"Lets go cycling" shama admits to suggesting this after feeling guilty of binging for the whole of the last week. This on the evening of the 1st of October with a long weekend ahead I am equally enthused by this idea and desire the feeling to "Acheive" something meaningful and also make the most the free Friday.
The route had to be more than the usual 25 kms Shama and Ashwini (thorli wahini) do sometimes in the week; it had to be longer than the tour de pirangut which was @ 45kms.. Pavana seemed like a good bet @ 100 kms to and fro.....a bit far......but we wanted to push ourselves. So Pavana it was.
Having confirmed with Suhas ( Manjle Bhayya) and Ashwini 8:00 am seemed like a good time to start. As I was heading down to greet my mates I noticed all 3 of them were doing what they are generally best at; Suhas had already f
ound his way to the closest Wadapav Stall and was gorging on first fried wadas( he packed some for later). Ashwini had found a long lost friend( she seems to have lost a lot of friends) and was engrossed in chatting with her bout the good ol days and Shama was running behind Schedule and getting ready (SST- Shama Standard Time of arrival is exact 15 mins later than agreed :))I didn't know if we would even begin let alone last till Pavana. We saw some Wrestlers-in-waiting at the Shiv Chatrapati Stadium and cycling past them we found the road wound around hills and villages around Balewadi. Finding our way from lesser known 'back of beyond' roads via small villages was adventurous and fun as much as cycling under the clouds that kept protecting us from the surya devata above.
We halted at a scenic spot where we; like the shot from 'Lion King' atop the mountain edge looking down upon his country; were also looking down at our country, the winding river flowing peacefully under us alongside a huge real estate development which looked like a Resort. We promised ourselves we would come back to check it out later. Wadapav's were just right for the location as was the 'Nimbu's drink that Ashwini had brought. Before we started cycling again there was one phone call we needed to make to Bipin ( Bade Bhayya) to get the Car and come to Pavana with emergency supplies as a back up plan in case some of us can't make it to and fro our destination.
With renewed energy levels and a seemingly strong will power we pushed further towards our goal at an average of 16km/ph. The SURYA DEVATA had by now won his battle over the clouds and was helping the plants photosynthesize however sapping us dry with his brute force. The gentle up's and down's of the road started to seem steeper. The girls cheeks started to color themselves red, the bluetooth head phones started to slide off over wet ears and by now I could correctly point to the exact location of my ass bones as they made their presence felt.
We hit the Main Pune-Pavana road near Girivan at about 11:30 am and were passing the Chinmay Vibhuti mission at around 12:00 pm. The road wound up to a small dam from where we could see our favourite fort 'Tikona'.
Tikona has always given Shama and me an unexplanable strength, a perspective to the wonders of the natural beauty, its rock faces standing tall with a kind of self respect that seem to poke you "Try Me".
This fort must have seen so much history that one feel's so irrelevant and maybe that's what gives us the strength to make oneself relevant in and around TIKONA.The sheer 2kms of about 40 degrees slope that rises upto Javhan gaon got my thoughts spiralling straight down and back to earth. The girls had had it and were out of breath, Suhas was panting and trailing but was still cycling. The Oasis came in the form of a small overlowing stream from the mountains. Stopping short of having a bath we watered our bodies hoping to relieve our burning skins.
We reached the top Pavana@ 1:00pm. The sun was now bearing down on us and as we searched for some shade Bade Bahyya drove in with Arya, Ira and Raunak alongwith some fresh Fruit juice and more Wada Pav's. BY 3:00 they left us for Pune. Suhas left us too as he had a shooting scheduled with ZoomTV for a new reality TV show "Design Warz" that he is Mentor ing.
Anyways Shama, Ashwini and I made it back to Paud and made the inevitable call to Bade Bhayya to now please get the Gypsy as we could not endure the sun any more. And whilst he was in Pune to please book us up for a full body Massage at Four Fountains Spa.
Back in pune we handed our moaning bodies to the massage therapist and later that night with a couple of Bloody Mary's and Pithala Bhakri we called it a day but not without driving to Karve road from Baner for PAAN.
After cycling for about 70 kms, at home and feeling that we " acheived " Shama and I crashed out vanquished of our guilt. Tomorrow we shall hope to acheive some more.
ठसकेदार देव
