D-Day - Solo Run – Dapoli – Murud – Harnai - Anjarle – 608 Km.

A three day holiday in March presents a good opportunity for a long ride. A colleague of mine, Jubhi, suggests the Kamat Beach Resort at Murud off Dapoli. I look it up at Outlook’s Weekend Breaks from Mumbai. This would mean a 250 Km. ride on the NH 17 (Bombay-Goa), something I’ve been wanting to do since I read RagingBulls trip log to Ratnagiri at Xbhp and a ride in a tin-can to Chiplun with office colleagues in July 2006. The more I think about it, the more I want to do it.

I check with colleagues and friends. They evince interest. So I go ahead and book a cottage.

Preparation:

Get down to doing a more detailed research. The attractions are – the ride on the super slick NH 17, Kamats Beach Resort and an opportunity to explore the coastline from Burundi to Anjarle. And with RollyPolly’s Birthday looming up, what a better way to celebrate than, well, to roll.

As it starts to get pretty warm around noon, I would have to start early to beat the heat. The 250 Km route would take me through, Karnala, Pen, Kolad, Mangaon, Mahad, Poladpur, Kashedi Ghat and Khed on the NH 17, and Dapoli to Murud on State and local roads. I look up the route on Google Earth. It’s going to be a really long ride. Stopping every 50 odd kms for a sip of water would be a good idea I think.

As the long weekend nears, friends and colleagues start citing other commitments (how predictable!). So it’s gonna have to be a Solo.

I have RollyPolly serviced a week before the ride. The mech recommends Castrol Power 1 that’s a little expensive at Rs. 231 compared to Rs. 175 for the regular Castrol engine oil. That’s a small cost to keep baby happy. I ensure the tool kit, spare tube, cables, spark plug and the medical kit are in place. A day before the ride I leave office early, I tank up with 11.5 litres and have the PUC and air pressure checked.

Pack in two bottles of water, electral (oral re-hyderation), biscuits, chocolates, apples, dry fruits and canned coffee flavored milk. And of course my S3 and a tripod. The small HP Photosmart would stay in my bomber jacket for shooting while on the road.

Captains Log; Star Date 17032007 (D-Day)

I secure the bag using a cargo net. That’s going to be my backrest for the ride. 435 hrs. I am ready to roll. The sweat that oozed while I struggled to secure the bag, dries quickly as the morning chill hits me.

The gear feels slick. Guess the oils good. The headlight beam fighting the night feels warm. Get on to the Bombay-Pune highway from Nerul. Hardly any traffic going my way but there’s a load coming from the other side. Speedo stays between 40 and 50 kmph. Turn into the NH 17 after Panvel. I open the throttle a little more as I reach the Karnala section but soon realize unlike riding during the day, at night I need to give the beam time to show me how the road ahead curves. And not many vehicles dip their lights for a lone biker.

I make a note of the NH emergency number – 98334-98334 & 98675-98657. Hope they work.

The air’s chilly but fresh and feels really great. The road’s smooth and RollyPolly’s giving me a lovely ride.

Stop at Hotel Open Umbrella at Mangaon. It’s yet to open, so I pull out my canned coffee. My chocolates, O! They are in the freezer back home!

It’s bright now. At 715 hrs Vithal Kamat, at Mahad is yet to start preparing for the day ahead. Move on to Poladpur and stop for a cup of tea at Shudh Shanti Hotel. Pull out an apple. I take a longish break here as the ghat section starts from hereon.

Start climbing and immediately start enjoying the twisties. As the trucks lumber up the Kashedi Ghat, I zip. I stop often to capture the scenery with my digi. Speedo between 40 and 60 kmph.

After the ghat, the asphalt up to Khed is super smooth and more or less straight. Speedo now between 80-90 kmph. Chiplun 36 Km. Chiplun 33 Km. Whoops! I’ve overshoot Khed by about 7-8 Kms. Turn around and turn left for Dapoli from Khed.

The road’s lined with greenry on both sides, it’s twisty and no traffic. 900 hrs and I am starting to feel hot or am I tired. Park and munch on some dry fruits, sip water, take a snap, walk around a little and I am ready to go.

At Dapoli I check for directions to Murud. The roads generally good but patchy at places and is as twisty as it can get. A state transport bus embarrasses me by catching me bang in the middle of the narrow road (he needs all of it). I can see him gesture “Kahe Boss?”

Take a left turn from Asud for the Murud Devi Mandir. This stretch is really patchy.

Home Ruuuunnnnn. 260 Kms and 5.5 hours, I am tired. The resort looks good. The lotus in the pond at the entrance catches my attention.

Check into my cottage. Look around the resort. What I need right now is some breakfast, a shower and a nap. But I can’t stop myself from getting to the beach, so I push the nap to later in the afternoon.

1600 hrs I am feeling refreshed and decide to ride down to Harnai and further on to Anjarle.

From Murud to Harnai the road runs along the beach. The roads patchy.

At Harnai beach, riding on the sand isn’t easy. I can feel a drag and the front wheel doesn’t exactly want to go where you want it to. I see a big crowd on the beach and head towards it.

The scene at Harnai Beach is like time standing still. Suddenly at about 430 hrs there’s a whistle and bullock carts standing near the water charge up the beach. It’s like a cavalry charge. The carts are carrying fish that have been loaded on from small boats on the water front. The small boats in turn have picked up their load of fish from bigger boats in the back ground. The carts rush to the nearest auctioneer and the auction starts. The carts are followed by people carrying fish in tokri’s. The fish are laid out on the beach and the auctioneer starts calling out prices. I do a video of the auction process. I’ll have to check with PowerSlave on how to put it up on my blog.

Today’s attraction:
Those big ones are going for Rs. 400 each.

Those, I am told are ‘Wati’ and are going for Rs. 200 a tokri. The price could be lower at Rs. 180 a tokri if you take all the tokri’s.

The Harnai light house attracts my attention and I decide to ride up to it. The view from up here is exhilarating. The crowded Harnai beach, the Suvarnadurg Fort and the vast open sea.

The ride to Anjarle through Harnai village is rough. The road improves after the village. I climb up and what a view. Anjarle beach – you can have it all to yourself. I can see the Ganesh temple a little behind the beach on the hill. The ride to the temple is lovely. The road climbs, falls, curves – untamed twisties. It just doesn’t straighten for more than 5 meters.

On the way back I stop to watch the beach side mela. As soon as I pull out the camera kiddies start waving and look towards me with a big smile. I oblige, letting the flash fire. Check out the guy pushing that swinging boat. He’s literally flying in the air using his body weight to push all the way down so that the boat comes back even higher. I let the flash fire again to capture the moment.
Back at the resort I down a glass of Solkadi and follow it up with a Chicken Thali. Time to retire.

Phoof! What a day! And that’s just day one.