the first place on the trip where I saw so many Gujaratis at a single place. And considering it's only 7.30 in the morning, that's a big deal for these folks!

Look out for this board on your left when coming from Jaipur


Check out the crowd inside the restaurant


As for the appearance of the place, ambience gets probably 2 out of 10 (a-la-Highway-on-my-plate style). Food - 7 out of 10. Food choices - 4 out of 10. Boardings - we didn't dare to check.

We order the basic items - poha and chai. Both are mouth-wateringly delicious. It doesn't take me very long to order a second round immediately.

Mouth-watering indeed!


A short while later with our tummies full, we start on the journey ahead; while I take up the back seat to snore away to glory.

Look at who else dropped in for breakfast




Sleep? Maybe not now, let me first finish my sitcoms!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by SDP

Hey Ninja,
Beautiful thread! Very well written, loved your straight-from-the-heart style of narration. Appreciate how you handled the Metallica fiasco. Was expecting a lot of special characters (%!@#) in that post, surprisingly there were none!

Waiting for more snaps and experiences.

Thanks @SDP. Well, the race helped to calm down the nerves. Plus somehow the mood was never created - I guess Bangalore is the place for rock concerts, in Gurgaon it more felt as if people were attending just a concert, not the concert; if you get what I mean.

Will be completing the TL today.

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Bit late here with all the traveling and catching up with work. Nevertheless, excellent travelogue and really appreciate the minute details.

But this comment above stumped me for a moment. I was wondering whats so special about the yellow saree lady next to the Tavera, and later realized you were talking about the Vento

Danke!

Yellow saree indeed! Dude, I have quite a few pics of "ladies" taken at the race and trust me, most of them are far from wearing sarees! But if I post these out here, I might just get banned

[ninjatalli]

The last leg of the trip and probably the one in which I do the least amount of driving. I finally get to sleep for a few hours (thanks to the unwatched sitcoms). While I sleep, the lady passes one more special mark which thankfully my friends remember to capture.

Important Landmark - achieved somwhere in Rajasthan


We say goodbye to the gates of Udaipur


The empty roads of RJ greet us


with beautiful turns & twists through the Aravali hills


But as we approach GJ, the greenery starts disappearing and the last of such beautiful buildings


When I wake up we have reached Ahmedabad. Just a short while ago we were facing single digit temperatures in Rajasthan, and suddenly it's hot like hell out here. We again take the Sardar Ring Road and completely bypass Ahmedabad. An hour later, we reach Vadodara where we decide to have our lunch. Now the benefit of passing your hometown is you know where the best eating joints lie on the highway.

A brief description about the place : Kismat Kathiawadi Hotel
- This comes on your left side when you are traveling from Surat towards Ahmedabad adjacent to the one of the flyovers (very close to the airport). They have put up boards on either side indicating the location.
- Pure veg & Kathiawadi food. Extremely simple & very cheap. We hogged liked anything yet the total bill came to 208Rs!
- No A.C. hall/ okiesh (indian) loos. We went there at 1.30 p.m. and it was hot like hell.

A snapshot of the hotel


Just while we leave Vadodara, we see this and wonder what vehicle could have done this to this car. Even if a Volvo or a mega truck hit this car, how can it get so crumpled up!

Try to guess the car from this pic


Now you know which car it is


I wonder what happened to the driver & passengers



Moving on we make good distance in the afternoon, and surprisingly hardly find any traffic on the Narmada bridge. I again catch a few hours of sleep, however before I sleep this is the last image I take of the MID.



And when I get up a few hours later, this is what I see.



Now we have traveled just around 200 odd kms, and apparently my friend could maintain a constant speed of 100 odd kmph. But the balance distance (of the tripmeter) was close to 1200 kms. So how could the mileage increase by close to 2km/l in such a short distance? We debate however we don't come to any conclusion and we leave it at that.

Later on I take on the wheel and we maintain a steady progress on the rest of the journey. Except for the last 50 kms on the Vasai - Mira Bhayandar stretch, there is hardly any traffic to be seen and we zip through Mumbai around 8 in the evening. A short stop for dinner at McD (Panvel), and we reach Pune by 10.30 p.m.; tired but satisfied.

Tea break somwhere on Vapi-Dahisar Highway


The hills region that surround Mumbai just before we reach Vasai


The last stretch before we reach home!



Edit: Coming up - the epilogue and a few snaps there were missed out.

[M124]

Great Travelogue . Viewed it twice since yesterday .O.T has the dent been repaired ?

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by M124

Great Travelogue . Viewed it twice since yesterday .O.T has the dent been repaired ?

Thanks.

Yes, the dent's repaired - that's the first thing I did once I came back.

[deepfusion]

Perfect. Inspirational. Motivating. Enthralling. Interesting.

What else?

My vocabulary dried up.

A truly fine driving experience, in a very good machine.

The narration in fact made me think as if I were a part of your team.

Beautifully written.

Hats off to you, Ninjatalli.

[vdi]

Excellent !!!!!! Already forwarded the link to my friends as we would be going to Delhi in Jan coinciding the Auto Expo, 2012. Closely following everything from this thread.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by deepfusion

Perfect. Inspirational. Motivating. Enthralling. Interesting.

What else?

My vocabulary dried up.

A truly fine driving experience, in a very good machine.

The narration in fact made me think as if I were a part of your team.

Beautifully written.

Hats off to you, Ninjatalli.

Thanks boss!

Yes, Vento is made for the highway trips. Will be doing part of the distance (till Ahmedabad) on another machine this weekend, so will be getting a clear idea on the differences between the cars.

[polopm]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Why do good times get over so fast. The qualifying session starts and gets over even before we can take in the awesomeness of it. I am so awed by it I forget to take any pics of the qualifying.

A few excerpts:

• The Lotus(es) (Team Lotus) are one noisy pair! Surprisingly its the slower cars (Lotus, Virgin, HRT) who make the maximum noise.
• Both the Lotus teams are one of the first to come out, be it practice or the qualifying. And one of the last to go out too.
• You might hear the roar of F1 cars on the TV, but what you don't get to hear are the gear shifts. While on a funny note they sound as if the driver(s) have a serious farting issue, but in reality they sound awesome. You can very clearly HEAR how different Schumi changes gears as compared to someone like Karthikeyan. Trust me, the driver & his driving attitude make a huge difference. While Vettel in a HRT might still make the top 10, Karthikeyan in a Red Bull might still have a tough time making the top 5.
  (p.s. Nothing against Karthikeyan - just that I could observe/compare him with the others)
• Vettel is a machine. He doesn't make mistakes. Every turn is perfect, he maintains the same speeds, maintains (almost) the same angles at the turns, and repeats it again and again. Couple that with the almost perfect Red Bull car, and there you have the reason why he's winning all these races. Also no wonder he laps only a few times in Q1, Q2 and Q3; and returns back to the pit long before the session end. The others only try to beat his time.
• Schumi is the epitome of aggression. Those Hamilton fans who do not agree to this, please buy tickets to Classic North Stand next year, and observe how he takes the turn. Every time. He doesn't take the curve, he attacks it. Yes, it might not be the best method, but as a spectator and a Schumi fan, it sends that boyish thrill through your body, something which I last experienced when Schumi & Hakkinen used to fight it out a decade back. Somebody give this guy a good car next season- he still has the juice!

Hey missed your thread till now ( bloody mistake!!). Real cool one. I am thinking "lets make the next trip to Buddh from Chennai on my Vento ".
Friends , countrymen and ventomen - care to Join for 2012 ??


On the cars:
1. The LRGP have forward facing exhaust and spit and sputter while they decelrate.
2. Seeing HRTs go was pathetic, in contrast the RBRs were just tearing away...I could feel as if Vettel's car would rip thru. So much speed coming and going out of the Corner.
3. Jense was the most consistent, next was Schumi. Though a McLaren fan, I just pray to god the Schum gets a good car this year. He is still amazing.
4. Yes, the whole circuit is muddy !!

Cheers !

[RM Motorsports]

Hey Ninja, looks like you had lot of fun.

I am going for to Noida this year for F1. The stand you booked seems to Classic Stand North. Can you tell be which block were you in? From the pictures it looks like a fantastic view. I was thinking about booking Star Stand East.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Hey Ninja, looks like you had lot of fun.

I am going for to Noida this year for F1. The stand you booked seems to Classic Stand North. Can you tell be which block were you in? From the pictures it looks like a fantastic view. I was thinking about booking Star Stand East.

@RM Motorsports,
This is the Classic Stand North, I am not 100% sure, but I believe we were in B block - our seats were closer to the 180 degree turn towards the right side of the stand. Star stand east should be good enough too - you'll be seeing the cars racing down at high speeds towards you and then braking at the last moment to take the turns.

Have fun!