RAJMACHI ON HARDTAIL MTB'S

MOUNTAIN BIKING AT RAJMACHI, LONAVALLA

March 1st 2015, Sunday
Ever since we were kids we've wanted to take an off road trail on a high end bike, to get as dirty as possible. When you grow up loving to ride, riding to school, doing some crazy crap on the cheap heavy but sturdy steel frames, single speed bikes that were gradually upgraded to a 6 speed or 7 speed Hero or Hercules bike when you went to middle school, falling off and coming home with nasty scrapes with mud and gravel stuck in the wounds, a broken limb, chipped tooth or worst of all a totalled bike! The freedom when you get your first wheels is a feeling like no other.
Both Shokedh and I had BMX bikes with the trademark coaster brakes in our younger years, but after outgrowing those bikes had to be content with the bikes available in the Indian market which are cheap, reliable and great fun, but they lack the quality of International brands the possibilities and tech on those foreign( European and American especially) was something we could only dream of in India. The closest you could get was watching them on T.V or youtube. The last 10 years has seen a huge change, wide range of very high quality bicycles from renowned manufacturers were now available at local bike stores! These bikes do come at a cost! not chap at all, but if you are into bikes, its a great investment.

AT DELLA PARKING LOT

 Rajmachi or Udhewadi is a village at the base of two forts known as Manoranjan and Shivvardhan, Its a 16KM ride with rocky, muddy and gravel trails, the day we rode it was raining so we got the best  off road experience you could possibly get here!the ride should take an hour and a half to reach Udhewadi from Della adventures and resorts, here you can park your car or whatever you got.
A little about our bikes now......
I had a Firefox Sniper D a hardtail MTB bike 18 inch frame, a 24 speed shimano levers with Shimano's Acera Derraulliers, 26er with tektro disc brakes with adjustable and lockout front forks, totally weighing in around 15 kilos( aluminium frame).
Shokedh had a GT Aggressor 3.0 hardtail MTB 17.5 inch frame, a 21 speed Shimano with a Mega drive, Shimano levers and Shimano's Tourney TX55 Derraulliers, 26er, with V brakes, adjustable front fork, totally weighing in around 12kilos( aluminium frame).

Both trail worthy bikes can be dismantled with ease, a 10 minute job which makes them easily transported and so compact you could fit 3 of these in a hatchback. We drove from Pune to Lonavala with the bikes packed in nice and snug in the boot of Shokedh's Dad's hatchback a Fiat Palio. We parked the car at Della adventure and resort, unpacked the bikes assembled them and were off at 1120AM.

The trail is a beautiful one especially in the Monsoon but we did it during the summer, however as our luck would have it it rained the previous night and most of the morning of the ride! temperatures dropped to a very pleasant 17 degrees C, perfect conditions we thought..
It was a constant drizzle and experience warned us that the trail would be slick with mud freshly formed and not washed off, this mud at Rajmachi was thick and had the consistency of clay it clogged the derraulliers, the shocks the brakes, this muck was soon picking up leaves twigs and rocks literally stopping us in our tracks, we had to pick it out on numerous occasions, I made a huge mistake on keeping my fenders on which acted like a rake clogging the mud in my wheels. We later removed them.The rest of the ride was uneventful except for the mud being slung onto our clothes, both of us staring at each other and laughing comparing ourselves to pigs enjoying a mud bath!!
There was not enough rain for the waterfalls but that was expected.

PUMPING AIR, VERY IMPORTANT

WATERFALL DROP OFF

What you need:  Biking gloves, protective eyewear, shoes, a backpack, atlas 2 liters of water and some ORS or sports drink, Bananas and some high carb foods, a repair kit, a first aid kit, loose cash, a camera.

CONTACT GANESH: 0888190854, this chap will arrange lunch or an overnight stay at Udhewadi village, make sure to give him a call a day ahead of your planned trip.

ENJOY THE REST OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS!

DRY RIVER BED AT THE HALFWAY MARK

VIEW POINT NEAR THE FORTS

LUNCH AT UDHEWADI THANK YOU GANESH!

TORNA FORT TO RAJGAD FORT, OVERNIGHT HIKE

Torna fort to Rajgad fort, overnight Hike

January 2nd and 3rd, 2015

If you ever have a weekend to spare and love to hike, you should definitely hike here! Located Southwest of Pune in the Sahaydri range these two forts provide the hiker a thrill level unlike any of the other hikes in Maharashtra, your endurance, hiking skills and character will be put to the test. So for beginners, I would not recommend attempting to hike both forts overnight.This is our little story.

A brief overview and history of Torna fort: Located 70KM southwest of Pune near the village of Velhe in the Sahaydri range at an elevation of 1405 meters it is the highest fort in Pune district. It was the first fort to be captured by Shivaji maharaja at the age of 16, this was the beginning of the Maratha empire, The fort was known as 'Prachanagad' and Shivaji Maharaj changed it to the present day 'Torna'. The fort was subsequently captured by the Mughals and then handed over to the Marathas by the treaty of Purandar.

Torna fort in a panorama

 A little bit about Rajgad fort: It was built sometime during the 15th century AD, the fort is 1300 meters above sea level. Shivaji captured the fort in the year AD 1647, Shivaji spent most of his time here which was about 25-30 years. RAJGAD was the capital of the Maratha empire for a long time till RAIGAD was made the capital. It was here that Shivaji's wife queen Saibai died and is buried( Samadhi) Check out our other blogpost NIGHT TREK TO RAJGAD FORT.

When planning for an overnight hike you want everything to go just right, you have to plan for the bizarre


What you need: A map of the area you plan to hike, gather as much information about the area from the internet or local resources, plenty of water( 4-5 liters for this hike), physical and mental preparedness, good hiking boots or shoes and pants,change of clothes, a first aid kit adequate to deal with emergencies, A hiking pole or stick, food that provides sustained energy like trail mix(mixed dry fruits and nuts), sunblock, a hat, Gatorade powder or better yet ORS, your prescription meds, sunglasses, a camera, a list of emergency numbers in your pocket, your mobile phone and power bank, cash in hand, a lighter and tinder to start a fire, powerful torch with extra batteries, some cord or rope at least 20ft, paper cups and plates( pick up after use and throw away appropriately), sleeping bags and warm clothes appropriate for the weather-remember to check the forecast on the hiking days.
Always tell someone at home about the route you plan to hike and leave them with a list of what you have!!

If you need help at Rajgad you can contact Mr. Santhosh : 9762749143, he is a localite and speaks only marathi and hindi, contact him a day or two earlier and he can arrange for your stay and food or other possible arrangements for a very fair fee.

If you need help at Torna you can contact Mr. Anil jorkar: 9673396435, he was one of the boys that helped us down Torna, he can arrange a stay for you at Torna or his village

This is our little story,
We started early Friday morning in Pune, we all live nearby and decided to meet at Jonathan's place for a final check of our packs each weighing in about 20-25 pounds. Now to introduce our hikers: Nathan the lab assistant and aspiring doctor, Jonathan the tech dude and localite, Justin the economics guy and George(me) the doc.
We left at around 815am to get the 915am bus to Nasrapur bypass, the ticket costs 28 rupees per head, a ride of about an hour and a half will get you to Nasrapur bypass from here cross the road to get to the Jeep stand and take one to Velhe, each seat will cost 35 rupees and as a warning book an extra seat if you have to because the driver will literally stuff the jeep with people. From Nasrapur its a 25km ride to Velhe which is your base village near the Torna fort.

Velhe, with Torna in the background

We got down at Velhe at 1145am started our hike at 1230pm, did a final check an discussed the route with the villagers, they said it was 2 1/2 hour hike to the top on a straightforward path. The initial stage was flat and then it started to gain some serious steep, its a pretty intense hike to the top. We reached the top in 3 hours, the landscape is stunning!

Torna

The trail

The steeps

Nathaniel

Jonathan

WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES AND SCORPIONS, I DID NOT GET INFORMATION ABOUT THIS FROM THE INTERNET BUT WE ENCOUNTERED A RUSSELS VIPER AND SCORPIONS ALONG THE ROUTE, ALSO WE SPOKE TO LOCALS AT THE TOP OF THE FORT WHO DESCRIBED SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THE COMMON KRAIT. SO VIPERS AND KRAITS ARE COMMON HERE, YOUR HIKING POLE WILL COME TO USE BUT LEAVE THESE ANIMALS ALONE, A BITE IN THIS LOCALITY CAN PROVE FATAL SINCE THE NEAREST HOSPITAL EQUIPPED TO TREAT SNAKE BITES IS IN PUNE, BESIDES THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN DO WITH A FIRST AID KIT.

Justin

Finally!

Once we reached the fort we unpacked had lunch at 330pm and discussed with the locals who were building a temple on the fort about the route to Rajgad. We met this sweet old lady who asked us not to venture off Torna after sunset. She told us with a fearful tone almost as a mother would to her child to heed, she told us the grim tale of how two hikers fell to their death along the narrow path, she gave us the heebidie jeebidies!. But we told her that we would like to leave anyway, so she gave us some water and arranged for one of the boys working there to help us along the route. We really thank God for this woman, we really needed the help. Dangerous cliffs, narrow paths and loose soil was to come. A few slips we did have, any worse and our hike would end up as a tragedy. The old woman's words ringing through our heads as we treaded the dangerous cliffs we did heed her warning to get off Torna before sunset. Well we obviously made it because I am typing this blog!

Mengai mandir at Torna

The hike got easier once we got off Torna, we had to walk along the top of the hills that snaked between Torna an Rajgad, THIS HIKE SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED DURING THE MONSOON UNLESS YOU WANT TO RISK IT. 

Danger at the cliffs

The hill tops in the backdrop snaking to Rajgad

Loose mud and rock

The local boys, really appreciate their help!

During the night after the local boys from Torna left to their village we were on our own, wit an almost full moon and armed with torches we marched on, glad in our minds that the worst of the hiking was over. In a way we had luck running with us since the trail had the occasional arrow pointing toward Rajgad, at night without the directional arrow we we have lost our way on a couple of occasions. Once we reached  A spot were Rajgad looked as if it was a few feet away, we realised it was an illusion when we found ourselves staring at the behemoth of rock still towering a hundred feet over us. We found more white arrows and eventually at 1230am we entered the fort, a false assumption of security clouded our minds, the night can play tricks on you at these ungodly hours. We knew we had to find the temple, where we would hit the sack, but no, we took a wrong turn on the fort and headed out nearly a kilometer in the opposite direction along a path of loose rock and mud, one of us slipped sent a 10 pound rock hurtling down the hill it never seemed to stop we could hear it for almost a minute tumbling down the abyss a stark reminder of what was in store if we lost our footing. We then took out the map got our bearings and finally reached the temple at 130am on the 3rd of January, we had been hiking for a total of 13 hours. Totally exhausted we had a quick dinner and hit the sack. 

Rajgad with Balle Killa in the backdrop