[ninjatalli]

Route: Ghatkopar - Vashi - Panvel - Karnala - JNPT road - Uran - Vashi - Ghatkopar (Link)

Distance: ~100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Difficulty: This weekend was another attempt to discover some of the beautiful points of natural beauty that lie in a 50 kms radius of the city - so close by, and yet when you reach the destination, you start wondering if Mumbai is really that close by!

So we left way early (~4.30 am) from our house, considering the weather forecast was a dry, sunny day. And a good decision it was - by the time we reached Vashi, we were sweating as if we were doing this ride during peak summer time. The city was still waking up as we quickly ramped up the kilometers and reached Panvel town.

The change in landscape starts appearing once we hit the Goa highway (NH17). My previous memories of traveling on this stretch were single/dual lane roads with heavy traffic and sections of roads undergoing work. All that has changed now - well-made 4 lane roads with dividers and shoulder/service lanes, it's a dream to drive on this highway. Can't wait once the lockdown ends and things get back to normal.

But the terrain change is the one that hits you - within a few kilometers, the forest cover begins (and so does the climb), and you are transported out of Mumbai literally.


The road on the left is the one we took to reach Karnala (image source: Google)

We soon climb a medium sized hill and then start the descent - very soon the Karnala bird santuary entrance gate turns up on our left; unfortunately still closed due to the lockdown (I make a note to myself - need to make a trip again to Karnala once this opens up). We head on for a few kilometers, before deciding to take a turn back home. A short halt at a tea stall - with a vada pav thrown in, and we are back on the road.

We decide to take a slightly different route via the JNPT - Uran highway. Expressway quality roads, it's a fun route to do cycling while the roads are still empty. There are numerous exit points, the longest being the Sanpada bridge exit.


Our trip route - note the bottom (/center) hilly section; that's the above image area

By the time we hit back to Vashi, the sun is up; we avoid making any halts and reach back home by 9.30 AM; making this a pretty fast paced and compact (time-bound) ride.

[jsrakkar]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

P.s. Those who are on the fence on buying a cycle, keep a lookout for bargain/vfm finds on OLX - one of the above bikes is less than half of the value of the other bike, and yet it's the better bike with relatively better components.

Hello Ninjatalli,

Can you please provide some more details on this? Which bike is the one with the better components? Some details might help in making such purchase details even easier.

Regards,
Jaspreet Singh

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by jsrakkar

Hello Ninjatalli,

Can you please provide some more details on this? Which bike is the one with the better components? Some details might help in making such purchase details even easier.

Regards,
Jaspreet Singh

The black one is a Merida Speeder 100 (specs); the red one is a Cannondale Quick 7 (specs). The Merida is better due to it's racing geometry and better components, cheaper as it's a used bike (2017 model) vs the brand new Cannondale (2019 model).

[ninjatalli]

Route: Ghatkopar - Vashi - Sanpada - Kamothe - Taloja - Kamothe - Vashi - Ghatkopar (Link)

Distance: ~100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Difficulty: This weekend was another attempt to discover some of the beautiful points of natural beauty that lie in a 50 kms radius of the city. And we decided on a very weird choice of destination - Taloja MIDC! Now, if that name surprises you, it's not a wrong emotion at all. Tajoja is famous for all the wrong reasons - it's full of industrial setups as clearly shown by the following image on Google when one searches for Taloja


Source: Google images, all rights with source of image

But what is not very public info is Taloja sits at the cusp of some beautiful hills and given the heavy rains all week (and month), there are numerous streams and waterfalls across these mountains, lush with greenery. So that, was our destination.

Till we reached Taloja MIDC, we weren't sure what to expect of the destination, to be honest. In fact when we traversed the length of the MIDC, and passed by the above factories (bleaching out all colors of smoke I could see) I even gave an option to my friend that we could choose to make a u-turn and head back home. Thankfully he didn't make that choice and we went ahead, taking a small single lane heading out of the MIDC towards the hills.

And within a few few kilometers, boy were we surprised or what! It's as if someone had wiped out everything from the drawing board and replaced it with lush greenery and running streams!


The point where this pic was taken is less than 5 kms from the factory in above image


Suddenly the single hill turned into a range of hills...


The road followed the bubbling and active stream, always just a few feet away


Our destination - the range with the tops shrouded in clouds

Our destination was the base of the mountain range; literally that's the point where the road ended, at a non-descript village. There was a waterfall somewhere over there which was probably feeding into the stream that flowed next to the road. However the road ended before we reached the waterfall so we decided to do the next best thing available

We jumped into the stream


Our 'break'ing point


with a sight for sore eyes, that felt unreal considering we were still about ~5 kms from Taloja MIDC

After nearly half an hour in the water, we decided to head back home. We faced some heavy headwinds on the way back and the sun started coming up by the time we reached Vashi. Stopped for a drink at Vashi and reached home by ~10.30 AM; another weekend morning well spent!


Our route

[jsrakkar]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

The black one is a Merida Speeder 100 (specs); the red one is a Cannondale Quick 7 (specs).....

Thanks a lot for the details Ninjatalli, it'll definitely help in finding a good 'Pre-Loved' one, when available.

Regards,
Jaspreet Singh

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by jsrakkar

Thanks a lot for the details Ninjatalli, it'll definitely help in finding a good 'Pre-Loved' one, when available.

Regards,
Jaspreet Singh

Get hold of a cyclist friend who can evaluate the condition of the cycle in person, that's the key point of going via the pre-owned route. Pricing, specs and other aspects comes after that.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Get hold of a cyclist friend who can evaluate the condition of the cycle in person, that's the key point of going via the pre-owned route. Pricing, specs and other aspects comes after that.

Nice to see you pedalling once more!

Love the red Cannondale. Just my personal bias but components don't make a bike, and a Cannondale over a Merida any day.

Cheers, Doc

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Nice to see you pedalling once more!

Love the red Cannondale. Just my personal bias but components don't make a bike, and a Cannondale over a Merida any day.

Cheers, Doc

Thanks doc. I agree with you 100% (that's why I sent a fortune on this bike than waiting for a used option for myself). Also its my 2nd Cannondale.

I admire the Merida for its racing geometry. And the disc brakes (still don't think it's a necessity but good to have).

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks doc. I agree with you 100% (that's why I sent a fortune on this bike than waiting for a used option for myself). Also its my 2nd Cannondale.

Why have you never moved to a road bike? Surely a gravel bike or even any new generation road frame with adequate clearance till 32c tyres would be perfect for your kind of exploratory riding?

Disc brakes really come into their own on long fast (and steep) descents. The kind of sustained consistence and confidence they give you to go into corners fast, rim brakes just cannot. And especially more so in the wet. I'm a 85 kilo guy and a biker. I love descents! Lol

Cheers, Doc

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Awesome Thread!!
Really great to see your cycling updates brother!!

So after years of resisting the temptation to get a cycle, I finally gave in too.

As a kid in Himachal, we all only had our cycles and I have done a lot of cycling in my school days. It was the main means of transport for house hold stuff, which I would get. But for some reason as an adult I was under the impression that I will not like cycling anymore and hence resisted the temptation for many years.

Finally wanted something new and different in this lock down and started out by borrowing a friends cycle for a few days and started liking it. Then I took all my frustration of this lock down out on my bank account by going balls deep and got myself a Focus Mares AX gravel bike.

Have been liking it so far. Its only been a few days. I hope I continue on this path for a few months at least.

CHEERS!!

Rachit

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Have been liking it so far. Its only been a few days. I hope I continue on this path for a few months at least.

Good to hear about the cycle purchase! Have fun riding - here's a secret for extending the riding habits - accessories small purchases once in a while keep the drive on! If not local e-commerce sites, AliExpress is the place to go!

If you think about it, kinda similar to our car ownerships!

Originally Posted by ebonho

Why have you never moved to a road bike? Surely a gravel bike or even any new generation road frame with adequate clearance till 32c tyres would be perfect for your kind of exploratory riding?

Ah but I did doc. It's not out here, that's because this thread doesn't cover 5 years of gap between 2015 and 2020. I spent those years with this beautiful piece of art, a majority of it in the US.



It's currently lying in Chennai, unaccessible due to the lockdown.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Ah but I did doc. It's not out here, that's because this thread doesn't cover 5 years of gap between 2015 and 2020. I spent those years with this beautiful piece of art, a majority of it in the US.

It's currently lying in Chennai, unaccessible due to the lockdown.

Nice! So pretty man. I'm waiting for the rains to finish so I can take my CAAD out. The trainer ultimately gets boring even with mixed power and cadence workouts. It becomes a pain and sweat session which you know is good for you, but minus the enjoyment of the weather and the scenery. Like bitter medicine! https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post4866551

I look forward to my weekend rides on the Kamshet - Lonavala road that I love. The weather is so awesome. Last Sunday it was like riding in Switzerland or England. Dark overcast cloud cover, cold, and a constant fine mist spray on your face. Fantastic!

I'm going to hijack your thread with a a few snaps too with your permission ...







Cheers, Doc

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Nice! So pretty man. I'm waiting for the rains to finish so I can take my CAAD out.

Get it out doc. You won't regret it at all.

I prefer riding in the rain/monsoon season much better than any other season. And the Maharashtra terrain just transforms during this period. Maybe one day we could have a catch up ride somewhere on the Bhor that, equidistant from Mumbai and Pune.

Originally Posted by ebonho

I'm going to hijack your thread with a a few snaps too with your permission ...

Awesome! Please do!

This looks like Kamshet. Even though I lived in Pune for half a decade, there are so many places around the city that are perfect for riding, which I have no idea. Like I just recently got to know about this bridge /mini-falls near Talegaon.

Kund Mala, Talegaon

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Get it out doc. You won't regret it at all.

I prefer riding in the rain/monsoon season much better than any other season. And the Maharashtra terrain just transforms during this period. Maybe one day we could have a catch up ride somewhere on the Bhor that, equidistant from Mumbai and Pune.

Awesome! Please do!

This looks like Kamshet. Even though I lived in Pune for half a decade, there are so many places around the city that are perfect for riding, which I have no idea. Like I just recently got to know about this bridge /mini-falls near Talegaon.

Kund Mala, Talegaon

I too prefer riding in the monsoon (almost as much as the ever shortening winters here) but what I do not prefer is the entire evening ritual of cleaning the mud caked bike (after having removed the mud after several rinses from the riding clothes).

So I've kept the CAAD on the trainer and am riding my trusty ACT on the weekends (which are anyways chilled Z2-Z3 rides). Also, I've been using my local GRL roadie tyres on the trainer, and the rear one has flattened out significantly on the roller. And the Gatorskins I have on the road wheels have a tendency to start shedding long threads from the sidewall the moment they get soaked.

Yup that's the Kamshet pimple. lol

One of the guys I follow on Strava did Kundamala just this Sunday. Beautiful place. Its barely 33 odd kms from my place. Can check it out on our way back from Kamshet next weekend. We are truly blessed in Poona with hills all around and rolling terrain wherever we go. Delhi and Bombay riders when they relocate get an elevation shock in their legs initially! Even very experienced riders.

Cheers, Doc

[ninjatalli]

Route: Ghatkopar - Andheri - Dahisar - Vasai - Pelhar - Dahisar - Aarey colony - Ghatkopar (Link)

Distance: ~100 kms

Difficulty: Moderate

Difficulty: Another weekend, another attempt at figuring out a new location within a radius of 50 kms of the city. And I decided to head towards a new direction - (towards) Vasai. Not sure why I hadn't paid attention to the numerous hills around Vasai and Virar, but I'm glad I did this Saturday.

The route was straightforward - get to the Western express highway and keep on riding till you reach Vasai. The hills that feed the destination dam for today appear right next to the highway.

About a few kms ahead of Vasai, the small town of Pelhar comes up when I get off the highway. The dam is just about ~3 km away from the highway; a short 10 min away, but on a broken road that makes it a bit longer.


The final stretch to the dam, although not the best of roads


Although there's no proper parking area, the gate to the dam lies just behind a huge gaushala (cowshed). Practically the broken road ends at this gaushala. I seem to be one of the earliest to reach the dam - even the gate to the dam was still locked. However there was a broken path going up next to the falls, so that's where I went proceeded.

The dam/resorvoir isn't big enough to have a proper sluice gate, so basically if the water level goes up beyond the resorvoir wall, it flows. And today the water flow was full-on. A pity - as I wouldn't have minded having a jump into under the mini-falls.


The waterfalls make quite a pretty sight!


Most people take selfies, I take cyclfies

It's a small 5 min climb to the top - there's a section of concrete slab where I can stand and watch the resorvoir safely. I spend some time, all alone in the serene calm of the gorgeous place. I finally decide to call it a day when I notice a huge bunch of folks who had just landed at the gaushala and were coming up.


Another cyclfie at the top


The wow-ness of the resorvoir just blew my mind out!

The ride back home is almost the same route back; with the rains playing hide and seek, with short mini-bursts on the way back. Once I reach Goregaon, I decide to take a small detour and head back home via the Aarey colony.

Attaching a few videos of the dam - one at the bottom and one at the top

At the base

At the top