Captains Log; Star date 19032007
Wheels roll at 450 hrs. The beam is doing a good job of picking the road ahead. It’s really dark, chilly and desolate. I can just about see the tree-line adjacent to the road. I know there's a jungle behind the tree-line. And that's not exactly comforting when its pitch dark. With speedo at 40 kmph I am going slow but steady.
Soon after Dapoli I am a little more confident and speedo moves in the 50-60 kmph range. At Khed I check with locals for directions. In the darkness I can hardly recognize the place. I do a 90 kmph dash up to the ghat. The sky’s beginning to lighten up. As the trucks lumber, I zip. With sparse traffic I immediately get down to enjoying the Kashedi twists. Speedo moves in a broad 40-60 kmph range. I love the 4th gear on stretches like this because of the acceleration and deceleration it has to offer. And for the sharp climbing turn, the 3rd gear is just a nudge away.
Just after Mahad I chance a glance towards the rising sun. My God! There’s a solar eclipse happening. I pull over, get my S3 out and start shooting. I stick around for about fifteen minutes then pack and move.
Wheels roll at 450 hrs. The beam is doing a good job of picking the road ahead. It’s really dark, chilly and desolate. I can just about see the tree-line adjacent to the road. I know there's a jungle behind the tree-line. And that's not exactly comforting when its pitch dark. With speedo at 40 kmph I am going slow but steady.
Soon after Dapoli I am a little more confident and speedo moves in the 50-60 kmph range. At Khed I check with locals for directions. In the darkness I can hardly recognize the place. I do a 90 kmph dash up to the ghat. The sky’s beginning to lighten up. As the trucks lumber, I zip. With sparse traffic I immediately get down to enjoying the Kashedi twists. Speedo moves in a broad 40-60 kmph range. I love the 4th gear on stretches like this because of the acceleration and deceleration it has to offer. And for the sharp climbing turn, the 3rd gear is just a nudge away.
Just after Mahad I chance a glance towards the rising sun. My God! There’s a solar eclipse happening. I pull over, get my S3 out and start shooting. I stick around for about fifteen minutes then pack and move.
Stop at Open Umbrella at Mangaon for breakfast. They serve piping hot idilis and special elaichi tea.
Looks like I am going to run short on fuel. Turn into a pump only to see a board, garlanded on the pump, saying ‘Petrol Sumplle’. Manage to get fuel at Nagothane.
I have a close call with a Sumo coming from the opposite direction near Karnala. Stupid chap is driving right in the middle of the road while I come out of the vehicle ahead to take a peek for a clear coast to overtake. Phoof.
Home 1010 hrs
Distance & Time Line:
That was fun!
2 comments:
Super log to a super trip!
Hope you pull off another one soon enough.
Perhaps the close shave could be avoided in the future, if you trail the vehicle ahead of you by a fair distance and plan your passing move ahead of time.
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