 |
| ROYAL ENFIELD RIDERS AT THE "MAHADARWAJA" OF SHIVNERI FORT IN JUNNAR . |
 |
| "Royal Enfield" ride to Junnar |
On Monday(10/2/2020) had ridden to "Royal Enfield Service centre (Worli)" to rectify my bike's year old "Kick-Start" defect.Since the time i purchased my "Standard Bullet 350" it has had a constant manufacturing defect of not kick-starting after stopping and restarting over a long distance ride . At the Service center met Mr Sunil.Pawar who was conducting the "Royal Enfield Shivneri Fort/Junnar-Worli" ride on Saturday(15/2/2020) and decided to experience "Group Riding" for the first time in my riding hobby.Till date was a loner SOLO rider akin to my "SOLO GLOBE TRAVELS" and it was time to experience the format and brotherhood of "Motorcycle Group Riding" that i had read and seen in familiar "Harley Davidson" and "Royal Enfield" media.My School classmate and Mariner friend Mr Biju.J.Karian who owns a stable of Motorcycles at home in Bangalore which includes Harley Davidson is a regular group cruiser rider during office vacations from the Shipping Industry. He has even motorcycled to the annual "Sturgis Motorcycle Rally" in U.S.A with his group of "Harley Davidson " riders. Didn't have to look any further for group motorcycle cruising inspiration than childhood buddy Mr Biju.Karian to whom i also owe my entry into the "Marine Engineering profession" as a "Marine Apprentice( No 12049) " way back in 1978 at Mazagaon Dock Ltd in Mumbai.Paid the Group riding charges of Rs 2400 to Mr Sunil.Pawar and rode back home on a high note of finally experiencing my first "Motorcycle Group Ride" at the young age of 59 years.Mick.Jagger are you reading my blog !
 |
| ROYAL ENFIELD "Worli Showroom Mumbai to Junnar " riders on the road.We were a total of 12 riders on "ROYAL ENFIELD" motorcycles .All were dressed in full "MOTORCYCLE RIDING GEAR" akin to "MOTO GP RIDERS" with your's truly being the odd rider in the pack with just a helmet as security. Our Group leader Mr Sunil.Pawar had a camera fitted to his helmet for videographying parts of our cruising.Mr Abdul.Aziz also used a similar camera while riding. These waterproof camera's are also used for underwater photography as i had done during my Maldives underwater explorations. |
 |
| Royal Enfield rider Mr Sunil.Pawar briefing us riders. |
Saturday( 15/2/2020) Departure Royal Enfield Showroom Worli and arrival Junnar :- Reported early at 0600 hrs at the Worli Showroom meeting co-riders Mr Abhishek.Jathar,Mr Bhanudas.Jadhav,Mr Avinash.Sawant ,Mr Dipesh.Mody and Mr Sunil.Pawar, the leader of the group ride.It's a small world and total Motorcycle riders became acquaintances with Mr Abhishek.Jathar being the youngest rider among us and me the "Daddy Cool(Over Age !)" as usual. In the course of conversation Mr Avinash.Sawant living in Lalbaug knew the family of my late Marine Engineering colleague Mr Anil.Sawant who died under tragic circumstances over a decade ago which shocked my senses.Some people put a deep dent in your psyche and the death of Mr Anil.Sawant was one such event. Over the decades as i myself defy "Father Time" living a dangerous lifestyle and having lost numerous relatives,acquaintances and friends realize destiny plays a important role in every individual's life and lifestyle.
 |
| With Avinash.Sawant. |
Finally after a brief description of the format of "Group convoy riding" by Leader Mr Sunil.Pawar we got onto our bikes and at approximately 0730 hrs began our marathon ride to Junnar. The total road distance from Mumbai to Junnar is approximately 163 Kms depending on the route taken as well as road and traffic conditions.At times detours have to be taken to avoid bad roads. The laid out route as per plans was as follows :- Panvel-Karjat--Neral-Mhasa- Vaishakhare-Malshej Ghat and finally destination Junnar.
NOTE :- The 2 ' RIDING VIDEO's" have been shot by co-rider Mr Abdul.Aziz, the camera fitted to his riding gear helmet. At Panvel we stopped at a roadside restaurant for snacks where the next batch of riders Mr Manish.Sharma,Mr Abdul.Aziz, Mr Sachin.Kelshikar and Mr Sameer.Nilatkar joined us for the "Royal Enfield Motorcycle Odyssey" to Junnar. We proceeded on the usual route and on passing along Karjat reminisced my previous ride through this route on a visit to the "Probable Paradise Shelter" run and managed by animal philanthropist Ms Roxanne. Davur. Further down the Karjat-Murbad Highway we came at the main route diversion where we stopped for tea at a local highway Dhabba. There were 3 routes from this spot with one road leading to Neral, the other to Poshir and the last to Murbad. In the modern age of mobile telecommunication and Internet our team leader decided to take the Murbad road and here is a pictorial essay of the ride until arrival in Junnar..
 |
Ready-Set -Go :- Departure from "Royal Enfield Worli Showroom" at approximately 0730 hrs.Among the entire group of riders my kick-start "Royal Enfield Bullet 350" was the lowest base bike of the "Royal Enfield Stable" as also the oldest original "BULLET" model in continuous manufacture by "ROYAL ENFIELD" .In 1955 after bankruptcy of its parent company "Royal Enfield, England " the licensee rights of "Royal Enfield " was taken over by" Madras Motors" of India later producing "Royal Enfield " motorcycles for the Indian armed forces which brought it into the limelight. In 1994 "Madras Motors" was merged with "Eicher Motors Ltd" which also manufactures tractors and has a collaboration with Volvo of Sweden."Royal Enfield(Worli)" is the first showroom of the company in plush SoBo(South Mumbai). Unashamedly in the department of safety i was the most poorly attired "Royal Enfield" rider in the entire group.As a member of "BRAGGERS RIGHTS CLUB" had done 2000 Kms of solo riding in 11 days on this very same bike without any "SAFETY GEAR" barring the mandatory helmet. Hence the "Miser" in me decided not to invest in "Professional Motorcycle Sportswear" since i would rarely use the same and as they say "OVERCONFIDENCE" is the recipe to disaster.All the riders wore knee caps, shoulder pads ,padded jackets and bike boots along with the mandatory helmets.As for me it was only the "HELMET" and otherwise casual jeans and a thin leather jacket.
NOTE :- PLEASE ALWAYS RIDE IN FULL MOTORCYCLE SAFETY GEAR IF VENTURING ON LONG CROSS COUNTRY RIDES. DON'T BE PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH LIKE ME AS HINDSIGHT OF THIS ENTIRE RIDE WOULD REVEAL .NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT MEET WITH A BAD FALL OR A NEAR FATAL ACCIDENT. AKIN TO A MANDATORY SAFETY HELMET ,KNEE CAPS,SHOULDER/ELBOW GUARDS AND BACK PROTECTION MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE IN CASE OF A ACCIDENT.DRESS UP LIKE MY MOTOGP HERO VALENTINO ROSSI( THE DR ? ) NOT AS A FASHION STATEMENT TO IMPRESS THE OPPOSITE SEX BUT FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY TO KEEP YOURSELF ALIVE . ALWAYS REMEMBER, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE AND NOT TWICE !
Arrival at "Shree Sai Snacks" restaurant in Panvel where the other riders joined us thus completing the total group contingent ride to Junnar.
At 1300 hrs we reached "MALSHEJ GHAT" situated at a altitude of 700 meters (2,300 ft) where we had a brief rest stop. The ride on the Malshej Ghat roads was akin to riding on a "Formula 1 " race track and i did clock 90 Kms ++ .At the viewpoint on the Ghats which should be visited during the Monsoon season when the entire Ghats hill sides are transformed into temporary waterfalls.A awesome sight. In Spring it is totally dry as can be seen in this photo.From Malshej Ghats the ride to Junnar City was another 40 Kms with very bad intermittent roads .Got stuck in a dirt gravel and fellow bikers hauled me out of the gravel by pulling the bike backwards onto firm ground. Realized i was bad at "DIRT TRACK" riding having observed the same at the "Royal Enfield Riders Mania" in Goa. On straight roads i could give Valentino Rossi a run for his million dollar mega-bucks status as a bike rider but definitely a bad rider on narrow curves and dirt roads.
NOTE :- PLEASE KNOW YOUR POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE POINTS IN MOTORCYCLE CRUISING BEFORE VENTURING ON LONG RIDES. PREVENTION OF A ACCIDENT IS BETTER THAN THE CURE.
At approximately 1415 hrs we arrived into Junnar city situated at a elevation of 689 meters(2260 Ft) above sea level . SHIVNERI FORT can be seen in the background atop Shivneri hill behind the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosle. Shivneri is the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji.Bhosle.
We had checked into "Hotel Platinum"where we were put up in A/C rooms with 2 riders sharing a room. Mr Sameer.S.Nilatkar, a hotelier by profession and myself shared a room on the 2nd floor and after a brief rest got down to the restaurant dining saloon.The "Royal Enfield" motorcycle technician Mr Rajesh.Patel who was to be accompanying us during the entire ride in case of a "Motorcycle Breakdown" arrived at the hotel after our arrival. Lunch was chicken in different culinary style for Non-Veg riders with myself seeing a large "Chicken Kebbab Platter" dish for the first time in my life.The "Chakna" was "Szechuan Pappad" which was guzzled with beer and after our late lunch decided not to ride on our motorcycles to the base of "SHIVNERI FORT". Hence walking down the main road in search of taxi's or rickshaws hired this tempo which drove us at a snails pace and honestly i could have walked faster.The fun was in the travel and not the destination ! The entire road leading to the base of Shivneri hill was excellent in comparison to the surroundings of Junnar City which was definitely lacking many basic infrastructure facilities.Having travelled most corners of the Globe always wondered the reason for the Hill Forts of Maharashtra receiving few foreign tourists and the reasons could be basic infrastructure deficiencies. "Shivneri Fort" attracts mostly only Indian tourists .
A little rest at the "MAHADARWAJA(MAIN GATE) of Shivneri hill that leads to Shivneri fort."SHIVNERI FORT " is situated at a altitude of 1067 meters( 3500 ft) above sea level. There are a total of 7 such doors that guard entry to the Fort and a total of 400 steps on this long spiral staircase that finally leads to the Fort. . Notice the Iron spikes on the wooden door. We arrived late at the Fort stairway entrance and entry into the Fort was stopped after 1700 hrs as a leopard had been sighted in the precincts of the fort. Junnar is noted for the presence of wild leopards living in close proximity to human habitation in the sugarcane fields .The iconic radio collared leopard "Ajoba" which helped naturalist scientists track its 120 Kms journey during its brief "Radio Collared lifespan" was captured from a well in Junnar . Later a Marathi film was also produced on this leopard named "Ajoba(Grandfather)".We were just allowed to walk up to the first gate of the Fort
A view of the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji in"SHIVNERI FORT" . The next day on Sunday(16/2/2020) Co-Rider Mr Avinash.Sawant and the rest of the group riders trekked to the top of the Fort and did some cleaning of the Fort premises.This is a picture taken by Mr Avinash.Sawant.A history of this Fort can be researched on the Internet or history books .A Non-Indian tourist visiting the State of Maharashtra would instantly realize that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is the most venerated historical leader in the State with important landmark Institutions and buildings named after him with the most prominent being the Iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus and Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport in India's commercial capital Mumbai.
As mentioned the main motive of the "ROYAL ENFIELD SHIVNERI FORT-JUNNAR RIDE" was to ride to Junnar and trek up the 400 steps of Shivneri hill and visit "SHIVNERI FORT" . "SHIVNERI FORT" is the birthplace of the founder of the Maratha Dynasty of India Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosle who is also acknowledged as one of the World's historic guerrilla warfare leader's. We were late on reaching Shivneri hill entrance gate and the additional menace of a leopards presence on the hill fort premises left us disappointed as the security had stopped the entrance of visitors into the Fort.For a "Been Here , done that and seen that" could say that at least i visited the foot-steps of Shivneri Fort.I have visited all the prominent Maratha Forts in the State of Maharashtra including Raigad, the Capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji's Maratha Empire ."Shivneri Fort" was the only missing link in completing my triology of seeing the most prominent Maratha Forts and ironically remains a "Missing Link" as i couldn't visit the Fort. 4 of us left for Mumbai early the next morning on Sunday(16/2/2020) while the rest of the 8 riders trekked to the Shivneri hill summit and visited the Fort doing some civic social work of cleaning the historic premises.
A Grand dinner at "Hotel Platinum" with beer , "Cheese Kebab's assorted platter" and "La Peta Chicken Kebab's". Although i must have been the most travelled rider in the group my knowledge of exotic food was minuscule, although a foodie and honestly this display of exotic food names baffled my vocabulary.During dinner we had a discussion of our personal motorcycling experiences with "Daddy Cool" having the unique distinction of surviving 2 motorcycle hospitalizations .The "Joker" of "CRUISER MOTORCYCLING". Ahoy ! The most competent and veteran riding member of this group was Mr Manish.Sharma who had narrowly missed putting his name into the "Limca Book of Records" for the longest motorcycle distance covered within a specified time-frame.He gave us a few tips on "SAFE RIDING".Mr Abdul Aziz was a veteran rider with long rides under his belt and a habitual week-end holiday rider .Mr Sachin. Kelshikar had some of the most expensive accessories fitted onto his Himalayan bike.Mr Dipesh.Mody although a first time group rider akin to me had a sophisticated helmet fitted with "Blue tooth" technology.I felt like a villager from Timbuktu in the midst of a High society reception among this elite group of "Royal Enfield" riders discussing motorcycles and motorcycle experiences. As for me realized that beside's travel it's " Group Bike Cruising" that also educates.
Early in the morning on Sunday(16-2-2020) Mr Abdul.Aziz, Mr Sameer.Nilatkar, Mr Dipesh.Mody and myself decided to ride back 163 Kms to Mumbai. A view of "Hotel Platinum" which also has a 100 seat theatre adjacent to the main hotel building screening Hindi and Marathi films with the Marathi film " Makeup" playing during our stay at the hotel.. There are only 2 theatres in Junnar city and "Platinum Theatre" was one among the two. At approximately 0730 hrs we began our marathon ride from "Hotel Platinum " in Junnar to Mumbai. Mr Abdul.Aziz was our group leader and guide.We took a different route passing alongside the beautiful fields of Sugarcane plantations also notorious for being the home of resident leopards that have put Junnar in the news in recent years.
After crossing the "MALSHEJ GHATS" at approximately 0900 hrs we stopped at Hotel Rakshavalli" for a breakfast of "Missal/Paav" and Bhajia's. Bizarrely it was a bad start to the day's riding as i fell with the bike while descending a Ghat section and the rest of the three riders stopped and put my bike upright with me receiving no injuries.
PHOTO( L-R) :- Mr Sameer. Nilatkar, Self, Mr Dipesh.Mody(Standing) and Mr Abdul.Aziz our group leader and guide.
MONA LISA SMILE AFTER 163 KMS RIDE FROM JUNNAR ON ARRIVAL AT HOME IN VAIBHAV APARTMENTS AT OLD PRABHADEVI ROAD IN MUMBAI ? :- After breakfast we rode without any stoppage and did clock 100 Km/hr at a empty road stretch with Mr Abdul.Aziz being the main ride leader and guide.As mentioned this was a different route and for the first time in my life got to view Kalyan city in the district of Thane.Once upon a time Kalyan was a distant undeveloped city but in 2020 was amazed at the building construction and housing complexes in this city. From Kalyan via the bypass road entered Thane city which in parts seemed like plush locales of South Mumbai.I felt like Rip Van Winkle getting out of a slumber and suddenly realizing that the city in which he resided for decades has transformed itself overnight during his sleep ! From Thane it was a beautiful ride on the Eastern Express Highway and finally at approximately 1200 hrs at the end of the expressway got confused on the diversions of 2 flyovers heading towards Mumbai city taking the wrong flyover.On riding on the flyover and looking down suddenly realized my error and in that instant met with a death defying crash against the railing of the flyover.My bike had grazed the flyover railing and crashed throwing me over onto the road.Fell flat on my face with the helmet taking the brunt of the force but also felt a numbness in my left hand.A few men immediately came to me and helped me get off the ground. There was glass pieces around with the motorcycle headlight broken and side leg stand bent due to the impact of the crash. Seems neither Heaven or Hell wanted to accept me today and it was a miracle that i was conscious and standing upright after such a horrible accident.My bike was put upright and then the few men who helped me went their own way's as is life in hectic Mumbai. Realized i must have dislocated my left shoulder as i couldn't lift my left arm. It was blazing hot on the "Flyover Highway" with cars just whizzing past me and myself stranded on the highway thirsting for water akin to being in a Desert. Not a single vehicle stopped to help me and finally a taxi stopped and the driver helped me start the bike whose engine akin to me was "ALIVE" and not "DEAD". Realized the the "STANDARD BULLET " brand bike of "Royal Enfield" had survived competition and motorcycle brand longevity for the simple reason that it was built like a "Battle Tank", as indestructible as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" of the Titanic in 1912.Ahoy ! Put the bike on its double-stand and the taxi driver kick-started my indestructible "Standard Bullet -350". Got onto the bike after paying the taxi driver Rs 600 for his invaluable service and rode back home at a slow speed in 2nd gear. Ahoy ! Finally reached my building where i took this candid photograph .SMILING like MONA LISA after HEAVEN or HELL rejected my presence saying i am better off living on Planet Earth until further notice.As for me this was definitely my first and last long distance motorcycle cruising . From today onwards it would only be riding within Mumbai city since as a "PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER/INVESTOR" realize that the odds are stacked heavily against me in long distance motorcycle cruising. Ahoy ! |
