HVK 10 Drive
It all began with my addiction
for Cars and Planes since early childhood. When I was just 3 years old, dad
used to ask what should I get for you when I come home? And I was like a Plane
or a Red Car!! Growing up I was still fascinated by the sound of throttle from
the cars and bikes. It literally calms me down. Fast forward a few years and I
heard of HVK Sir for the first time. When one of my friends introduced me to
that name, I was in awe of it. And I was like how someone could literally
remember all the routes across pan India. No matter where one was stuck, one
phone call to HVK and they were back on the track listening to their favorite
songs. I searched a bit on HVK and stumbled upon the HVK Forum on Facebook. I
quickly joined the group and found so many like minded folks from across the
country. We literally get so many updates each day, thanks to the forum. After
following the forum actively, one fine day I got to know about the HVK WhatsApp
Group (WAG) and joined that too. Got to know a few people on the group and was
always eager to meet up the folks from the group. There had been two meets and
somehow, I couldn’t make up for it due to some prior commitments. Just 2 days
before the HVK 10th Anniversary Dinner meet in Mumbai I got to know
about it and was thrilled about the same. This was my chance to get to know
these crazy motorheads whom I just had a chat with. It was time to put faces to
the names in the WAG.
It was a Friday evening on Nov 29th and I wrapped my work early than usual hours as I had to reach for the dinner
meet. Considering the Mumbai traffic these days, I decided to hop on my bike
instead of a car for the city commute. Its much better and one could quickly
sway in the snarling traffic. I met a few guys from the WAG and a couple others
too. The man whom I was eager to meet wasn’t visible in the crowd. I quickly
got hold of the someone I knew from the WAG and asked “Where is Chief? I
couldn’t spot him”. To which he wittily replied, “He is a busy man to catch
hold of”. In a minute or two, I met Chief and was thrilled to hear all the
crazy stories from the man himself. Later we had a nice Cake cutting ceremony
of course not without the crazy stories from many veterans in the group. I was
surprised to see so many people driving from different states for the dinner
meet. This was not something I expected. And by talking to these enthusiastic motor-heads, I learned about the 10th anniversary drive the following
day. I quickly asked them, where is the drive to? What time are we leaving? And
is it a one-day drive? To which I got to know, it’s a one-day drive and will be
meeting up at 06.00. However, where we are heading no one really know about it
except the organizing committee. Even got to know there are already 40+ cars
booked for the drive which was another exciting thing since I have always
driven or rode solo or at the max with a friend. Driving in a convoy is
altogether a different thing. I got home by 23.30 that night and still had a
double mind about the drive since I had a prior dinner commitment the following
day. And then I was like, I got to be at dinner and not lunch. Why waste an
entire day when one could have an impromptu drive to an unknown location. Let’s
put the quote to reality we’ve been hearing for a long time “it's the journey that matters and not the
destination”. With this, I enrolled for the drive at 00.30 in the
night and started prepping whatever I could for the drive next morning.
I was up by 04.30 in the
morning with barely 3hrs of sleep. Whenever I hit the road for a drive, I have
this excitement/anxiety coz of which I just couldn’t sleep as tens and hundreds
of thoughts come across my mind including whether I’ve packed all my stuff, or
I shouldn’t forget this and that. Got ready, took some snacks, water, camera and
I forgot my GoPro. ☹ With all this, I quickly drove to the Meetup
point in Thane. Since it was an impromptu plan, I only had half tank fuel and
didn’t have time to check on other stuffs. I had a fuel pump in mind which is
on my way to the meet up point. It was around 05.55 when I reached the fuel
station and asked the guy to tank up to which he replies “Sir reading ka time
hai. Naya rate set karne mein time jayega”. I quickly drove off and thought
will load the fuel on the highway. I reached the meet up point around 06.20 and
was quickly asked to get the name checked and have the HVK sticker added. I was
assigned my Convoy and got introduced to the Convoy leader Suhail bhai. We
assembled in a line all geared up and ready to drive. Our convoy comprised of 3
Ford Endeavours, followed by a Jeep Compass Limited Edition, me in Hyundai i10
Grand (meet Grey Wind) and a Toyota Etios and a Ford Endeavour again. Turned
out I was a Mouse in the Convoy. We started around 06.50 and a couple kms in
the drive, we took a quick pit stop for me to tank up. Once Grey Wind was
juiced up, we were off to our first destination where we were scheduled to have
Brunch around 10.30 – 11.00. After driving around 50km on National Highway (NH)
3, we took a turn to get onto State Highway (SH) and from there on it was all
off roading through village roads. This is where the real drive began. After
crossing through several villages and many twists and turns, we came across
this beautiful patch of fields with golden grass on each side and a road carved
between them. This is where we took a quick break to relieve and some
photography to stretch ourselves. A quick look showed it was an open field on
both the sides and in the very end, we could see Malshej Ghats which is a
mountain pass in the Western Ghats range of Maharashtra.
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| Photo Credit: Photos belong to their respective owners, HVK Forum |
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| Photo Credit: Photos belong to their respective owners, HVK Forum |
To my surprise, there was an
announcement by Chief himself, we would be leaving in another 5min for a 4hr
drive would be completely on village roads and a quick break would be directly
after 2hrs. Make sure you have your Route updated in the App and follow so and
so route to reach our destination. And I went all bonkers because I didn’t
have network in my phone, I don’t know which route we are following and may be
most of them knew about the final destination since we were supposed to follow
a route in ‘Route O’ app. But I didn’t worry much since I knew I was a part of
convoy and so far, had seen the driving habits of HVKians. Unlike other group
of riders/drivers, everyone strictly followed the Convoy. Right from the
starting point in Thane till now, no one overtook anyone nor tried to break the
convoy which I liked the most. So, I knew if I stop, the cars following me
definitely will and hence no chance of getting lost. We started from JijoAnn’s
Paradise around 11.15 after Suhail bhai had another front tyre changed to
balance the previous tyre which was a size smaller than the actual ones. We
left as a last convoy heading towards our ultimate destination. The roads
through which we went were crazy with many hairpin bends, sand laden and many
patches had asphalting work in progress. It was fun to drive through numerous
villages whose name I could barely remember and had never heard of before,
through ups and downs in the hills crossing many small ranges on internal roads
and finally hitting the NH right before Kasara ghat. We took another break as
we had driven nearly 2hrs and Suhail bhai had to get the spare tyre done as a
backup. We got the spare tyre sorted and were off throttling hard at Kasara
ghat to make up for our lost time. After driving through the ghat, we crossed
Igatpuri and few other small towns. We then turned onto SH and from there on,
Bhandardara Lake was about 60kms. Crossing a few km within we reached the
backwater of the Bhandardara dam and had a quick photoshoot. Off we go and
nearly 15-20km before the MTDC at Bhandardara, we were in puddle like
situation. There were 2 roads heading towards Bhandardara and we were supposed
to take the longer route while going which was more scenic and while returning,
we had to take the other. However, it was already late and taking the longer
route would take more time and being in the valley, it was getting darker
already. So, we took a quick poll and majority of them decided to stick with
the shorter route as many of them were tired of driving all day long. So, we
had our poll and the baddest of the patch was about to begin. These last
15-20km were so bad that even the 4x4 SUV’s had to slow down on them. I am
being in a small hatchback had to maneuver very carefully. This patch
literally reminded me of Changla Pass of Ladakh. The speed at which we were
heading and the amount of tension Grey Winds shock absorbers took really amazed
me. Although the only thing I had in mind was Please don’t be flat now and
here. Slowly and steadily we reached MTDC around 16.30 and freshened up.
Turned out we were the first to reach since we took the shorter route and
waited for others to show up.
We had our snacks and were off
to Photo point at the lake. From here on it was a big convoy of 40 cars one
after another and once we reached there, the lake had such a beautiful panoramic
view. The sun was almost down, and the sky was lit up with orange and red
flares with golden fields around. It was calm and soothing out there. Everyone had
their cameras out and it was pictures galore all around. Most of all thanks to
the photographers who were ahead of the convoy filming the entourage making an
entry towards the lake. From here on, everyone was on their own and were free
to leave or stay per their will. Since I already had a prior commitment for a
dinner somewhere, I planned to leave soon once we had our fill of photographs. So,
I took the leave along with 2 other riders who were heading off to Mumbai. Now since
I didn’t have Route O maps nor any phone network, I had to stick around with
them until I reach the highway. I knew most of the way back however, just to be
sure and considering the road conditions until highway, I wanted to be blessed
to have someone around. We started off together however, I was left behind due
to poor light conditions and bad roads. I took my time as Grey Wind had taken a
lot of beating today. While we departed from lake around 18.15, I reached Thane
around 21.30.
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| Photo Credit: Photos belong to their respective owners, HVK Forum |
Another set of adventure awaited
me as soon as I was within the phone network range. Turned out my family and
friends went all bonkers and in panic since I wasn’t reachable the whole day. My
wife googled and contacted half of HVKians and the Chief himself about my
whereabouts. Even before I could explain myself, I was bombarded with hundreds
of questions. Though I had informed my family and wife about the trip I was
taking, everything went for a toss and it was one crazy day. After speaking with
the family, I contacted Chief and informed him that I have safely reached Thane
and will be heading home from here. From an Impromptu ride to Off roading to an
Unknown Destination and a WW3 back home, it was fun filled day with 450 kms of
adventure and making new friends. Eagerly looking forward to another one and next
time, I will take my better half with me. 😉
Until then, keep
Revvvinggg..!!!
Awesome write up!!!
ReplyDeletethank you Sunil sir!!
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