Prologue:
December 20th 2015 Friday Morning @ My Office.
My wife: So you cant make it to Hyderabad this weekend?
Me: Sorry honey, I tried every way, there are no tickets available.
My wife: (Saddened) I miss you. No problem, next month perhaps.
The Spark:
My monthly trip to Hyderabad was getting cancelled because I couldnt get tickets and if not now it will be the next month I would be able to go. Came back home at 7:00 P.M. The sun was slowly setting, by bike looked lovely in the last golden rays of the sun.
Then suddenly it stuck me. Why not I just ride to Hyderabad?? Laptop on > Google Maps > Distance from Hinjewadi(Pune) to Balapaur(Hyderabad) showed 585kms with an estimated time of 10hrs-30 Min. Looks like doable. I hadnt travelled more than 300kms in a stretch before. Also this wont be a relaxing trip. I will leave Hyderabad in 12hrs after arriving. So should I do it? Hell yeah!!!
The Prep before the ride:
It was already 8:00 P.M and I had to leave at 3:00 A.M. Barely ours left and I had decided for a long ride. At this time I had an Vega helmet, the motocross style one without a glass protector. Thank heavens I had a riding glass by Ugly Fish which was awesome. Cross Gloves, PGS Jacket and Riding pants. Riding boots. One balaclava.
At this point I didnt own a tank bag or saddle bag or even a hydration pack. So I just crammed 2 shirts and some essentials like face wash, water bottle, toolkit, puncture repair kit, additional tools kit other than the standard one along with some snickers.
The start of the Ride:
I had already lied to my wife that I would be sleeping early as I was tired. Far from being tired I was alert as an eagle and started precisely at 3:00 A.M from Hinjewadi (Pune).
Time: 3:00 A.M Hinjewadi to Hadapsar, which is the City end.
My NS 200 was wheeled out of parking. Ignition On. The engine roared to life. A few revs and it settled peacefully at 1.5K RPM. The entire city was deserted save for the few trucks that roamed around. The temperature was hovering around 20 degrees. With a prayer to the gods for my safe travel I started from home.
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The Journey:
Pune to Solapur 250kms covered
Road: Expressway, Time taken: 4hrs, Breaks: 10, Condition: Excellent 4 Lane, Avg Speed: 95kmph.
Till Hadapsar that is the pune city end I felt a little cold but nothing I could not shake off. The second I touched the starting of Pune-Solapur expressway the temperature dropped another 3 degrees or something. My speeds reached 100s within seconds and I was flying on the butter smooth roads. After a few minutes chills started creeping in and then I realized that my street gloves were useless in this cold. Still I took the battering I drove on. But not for long, the temperature was freezing cold at 100kmph and soon I started taking breaks whenever I saw a tea stall. All total I had to take a total of 10 breaks before I hit Solapur. Hot tea was the only think that kept me going.The roads were butter smooth with very less traffic, but I lost time due to the cold weather.
There are 2 break points. One in Indapur & other in Tembruni where you might find traffic due to rail crossing and construction work. 90% of this Expressway is superb. You can easily average 150 if you are on a SBK. Also since the traffic is comparatively less on this highway say to Pune-Bangalore one you can drive a bit faster than the usual
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Solapur to Omerga 340kms covered
Road: Single lane, Time taken: 2.5hrs, Breaks: 1, Condition: Not Good, Avg Speed: 60kmph.
7:00A.M I stopped my Pulsar for a second. Took some pictures. Had a pee break. Phew!! It felt good. Also now the Sun was rising the cold and fog were gradually lifting and this was a welcome break. Once you cross Solapur immediately the road becomes single lane from sparkling 4 lane highway. Now you have a single lane road till zaheerabad where incoming traffic will come flying at you. Also the road condition is not in the best of health. Omerga is a bit of an uphill climb and you can have a bit of traffic in here as large trucks and goods carrier are stuck moving slowly up the hills. Also you have L&T which is carrying out the 4 Lane work upto Zaheerabad which leads to further slow moving vehicles.
Took a 10 min break near a dhaba to refill my water and have some snickers.
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Omerga to Humnabad 397kms covered
Road: Single lane, Time taken: 2hrs, Breaks: 1, Condition: Very Poor, Avg Speed: 50kmph.
It was as if I was playing a game of how many potholes I can dodge. I kept on dodging until there was nothing left of the road to dodge. The roads after Omerga were bad. It was difficult to go above 70kmph at any time. 2 times I had to panic brake as I saw a pothole big enough to swallow my bike whole. Again, L&T is working on this. When I touched the Karnataka border I was stopped at the toll post by the border police. They were amazed to know I was travelling from Pune to Hyderabad on bike. They left me alone after hearing this only. No more checks J. This was another break. It was already 11:00 by the time I crossed Humnabad.
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Humnabad to Zaheerabad 452kms covered
Road: Single lane, Time taken: 1hr, Breaks: 0, Condition: Average, Avg Speed: 80kmph.
I had already lost a lot of time due to cold and bad roads. I blasted off speeding towards Zaheerabad determined not to take any more breaks till then. Thank God the roads improved, it was single lane all the way but at least I wasnt playing dodge the pothole again. Record time and I reached zaheerabad, had a quick sip of water and again I fired away.
Zaheerabad to Balapur X roads (Hyderabad) 587kms covered
Road: Double lane, Time taken: 3hrs, Breaks: 1, Condition: Average, Avg Speed: 80kmph till City
Final leg of the run. I was excited and fired away on all cylinders and roared away to Hyderabad. Now another problem crept in. The A.P.S.R.T.C state buses were playing Need for Speed with each other. It was as if every bus driver was behind the wheel of a Ferrari. No one slowed, No one cared and everyone rushed. It was like a race from Zaheerabad till the City outskirts of Hyderabad.
Here I made a grave mistake which cost me 2hrs in time. Instead of taking the ORR(Outer Ring Road) service lane and saving time I went directly inside the city roads. At the peak hour of traffic. It was already past 12:00 in the morning, the sun was coming in hot and I was fully geared up and tired. The traffic was moving at a snails pace. Finally after a gruelling 2hrs in traffic I managed to reach my wifes apartment at 3:00 P.M.
I knocked on the door, she opened the door and the look of surprise on her face was priceless. I was dusty, shaken and my eyes were red due to driving without glass and I looked ready to fall. She hugged me and cried and I was all out. A quick bath and lunch. And I slept till 8:00 in the night when i finally woke up. I was leaving tomorrow at 1:00 P.M. I had barely hours left but the trip was one hell of a ride.
The ending:
The return trip was the same route with minor changes. For starters I took the ORR to exit Hyderabad. Fantastic piece of road even the service lane. Ideal for drag races!!! On my return leg I was stuck in traffic post zaheerabad where there is small railway crossing. Since this was my first long distance trip i got to know a lot of things the hard way. Since then it has been more like a learning on the way curve. In last 6 months i have been to Bangalore, Goa, Malvan all on my bike and everytime i get to learn something new. This was a long pending post, feels good i have penned it down :)
Start from Hyderabad: 2:00 P.M, Reached Pune: 12:30 A.M
Problems I faced:
· Cold weather. It was December and I didnt know my street gloves would not be enough. Should have got a full gauntlet leather gloves like DSG Carbon which I currently own.
· Should have checked traffic jam points beforehand. Tembruni & Zaheerabad rail crossings are major blockage areas.
· One minor case of puncture. Had my KIT so no problem.
· Gear nut became loose and came off. Scary moment as I was almost at 90kmph on highway. Had the required Allen Key so no problem. Its always good to carry an extra set of proper tools that you may require.
December 20th 2015 Friday Morning @ My Office.
My wife: So you cant make it to Hyderabad this weekend?
Me: Sorry honey, I tried every way, there are no tickets available.
My wife: (Saddened) I miss you. No problem, next month perhaps.
The Spark:
My monthly trip to Hyderabad was getting cancelled because I couldnt get tickets and if not now it will be the next month I would be able to go. Came back home at 7:00 P.M. The sun was slowly setting, by bike looked lovely in the last golden rays of the sun.
Then suddenly it stuck me. Why not I just ride to Hyderabad?? Laptop on > Google Maps > Distance from Hinjewadi(Pune) to Balapaur(Hyderabad) showed 585kms with an estimated time of 10hrs-30 Min. Looks like doable. I hadnt travelled more than 300kms in a stretch before. Also this wont be a relaxing trip. I will leave Hyderabad in 12hrs after arriving. So should I do it? Hell yeah!!!
The Prep before the ride:
It was already 8:00 P.M and I had to leave at 3:00 A.M. Barely ours left and I had decided for a long ride. At this time I had an Vega helmet, the motocross style one without a glass protector. Thank heavens I had a riding glass by Ugly Fish which was awesome. Cross Gloves, PGS Jacket and Riding pants. Riding boots. One balaclava.
At this point I didnt own a tank bag or saddle bag or even a hydration pack. So I just crammed 2 shirts and some essentials like face wash, water bottle, toolkit, puncture repair kit, additional tools kit other than the standard one along with some snickers.
The start of the Ride:
I had already lied to my wife that I would be sleeping early as I was tired. Far from being tired I was alert as an eagle and started precisely at 3:00 A.M from Hinjewadi (Pune).
Time: 3:00 A.M Hinjewadi to Hadapsar, which is the City end.
My NS 200 was wheeled out of parking. Ignition On. The engine roared to life. A few revs and it settled peacefully at 1.5K RPM. The entire city was deserted save for the few trucks that roamed around. The temperature was hovering around 20 degrees. With a prayer to the gods for my safe travel I started from home.
The Journey:
Pune to Solapur 250kms covered
Road: Expressway, Time taken: 4hrs, Breaks: 10, Condition: Excellent 4 Lane, Avg Speed: 95kmph.
Till Hadapsar that is the pune city end I felt a little cold but nothing I could not shake off. The second I touched the starting of Pune-Solapur expressway the temperature dropped another 3 degrees or something. My speeds reached 100s within seconds and I was flying on the butter smooth roads. After a few minutes chills started creeping in and then I realized that my street gloves were useless in this cold. Still I took the battering I drove on. But not for long, the temperature was freezing cold at 100kmph and soon I started taking breaks whenever I saw a tea stall. All total I had to take a total of 10 breaks before I hit Solapur. Hot tea was the only think that kept me going.The roads were butter smooth with very less traffic, but I lost time due to the cold weather.
There are 2 break points. One in Indapur & other in Tembruni where you might find traffic due to rail crossing and construction work. 90% of this Expressway is superb. You can easily average 150 if you are on a SBK. Also since the traffic is comparatively less on this highway say to Pune-Bangalore one you can drive a bit faster than the usual
Solapur to Omerga 340kms covered
Road: Single lane, Time taken: 2.5hrs, Breaks: 1, Condition: Not Good, Avg Speed: 60kmph.
7:00A.M I stopped my Pulsar for a second. Took some pictures. Had a pee break. Phew!! It felt good. Also now the Sun was rising the cold and fog were gradually lifting and this was a welcome break. Once you cross Solapur immediately the road becomes single lane from sparkling 4 lane highway. Now you have a single lane road till zaheerabad where incoming traffic will come flying at you. Also the road condition is not in the best of health. Omerga is a bit of an uphill climb and you can have a bit of traffic in here as large trucks and goods carrier are stuck moving slowly up the hills. Also you have L&T which is carrying out the 4 Lane work upto Zaheerabad which leads to further slow moving vehicles.
Took a 10 min break near a dhaba to refill my water and have some snickers.
Omerga to Humnabad 397kms covered
Road: Single lane, Time taken: 2hrs, Breaks: 1, Condition: Very Poor, Avg Speed: 50kmph.
It was as if I was playing a game of how many potholes I can dodge. I kept on dodging until there was nothing left of the road to dodge. The roads after Omerga were bad. It was difficult to go above 70kmph at any time. 2 times I had to panic brake as I saw a pothole big enough to swallow my bike whole. Again, L&T is working on this. When I touched the Karnataka border I was stopped at the toll post by the border police. They were amazed to know I was travelling from Pune to Hyderabad on bike. They left me alone after hearing this only. No more checks J. This was another break. It was already 11:00 by the time I crossed Humnabad.
Humnabad to Zaheerabad 452kms covered
Road: Single lane, Time taken: 1hr, Breaks: 0, Condition: Average, Avg Speed: 80kmph.
I had already lost a lot of time due to cold and bad roads. I blasted off speeding towards Zaheerabad determined not to take any more breaks till then. Thank God the roads improved, it was single lane all the way but at least I wasnt playing dodge the pothole again. Record time and I reached zaheerabad, had a quick sip of water and again I fired away.
Zaheerabad to Balapur X roads (Hyderabad) 587kms covered
Road: Double lane, Time taken: 3hrs, Breaks: 1, Condition: Average, Avg Speed: 80kmph till City
Final leg of the run. I was excited and fired away on all cylinders and roared away to Hyderabad. Now another problem crept in. The A.P.S.R.T.C state buses were playing Need for Speed with each other. It was as if every bus driver was behind the wheel of a Ferrari. No one slowed, No one cared and everyone rushed. It was like a race from Zaheerabad till the City outskirts of Hyderabad.
Here I made a grave mistake which cost me 2hrs in time. Instead of taking the ORR(Outer Ring Road) service lane and saving time I went directly inside the city roads. At the peak hour of traffic. It was already past 12:00 in the morning, the sun was coming in hot and I was fully geared up and tired. The traffic was moving at a snails pace. Finally after a gruelling 2hrs in traffic I managed to reach my wifes apartment at 3:00 P.M.
I knocked on the door, she opened the door and the look of surprise on her face was priceless. I was dusty, shaken and my eyes were red due to driving without glass and I looked ready to fall. She hugged me and cried and I was all out. A quick bath and lunch. And I slept till 8:00 in the night when i finally woke up. I was leaving tomorrow at 1:00 P.M. I had barely hours left but the trip was one hell of a ride.
The ending:
The return trip was the same route with minor changes. For starters I took the ORR to exit Hyderabad. Fantastic piece of road even the service lane. Ideal for drag races!!! On my return leg I was stuck in traffic post zaheerabad where there is small railway crossing. Since this was my first long distance trip i got to know a lot of things the hard way. Since then it has been more like a learning on the way curve. In last 6 months i have been to Bangalore, Goa, Malvan all on my bike and everytime i get to learn something new. This was a long pending post, feels good i have penned it down :)
Start from Hyderabad: 2:00 P.M, Reached Pune: 12:30 A.M
Problems I faced:
· Cold weather. It was December and I didnt know my street gloves would not be enough. Should have got a full gauntlet leather gloves like DSG Carbon which I currently own.
· Should have checked traffic jam points beforehand. Tembruni & Zaheerabad rail crossings are major blockage areas.
· One minor case of puncture. Had my KIT so no problem.
· Gear nut became loose and came off. Scary moment as I was almost at 90kmph on highway. Had the required Allen Key so no problem. Its always good to carry an extra set of proper tools that you may require.