The thing about riding is that unlike in life, where you have to stick to a chosen path, while riding you can choose to go off-road.
I'm not used to travelling in packs. It slows you down. Ask me to ride solo, I'll figure out the destination but give me my best bud to ride along, the destination doesn't matter coz here's what my friend, Mango, has to say.. "Har rasta God ke paas jaata hai"
We had done quite a few rides on smooth highways with the occasional potholes and bumps so this time we decided to go off road. Raajmachi is a popular trekking and off-roading place near Lonavala. The best time to visit this place is around monsoon when the path gets really tricky. But October wasn't that bad as well.
The Mumbai-Lonavala ride is the usual with a stop at Datta Snacks at Kalamboli for a vadapav, misal and chai to prep up for the ride. Raajmachi is just off lonavala on the highway. As you enter the main road leading to lonavala take a left towards Della Adventures and once you cross Della the off-roading begins. The initial path is not much of a task even without proper roads. The view is fantastic right from the beginning but it's better to go straight to the top and rest at this point on your way down coz you will need to. There's a beautiful point with a small stream flowing aner the cliff where it becomes a waterfall. You can spend an entire day sitting here and just listening to the serene sound of the flowing water which will put your mind at ease.
Midway the roads become trickier with gravels and bigger stones. One can only imagine how much fun it would be to ride on this route during the monsoons. There are stretches of puddles and fallen trees that you need to cross and that's why this is a ride you should take only if you can handle the weight of the Enfield well. There's a small stream again that you cross on the way up which is a beauty!
Once you reach the top its just a kick ass view that you get as a reward. If you want, you can go to the Raajmachi Fort on top but we chose to chill at the base. There's just a small hut that serves tea, eggs and a few local dishes which are good to enjoy after a heavy duty 2 n 1/2 hrs of treacherous and back-breaking ride. But the stunning view is totally worth it!
Lay on the grass, soak in the sun, enjoy the light breeze and forget about the world, the work, the chaos and all that shit. This is life as it should be. This is what everyday, every hour, every minute should be like.
While we dream about buying bigger apartments in taller buildings, we're definitely missing something really really beautiful outside. There are no words to describe the feeling of just forgetting everything and here's when we realise why we ride!
