First Pashan Trip After COVID-19
2022-11-16
Upon realizing that Ambernath cannot be a long-term thing as they break our features. We planned on going to Pune monthly and decided to go on the 12th of November. As the week progressed, Siddha said he wanted to do a 2-day trip instead of a day trip to Pune. Kashish said he’d join both days. I remained adamant on one day due to a board exam, which is kal (tomorrow) btw, and said I would leave by train and to get my MTB by car. They agreed.
Fast forward to Friday. Siddha told me to come over at night to figure the car rack out so we could leave early in the morning. I declined because of comfort and night routine. He told me to be there at 5. I set my alarm for 3am. Kashish went there the night before. I was packing till like 11am at night, which is my fault completely, as I started late - at 9:30 or so. My packing was quite quick. I realize I live quite light for the day. If I want to stay the night is when I get really heavy in terms of luggage. The main thing was carrying tiffins - 5 of them worth one day’s food. It is quite the mountain. But as someone who has been berated by Abhijeet for carrying 3 duffel bags for Temghar trips, and 2 bags for a day trip (one of them being MTB guards and water). that is quite good.
Upon waking up, I checked my phone to see if there are any changes or complications in the plan. And there it is, Siddha telling me to come over at 5:30 instead, so put an alarm and slept for 30 mins, or that was the intention. Pashan excitement + phone blue light = little and shit sleep. I “woke up” at 3:30, and left the house at 4:30. I reached Siddha’s at 5:30 because there was a climb that slowed me down on the way to his place. Not as bad as Kashish would later make it out to be, but something that slowed me down. At six I reached and waited at Siddha’s for half an hour because neither of them was ready. Someone was busy figuring out the car rack till 3AM. That is ridiculous considering how Siddha is on his way to becoming a mechanical engineer. We must have spent an hour loading up the car with bikes and luggage. We were then on our way to Pashan. I am glad I brought my laptop because I was able to put that time to good use - I took notes on like 4 videos. That was good. Something that made Kashish and I laugh - upon seeing Hamza in his bathrobe, Siddha’s brother, Harsh, exclaimed “Jesus!” That was fuckin A. Hamza as Jesus. Made us crack up.
I took notes all the way there minus 20km. At this point we realized Harsh did not have any protection. Fortunately, we had just passed Decathlon Wakad and it was a short detour. As we were on our way to the checkout, Harsh pointed out a sticker that said “Rs 699” and exclaimed “See 69. 69 is a bad number.” Shocked this 9-year-old knew about the sex position, I asked him what it mean, and explained to me that he can’t say such things and to ask Siddha. insert Tai Lopez knowledge meme I love that kids know about this. The internet is fucking great. Opportunity 100.
!
We must have reached Pashan at 12. I had oats at Durga, that I couldn’t have in the car as Siddha’s father was fasting. I also drank cold coffee with crushed chocolate. Kashish and Siddha asked me if I would during the drive. I said yes. It is because it helps me ride better - caffeine as a Performance enhancing drug because I don’t drink it the rest of the year. However, I can feel the pull to order one more when I have it. Man, it is crazy how addictive sugar is. Spent the next hour meeting the Pune gang, sorting my MTB bag, and unloading bikes. We left for the hill by roughly 2pm. My plan was to leave at sunset for home, so I was in a hurry to ride and reached the top 15 to 30 mins before everyone else. I did 3 to 4 whoop runs. Then started on to the Snake line. I couldn’t find a lot of the previous trails I had ridden, and that frustrated me, I was also distracted. I was unable to nail the berms like I was able to in 2019. That frustrated me as well. Then the crowd came.
I joined one whoop line trail and headed one. There was a drop at the end of the trail that was completely doable. I was scared of hitting it. I imagined myself crashing on it and got scared. That I can say only in hindsight and also only because I eyed another feature, a step down before the snake line step-up. I eyed that. I got scared. Then I say Viru pop off it and directly into the step-up like he was meant to fly. I saw it was doable. I was also… jealous? No. I don’t think that is the case. I saw it could be done and then challenged myself to try. The strategy - volume, incremental progression. I did 3 to 5 dry runs and hit it in the fifth one. meaning, I landed flat. That was the worst thing that could happen. I did not crash and break my bones. My suspension took most of it. It was just like riding the rock gardens at the Temple trail. The feeling was familiar. Now, it was to increase speed and pop. But that was scary as well. But Kashish told me something that I kept saying to myself for the 10 runs after when I was trying to increase my speed and pop. that was “Darr ke aage jeet hai.” I kept saying to myself that because the speed and length needed to clear was more than I was comfortable with, and that was scary. I knew I was going to keep doing it, but it was easy to get complacent; To not progress, to not push the speed, to not pop as much as I could have. That was easy.
This is interesting, despite that being easy, that was not my way. I knew for sure that I would keep pushing myself, but I still pushed myself to push. How interesting is that? I knew I would do it. I needed the self-talk, the push I gave, to do it regardless. It is my nature. As I pushed myself, I started to jump farther and farther. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is positive reinforcement. I was hooked. a flow state soon followed, not in the complete I am losing myself and track of time way that I experienced in Pashan Fest 2019, but in a way that I would keep going up and doing it, without thinking about it. Instinct, that is what it was. I overcame fear until I saw results. I acted until it echoed. The positive feedback loop was in place, and momentum was generated. The iterations were the easy part now. I kept doing it.
Side tangent: Harsh was also riding.
He did the snake line a bit, and one time, this G just straight up just jumped from his bike because it was directed to the tree. He just baled and left his bike to take the impact. Smart move, but a hilarious one. One showing utter indifference to his bike’s condition, which I loved, kinda like abhijeet’s crash her Virendra told me I did it 38 times. I am certain that is an exaggeration. It was a grind though. I was unable to make the landing like I wanted to. I was 2 feet short. I’d been 2 feet for about 10 runs now. I was hungry. Viru said I needed more pop. I was trying. I got hungry, and everyone else got irritated. That’s fine. I took their shit and still continued. But 2 - 3 runs later, now time was little. The sun was about to set. I plateaued. I decided to stop because I plateaued. The plan was to go to Berm line. That would help me not lose speed on the pre-lip berm. so I stopped. Viru however, told us that by the time we got to that side of the hill, sunlight would have been exhausted. He suggested one snake line run and then Full-Sus line to the bottom of the hill. So we did that.
I gave my GoPro to Kapil from Ragewheels to record. The Full Sus line was unfamiliar and I was following Viru. I tried to keep up but he vanished 20 seconds into the trail. I was riding a trail I did not know at an uncomfortable speed. In Manori, this story ended in a broken toe and a rickshaw ride home. This time it ended in a plain ol’ crash. Lucky me. Kapil, who was following me, helped me get my bars back in alignment, and off we went.
Post 2 lunch tiffins at Durga, we went to hotel eminent. I started howling on the way, usual Ilyaas is hungry/tired shit. (Arya and Yasir know.) I howled when we reached. A guy beside us looked at me and asked me not to do it. He was the hotel manager. He later denied us rooms. He said it is because they were all booked. Kashish and I think it is because of me howling. Siddha and his father sat in the car for an hour trying to find a hotel.to our chagrin, Harsh was sleeping in the passenger seat and we couldn’t sit in the AC. We proceeded to sit on the footpath for an hour minimum, about to pass out - due to exhaustion. Mistake made. The both of us should’ve looked for hotels as well. I was being useless, operational drag. I will next time. I did not try to learn the car rack. same thing. I don’t try to learn Marathi when they speak it. I will, henceforth. Being useful, at all times.
At one point Siddha said, a cheap hotel 10km away or a mehenga (expensive) hotel 3km away. I said, “Mumbai. Let’s go home.” He said, “cool. We’ll do whatever you want”. He said this sincerely. In that moment, I saw the disappointment in his eyes, held his hand, and told him we’ll stay and find a hotel. They were able to find a hotel 4k away. Even prepaid for it. When we showed up there, half the apartments’ drainage was not working. That was 6k stuck for 7 days. After 30 mins of calling OYO for a refund and waiting in the car, listening to hold music, we went back to Durga. Neelam is one more restaurant owned by the same guy. We ate there. I tried to find milk, but all shops were closed. I asked Durga and he was willing to give but would charge for a whole liter. I eventually gave in. Upon seeing my tiffin he said, he’ll give me a glass for free. After all, feeding dogs is a charitable act. I started laughing and told him it is my food - milk, roti, and peanut butter. He started apologizing profusely, it reminded me of Manav and Vihaan and I laughed hard. then ate slowly at Neelam, being the last one to finish my food. During the meal, Kashish called 3 hotels and all of them were booked.
We then gave up and started loading our luggage and bikes into the car. Around 30 mins in I sat on the footpath, with my head on my bag in front of me, and just..slept. Siddha or Kashish woke me, but I was so sleepy, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Eventually, they finished and I was told to sleep in the car. I did. Harsh slept on Kashish’s lap. Oh, I gave Harsh “The Way of the Warrior Kid” by Jocko Willink just before I went to sleep and he seemed to like it. Even completed 20% of the book. I will give it to him next time as well.
We did have the option to ride 10km to the hotel. I should have sucked it up - told the rest to load the bikes and I should’ve taken Siddha’s bike and ridden the 10km so Kashish and Siddha could’ve ridden Pashan the next day. They really wanted to. Taken one for the tribe. I will next time.
at the time of writing, I figured out a way to go to Pune every weekend for a day trip. Now I just have to figure out if that is 1. Possible and 2. sustainable. I am excited. It only took 2 days of problem-solving. I had a long-held belief it was out of the realm. Impossible to do that. I broke that belief and in 2 days I figured it out. I look forward to more limiting beliefs I can break.
We reached SIdhha’s at 5am. I immediately went to his bedroom, took my eyemask, and slept. Sometime later, I heard someone making unintelligible noises and I woke up and shouted maa ki chut. Siddha told me it is just Kashish sleep-talking. I went to sleep immediately after. Apparently, both of them laughed a lot about it.
I woke up at 12, and I was asked about food. I declined and expressed keen interest to take my bike and just go home. I think Siddha’s parents took offense at that or were incredibly shocked someone would decline their food. Almost an insult.
About food - I did not want to stay in Pashan one more day partly due to my diet and not being able to follow it. That is now limiting. As an athlete, my bottleneck is not fitness, it is a skill. To acquire it, I must go places I will be unable to maintain my strict food intake. The same goes for sleep. I should’ve gone to Siddha’s at night. This would’ve saved an hour in the morning. Same unwillingness. My routine is comfortable. I experience discomfort in straying from it. But, comfort is the killer of man. It is not limiting instead boosting productivity. As such, I will look out for when it is limiting, and stray from it when necessary.
I left at 2, and the rest of the day was just a blur. I slept late though. So was Monday. I don’t remember why it was, but it won’t happen again. I am slowly going back to waking up early and kal tak (till tomorrow), I should be back to waking up at 6.
flying kisses
Pashan Trailpark: ride location
Instagram Post - see videos here