Sunday, November 9, 2003
To the border and back
At 4:30 PM today, I felt like going for a ride, so I put on my helmet and rode southwards, carrying only my wallet and cell phone, dressed in just a t-shirt and shorts.
After about two hours, the sky darkened, the road contorted into steep curves and blind turns as it negotiated the western ghats, and my bottom started to hurt so bad that every kilometre further only added to the burden of another kilometre I had to ride back.
So I stopped at a roadside hotel and asked how much further Karwar was. Thirty five kilometres, the waiter said. I had already done eighty. Go ahead or turn back?
I pondered for a while and called Zubin and said I was on the way to Karwar and would be back in the morning. He asked if I would be back in time for the morning meeting and I confirmed.
Then I did the math: the meeting is at 8:30 AM and the ride is two and a half hours, meaning I had to be on the road by 5:30 AM. Land at Karwar at 7:30 PM, pay good money for accommodation for the night, only to leave at 5:30 in the morning? Didn’t seem like a good idea.
So I rode back 80km to Dona Paula.
Next weekend, I’ll leave early in the day and spend a few good hours at Karwar before returning. And a few weeks later, I will ride all the way to Bangalore, solo.
After about two hours, the sky darkened, the road contorted into steep curves and blind turns as it negotiated the western ghats, and my bottom started to hurt so bad that every kilometre further only added to the burden of another kilometre I had to ride back.
So I stopped at a roadside hotel and asked how much further Karwar was. Thirty five kilometres, the waiter said. I had already done eighty. Go ahead or turn back?
I pondered for a while and called Zubin and said I was on the way to Karwar and would be back in the morning. He asked if I would be back in time for the morning meeting and I confirmed.
Then I did the math: the meeting is at 8:30 AM and the ride is two and a half hours, meaning I had to be on the road by 5:30 AM. Land at Karwar at 7:30 PM, pay good money for accommodation for the night, only to leave at 5:30 in the morning? Didn’t seem like a good idea.
So I rode back 80km to Dona Paula.
Next weekend, I’ll leave early in the day and spend a few good hours at Karwar before returning. And a few weeks later, I will ride all the way to Bangalore, solo.
ravi — Nov 9, 2003 8:04:50 PM — # ↩
ukj — Nov 9, 2003 11:29:05 PM — # ↩
:(
ur poooh poooh bottom
Anonymous — Nov 10, 2003 2:05:34 AM — # ↩
Jace, please take pictures of your trip and especially of the western ghats. That will remind me of the "trip we almost made" to western ghats but cancelled due to bad planning.
Maybe next year, I will ask Tushar and Pawan to accompany me on a trek through Western Ghats.
Raj Shekhar
http://geocities.com/lunatech3007/
http://lunatech.journalspace.com/
tsk1979 — Nov 10, 2003 2:13:39 AM — # ↩
Thats what i hate about long rides on 2 wheelers. Why cant they give good seats! But its been long since i did that. The longest ride i ever done in recent times is a 50 Kms on Outer Ring Road, and that too in a car.
girish — Nov 10, 2003 3:22:47 AM — # ↩
Can any of you buddies of jace quickly help me locate that "Rani Hindustani" post, all about the experience of a mumbai girl with an autorickshaw-wallah? I need it to help cheer up a cousin of mine.
Thanks,
girish
girish — Nov 10, 2003 4:53:47 AM — # ↩
Never mind, located it. :-)