Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nasik is well known for being one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites, that of Kumbh Mela which is held every 12 years. The city located about 190 km north of state capital Mumbai, is called the “Wine Capital of India” as half of India’s vineyards and wineries are located in Nasik. (Source: Wikipedia)
Also the fact that Rahul, co-founder_ Speaking Wheels, hails from Nasik, we had all the more reason to plan a Cycle ride that would take us along the country side of Nasik to experience not only the Wineries but also the cultural texture of the city that it offers.
So, the idea of a Wine hop in Nasik on cycles, was born and we started out on this unique experience with a total bunch of 22 like minded people on this amazing cycle ride.
Day 00_Friday_ 27th November 2020
All the members assembled at 0500 pm at a 3-star hotel in Bhabha Nagar, Nasik where we had organized the accommodation for all of us. After a much-needed tea session, we headed out on a heritage walk which would show the participants the cultural and heritage of old Nasik city. Of course, face masks were a mandate for all as we took a nice stroll in and around the City center, covering all the major points like the River Ghat where the Kumbh mela is held, the kalaram Mandir and other famous sites all around. Since group gatherings are not allowed, we could not stop much at these places for a longer, relaxed time and we headed back to the hotel. A briefing session about the next days ride post dinner was conducted and we all hit the bed since we were to start our main event at daybreak the next day.
Day 01_Saturday_28th November 2020
Everyone was ready and present at the prescribed time and we were ready to pedal right at the first light of a winter morning. We headed towards Trimbakeshwar road towards the Trimbakeshwar temple, a good 26 kms ride of rolling terrain. The pleasant morning made the ride quite easy and soon we had taken our first tea break at Anjaneri. Once the entire bunch of rides had assembled, we again headed towards the Trimbakeshwar temple for a quick visit to the famous temple complex. Here again, social distancing, face masks were followed by all our members. We had a breakfast stop before we turned towards Girnaare to further continue our journey. An unscheduled stop at a vineyard set the tone for the later part of the day. Everyone had to stop take some amazing pictures at a ‘roadside vineyard’. This was a completely different experience for most of us. It seemed as if we were riding in some foreign land which many of us have seen in movies. To experience that in our own country that too while on a cycle ride was the exact experience that we wanted to impart!!!
This road was quite scenic, rolling terrain but everyone in the group cycled with a decent speed. Regrouping for photos, to check up on the wellbeing of one another, sharing snacks, refilling water from the back up vehicle were the occasional small breaks. We soon reached the junction of Kashyapi dam. Before this junction, we all had our share of fun. There was a small but a tough elevation where all of us really pushed the pedals hard. But to our surprise, a group of local children ‘competed’ with us. They were on a basic non geared cycle, double seat and they actually zoomed past us on the tough climb!! It was amazing to see their energy and amusing at the same time since they were elated to have ‘beat ‘the uncles and aunties on fancy cycles!!!
The back-water sight of Kashyapi Dam brought about a visual relief to all us with the sun bearing down on us. We had planned a lunch stop by the water side but unfortunately a shed where we could have grouped for a shaded lunch was missing form the location. Also, we had reached the spot pretty much in advance that the expected lunch time where no one was really hungry. So, after some photos we pushed off towards Giranare for lunch. After passing the chowk at Dugaon we made our way to Rahul’s friend’s farmhouse for a rest and lunch halt. The farmhouse belongs to a prominent ‘halwai’ from Nasik, Budha, whose shrikhand is very very popular. They had a mini production hall there and hence our packed lunch was coupled with the famous shrikhand and fresh motichoor ladoo!!
The lunch stop got a little extended so we started towards our winery halt almost immediately after the lunch break. The first stopover was at York, a comparatively smaller winery. Here we were explained the process of wine making, wine storing and the finer details of the entire process. Soon after we were taken to their section where we experienced the Wine tasting!!! It was a surreal experience. We were explained in detail how to taste wines, which for us as Indians, is definitely something that most of us didn’t know. The 4 S of wine tasting are: See, Smell, Swirl and Sip!!! And then it transports you into a different zone, the taste, the smell, the experience, the ambience is just out of this world. The glasses clinked every time we said cheers to each other and tasted the different assortment of wines and everyone seemed ‘happy’!!! After thanking the York guys, we headed towards the most famous Winery, Sula. It was jam packed with people and it didn’t seem at all that we are caught among times where social distancing was needed. Everyone had thrown caution to the wind, probably the wine was having its effect on most of them!!!! Nevertheless, we after seeing so many people in the premises, went straight away to the wine tasting section to have another round of tasting and experiencing another assortment of some sauvignons, shirazzes and rossetts….. The Sula wine tasting was very professional and we thoroughly enjoyed the second round of the wine hop. The plan was to see the setting sun from the amazing deck that Sula has, to end the day on a ‘high note’ but the place was so crowded that we chose to ride back to the hotel in the fading sunlight and reach the hotel before dark. This turned out to be a better and wiser decision. The total distance covered in the entire day was close to 95 kms. Hence some of us, who had never did a century ride were keen to tick off the 3 figure mark. So, kudos to all of them who took that extra effort to complete their first ever 100 km ride after a fun day. After a hard days’ work, everyone freshened up and assembled for a lovely spread out and well-deserved dinner. Briefing session post dinner and we were ready to hit the bed!!
Day 02_Sunday_29th November 2020
Wake up calls at 0500 hours and we were ready to roll at 0630 am after getting ready and a thorough check up of our cycles. The first stop was Pandav Leni. It is one of the tourist attractions in Nasik_ Buddhist era caves on a hilltop. We parked our cycles at the foothills and after a small trek up the steps, everyone was in awe of the rock cut caves. After imparting some trivia at the caves and of course some ‘Kodak moments’ we made our way down. The Sunday rush of early morning walkers and joggers, delayed us here a bit. So we decided to have breakfast at the foothills before proceeding ahead. We then made our way to Deolali, an army cantonment area. The road here was pretty straight and Suraj, a 50-year-old amazing, energetic cyclist lead a few of us to it in a Peloton manner. It was fun experience to ride in a single file maintaining a steady pace and distance with each rider getting a chance to lead the bunch after a few kilometres.it was a take home experience for many of us.
We had planned to visit the Artillery museum at Deolali. But unfortunately, it was closed for public viewing because of the Covid times. So, we moved ahead towards our next stop at Bhagur, which is the birthplace of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, or as he is famously known, Veer Savarkar. The residence of his has been converted into a museum but again due to the current pandemic situation, that too was shut. However, we were happy and proud even to stand outside this place which probably holds a special place in each one’s heart because of the tremendous work done by Veer Savarkar. A small confusion on the road again delayed our stop but soon we were back on the saddle again. After taking a turn towards to Aswali station road, the road condition worsened. This was the worst patch of the road that we encountered in the entire tour. Full of potholes, this was a bumpy ride so much so that Pallavi had a shoulder pain with all the vibrations. The only relief stops were the two railway crossings that we encountered enroute. It was fun to wave at the speeding express train standing at the railway crossing on our cycles. It bought back childhood memories for most of us.
Finally, after the Aswali station the road quality improved tremendously but by now the it was mid afternoon and the sun was really shining down upon us. Also, the route had a ghat section. As a result, fatigue and tiredness set in with a lot of our cycling members. The others had too constantly egg them on, encourage them, push them and finally we all reached the turn off to Wadiware where we would now proceed to our Winery for today at Vallone.
We were running late by an hour as per the stipulated time at the winery. So, after many requests at the winery, they finally allowed to reschedule our lunch and wine tasting session. They too understood the efforts and the pain that the cyclists were going through. The motivation for all of the bunch was the scrumptious spread of food that awaited us at Vallone. Vallone has catering by Malaka Spice, the famous South East Asian gourmet restaurant of Pune. So, everyone was sure of the finger licking food and later the wine tasting that lay ahead of us. So, putting very bit of the last energy reserves and ignoring the bad roads, everyone finally reached the destination.
As soon as we settled down and the food started being served, it was gulped down by everyone. Hunger and taste superseded talking to each other, clicking photos etc!! After a heavy meal and a couple of Sangrias later, we had to have photo shoot session on the beautiful deck at Vallone before proceeding to their cellar for a wine tasting session. Here again, in spite of everyone being sleepy, we thoroughly enjoyed the Wine making tour and the wine tasting session.
I must mention here that, all the wines that we tasted were different from each other in all the wineries. This was quite unique. So, after mastering the 4 S of the wine tasting, we made our way out of Vallone to stay the night at a place called Wabi Sabi, just 7 kms away. This is an outstanding property, consisting of couple of villas situated on a hilltop, overlooking the backwaters of the nearby dam. Everyone really loved the look and feel of the place. It was pretty impressive or rather pretty and impressive!!!
In a short while, everyone was settled in their designated rooms and after freshening up we all met in the main lobby for a relaxed dinner session. After a lot of photos, laughter, leg pulling, discussions on various topics, we finally had a lovely meal and called it a great day of pedalling to happiness in the true sense!!!
Day 03_Monday_30th November 2020
The last Leg of the Event, a 50 km ride back to Nasik city. This was the most scenic ride of the entire 3 days. As usual we started right on the decided time after the morning cup of tea. It was extremely commendable of all the members to be up and ready at the decided time. The place was so beautiful in the morning with the sunrise adding to the overall effect that people had to be dragged out of the property to stay on schedule!!! Nitin, a senior guy and an absolutely beginner cyclist had a minor fall just a couple of kms from after we started the ride. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt badly and also the fact that some of us were carrying a first aid kit, which came handy, helped us to resume the day. We had a doctor on the team too and he too had a look at the injury and gave an all clear signal. It was great to see Nitin back on the ride. We all applauded his spirit and enthusiasm.
I guess this is what happens if you are on a group tour for a couple of days together. The bonds that develop among fellow riders and the motivation and encouragement extended by one another makes the tour much more memorable than probably the solo rides.
The road was so beautiful and mesmerizing that everyone started cycling in their own zone. We had decided to meet at a particular point for breakfast and the protocol was such that each one could ride at their own pace, take photo stops, stop to soak in the beautiful nature around, etc. Everyone wanted to stop at a number of spots to take pictures, just be in the moment, soak in the greens, the blue, the smells, take in the fresh air and at the same time also keep pedaling on this beautiful stretch!!!! I had carried a small Bluetooth speaker with me which could be mounted on the cycle handle bar and I tuned into some great music and a couple of us just got lost into the musical journey!!! Nothing can give u more pleasure than some soothing background music, two wheels and fantastic views as you pedal away to happiness. Of course, the volume was set at a volume that we could hear the occasional honking of the passing vehicles and we were aware of the vehicles on the road.
Finally, as all good things must come to an end, this road too ended at the rendezvous point where hot Upma for breakfast was waiting for us. Everyone realized that the major part of the tour has ended and the last hour and half of cycling was left which would take us back to Nasik city. We had booked the same hotel that we had stayed for the first 2 nights only to freshen up and also had al the cars parked at the same location. As everyone reached the hotel one by one, high fives, claps, yoohoos were the means of greeting each other!! A sense od relief, achievement, pride was seen beaming on everyone’s face as each in their own way had successfully completed an absolutely amazing ride that spanned over 3 days covering a distance of 225+ kms amidst some wine tasting, scenic routes, beautiful landscapes and fun!
Soon everyone had dismantled their cycles, mounted them on their car racks and ready to head back home with some beautiful memories of a fantastic time spent together with like-minded people.
We definitely were happy as the organizers for the support, enthusiasm, energy and the camaraderie shown by each and everyone in the group. Also the fact that majority of the event happened smoothly except for a few minor hiccups made us feel content and relieved.
We definitely will be planning a second Edition of this ride which we are sure will be as fun as this first one. The First One although will always hold a special place in the hearts of Team Speaking Wheels!!!
Brilliant experience. Unexplored sides of Nashik. Loved reading. Cheers !!
WOW!!! Looks like everyone had a super Awesome experience on this trip!! 👍
The complete tour just played with the vivid but precise description of details. Thanks for sharing the journey.
Eloquently written, the narrative goes with the flow seamless and the memories are still vivid. Way to go Mate
Vahh..You have succinctly summarised the wonderful La Vino Velo experience and all the lovely memories for us to revisit!