Drive On...Part 1

Time : 0600 hrs.
Place : Vashi ,Somewhere in Sector 17
Date : 19th Feb

I am making it all sound like a mission...because we really were on the verge of undertaking one.
This is the voyage of three crusaders...Rathore my Pillion, my Bird...The HighwayStar...and Me...en route to a hell of a time. A mission because we were starting off with a plan to cover close to 600Kms in a couple of days...with some infamous ghats to surmount. But we the trio were showing no nerves at all....infact the excitement had got the better of us.

I'll flash back a little n then restart from here. Friday I had been to office , left early to meet Anshu..one of a real old and close frnd of mine. So cud reach vashi only by 10.30 in the nite.Had already done close to 100kms on Friday itself and this was even before the trip had started.Then were roaming arnd in Vashi with Rathore and his frnds..till almost 12 in the nite. We were initally planning to leave by arnd 5 in the morning the next day...but that was history ...and the starting time had been posponed to 6.

And we finally started just 15 mins late...06:15AM. Fuelled up initially , only enough to reach the outskirts of Mumbai...because the petrol is cheaper outside mumbai. It was still dark and I was just warming up with moderate speeds of 60-70 Kph. Reached the Panvel McD in 20 mnts. Took a right turn from there towards Pen on NH-17. Tanked up at arnd 7:30...the odometer read...45..or something. The sun was rising in the East...and it was all misty and beautiful.Our stomachs were craving for food by now...So finally stopped at 8.30 at a roadside dhaba.....and a sumptuos and customary Bhurji Pav(S) and Chai(S) were to follow...I have put the S in brackets just because the actual number wud prove to be an embarrasment. Also had an interesting chat with a couple of Truck Drivers there...they were inquiring of our whereabouts and we theres...and it turned out they were driving all the way from Punjab. These guys narrated a few ride stories of theres...and cautioned us for avoiding nite riding.....we just nodded our heads in approval to them....and looked at each other and smiled...
During this time I had already made a couple of failed attempts to touch the magical 100Kph...But I was eyeing it badly....we also had our first round of snaps...all poses and all..

Rode on...and rathore kept yelling all the time at all different places to stop....and when finally I used to slow down...we used to deciede against it...
Ultimately we did stop....and this time it was me who was yelling to show Rathore the roadside caves. It was heating up by now....and the caves were a little hike upwards. Another round of poses and a cool bottle of water later...we were back on track. We had just crossed Mahad at that time. Here I must make a mention of the roads...and there is just one word for them...mesmerising.They were smooth as silk...it was almost like a Black Carpet rolled on and on into the wilderness...for me to cruise on...and i finally kissed 100Kph with a careful High fives with Rathore. We took one more stop before finally leaving NH-17 to turn left for Mahabaleshwar.Then on it was all uphill...with all its twisting and turning roads....I put my head down...and just drove on....
Here we were looking out for a diversion to the famed Pratapgarh Fort..and we did find it some 18kms before M'baleshwar. Beautiful drive upto the fort...with trees lined close to the road on both the sides...and an odd vehicle crossing.We were already decieded on one thing...that if comes down to any kind of climbing on foot for the fort...we 'll ditch the whole idea.And incidentally there was some climbing to be done.We were just contemplating on this when I got a call from my mom...and she was startled to hear that I was almost reaching M'baleshwar. There was also an official matter to be sorted out for rathore.

This is strictly a personnel view...and is not intended to heart anyone and Rathore seconds me here...but the Marathas..and especially Shivaji Maharaj have made really blant forts. As in you do all that hard work to climb...and theres nothing to look at once you reach....apart from the walls and stones. This was another reason for us decieding against climbing the last few steps.

Here my dear Rathore was back to his careless best...this time he left his specs somewhere.And the horrible south Indian food that we had there was a death blow to the already sullen mood.
From then on till M'baleshwar..it was a quiet drive...with both of us in our own zones...and the Star in its own.
Reached M'baleshwar at 2...and straightway were carried away by a local to his cottages...this was to be our abode for the nite...By now we were feeling the drive on our rears...and we decieded on a quick nap....with promises of getting up by 3.30................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....