Goa Biking..Day 1

Goa..that wonderful place.. clean beaches..the laid back pace..just perfect for a relaxing couple of days..& it could not have come at a better time..work was getting to be very hectic..So when Smitha started planning a bike ride to i was all ready to grab it.. it did take me a couple of days to make sure I had the holidays & was done with the work..So the last couple of days before d-day became quite hectic...After the initial drop outs & the hiccups we finally had a plan.. we were to leave early on the 25th..make it to Goa the same day & then the next couple of days would be bliss..The final four were Smitha,Sourabh,Anush & moi.. We were to meet up at around 5:15 am & start off at 5:30..hit NH4.. we would have breakfast somewhere beyond Sira..have lunch somehwere just after Davangere..& make it to Dharward by around 4:00 in the evening.. from here we would take the state Highway to Londa.. & then on it would be NH4A all the way to Panjim..another 30km & we would be at Riva..the resort where we
had booked ourselves in...we expected to be sipping Some beer on the beach by 10:00pm.. if only we knew what was in store for us..


Day 1:Woke up at 4:30.. i knew i should have not hit the snooze so often..but then the warm bed was not so easy to give up.. managed to kick start myself & the bike by 5:20.. reached the venue to see that I was the first one there.. 5 minutes & Sourabh & Anush rolled in.. Daybreak was already here & the sun was coming out..we would have to leave soon..Smitha rode in
soon enough & we were all ready to start off..until this moment it had not yet sunk in that we would be biking to Goa..all the hectic work had robbed me of the excitement..It finaly sank in now ..So off we went..first pit stop was at the ATM & the next one was at Nelamangala..to warm ourselves with some tea..i was the self appointed ride captain & was egging the others
on.. not letting them take too much time on the breaks..The sun was just peeping out & the morning was pleasant..this helped us ride quicker.. we knew we would be in for a tough time when the sun came out.. managed to reach close to Sira by around 9:30 & stopped for breakfast.. its a four lane highway all the way & we were almost maxed out with the throttle lots of times.. Anush though had to curb his speeding as he was still running in his bike.. but the rest three had our fill of "throttle lock"..Breakfast was a little longish affair..we spent more time than we had planned for but the roads ahead were good & we knew we would be able to make up for it..& so we did..Our next destination was Chitradurga..this is one windy & dry place...making
good use of this is the windmills project here.. on the mountains on either side of chitradurga they have these HUGE windmills..which generate quite a bit of power..you can actually see the windmills from at least 50km away..we drew close to these windmills..& this was our next break..by now Sourabh,Smitha & me were reliving our Mumbai ride.. we were passing
through all the places we had some memory attached to..the next stretch from here had a lot of detours..the roads were still being built & this slowed us down.. The stretch beyond Chitradurga is a very dry stretch..there is hardly any vegetation & you can see for miles on end on both
sides of the road..very distracting if you like to admire cloud formations..& the heat was also beginning to get to us..We reached Davangere by noon..but none of us were really hungry..so we motored onto Haveri for lunch..so that meant another 80km or so of barren land..The deccan plataeu has such sparse vegetation..Sourabh kept comparing it to a desert & was not far
by a lot..Haveri..Lunch..It is always a wonderful thing to stop at some town..get off the bike & examine the looks on all the people watching you.. you find some that have their mouths open..some itching to come up..take a closer look..but staying back on account of being shy..but some others who actually come up & decide to give you some gyan..& those that do talk.. seldom
fail to understand why we were on bikes travelling so far..Almost everwhere we got mistaken for army guys..we were wearing camouflage trousers after all!.. & all the reactions were heightened when they saw Smitha get off her bike.. now if they could not fathom why we crazy guys were on bikes.. a girl on a bike..that too a bullet..was enough to send them reeling..Post Lunch we were all sleepy.. but then the next stretch woke us up with a rude shock.. windy was an understatement.. the winds were blowing across the road from left to right..& sometimes crosswinds too..it was so strong that the bikes would not cross 80kmph..& we could feel the bike shifting from left to right.. overtaking trucks was becoming a daunting task.. when passingthem we would enter a sort of vaccum region thanks to the wind getting blocked.. so we would get sucked into this pocket..& just as you com eout..the front wheel would get shaky.. & would push you more onto the wrong side.. it took quite a bit of skill to avoid running into oncoming trucks..
4:30 & we were at Dharwad..right on schedule.. & we were happy that we we had just finished a horrible stretch..all of us were already imagining ourselves sitting on the beach guzzling beer... We were just about 160km from Goa & we did not expect to take more than 4 hours to cover it.. Started off at 5:00 & we soon reached the turn to Londa..All of us were running low on fuel..so we had to go into Dharwad town to tank up.. locating a bunk that accepts credit cards ate into a lot of our "beach-time".. dusk was setting in & we hit the state highway.. we expected the road to be a little ill-maintained & were prepared to encounter the occasional pothole..but none of were prepared for what lay ahead of us..instead of the occasional pothole there was the occasional piece of road..We motored on hoping that it would get better..After some time we just had to take a break..the road was killing our backs.. met an old man here.. he told us that the road was worse ahead.. he had this heavy accent.. so could not figure out everything he said.. & he had already had his quota of his toddy..so i was not really sure if we should beleive him.. he even went on to tell us that the road was actually in much better condition now than before..& ahead of us there were potholes that were knee deep.. We found out the hard way that everything he said was true.. the stretch upto Londa was one of the toughest I have rode so
far.. there was no trace of a road..it was just a path with lots of loose stones..mud..and very dusty..& to boot it all darkness had set in.. the icing on th ecake was when we realised that this was in a forest..ater a few km we hardly came across anybody..the perfect setting for a horror movie..I was ahead of the others & decided to switch off my headlight just to check how dark it wa.. & it was freaking pitch dark..immediately switched the lights back on..in the one second delay that the light took to come back on..i think i must have missed a heart beat.. but this was also an adrenaline rush.. so tried this a couple of times more..realised that it had been some time since I had seen the others in my rear view mirror..so decided to stop.. slowed down the bike & realised that the place was too scary to stop..it was just soo dark.. imagine a
narrow road..pitch dark..trees covering it on both sides..freaky..kept going slow until i could see a headlight far behind me..luckily it was Anush.. both of us went ahead together & reached Londa.. we parked on the side & waited for Sourabh & Smitha to show up.. man it was going to be tough on her..as soon as they made it all of us were thankful that we made it so
far without any mishaps.. all it would have taken is a snapped cable to put a spanner in the works..we would have had no choice but to abandon the unlucky bike & retreive it when daylight was back..It was around 8:00 & we had about another 100km to Panjim..We were on NH4A now & expected the rest to be a breeze..our biggest worry was only the blinding light from the oncoming traffic..man we were again under-estimating what lay in front of
us..The road ahead looked very good..heavan compared to what we had left behind us..plus winding roads.. nothing like it.. picked up speed & had set into a good groove..& then the road started going bad again.. & soon there was no road again.. boy this was very irritating..to boot we had to deal with these oncoming trucks & some sandy slippery stretches..I was thankful that
it did not rain..else we would all be in a soup.. literally..at the end of another hour we regrouped & saw that it was close to 10:00 & we had only managed 30km so far..it took quite an effort to keep going..Ahead of us lay some ghats..we did not enough energy to even check the name..all that mattered to us were the milestones to Panjim..all of us were going through the ghats & visibility suddeny went down..i asumed it was dust..but to my surprise we
discovered that it was FOG!! fog late at night..on ghats..wher one side of the road has a sheer fall of a couple of hundred feet..yup you guessed it..luck was not with us..Smitha is too freaked about fogs & so sourabh was guiding her along..when suddenly we lost track of her.. he had to go back & make sure she was alright..Since Sourabh & me had done lots of night
riding before we knew how to survive..we managed to make sure that Smitha & Anush did not have any issues on these roads..Regroupe after another 20km..& by now it was 10:45..another 50km to go & we were all out of energy..the mind was not ready to
give up though..it was now a battle of mind over body.. all of us were now running on our reserves..Sourabh is the best night rider I have seen.. so he would be the lead now..Smitha would be right behind him..with me following her & Anush bringing up
the rear..& we would make sure that we kept track of the rider behind us..This last stretch had to be the best of the whole day..the roads were empty & winding..perfect for using all our riding
skills..& all the time each of us were not more than 500metres apart from the next rider..We finally made it to Panjim just a little after midnight..crossed the mandovi river & stopped on the other side..word would not describe how tired & releived we were..1 am & we were at Riva on Mandrem beach..Luckily we had thought of ordering our food earlier & it was waiting for us..Luck had now decided to be good to us I guess..we knew that we might expect some rain in Goa..& rain hit us just as we found Riva..now such luck we could definitely use..The day ended at around 2:00am with all of us being too tired to talk anymore..We had covered 670km in a day..longest for all of us.. .and we had been on the road for 19 hours! & for more than 16 of those we had been on the bike..one of my most gruelling rides...ever..