The wonderful 80 km ride to Mulshi and back on a lovely sunday!

This Friday, I agreed to be party to a cycling expedition to Mulshi. It was going to be a very ambitious ride for me, and at that point of time I thought I could do it. Hearing the rain at 2 am early Sunday morning, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this.
I woke up a little later than I should I have, yet found myself at [Pune’s own] Chandani chowk at 6 AM. The four of us met, and we had a blast there- quite literally- when Ankur’s brand new hand pump broke.
So we started off for our first milestone- the beginning of the Pirangut ghat.
It was pretty dry at chandani chowk… no signs of rain on the road. But we could see dark clouds looming large just a little beyond. And as we sped downhill, we encountered our first shower for the morning. I didn’t bother with my rain jacket though.
As we reached Manas Lake, I began to wonder if I would be able to complete the ride to Mulshi and back… I was thinking of turning back and letting the guys continue further. So we stopped at the turning towards Mutha ghat, and then I realised that if I crossed pirangut ghat, I would have to go further till mulshi and back. So I just decided to do it… and the next thing I remember is speeding down the long pirangut ghat slope. At that point, all I wanted was the sugary, milky chai – the type you get in small towns and villages in Maharashtra. As I demanded it, Aditya though I was a chai addict. Quite the contrary, I told him, I hate chai… just that I wanted something hot with sugar in it for some energy. We cycled on the uneven terrain towards Paud. It was perpetually uphill with some straight flat patches. The road was decent too.
On route was another small ghat. It was quite a climb for me. Vikrant kept encouraging me to continue even crying his throat hoarse, getting his shoelace entangled in the pedal, and falling off. It was a harmless little fall, and he was smiling away as he picked himself and his cycle up can carried on uphill. I asked how much more we had to climb, and he showed me a board. Seemed just a few hundred metered from where I was. The trick I realised is not to look up at the climb and just keep pedalling. But that, unfortunately was just half the ghat
We came across some more cyclists who were on their way back. Its always a pleasure to see other cyclists like us taking rides outside the city, so we waved at them just as they did at us. Mutual brotherhood resulting from an understanding of the pain and resolve involved in cycling and the high you get out of it…Understanding of the will power that overpowers the will to comfortably ride to Mulshi on motorbikes and cars just like the hoards of youngsters, couples and extended families stuffed in cars we encountered on our way.
The scenic beauty of that area is always enhanced in the monsoons. No wonder so many people visit… but I still haven’t understood their urge to scream and shout their lungs out on the way. Taking pictures was the last thing on my mind. My lumala demands a lot of attention indeed.
I started feeling some drag on my set of wheels. So Aditya and I figured it was them mudguards… them new ones that I got fixed for the monsoons to protect most of my clothing from mud and slush. We exchanged our bikes for some time, and that made me realise how dearly I loved my lumala over his Merida. So off we were once again.
Next big halt – Paud – where we finally had chai. The sugary, milky types, in case I didn’t mention before… And reading the string of messages on our mobiles made us realise that it was friendships day. Big deal… mainnu ki farak painda hai yaar?
Off we were again, and a little further, we encountered our first bit of broken, water filled potholed road. As I started negotiating that patch, I was falling behind the guys and we were pretty much cycling in a line.
A car passed us by and stopped further on. A lady got off, and I saw Ankur and Aditya stop and talk to her. Then Vikarant stopped too… And then I saw the unbelievable… Our former teacher from college, Mrs Bagul. She was on her way for a Sunday picnic with her family. She said she saw me cycle and she thought it was I, but she couldn’t imagine what I would be doing there at that time. Then she saw Vikrant and then Ankur, and that’s when she realised that she wasn’t seeing things, and we were who she thought we were and finally stopped to greet us. She was as surprised as she was happy to see us there on our cycles. It was around 8:30 AM and she said she couldn’t believe we were up so early. This remark has its origins in the fact that we never arrived at college on time in the mornings.
She gave us a big packet of khakras, especially from Ahmedabad, to eat as we were doing a physically demanding task of cycling so far, despite our protests that we were carrying enough food (and in my case, fat) on us to last us the trip. A few photographs with her later, she was off on her way with her family, and left us still holding the pack of khakras and wondering if we had just met Bagul Ma’am!
Recovered from that pleasant surprise, we were off on our way to the next stop – the start of the climb to Mulshi. The road was terrible and the tea and vada pao shacks were already busy with a lot of weekend tourists. We went a bit further to a quiet bend next to a stream and fields and ate some of the khakra that we acquired on the way.
The climb was not easy… I had to stop in-between and lagged behind the others while the group of young college students enthusiastically encouraged us forward. So finally I was up that ghat passing the sheared walls of red mud retaining themselves by only their self weight at the sides of the road. The others were waiting for me… and we went further. The aim was to reach a restaurant called Dishas where Ankur and Vikrant once had excellent omelette pav. The thought of fresh hot food excited me as much as the thought of reaching our stipulated destination – one from where we were going to turn back. Aditya had wandered off further, and all out phones except for Vikrant’s weren’t catching any signal, Ankur went to look for him. He came back 2 mins later with Aditya by his side.
It was already 9.30 am by the time we started eating. Aditya and Ankur had to be home by 11, which by now we realised was highly impossible. Just before we started back, we clicked a few pics with our cycles. Proof that we were had been there, done that.
On the way back, the traffic was terrible. It seemed half of Pune wanted to go towards Mulshi. The roads were full of people on bikes, in cars, in jeeps and buses … all going towards Mulshi and Tamhini. To top it all up, there was a traffic jam at Paud…
Thankfully, we were on our way back.
Except for a small climb and the major Pirangut climb, the road was mostly downhill. By the time Vikrant and I reached Pirangut, Ankur and Aditya had already reached the end of the Pirangut ghat. They were really in a hurry to get back. We on the other hand were not. And I was feeling quite drained. We decided to have some sugary milky chai there. Post chai break, I found a few local kids fiddling around with the gears… Ah! The inquisitive nature of youth… I told them gently not to change gears while the cycle is stationary as the chain may come off while riding. And they smiled.
The pirangut climb was a task… and I was drained… so I had to stop a couple of times before I managed to reach the top. Vikarant was waiting for me to arrive, and we shared the last of the energy bars that I had in my bag. This was the last leg of our lovely trip.
The steep swift downhill slopes felt so good now … Even the small uphill patch before Chandni chowk didn’t seem much.
At Chandani chowk, we finished the water in our bottles, and drifted downhill till our respective houses… all excited to have completed 80 kms till lunchtime!
An amazing achievement for me, who had never gone cycling beyond 30 kms.
I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the constant inspiration and encouragement that Aditya, Vikrant and Ankur duly provided!
I have awesome friends indeed!