Promotional feature: The Wanderers set forth

About the contest: Hero Karizma ZMR Wanderers is an ongoing monthly online contest hosted on Autocar India and Hero MotoCorp’s Facebook pages. All participants are asked to answer some very simple questions and at the end of the contest every month, three winners are chosen. These lucky bike enthusiasts win an all-expenses-paid two nights-three days ride on three Hero Karizma ZMRs. Rides are planned well in advance and cover several beautiful locations across the country. Those interested in participating can enter the contest on Autocar India or Hero MotoCorp’s Facebook page. The contest and rides are organised and conducted by Autocar India.

For the first of 12 rides across the country, Deven Jaggi from Mumbai, Venkata Teja Tadikamalla from Hyderabad and Vinay Dargan from Dehradun kicked off from Mumbai on December 10, riding three brand new Hero Karizma ZMRs, courtesy Hero MotoCorp, for the beautiful hill station of Mahabaleshwar. Twisty hill roads, powerful motorbikes and the cool, crisp December air all came together to give the riders the experience of a lifetime.

The three winners, with ride leader Autocar’s Vir Nakai, first headed out of the city towards Panvel. The roads, or what’s left of them, combined with traffic and road extensions that were under construction, put all riders and bikes to the test. Venkata, one of our winners, said that the bikes performed really well. He said the great handling, enough grip, substantial power and extremely steady and comfortable ride exceeded his expectations and made for a wonderful experience.

Thankfully, the roads weren’t all bad. Post Vadkhal Naka, the road progressively improved till Poladpur. And then, the forty kilometres up Ambenali ghat to Mahabaleshwar were absolutely brilliant. This beautiful ribbon of tar snaking up the mountains turned out to be the most scenic part of the ride. Here the riders found the perfect place to take a chai break, sit back and just enjoy the view.

The visual experience didn’t end there. As the riders got closer to Mahabaleshwar, they found themselves flanked by dense jungles and even spotted some low flying clouds. About six hours after they set off, the Wanderers arrived at Mahabaleshwar. But this group wasn’t one for sitting around or acting all touristy. These guys were serious bike enthusiasts and wanted to spend as little time as possible off their saddles. So, with the intention of riding as much as was possible, they headed down to a small village called Tapola about 25km away from Mahabaleshwar. This little village is made special by its location. It’s set right at the confluence of rivers Solshi and Koyna. Add to that the sparse traffic on the road here and that it’s mostly smooth, made the ride here properly enjoyable. Our Wanderers, though, were completely blown away by the confluence. A thin strip of land that juts out has the two rivers flowing in from either side and converging right in front of it. The sight had them awestruck for quite some time.