Every rider has a story to tell. Irrespective of what you ride, who do you ride with and where do you ride – there is a reason behind sole existence of a rider. For many, its their passion. For many its fascination. For many, its intoxication.
I have met many such riders during my riding expeditions. However, riders on Konkan Fort Trail – Raigad and Pratapgad were very different. You will know why I am telling this when you reach end of this article. Let the suspense begin! Well, Konkan Fort Trail 1 – Raigad and Pratapgad was a very special ride for each of us at Konkan Moto Tours (KMT). We completed 6 months of operations and this was a milestone ride to evaluate our journey so far. Konkan Fort Trail 1 is first in series of rides from KMT, which explores historic forts in Konkan region. Aim is to spread awareness about rich history and culture of Konkan and add an element of adventure to rides. All forts in Konkan are located at strategic locations and it requires some sort of off-roading biking or trekking to reach at top. We chose to visit Raigad and Pratapgad forts in Raigad district, because of its close proximity from NH17.
It was refreshing Saturday morning, with cold breeze and beautiful sunlight around. All riders were instructed to meet at Shree Datta Snacks, Panvel. I along with Aniruddh reached there at 7:15 and by 7:45, all riders were ready to ride. This, time attractions of ride were Honda Valkyrie and Harley Davidson. This time, we had almost all variety of bikes riding with us including Fazer, Pulsar, Royal Enfield, Apache, Avenger and Honda CBR. What a beautiful sight it was to see each of these bike riding together on NH17 for a breathtaking expedition to Konkan Forts. If we talk about age, we had riders from all age groups this time! Starting from 22 years old Karan, we also had Mr. Krishnan – a 59 years old ‘jaanbaz’ riding his passion with us. I can’t explain how ecstatic was feeling of seeing such diversity in bikes and riders. I can now proudly say that KMT is not an age group bounded or motorcycle brand restricted company. Our recognition from passionate riders is biggest appreciation for us and such response within 6 months of first ride definitely makes you feel good.
After a quick briefing session, we all started driving on NH17. Idea was to reach Mahad before it’s too hot to drive. Our speculations were right. By 12, it became really hot to drive. We all stopped at Mahad and decided to head towards Poladpur, where we were to stay overnight. We reached Hotel Balaji in approx. 45 mins and decided to have lunch there only. Everyone was tired after riding close to 150 kms and needed rest. While we rested, hotel guy made delicious food for us. Idea was to have food and wait till climate becomes cooler for bike riding. We enjoyed lunch, rested for some time and at 3:30, we decided to leave for Raigad fort. Raigad fort is capital fort of Raigad district. We reached fort to realize that ropeway service was off due to annual maintenance. We decided to trek to reach fort. It’s a hell of a task to climb those 1400 steps to reach Raigad fort. Half of us realized this fact within first 50 steps and took wise decision to stay back. Rest of us started climbing those irregular and dusty steps to see the fort. It took us approx. 2 hours, lot of limewater and drinking water to reach at top. We were all tired and exhausted. My legs started paining. But once we reached at top, Whoa! It was an awesome sight. Statue of Shivaji proudly sitting on crown, with his head held high and bright forehead was welcoming us to the fort. It was a beautiful moment, sun was setting on eastern side of ghats, very few visitors around (due to unavailability of ropeway) and just few of us adventure loving creatures enjoying serene beauty of this fort. We roamed around fort, checked out all places and learned so many things about Maratha warriors and their war strategies. Fort covers 1280 acres area and it has a marketplace, 6 rooms, temple, watch towers, lake, play ground, deewan-e-khas and everything that a proud and rich king would have in his fort. Beauty of fort is mesmerizing. Interesting war strategies, brilliant administration and faith in god – these three were Shivaji’s mantra for successful ruling. Truly amazing!
By the time we completed site seeing, it was dark. We still had to go back to ground zero where we parked our bikes. Fortunately, we had some torches. We started walking in groups of 2-3. It took us more than an hour to reach back to parking. Everyone quickly refreshed, wore their riding gear and started towards Hotel Balaji. It was dark and riding was tough due to high beam headlights of trucks coming from opposite direction. We trailed each other and reach hotel at 9:30. Refreshed, rejuvenated and re-energized, we all sat together with ‘enlightenment nectar’ to enjoy the beautiful evening. We started with introductory session and everyone spoke about their background and their passion for bike riding.
This was probably most beautiful part of ride. I was completely awestruck by stories of few people. People really do amazing things to follow their passion. Mr. Krishnan, after retiring from an Income Tax job, decided to ride Himalayas and bought a Royal Enfield Thunderbird. Antony D’souza (50 yrs) is a passionate rider and has been riding since 1974. (Most of us were not even in liquid form at that time!!) Prateek, literaly had to rebel his family to get his first ride. We had Swapnil, who learned his biking lesson when he fell while riding a rented bike. He challenged status quo and bought a bike to prove to himself that he can ride! Rajesh, once a skinny guy, wanted to buy Royal Enfield but his friends advised not to buy RE considering his small frame at that time. Today, he was with us riding one of world’s heaviest bikes – Honda Valkyrie! Aren’t these stories amazing? This is what I call ‘spirit of a rider’! Bike riding teaches you to challenge the status quo and conquering your fears. It’s a dynamic meditation when a rider explores his true self.
We went to sleep at 12:30 am. Next morning was tough. My legs were paining and we had to start at 9:00 am to conquer Pratapgad fort. We got ready, had breakfast and started towards Poladpur. From poladpur, roads are curvy and beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed riding on curves and beautiful ghats. Nothing can compare the pleasure you feel when your footrest touches tarmac while you lean on your bike. In no time, were at fort, ready to visit the place and know more about visionary king, Shivaji. Pratapgad is approx. 320 years old fort, build by Shivaji and it’s a strategically important point for defending territory. It took him just 2 years to build the fort. We decided to have lunch at fort to save the time and avoid afternoon heat. Amazing konkoni food, served with buttermilk and kokam juice made our day. We decided to head back via NH17 only because everyone wanted to avoid riding in heat and reach early. We started again, in full spirit! We enjoyed non-stop ride till Mahad, where we stopped chai at beautiful Zopdi restaurant. Before mahad, I completed 30000 kms on my speedometer, a personal milestone. From there, Panvel is 85 kms. We started again and covered those 85 kms in 90 minutes.
Finally, we announced end of ride at Shri datta snacks at 6:00 PM. I will remember these 540 kms for amazing riding spirit of fellow riders, some good friends, amazing trekking at Raigad fort and completing 6 months of KMT. Cheers, Signing off!!
About Author: Tanmay Shanishchara, is part of Team Konkan Moto Tours and also a passionate rider. He believes in riding hard and enjoys telling stories about his bike rides. He owns Royal Enfield Bullet, Standard 350 and proudly calls it ‘Ironhide’.
Konkan Moto Tours 