Day 1 – Pune to Hubli (˜497 kms)
They say, “Young riders pick a destination and go...Old riders pick a direction and go!" I guess I'm old, which is why I wasn't certain which way to head to on the night before the 'Big Motorcycle Ride' was to commence. What I did do before-hand was a bit of planning on prospective routes, although all that pretty much came to nought on a pleasant Monday morning, dated 06/02/2012.
The night before I was pretty relaxed and slept well. Everything had been taken care of, I said to myself. I had been preparing for this ride, both mentally and physically for a little over a month or so. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy considering I hadn't ventured on a motorcycle ride in more than 2-3 years. And here I was heading on atleast 3000 kms of a ride that was largely unplanned or should I say planned lazily. That said, I have been a fairly experienced rider and driver all these years with over 1,50,000 kms of combined road experience under my belt. I was wished a lot of luck by dear wife, she really had been very supportive of this adventure of mine. Our 1-year old daughter had absolutely no clue what 'Papa' was upto!
So, time to hit the road! I kick-started the motorcycle to life, wave good-bye to family and come out of my housing society complex and onto the old NH4 (I lived in Talegaon-Dabhade back then). I paused for a brief moment and realised this was the time to decide which way to head to! If I took a left turn, I would be heading down South and if I took the right turn, I'd way on my way up North. I took left after a deliberation in my mind for about a minute or at best two. And off I went chugging away towards the magical 'South' of India.
The time was, to be precise, 9:05 am, well over two hours than what I originally intended to start at. That meant I had to cover as much distance as possible while I was fresh and before fatigue crept in. It was obvious, being the first day, fatigue would kick in much sooner than I would want it to. Hence, it was imperative to keep moving without taking many intervals in the beginning. My first run was about 75 kms after a leisurely hour and a half of riding. The idea was to let myself soak in the experience, get a feel of the road and also to let the motorcycle warm-up and be ready to take on the rigors of the day and the days ahead of us both. After a quick cup of tea and a cigarette and a fuel tank-up, it was time to munch some miles. I hoped for a 150 kms stretch before the next break that would also be ideal for a some fuel for my stomach. It didn't last 150 kms but a not-so-disappointing 120 kms. I was tiring out faster than I had expected. It wasn't anything but a reflection of my health and my lack of riding time in the last few years. It was time for lunch and I dug into a sumptuous meal at a good restaurant on the highway just outside Kolhapur city. The roads leading from Pune upto Kolhapur are largely in good shape and have been such for a while now, mainly because it is part of the GQ corridor. The only bit that bothers you is that there are a lot of establishments and villages on the highway and the traffic is very heterogeneous. This can slow you down every time you approach a populated area because there are no by-passes as such. That is not advantageous for a National Highway, less so for the GQ corridor which is one of the prime examples of a high quality highway in India. Sadly, though, this is a feature of most National highways in India save the access-controlled expressways like MPEW and NE1 and perhaps a few other National Highways in other parts of the country.
By the time I finished lunch and was ready to push ahead, it was about 2 pm already! The late start would come back to haunt me, I said to myself. But then I could always curtail Day 1 and cover more distance of Day 2. The sun those days was still setting at around 6:00-6:15 which meant I had 4 or so more hours or riding time left. I tend to believe it too much of a risk, more so on our highways to ride beyond sunset and I'm pretty certain most of this community thinks of similar lines! Beyond Kolhapur and Nippani, the traffic was less dense and many by-passes to inhabited areas and villages. This allowed me to go faster. Occasionally I would let go and hit 110-120 kph, although I would quickly settle back into a more comfortable 80-90 kph zone. My experience with Royal Enfield over the years says that the sweet spot is 80 kph. With the Classic 500, it is a notch above at 90 kph. The 100+ jaunt is fine for a while but sustained wringing of the right wrist will mean that the motorcycle vibrates every living bone in your body. On top of that you cannot see a thing in the RVMs at those speeds. That said the vibrations are not as pronounced as the older Bullets (I can tell this with confidence having ridden a 1999 Lightning 500 and a 2004 Bullet Electra 350 in the past). The exhaust note sounded just right with the retro-fit Goldstar exhaust, not too loud and not too muted as is the case with the stock one. It was pure music, it really was! You can buy one here (
http://www.sansclassicparts.in/products_exhaust.html) and it comes highly recommended by yours truly.
Very soon I was crossing the Maharashtra border and entering into Karnataka. The license plates changed, the landscape changed a bit, the language on signages and spoken by the people changed. What did not change an awful lot was road manners. By and large I faced fairly disciplined traffic, though, barring the odd nut-case here and there who would wade-in through the wrong side on the highway. On the road, traffic was thin and I was starting to have a lot of fun now. On some stretches the horizon was visible a long way further. The tarmac was arrow-straight, beautiful and inviting, stuff what motorcyclists dream of! These are moments when you start to believe every word of the 'Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul' adage.
Fatigue had also started to kick-in at around 4-4:30 pm. After an hour or so later, sunset was fast approaching and I was not far off from Hubli so I decided it would be my overnight halt. I exited the National Highway and onto the road leading to Hubli town. Like most towns, the rule of the thumb is that you will find decent stay options within a km of the bus depot or the railway station. 4-5 kms later I found a hotel to stay. It was a very basic hotel but was adequately hygienic with good-sized rooms and attached bathroom. When I checked into the hotel it was 6:15 pm. I was on the road for a little over 9 hours and the speedometer showed that I had covered a distance of approximately 495 kms. In the last 4 hours of riding I covered well over 275 kms which is an average of about 70 km/hr.
There was little opportunity to explore the town, although I have to admit that was never my agenda in the first place. That said, Hubli felt like the quintessential small Indian town with decent roads and facilities. I think I also spotted the Hubli airport on my way to the hotel earlier that evening. I reckon it is close to the National Highway No. 4 exit. All in all, it was a very satisfying day of riding and an excellent start to 'Dakshin Darshan'. More later!
25th February 2013, 21:36
(1)
Thanks
