A big shout out to Chinmay Bapat of 'Bikers & Trekkers' Group for sharing this detailed riding experience with us. This content piece has been edited by Satyajit Desai. You too can share your user review, travelogue etc. on CarsIndia by writing to us on Contact@autositeindia.com.
About BnT: I am writing on behalf of our enthusiastic group ‘Bikers & Trekkers’, which is popular in Pune, Maharashtra by the name BnT. The Motto of our group is to spread our passion of trekking and long rides. I would like to quote a few of the lines in this travelogue which give a gist of our love for riding:
“Helmets check,
Riding gear check,
Our beauties eager to roar,
Adrenaline pumped up to the core..!
Everything around is an amazing sight,
All set for a hell of a ride..!”
When people ask us, “What are your hobbies?” Our reply is unanimous – “Riding & Trekking!” Happiness and excitement to explore new places are the simplest yet the most important reasons we are so passionate about our hobby. We decided to ride to Kolad River, which is around 110 km from Pune, on 10th April 2016. Kolad is a village, in Raigad district, Maharashtra State. It is the adventure hub of Maharashtra and is well known for White Water Rafting on Kundalika River that operates round the year. All 5 BnT members gathered at our favorite spot – the Shell Petrol Pump on the Pune-Bangalore highway at 6.30 am to mark the beginning of a memorable ride.
Tamhini Ghat
We roared our way through our all-time favorite roads from Chandni Chowk to Pirangut and towards Tamhini Ghat. Mixed feelings of excitement, happiness, and the sheer rush of adrenaline kept on increasing as the odometers of our bikes paced. Along the way, we could not help but stop to capture the scenic beauty around the road to Tamhini, where the exceptionally lush green meadows (if I may say) produced a sight that would force any sane mind to pause for a while and absorb the beauty. We admired and thanked the nature for giving us the chance to relish such beautiful scenes. As we made our way through the Tamhini Ghat, we felt the breeze banging on our bikes while cornering around the turns. Our hearts filled with joy as we revved our bikes. Life seemed perfect throughout those moments without a sniff of any problems. The joy of cutting through the winds can be experienced only on motorcycles.
“Kick start the lords,
Ecstasy overpowering the world…
Screaming thru’ the streets at the rate of knots,
Cornering & throttling all the way like hotshots..!
Motions blur & people are amazed,
The riders roaring thru’ the streets is a total craze..!
A feeling full of pride,
The thrill of a ride..!”
It is rightly said- ‘4 Wheels transport the body, 2 wheels move the soul.’ 
A snap from Tamhini Ghat
We crossed Tamhini and embarked on the lonely yet beautiful road that lead to Kolad, in a state of trance through the refreshing morning sun & beautiful villages. While we stopped at a railway crossing, the villagers gathered around and curiously enquired about our ride. We confirmed our route to the river from them. We continued our ride and it was barely 15 minutes, when we saw the Kolad river rushing through the rocks along the road.
“Proper riders & not some maniacs,
Respecting the signals & the track…
Wrong lane is not the place to be,
One mistake & shock can replace the glee…
Keeping calm & enjoying the nature as we glide,
Hearts beating fast owing to the thrill of a ride..!”
The Untainted Kundalika River
It was a moment of real happiness of having reached our destination! We stopped at a small roadside hotel, refreshed ourselves with snacks & tea and then finally parked at an extremely photogenic spot along the river where there was no one but us. As Kolad is known for its river rafting there’s always a crowd and people are in a rush to enjoy the thrill of the rafting. But since we had no such intentions, here we were on the opposite side of the river where it was just us and the serene nature. An array of rocks with the super clean water whistling its way through them brought a wide smile on our faces and we parked our bikes in a way that their reflection in the water was a joy to watch and a moment to capture.
Our rides on the banks of the crystal clear river
“Mind blowing scenes & classy photos satisfying our urge,
The love of riding won’t ever purge..!
It’s more than a craze, its called passion,
Riding helps us breathe & rejuvenates every emotion..!”
We chatted about how untainted and absolutely beautiful the spot was. For a while, we remained silent and absorbed the vibes. This is one more reason why I prefer to get out on bikes and ride to such spots and the entire journey takes you away from the constant hustle, pollution and noise of the city life and brings you to a place where you can be with yourself. You can ponder about absolutely anything in this world, spend quality time with your friends or family. At places like this, sometimes intuitionally, you come to know what you like and would want to do with your life. I don’t mean to say that everything about it is so philosophical. After all, all of us do click awesome pictures with our friends. For us, it is mandatory to capture our lovely bikes and nature’s beauty with a DSLR and in mobile panoramas. We were there for quite some time having fun with pictures, dipping our legs into the cold water and relishing everything around us.
Eventually at 3.45 pm, we decided to bid goodbye to what was perhaps one the best spots we’ve ever visited. The journey back home started with a hint of reluctance but our hearts were engulfed with satisfaction & our mind full of positive vibes! These long rides are not merely bikes racing on the roads but the times when we feel free from the world and spend time doing what we love. There’s no place for complacency as we ride with our helmets, riding jackets and knee & elbow guards with a discipline of not hurting anyone among us or others on the roads. ‘Bikers & Trekkers’ persuades everyone to ride safe and follow rules.
Riders of BnT group: Chinmay Bapat, Adarsh Jangda, Shaurya Jadhav, Sunny Hiremath, Chetan Kale
Join the BnT Facebook group to be a part of the next group ride or to know more about the riders and their mutual passion.