Go Goa! - Bikenomads Goa Meet

Finally after the Hampi ride in march, the biker itch got me big time and i landed up in goa riding through few worst roads/rain/ghats/flatroads etc etc. In all we were close to 26 bikers in goa, 11 were from blore. The rest were from Trivandrum, Hyderabad, pune. It was Anniversary meet of our online biking community bikenomads. Blore guys started off in two batches, 7 guys started off on 29th sept 06 and remaining guys on 30th sept 06.

First the stats:
Trip duration: 29th sept 06 (friday) till 2nd Oct 06 (Monday)

Route taken:I was with the riders who started off on 29th sept, we went through udupi as we had to meet trivandrum guys there and from there move on to goa.
The first day route was:Bangalore>Kunigal>Hassan>belur>Charmudighats>ujire>Beltinangadi>Manipal>UdupiHalted at udupi on day1Trip meter reading: 400 kms

Day2: Met up With trivandrum guys after foto shoot in malpe beach.
The route:Udupi>Bhatkal>Marvanthe>Honnavar>Ankola>karwar>Panaji>Bagabeach hotelOur hotel was 30 kms from panaji, near baga beach

Day3: Roamed goa, Did amazing group ride

Day4: Back to bangy, the route taken:Bagabeach Hotel>panaji>Karwar>Honnavar>Jogfalls>Sagar>Shimoga>Arsikere>Tumkur>Bangalore

Total kms done (inclusive of all 4 days) 1444.5 kms

Amount spent of fuel: Rs 2200
Amount spent on food/booze etc : ??? err didn't keep a tab!

This Ride had many firsts for me.My first night ride, that too at speeds which i ride at day time!My first rain ride! I never liked riding in rain as always felt insecure about bike fish tailing if i use brake, then there was the fear of skidding. Thanks to jsr for giving valuable tips about riding in rain and using engine breaking, it worked wonderfully.My longest ride in a day, I think the last day of the ride was longest distance covered in a day record for me, goa - blr.

I didn't keep a tab on my trip meter on last day so i assume the distance may be around 680 kms.

Photos:Pics taken by Me from my Phone cam: http://picasaweb.google.com/vaas2000/BikeNomadsGoaRide

Pics taken by Prashanth (Digital Slr Guy): http://picasaweb.google.com/pqrshanth/BNMeetGoa

Pics taken by JSR :
http://picasaweb.google.com/jayansr/BNGoa2006

Pics taken by Vibhu:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vibhu.rishi/BNGoa

Day1: 29th sept 06 Friday:

Riders: Jayan aka JSR : Bullet, Kamlesh:Bullet, Praveen aka cooldude :Bullet, shashi :bullet, Prashanth : Pulsar 150 DTSI, Parvez : Yellow Karizma, Me : Silver Karizma

6 of us decided to meet at shell petrol bunk in NH4 to start off by around 5.15 Am. I woke up early got ready and by 4.15 Am i was done packing. I had already done the checking the bike routine the previous day, but since i took the bike to office, i wanted to check it again, checked front tyre, no probs, back tyre, found some thing shiny, used the key and pulled out the culprit, turns out to be a thin nail! could hear "whizzzz" sound coming from the back tyre, there i had it, my worst nightmare come true, i had a flat tyre that early in the morning, while i was all set to go. Called up other guys, who were still riding, they suggested that i meet Jayan (the most experienced of our group and the one who was carrying puncture kit) waited for them near metro in my splendor, they pass by me as metro sign was not glowing, caught up with them near a bunk, JSR (as jayan is known) suggested that other guys should move on and he would get my flat tyre fixed and we both would catch up with the rest at kunigal, where prashanth had already gone the previous night and was waiting for us to join him. Parvez was not there, the other 3 bulls (kamlesh, praveen, shashi) started off, I led jayan to home, for one hour he and me struggled to remove the rear wheel of my bike, it got jammed near the Stay, Finally we had to give up as even jsr was getting delayed, he told me to get it fixed by a punture guy and i could join them on the way and they will be riding slow. I was so damn pissed about the early morning puncture and was in two minds as to whether i should continue or not. Finally jsr left and it was around 7 am, i was left wondering what to do. Then thankfully one of my relatives came to my rescue, he got a puncture guy who was half asleep from his home and got my flat tyre fixed. I was all set by 8am. Msged the guys that i was starting (2 hours behind them) i got a call from Parvesh, he had woken up late and enquired about me, i told him i was on my way and he was waiting at nelamangala crossing. I reached nelamangala crossing by 9 am due to traffic, met up with parvez and we both set off together, after some 30 kms, he disappeared ahead of me, he was ripping to the core, i stuck to the 80s, i thought i can catch him further ahead, but that was not the case, this dude had taken off like a rocket and was no where to be found, finally i took a pit stop at 125 kms in trip meter, some 30kms frm hassan, through out the way, got sms updates from guys ahead of me, they were always some 40 kms ahead of me. I reached belur by afternoon, the hassan-belur route was amazing, i ripped all the way till i reached belur. There i enquired if they saw a similar looking yellow bike and they locals confirmed that parvesh had passed by some 20 mins back. I took another break there and started off towards charmudi as per sms sent by guys ahead of me, the roads were pathetic, infact there were no roads at all! just huge craters and potholes, It took me 1 hour to cross that 20 kms of potholes, I was tired to the core, took another break, then hit up charmudi ghats, it was heavenly, full of fog and mist and water falls flowing across the mountain on the side of the roads, i stopped at two places to click some pics but kept on riding as i wanted to team up with rest of the gang ahead of me before evening. Finally by evening, i could see the guys waiting for me in a hotel near beltinangadi, i was relieved that i made it in one piece. After a chota break, proceeded towards udupi, it was a wonderful group ride, riding in formation, we took a pit stop at a chai shop, by then my back had gone for a toss due the bag i was carrying with my stuff in it. JSR had a magical spray which worked for me, i was all set for udupi after the spray treatment on my back, we hit manipal by 7pm. Here we were approached by two guys on a splendor, who were excited seeing the bikers and enquired about us. Then we hit udupi by 8 ish and found a decent hotel and crashed after a visit to a nearby friendly bar and restaurant.

Day2 : 30th sept 06 Saturday:
Woke up leasurely as we were supposed to meet trivandrum riders by 10.00. We were all set to leave for the udupi NH crossing, we got a word that trivandrum guys could be delayed as they had a bad stretch and they could meet us only by 1pm. We decided to wait for them till then. We went to malpe beach for a photo shoot, had breakfast in udupi. Parvez's zma was leaking engine oil as he had dropped his bike near charmudi ghats bad road stretch so he and me went to manipal to a herohonda showroom to get it fixed. Surprisingly the HH guys worked on his bike quickly after they heard about us going from blore to goa. We left the show room at 12.45 Pm. The rest of the gang were waiting for us along with trivandrum guys some 25 kms away from udupi. Reached there and teamed up with the gang. Now we were a total of 7 bikers from bangalore and 6 bikers from trivandrum. The line up was of 13 bikes! we rode in a formation, it was sight to behold. We stopped at marvanthe, the picture perfect spot where there is sea on one side and river on another side of the road, took loads of pics and ciggs/tea etc. We rode and again stopped for lunch on way to honnavar, had lunch and pushed off towards honnavar, it rained quite heavily till we reached honnavar, it was a prelude to what was ahead for us. Then it stopped raining. We took a butt break after gokarna crossing, it had gotten dark and goa was still some 3.5 hours away. JSR quickly had a word with all of us and we decided to stick to a group, the first and last guy of the group was decided and guys inbetween had to stick to their positions and they could over take eachother provided the roads were empty. For the first time i was comfortably cruising at night with pathetic stock headlamp, we stuck to the formation and it was an amazing sight to see the bikes go one after another, i was the last but one guy and i could see the "snake" formation whenever we took twisty ghat section roads.After a small butt break in karwar, we rode on, we entered goa by around 10 ish. The roads got narrow as we entered goa, but they were well marked and neat, both sides of the highways were pretty restuarants, it almost looked like a race track in NFS game! We hit panaji and stopped for a butt break. We had 30 more kms to go to reach our hotel. At this time a localite uncle on his karizma stopped by and excitedly enquired about our group, we left prashanth (the only non smoker!) to give him the details and we all smoked peacefully. We moved on and hit baga beach hotel at 11.15 Pm. Found hyd and blr nomads welcoming us outside hotel. After quick intros and talk we all landed up at our rooms, changed and went out to explore goa. Went to a restuarant called kamasutra (!) all bangy nomads got drunk to core, parvesh was incharge of tickling our funny bones and we all had a good time, hit the sack by early morning 5.

Day3. 1st Oct 06 Sunday:
Woke up by 12.30 Pm. Got ready and met all nomads at cafe coffee day outside our hotel. After munching on snacks decided to hit a beach, Kamlesh and parvesh transformed in to goa dudes with cool goa getups. Me with these two along with prashanth, kanish and partha hit upon a beach and it started to rain, few people got in to the beach, few got tattoos made, me and prashanth went exploring the sea shore for babes and found loads of them having fun, took few snaps from my cell as it was raining, none could get out their cameras. Returned to baga beach and found other nomads at a seaside shack, started to sip in some booze, Could see dance party going on in the next shack, enjoyed it from far. Enquired with owner if we could get our bikes to beach, he told there wasn't any problem with it, i went out and got my zma to the sea side shack only to be told by another guy that cops would fine 5k (!) for the bike in the beach act, rode back and parked the bike back in the road. Went back to hotel by 6, nomads had parked our bikes in the formation of BN, heard trivandrum guys had to leave due to some emergency. Took few snaps, then came tshirt distribution and Stickers. Got my BN Tee, wore it proudly, so did every one. We had a breifing from capt Nav about our agenda, all wear BN tees, compulsory boots, gloves and lids. Ride to a bunk near panaji, tank up bikes for people who were leaving the next day (most of bn guys including me) Then we all rode to the bunk near panaji, it was an awesome ride in formation, close to 22 bikes all wearing BN tees and in gear, Vibhu rode pillion with partha and went click happy with his cam capturing the group ride. After filling up at the bunk, we had a looong photo shoot there of all the guys with their bikes and through all cams. JSR's cam was source of amusement to many as we had to sit still for 4 to 5 secs after the light and there was no flash, guys were pulling each other's legs (especially parvesh!) Then we heard that two bangy nomads were on their way to goa, waited for them to join us for the pics and they did. Once again took group pics. Meanwhile two drunk localites in an activa got high seeing us bikers parked there, they tried doing a pillion wheelie and miserably fell. Then they disappeared. One truck wala asked me if there was some shooting going on (!) Then after the last snap was taken, we hit the roads again in formation and landed up in a hotel called "NH 17" the ambiance was goaish, with a singer with guitar and stuff. We had our seating arrangements done, started the dinner and stuff. As time flew by, nomads got in to singing mood, starting to cheer up the singer and singing along, at one point we nomads were singing and clapping and the guy was just playing guitar. Then our HYD nomad kanish, rendered his version of Hotel california song and ended with rounds of applause from us and from others sitting there. He also introduced BN to the people there and explained that we had come from all over india to meet in goa. Then we started to merge songs with biker terms, the chap was singing "bombai say aaya mera dost" song, we inserted the line " raat bhar khao piyo Din ko gaadi chalao!" Then for elvis song "one o clock two o clock three o clock four o clock rock" we inserted the word "ride" for rock and it was hilarious. Finally we left the place with our stomachs full and hearts full and landed back in hotel around mid night. Parvesh and kanish went ahead of me for beach party near baga beach, i tried to follow them and landed up at the wrong place it was 2 ish in the night, pouring heavily and me all alone, forgot to offload my cash at hotel and carried my room key. Then came back in the dark lonely roads with pouring rain. I won't forget that experience of walking alone in pitch dark roads, dogs barking, raining cats and dogs! managed to reach hotel by 3ish. Got readied and packed stuff for returning back to bangy. I was all set by 4, 5.30 am was our deadline to leave, so thought it was not worth while to sleep and continued to ponder over thoughts of goa.

Day 4. 2nd Oct 06 Monday:
Reached parking lot by 5 Am and it was raining cats and dogs, found Hyd nomad partha on his bull all set to go. Told my bye byes and waited for other guys to get ready, hit coffee day and one by one all nomads hit coffee day. After grabbing a bite, we were all set to leave. It was still pouring and we decided to hit the roads and hoped that rains would subside as we went on. 9 guys started off (same seven guys Plus prabul on his fiero and vimal on his bull) at 6.45 Am. We drove in formation, the rains became heavy, roads were full of water, few places had almost river like water flowing across the road, whenever i hit the water the speed would come down, or whenever a car and bus from opposite side used to go past me, the water splashed would hit my helmet and me like some one threw me a punch, soon my boots became water logged, i was drenched to the core, i realised the importance of rain gear then, but it was too late for that. We stopped at a petrol pump and few guys tanked up, rest tried to bring back their hands and legs to senses. Then we continued.We were together till we hit margoa, then we all got lost in the maze of city traffic. Soon i was riding all alone, then i found prabul waiting, he said few more guys were supposed to pass by us, then we got a msg that praveen's bull (cooldude) had a flat tyre.Then prabul went back to check on them, i was still waiting for him at the same place, we informed JSR who was ahead of us over phone and he came back to fix the flat. Me and prabul carried on, the rains showed no mercy, it started to get more severe and i started to get shoulder/neck pain as i was wearing my bag. I slowed down, Prabul waited twice for me to catch up and gave me a pep talk to lift my spirits, they were of no use as rains were drenching me to the core, as we passed on we met prashanth at a bunk, even he had a flat tyre and was getting it fixed. I sent off prabul and waited for prashanth to get his bike fixed and we both hit the roads together in the rain. Few guys were ahead of us and JSR and bull gang were behind us so we went on and on hoping to team up with the gang ahead of us. Prashanth showed amazing stamina in riding in rains, he never slowed down or stopped, he egged me on to continue riding. Finally i gave up at karwar and we both had a chota break there. IT was an amazing view there of the sea so close to beach and then there was sea bird project of our navy, we could see the ships so close from roads! unfortunately we couldn't take any snaps as it was pouring. We had another pitstop near gokarna crossing, by then prashanth lost his cool with me and told me that he would leave me alone if take any further breaks ;-) I assured him that would not be the case and continued with him, we soon hit honnavar by 1 pm. We enquired with shop owners if they had seen a biker group pass by as we couldn't locate prabul and group , they said they saw one big gang on friday ;-) (that was us going towards goa!) Then me and prashanth decided to have lunch and by the time we were finishing, we found the bikers who were "ahead" of us come there. On enquiring we found out that they had taken a butt break near ankola so we had missed them. Soon JSR and bull group joined us and it was happy reunion in honnavar, we took a lengthy break and then started to proceed towards jogfalls ghat roads. One bull had some battery probs, so again JSR and bull gang told us to move on and they would join us. So me and rest of the gang moved on. Prashanth and parvesh were ahead of me, but soon i couldn't keep up with them as the roads were very narrow and twisty, i started to follow a sumo guy, he led me peacefull till ghat section roads in 50 kmph. Prashanth and parvesh were waiting for me again, i told them to carry on as i was not comfy in ghat roads and preferred to be behind a cage. So they went ahead and i got behind an ambassador again. Reached the view point just before jog falls, found prashanth and parvesh waiting there, had a ciggi break, took few snaps there. The roads were too twisty and curvy, rains had subsided to some extent, i was shivering, to complicate things, it was too foggy, i couldn't see anything 10 feet ahead of me. We continued from there and after some 2 kms, the rains finally stopped! Thank god for small mercies, i felt so relived that rains finally stopped and we had passed one hurdle. I was taking ghat section roads slowly, heard a bull thumping away, it was kamlesh, soon he over took me and disappeared from view. Finally i came near the checkpost signalling the end of ghat section. Found all guys waiting there for JSR group and me. We took a small break and JSR bull gang reached there. We moved on towards sagar, it started to get dark, cold. I was shivering again, shoulder and neck started to give trouble again. We reached sagar, took a lengthy break, removed shoes, drained water, took intake of liquids ciggs etc. We left sagar for shimoga, enroute it started to get dark and maintaining the group was becoming a problem, most of the guys were ripping away and slow riders like me and others were left behind. So we stopped before shimoga, i told JSR that we need to figure out a way for not leaving guys behind. JSR suggested a brilliant formation, it was staggered. Few bikes on the left lane one behind the other and one bike on the right lane for every two bikes. Initially it was difficult to maintain the formation with the speeds, but as i got the hang of it, i stuck to it, The lead was kamlesh, i was behind him and JSR was on my right. Then came the worst potholes, some 30 kms of pure hard core potholes, i hit one very badly at 100 + speed, Couldn't help it as very few short stretches were smooth as we started to increase our pace, bam, one pothole appeared and our bikes took a dip in each of them. Few kms on my shoulders and neck were literally falling apart, then we stopped. Jsr tied my bag to his bull, gave me the spray treatment. After this pit stop, i thought how am i going to keep riding in these pot holes, thankfully just few meters after our break, well marked neatly tarred road appear, i was elated! We stuck to the formation and were in 90s comfortably overtaking vehicles, JSR with his bull made errant oncoming vehicles go to their lanes. We went on and on finally bangy was just 200 kms more. We stopped for dinner, a lengthy much deserved dinner. After around 45 mins there we dragged on, it was like around 12.30 Am. We still had lots of kms to munch on, It took me every last bit of energy in my body to keep riding, finally we hit tumkur, i was trailing behind a truck and a car for most of the time, JSR was waiting for me for sometime and then met up all guys near tumkur bypass. Few guys got lost there, finally we regrouped at toll gate entrance. Bid goodbyes and rode on. I was felt like dozing off at many stretches, somehow managed to carry on and reach bangalore. It was 4.15 Am when i finally reached home. It was the lengthiest ride of my life (so far ;-0) in a single day! I was too tired to do anything. Went to room threw my stuff and dozed off. Only to wake up by 8.30 am again and land up in office!