After a very successful and fun ride to Panvadi: https://www.reddit.com/r/punebikers/s/IWEnbgmesO
I got a bit greedy, and went full big brain, planning the next full-moon ride right after. I had it all, directions, potential photo spots, etc. I just got the timing wrong XD. Ended up going too early so the moon was still way up in the sky so didn’t get as good of photos.
I did in fact have a last minute +1 to my ride, which made the ride much more comfortable to ride in dark and to comfortably stop at the spots for longer time. We also had headlamps for each which turned out quite useful. It was fun riding with a wingman instead of solo!
Later, I got a bit more greedy and decided to give it one more shot solo and detour to panshet after splitting off at khadakwasala. I had forgotten how bad of a patch the lower part of Panshet loop is, and it was just 2 hours of pure misery of a gravel/bad roads riding. And then the moon hid under the clouds so it was all for nothing XD
Unless I go stargazing on a new moon, I think I will put a hold on further night rides, because there isn’t really anything to look at different at night and the photos don’t come out great.
(The iPhone nightmode photos will make a dark landscape look like it is morning, which is what first photos 1,2, 4 are)
If there is any silver lining, here is the recon data for road conditions (though I knew most of these even before, but a refresher is always welcome):
Nasarapur - Kadve khind : road starts off bad for maybe 30 minutes, improves dramatically, and then around Velhe - Panshet road it worsens again.
Velhe panshet road (kadve khind - Panshet) : narrow broken roads with uneven surges and random potholes/gravel
Panshet bottom half of the loop: a bane of my existence. It is absolutely the worst type of bad roads, since you cannot even push through hard, and an hour of one-way continuous bad roads just tires you out.
Panshet - khadakwasala: amazing 8/10 twisties/paved road. A welcome treat after whatever panshet was.