Pune – Nashik Bicycling Trip – Oct 17-18, 2020

After leaving the temple, we proceeded to Otur. From Otur at approximate 97 km to Bramhanvada at 115 km, it is was continuous gradual climb. 18 kms of ghat. Combined with the not so good road quality, that was a really tough climb.

We did stop during our climb and enjoy the beautiful views. Luckily, the traffic was extremely sparse.

Scenery was quite stunning and traffic was light. Road quality was good and bad. It was especially difficult when the road quality got bad on downslopes.

We stopped at Brahmanwada (at the top of the ghat). It was a small village. We bought some water and ate Parle G biscuits, Batatavadas and jalebi. Then we continued on, but now the slope was downhill for the most part. But the road was not very good, so coming downhill was a challenge.

We were getting very tired have done significant ghat cycling.  But the views of rural Maharashtra were worth it.

Given our speed till Narayan Gaon we had expected that it would take us till about 5 pm to reach our destination in Akole. But it was already about 5.30 pm when we reached village of Kotul. As we passed Kotul, a guy came behind us on his motorcycle and shouted us to stop. We were surprised, but he had just come to tell us that the road we were taking to Akole was closed because the bridge had gone underwater due to rains. We had not told anyone that we were going to Akole. But he just guessed that and came to help us. That desire to help from every village we went to was a very satisfying experience. Again, no expectations, just a selfless desire to help!

We took the alternate route to Akole through Dhamangaon. Dusk was approaching. The scenery was getting even better with golden hours.

At his point, we were ready to finish the last 15 km before dark. Light would be around 6.30 pm. Anil’s cycle tire got a puncture. We pumped some air using the hand pump and got the cycle till Dhamangaon. At this point, Atul suggested that we change the tube. That took about 30 mins.

It was already 6.30 by the time we left Dhamangaon, nearly dark. We were at the 134 km mark with 13 kms to go. We did the last 12 km in pitch darkness. Atul had his headlight on, the rest of us had not planned for riding in the dark. He was giving us verbal instructions like “khadda”, “speed breaker”, “maati” and we were following unable to see anything on the road. Luckily the road quality turned out to be not so bad. Finally at 7.20 pm, we made it to Hotel Gurukrupa in the vilage of Akole.

The last part of the journey was very challenging due to pitch dark conditions. The last 12 km was a near downslope. But we made it safely to our hotel. We did 147 km, in 7:52 hours of riding time and almost 13:20 hours of elapsed time. 3,400 calories. Crazy workout 🙂

We then went to a local restaurant Pooja Bhojanalaya and ate Thali dinner. We were very hungry. Just roti, sabji, dal and shrikhand. Felt so good!

We went to sleep at around 10 pm and woke up at 5 am the next day. There was a little soreness in the legs, but we were ready to do the next day.

We started the day at 6.30 am (slightly later than the 6 am planned). The terrain was supposed to be much flatter compared to the earlier day. We would take the inner roads from Akole till Sinnar and then rejoin the highway for the last 20 km leg to Nashik.

The elevation profile was relatively flat or down.

Again the morning scenery was blissful.

We were doing pretty good time compared to the Saturday pace. In every place, villagers were extremely curious about our cycle ride. They were surprised that we had come all the way from Pune. One guy even asked me if we were cycling because we did not manage to get a car 🙂 Villagers were extremely helpful with directions. One kid also decided to race with Atul for a while. We had fun together.

There are a lot of water bodies in the area. Views continued to be great.

When we reached Sinnar at around 9.30 am, members from the cycling club of Sinnar had come to greet us. Once again they treated us to a nice South Indian breakfast. We exchanged bicycling stories. It was great fun.

We left Sinnar at 10.20 am for our last leg to Nashik. About 20 km left. But it was mostly downhill. We increased our speed. There was a little mishap with Atul’s bicycle battery falling off. Luckily, he was able to recover it without incident.

Finally near Nashik Road, we reached the bridge on Pravara river.

It was good to see the end in sight. But we made it to our destination Hotel Anand Lodging (where Atul was planning to stay) at around 11.30 am.

Compared to the earlier day, Sunday was a breeze. 63 km, 3:20 hours cycling time, 5:00 hours elapsed time, 1400 calories.

Within a short 1.5 days, we had a fantastic experience, something to remember for a lifetime.

Atul stayed back in Nashik and was planning to bicycle back to Pune on Tuesday. Anil’s son Neerav had driven a car from Pune to Nashik to pick us up. Anil, Devroop and I put our cycles on the rack and drove back to Pune. We started from Nashik at 5:15 pm and were in Pune by 10.30 pm.

I look forward to more trips like this.

Unlike us who took the car back to Pune, Atul Gopal, our group leader, cycled both ways. He had some interesting experiences on the way back from Nashik to Pune. Here is a link to his blog.