Lonavala is a well known place between the city of Mumbai and Pune. It is an ideal outing place for one or two day trip with family, friends and even solo. The place is so famous that it has been a filming location for many Bollywood films. The place is full of natural beauty and there are many good resorts which offer many adventure activities. Lonavala becomes even more beautiful in the monsoon and at this time this is one of the most visited places in the country.
Lonavala is located at a distance of around 65 to 70 km from the city of Pune and it can be reached both by Old Pune Mumbai Highway and the Pune Mumbai Expressway.
My Cycling Trip From Pune to Lonavala
It was in the Month of March 2023 that we 3 officers of Indian Railways decided to do a cycling trip from Pune to Lonavala. The best thing about the month of March is that the weather is still not very warm for cycling and the number of tourists in Lonavala is also less. We started our journey on 26th March at around 5:45 AM in the Morning. The weather was cold in the morning making it an ideal day for cycling.
The Cycling Route from Pune to Lonavala
As discussed in the blog above there are two routes to reach lonavala from Pune one being the old Pune Mumbai highway and the other being Pune Mumbai expressway. For our cycling trip we decided to take the old Pune Mumbai HIghway Route. The reason for this primarily being the safety at the road since the average vehicle speed at Old highway is way less than the expressway. The other reason being availability of many roadside shops at the old highway. This gives us a flexibility to eat a bite at whenever we feel hungry while cycling.
The initial route within the city was not very good. The road was not in very good condition and there was a huge truck traffic on the road. When we started our cycling it was still dark and the bad road quality along with heavy truck traffic was causing lot of inconvenience for cycling.
However everything changes once you cross the PMC area and reach PCMC area. The roads are wide and you can ride on the side of the road without any inconvenience. So after the initial hiccups it was an easy ride till Lonavala.
Crossing the Ghats
If you are cycling from Pune to Lonavala via old Mumbai highway you have to cross primarily three ghats. The first ghat being just before Talegaon. This ghat is not very big so climbing this ghat is not a very big issue. However I will still advise that if you are not able to climb the ghat cycling then you can take a walk with your cycle. Then there are two consecutive ghats just before Borra caves. These ghats are little longer and take a lot of effort to climb vis cycle. I would recommend that you take a few minutes rest before starting to climb these two ghats. However descending the ghats is a thrilling experience.
Apart from crossing the two ghats, the journey to Lonavala is pleasing one. There is not much traffic on the highway in the morning and you will come across many other cyclists along the way. The journey of 65 Km took us around 4 hrs to complete.
The tips like this give us much needed confidence and they help us realise the limitations of our body. Once you complete any trip like this, it gives you a sense of achievement and something to remember forever.
Happy Cycling!
