My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day (Includes Kaas Flowers, Falls, Lakes & Forts)

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Leg 3- The smooth tarmac-

Road condition really improves after Pune. Pune Bypass is a better road but has lots & lots of small traffic. I somehow got the thought why shall not we ban Rikshaws & other scum on Expressways?

Pune to Kolhapur has lots and lots of diversions where bridge/flyover work is going one. There are some sections where only 1 divided lane is open. See pic below-

All the toll tax were still being amassed and I am of belief that Tolls should not be amassed unless all the work is complete and they provide us a nice smooth road.

The roads from Belgaum to Davangere are absolute treat!. Even novices can cruise at 110-120. We had a continuous cruising speed of about 130~140 depending on the traffic and straightness of the road. We were also accompanied by relatively high speed vehicles like VW Polo GT, XUV 500,Toyota Fortuners, Innova Crysta, S-cross etc. We had no problems keeping up with em or even overtaking as needed.

There are some really drool-worthy straits on the road that encourages you to push your foot down, really firmly. Soon without much fanfare, the speedo zoomed to 160 . And something evil happened. The sun started setting down in the north and started rising in the west... No no! Actually 4 small suns came up in all directions to bless me. Aaannd! I zoomed past the XUV!. Oh Dear. How cruel it feels to Beat and XUV with An i10. Esp when the XUV was trying hard to stay ahed. The XUV would overtake me on speedbreakers (I am real slow & Cautious on Speedbreakers) but then the suns would come up to bless, my little blue boy would let out a roar, and XUV would magically get smaller in my RVM. That's cruel, isnt it?
The chap gave up after being beaten thrice and disappeared in RVM. This XUV had colored its Black 'Whiskers' to white paint and it was looking strange.

One feature that deserves special mention on NH4 were what I call "Xylophone Speedbreakers". These speed breakers start with wide strips on the road, giving you a gentle warning. Progressively, the strips get narrower and sharper, giving you increasing jolts as you go over them. A very innovative Idea that coaxes you into slowing to about 60 KMPH. Its a MUCH safer and kinder option compared to mountain like speedbreakers which require 1st gear and suddenly appearing one could wreck your suspension. I am sure these Xylophone speedbreakers are the future and NHAI now understands that Modern cars have changed and those Mountain type breakers do more harm than good.

 

[GrandRk]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

One lane divided into two is still there in Kolhapur section as some work is going on the main road on other side. Those speed breakers (rumblers) are good way to slow down especially on highways, i myself enjoy going over it

NHAI should replace speedbreakers with such rumblers everywhere. On NH65 near Indapur there are set of three speedbreakers painted in blue colour appearing from nowhere when your speed is higher than 80

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Visited the Kunduvad Kaire Lake in Danvagere. Its where the city recieves its water supply. The lake is quite large!.
Also topped up the air in tyres using my Handy inflator. All tyres had equally lost about 1 PSI due to the wrath of bad roads and uber high speeds. Saw a few vehicles on highway (NH4) with exploded or punctured tyres.

 

[AR Ram]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Lovely uploads

Do post some pictures of your ride

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Lovely uploads

Do post some pictures of your ride

Sure. Here is the Road warrior.
We have visited the "kaas Plateu". Will be uploading Macros tonight.

 

[Prabhagar]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Leg 3- The smooth tarmac-
One feature that deserves special mention on NH4 were what I call "Xylophone Speedbreakers". These speed breakers start with wide strips on the road, giving you a gentle warning. Progressively, the strips get narrower and sharper, giving you increasing jolts as you go over them. A very innovative Idea that coaxes you into slowing to about 60 KMPH. Its a MUCH safer and kinder option compared to mountain like speedbreakers which require 1st gear and suddenly appearing one could wreck your suspension. I am sure these Xylophone speedbreakers are the future and NHAI now understands that Modern cars have changed and those Mountain type breakers do more harm than good.

Have seen these a lot in US highways. They also make rumble strips on the outer edges of highways to wake up sleepy drivers who doze off and drag away from the road.


Source:=http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/geometr...width.htm]2. Lane Width and 3. Shoulder Width
More Info: Safety - Safety | Federal Highway Administration

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

LEG 3-
Started the LEG 3 of the journey which is the return journey.
Spotted some Modified vehicles on NH4. Which one do you like, Folks?

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Stopped at Hotel "White House" at Nipani. Its between Belgaum to Kolhapur stretch.
The Hotel is located on the ghats in a very nice location. Food was great, even bettter was a well maintained garden. There were many neat flowers/Plants like Passion Flower, Plumeria, Succulents, Cactus etc.

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

More photos of the hotel.

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

Next leg of journey was coming back to Satara. As we had some free time in Satara, we decided to visit a few nearby places. Kaas plateu was definately on the top of the list. We were at the end of season so we relished whatever we could find, and we still enjoyed every bit of it. The kaas, in Full season should have been truely be a sight to behold!

Here are a few shots we took at Kaas. All pics taken by trusty old Samsung Note (1st gen,) All pics are 6MP, driven in Manual mode by pro app.

Photos also include Kaas lake.

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

More Photos-
ISO was usually forced to 32. The sun was quite harsh. We used a White umbrella to diffuse if possible.

 

[bhvm]

Re: My 1st 1000 Kms: In a Day

The entry Fee is 50 per person, and 50 Rs parking charge for cars. There were atleast 20 cars, considering this is Off-season, The space would be bursting at the seams in the season.

 

[bhvm]

The Nuances of Driving at Ninety-
As the return journey was quite boring, I decided to try something new. The roads in Maharashtra aren't neat enough to cruise at 130~140 continuous. SO, I decided to slow down and try to drive at 90 KMPH. While this was not designed as an FE run, The results are nice. We were stuck for 1 Hour in Full traffic jam near Chakan (Dehu-Chakan road). AC was on all time.

FE achieved was 18.5 KMPL. I am sure it would've shot over 20 but for the traffic jam!

Here are the perks-
1> You need to pay attention to RVMs a lot. Because chances increase of being overtaken.

2> There was no difference noted in Tiredness or health in anyways. A lot of people said that driving at 80~90 is far more relaxing than at 130. I did not feel anything of that sort.

3> At 90, we were still overtaking MOST of cars and other stuff. It is disappointing how slow is the average transit speeds on Indian highways. And i am not even talking Trucks/bus/tempo. The max speed i achieved was 100 Only.

4> The AC cooling is less fast as compared to 130.

5> The 5th gear in i10 is totally like automatic gear. Pulls cleanly from 50Kmph. I hardly needed to shift on highways.

6> More bass can be heard for sound system, as the Buzzing from engine is far less pronounced. I really enjoyed the music on that ride.

7> 6th gear is still sorely missed. The Engine revvs at 3k RPM at 90, still quite loud compared to XUV.

 

[bhvm]

As usual, the little boy to full to the brim with Luggage.

 

[bhvm]

Visited Baramotichi Vihir in Satara. Its one of the rare Stepwells in Maharashtra. The place is far less known. DO NOT follow Google maps or any GPS to get there. Ask the locals on each turn. Roads are quite bad- Usual village bullock cart roads. We lost almost an hour to get 12KMs across.

The place is not much maintained. There is not much info Available. The construction quality of Well is Extra ordinary. Check the joints on Large stones. Well formed archs. Its here we realize that humans can indeed build precision buildings like pyramids.