Raireshwar



Raireshwar is a historic fort. It was always on my biking list ever since I bought my MTB. This fort has a 12KM plateau at top with an end to end running trail. I’m proud to say that we were the first ones to try this on cycles.



There are three Plateaus close to one another Mahabaleshwar, Koleshwar, and Raireshwar. Mahableshwar is the largest one whereas the other two have 10-15km stretch. Koleshwar is the least known fort but it has very good trail at the top. Note that there is no motor able road to reach to the top of the Koleshwar fort.

Raireshwar is definitely not a trail that one should do alone. There are many reasons to it. I went there with a group of 5 people, three of whom decided to try the mountain biking and two were ready to walk behind us just for fun.



There are two ways to reach Raireshwar. If you want a good dirt track, then you can come from Bhor village. If you need a tar road till top then there is good road from Wai. The road that comes from Bhor is not a tar road for the last 8-10km of climb, but this road is in a very good condition. You can take your car till top from this road. Even this is a good trail for mountain biking.

Once you reach at top of the ghat, you can park your vehicles there and ride till the place where the stairs start. There are stairs to reach the top of the fort. Take your cycles up these stairs as the stairs are high. You cannot ride on it. At the final patch there is a metal staircase where you have to literally carry the cycle on your shoulders. This is the toughest part of this trek. We had underestimated this effort. The walk to the top was very exhaustive.




Once you’ve reached the top there is a trail that goes to a village and the Raireshwar temple. Make a note that at many spots at the top as well you’ll have to carry your bike on your shoulders.
Take a break at the village and ask them for directions and trail signs. Get enough food and water and continue to the next ride. Unfortunately, we missed the main trail after 10-15 minutes and by the time we got back on the right trail we’d already reached our cut-off time.



The trail is in really good condition for mountain biking. At some spots, like whenever you have to cross the water streams you have to get down and carry the bike because of some really big stones on the way. The rest of the trail indeed is a mountain biking adventure.

I feel sad that we could not reach the end of plateau.  But I’ve heard that the end of this plateau gives a mesmerizing view of the Sahyadri valley.


This trail is strictly an MTB trail and for the MTB riders ONLY. Do not carry road bikes here. There is no immediate help available here for the entire trail so better be well prepared before you attempt it.





 
Track details:
Total distance: 4.32 km (2.7 mi)
Total time: 2:16:22
Moving time: 2:02:24
Average speed: 1.90 km/h (1.2 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 2.12 km/h (1.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 13.18 km/h (8.2 mi/h)
Average pace: 31:33 min/km (50:46 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 28:19 min/km (45:35 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 4:33 min/km (7:20 min/mi)
Max elevation: 1275 m (4183 ft)
Min elevation: 1061 m (3482 ft)
Elevation gain: 1321 m (4333 ft)
Max grade: 50 %
Min grade: -124 %
Recorded: 10/4/2014 11:05








Comments

  1. Vinit3 November 2014 at 01:05

    Amazing, I am pretty sure it would have been a wonderful experience to ride bike on top of fort :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sachchidanand R. Swami8 December 2014 at 00:49

    Thanks for sharing your experience, photos and details through this article.

    ReplyDelete

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