Last Day : Ahmedabad – Pune

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I woke up around 6 am with the sound of the alarm. I got fresh and started to pack my bags. The saddle bags had been turned inside out and the things lay unorganized. In order to distribute the stuff which I had brought for my friends, the things inside the bags had lost their place.

Darshak was still sleeping, I saw, slightly opening his room door. After all, it was Saturday and a holiday for him. I went down with my luggage in the meantime and started to load the things on my bike. The engine oil level was perfect but I had to lube the chain a little bit. It had become dirty but I ignored, since it was going to get thoroughly cleaned anyway after I reached home. A matter of only 700 kms now.

When I reached back upstairs, I saw Darshak sitting in the hall. He made coffee for me and finally we had some spare time to talk since yesterday. We chatted for about 15 min till my coffee got over and after that I told him that I had to leave. I complemented him on his beautifully done new house. I have already stayed at his Baroda home but, here in Ahmedabad it was the first time I had stepped in. It had a great open view of the greenery from its balcony. I promised him that I would come back later and devote much more time.

He accompanied me downstairs, we clicked selfie and he wished my safe ride back home. It was our last day of the trip, 14th day and finally I was going back home. The excitement level was high. Moreover, I wanted to see what my parents reaction was going to be. This was my longest trip till date and it felt like I had been on the road since ages.

At 6:45 am I started my ride from Bopal. So, the plan was to catch CSK sir and Kartik along the way. After visiting the Statue of Unity they were staying at Ginger Hotel in Vapi . I had a long way to go before I could catch them. We were exchanging messages through WhatsApp and I had send them my location so they could track me. They were going to start the ride once I got closer and then we would be deciding on the meeting point.

After riding for about 170 kms non-stop, I had reached Karjan and so, as soon as I exited the Karjan toll plaza, I decided to halt for tea and have some snacks.

CSK sir and Kartik started the ride around 11am and moved ahead in the direction of Pune. I was still to catch them and was tracking their location. Finally, around 1pm, we all regrouped at the famous Parsi Dairy farm. It was lunch time and so it was the ideal location to feast on some Parsi food. Parsi Dairy Farm is quite a prominent joint along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway and it forms the hot breakfast destination for many Sunday riders coming in from Mumbai. You guys should definitely check them out.

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We had not ate much but the Lassi made our stomachs very heavy. It was like getting up after having a kg of Hyderabadi Biryani. I secretly wished for having some good afternoon nap but, we still had a long way to go.

From there, we left around 2 pm and drove non-stop till we exited Mumbai. The scene around Mumbai was something different. We had not at all predicted that this would happen to us and that too on our last day of the trip. The rain gods seemed angry. The whole sky had turned pitch black in matter of minutes. There was no escaping from this, we all knew. The diameter formed by the joined clouds was so large that I bet it could be easily seen from space above. We had to stop our vehicles and prepare for this havoc.

Just after the Sion toll plaza, we stopped and covered every inch of ourselves, even the bikes too. What was not done on the entire trip had to be done on the last day. We were really taken by surprise but, we had planned this type of scene before our trip started. After all, it was long rainy season this time and even-though November month was approaching, the rain didn’t seem to go away.

As soon as we were packed and rode for around like 10 kms, the downpour came hell bent on us. We were saved as we were all protected but, some people on the road were taken by surprise by its level of severity. Within seconds, pools which looked like a mini ocean was formed at all the depressions on the road. We had to wade very carefully in the water and tried avoiding dipping our shoes in the water. But, we cared less as we all knew that the home was near and the trip was going to end.

Soon, the drama got over and as soon as we touched the old Mumbai-Pune from Panvel. There after we rode on the old route and finally took a small tea break at the Khopli on the Old Khandala ghat road. CSK sir had told us that here lay a famous Vada- Pav stall and that they were really tasty.

Finally, we thought, after trying our hands on different foods of the different states till now, it was time to taste our own state specialty. And, after being drenched in rain and feeling cold from some time, what would be a better combo than a hot steaming ‘Vada-Paav’ and ‘Chai’.

We then stopped directly at the junction of Dehu Road from where we were going to split. We again took the journey completion photo, the same photo which we had taken when we had started our journey.

Within no time, I was back home and unpacking my things. Mom and Dad were there and they were quite happy that I had completed my trip safely, I mean, we all. It was time for a little celebration around the house.

We had covered a distance upwards of 6500 km but if you calculate the total from the above readings, it would come less as my odometer gave up on me somewhere in Uttar Pradesh. Never mind, I had to fix it ASAP before I lost more kms.

This was the last day of our GQ ride and with this, the Golden Quadrilateral Blog series comes to an end.

See you all in my next Blog!

Until then, stay safe and Ride hard.