u/Significant_Horse485

Yes, still riding in the summers, pretending the heat doesn’t exist XD

This weekend I decided to just go all out and ride with a bunch of different folks to just catch up and enjoy some group rides.

Ride pics are in sequence. Will link ride routes in comments in some time.

Rides:

1. Pali Bhutivali Dam (with r/punebikers), Saturday:
   The mods love showing up unofficial rides more than the official ones 😆 This one was a blast. 250km counting the ride to/from home. When you got a decent sized group who are capable enough to, one gets on with the off road trail shenanigans. Riding on trails, pushing bikes on sketchy slopes, random bike pit-stops, that’s how a fun ride goes that fills you with exhaustion, but more importantly fun. Glad to ride with you folks!

2. Chaskaman dam (200 Syndicate), Sunday morning:
   This is a new budding group of riders with smaller bikes but the eagerness to get into the fun others have. Me too being on an Avenger 160 am deeply invested in seeing this group succeed and go on many more rides. It was quite a chill ride of 150kms home to home, with the nicest folks out there. Also, met a legend who rode his own Avenger 70k km. Amazing grit, his riding history.

3. Dhom dam, Sunday evening:
   A supposedly group ride turned solo due to issues too sour to mention here. Nevertheless, it ended up being a nice scouting mission for the twisties and will likely return once again before the monsoons. 300km home to home.

Yes, I did just use all those words together in a title.

1056.9km over 23 hours.

Machine: Avenger 160

Will link the approx route in the comments.

Disclaimer: This is not a route to do a 1000km, especially if it is your first time attempting. Also, in general, do not attempt long rides >300km directly without building up your gear and your stamina for it. I have been riding for long and have done this ride in parts over multiple occasions.

The plan was to complete the ride in 18-20 hours. The initial bit of Pune - Vaitarna dam - Thane completed, did 400km in 7 hours which was quite a good pace. It was down to nice cool weather and open highways without much traffic.

However, the NH66 sections near Pen/Mahad/Alibaug saw heavy traffic blocks (long weekend vacation goers), with me being stuck for close to three hours and exhausting a lot of my energy, which put jeopardy to my plans, yet I continued along.

A lot of things went wrong in terms of ride plan due to traffic, but then again a lot of things went right like managing food/water/fatigue, managing electronics battery levels, managing soreness, etc.

Do ask in comments if you want to know anything specific. I am no expert and it was a learning moment for me in various aspects. Also It was a surreal experience riding to a beautiful view point in morning, then getting stuck in peak heat and traffic, then doing ghats/village roads in late evening and finally a late night highway run home, all packed into a single ride.

Yes, I did just use all those words together in a title.

1056.9km over 23 hours.

Machine: Avenger 160

Will link the approx route in the comments.

Disclaimer: This is not a route to do a 1000km, especially if it is your first time attempting. Also, in general, do not attempt long rides >300km directly without building up your gear and your stamina for it. I have been riding for long and have done this ride in parts over multiple occasions.

The plan was to complete the ride in 18-20 hours. The initial bit of Pune - Vaitarna dam - Thane completed, did 400km in 7 hours which was quite a good pace. It was down to nice cool weather and open highways without much traffic.

However, the NH66 sections near Pen/Mahad/Alibaug saw heavy traffic blocks (long weekend vacation goers), with me being stuck for close to three hours and exhausting a lot of my energy, which put jeopardy to my plans, yet I continued along.

A lot of things went wrong in terms of ride plan due to traffic, but then again a lot of things went right like managing food/water/fatigue, managing electronics battery levels, managing soreness, etc.

Do ask in comments if you want to know anything specific. I am no expert and it was a learning moment for me in various aspects. Also It was a surreal experience riding to a beautiful view point in morning, then getting stuck in peak heat and traffic, then doing ghats/village roads in late evening and finally a late night highway run home, all packed into a single ride.

Good road sections:

⁠1. road to Vaitarna dam from NH160 - pleasant village road with nice twists. Lots of shade through most parts

2. ⁠NH 160 from Vaitarna dam to Thane - amazing curve ghat and smooth highway

3. ⁠NH 66 Mahad to Chiplun : they completed most of the road work. Once the traffic died down, this highway was actually fun. Road construction starts again after Chiplun.

4. ⁠NH48 Satara - Mahabaleshwar : good roads markings at night and not many road defects. Gave confidence in the last stretch home.

Bad roads:

⁠1. NH 66 near Alibaug and Pen/Mahad. Road narrows to choke points causing huge traffic congestion. Best to avoid post 11am.

2. ⁠NH48 near Karad : lots of road diversions. Potential for being a traffic choke point in evening.

3. ⁠road from Sangameshwar to Anuskura ghat - crooked roads, narrow roads. You cannot push beyond avg speed of 40kmph. A waste of time for long haul runs. (I skipped Oni)