Back from Lonavala & Esha Gupta ride - A round up!

Dear Reader,

Our best wishes to each one you. Hope you enjoy our experience on Lonavala  Anniversy ride.
Every BAC Mumbai member was looking forward to this ride for two primary reasons… one, the first year Anniversary of the club and second… Esha Gupta.

Assembly at Kalamboli near MC Donald’s

It’s not easy to be rider especially when you have to wake up early and reach the assembly point at 6.30 AM. When we reached the spot the place transformed from a quiet and boring to full of positivity and enthusiasm. All you could hear is about rides, riders and Esha Gupta. We took a small Tea session while waiting for all riders to arrive. Each member was welcomed with a warm greeting from each member. It all commenced when Parth briefed riders & gave instruction on hand signals and keeping the head lights on. Iswar led and Dinesh took up the responsibility of the tail.  Parth & Preetham patrolled. We could say all four were awesome and key factors for this successful ride.

Entry of Esha Gupta

Esha Gupta is the lone girl traveler on a challenging mission to ride Golden Quadrilateral Highway route of around 6000 Km for a cause. Esha Gupta’s arrival filled the air with excitement and passion towards riding. We could easily feel respect from each BAC member towards the lone Girl traveler. Esha Gupta proved to be the most open minded person we had ever met.  She connected with members as if we knew each other for ages. We wanted her to ride with us to Lonavala but she couldn’t as this was against her mission of riding solo. So we let her ride alone ahead & decided to meet once at just after the Lonavala ghats and then directly at Lonavala for breakfast.
Igniting the bike and Gods came in power:
Once the briefing was completed and ride was flagged off, all riders geared up with helmets and jackets on the bike. Bikes were turned on and Gods came into power. Only thought in everyone’s mind was to ride hard and ride safe. Best thing about BAC Mumbai is we never compromise on safety and riding rules. So every member had carried all bike documents and each member including the pillions had helmets.
Fortunately the weather was awesome so riding was very pleasant. Cool breeze sifting through our faces and headlights of fellow Avengerians in the mirror added to the fun.

Small Photo session and break at Express Highway
Photography with Esha happened not only when we commenced the ride but also when she met us on the expressway right after we rode through the Ghats. The beautiful mountains & breathtaking views of the Lonavala & Khandala valleys with Esha’s company made these moments long lasting & a cherishable memory.

Back on bike towards Lonavala
This time BAC Mumbai started first and Esha left later to ride alone and meet directly at Lonalava near Kumar Resorts. From this point to Lonalva the ride was very beautiful as we caught the valley view on one side and experienced the ride on finest Lonavala highway.

Eye Opener and Take back lesson
We all thought that we knew Esha’s cause to Ride. We thought that the cause is “India’s global image of not being a friendly place for lone female travelers”. But when Esha explained her cause we all fell flat on our faces. After knowing the depth of her cause all we could do is agree with her and respect for her cause increased. So what was her cause?

1. She is not fighting for the women’s rights and current situation of women. She isn’t riding for any specific gender. Crimes are not gender bias. It happened to both men and women and many times it is not highlighted.
2. Crime happens all over world. Life is same around the world. But we are boosting too much about our country on the Social Media that we are creating a negative Image of our country.
3. We should not crib about the situation but fight for it not only by preaching but also by Acting.
4. We should not trust media and form opinions. By not allowing girls to step out of the house after 6.00 PM out of fear will only push our society a decade back. Girls should be encouraged to live their desired life and should be allowed to do whatever they want to do without fear.
5. We are bikers, our acts while riding reflects image of entire Biker communities. So we should behave in public and follow all rules. We need to create awareness that bikers are not only who perform stunts and race. All the people who ride a bike are bikers.

No discussion is good without debates and questions. So some members of club were in debate mode with Esha and we all finally agreed with her.

Bye Bye Esha … Esha on her way to Pune alone
Finally it was time say good bye to Esha. Everybody gave their best wishes to Esha for her ride and she was on her way to Pune.

Here we come Tiger Point
After the long discussion with Esha and her farewell, we all headed towards Tiger hills. As soon as we entered it did not take much time for the buzz to spread & we got loads of attention from everybody around. All were just staring at numbers of Avengers and our straight one line formation. Bikes were put to rest and we all assembled for delicious Corn, cheese and Kanda pokada. This was the perfect time to get the introduction of each other especially the new members. The best introducing was given by our new member Atul he was able to make sure everybody remembers him.

Tiger Point to Amby Valley
If you want to enjoy Ghats in Lonavala, Amby valley route is your ticket for fun and joy. Curves and turns of the road is what made the ride beautiful and memorable. Once we were at Amby valley gate we experienced a sense of achievement of successfully completing the ride. The plae was peaceful & quiet. Everybody just wanted to enjoy the peace as much as possible as you cannot find that in city. In a short while we moved to small Dhaba for another tea session.

Good Bye Lonavala. We are coming back Mumbai!
After our tea break it was time to say good bye to Lonavala and ride toward s Amchi Mumbai and Thane. On the way back all we did is ride, followed our hand signals and followed a straight line formation. We all feel one when we started getting messages from fellow riders once everybody reached home safe.

Hope you enjoyed reading about this ride. Well, we had fun riding through it though. Please feel free to leave your comments & feedback on this write up & the club with us on this blog. And keep following us for latest updates on our upcoming rides.

What’s next? Dapoli on Nov 1st and Nov 2nd

Hope to see you soon.

Cheers,

Stephan Swami