All posts by Ruturaj Vartak

Mumbai Goa Cycle Trip: Planning

This entry is part 1 of 8 in the series Mumbai Goa Cycle Trip

Mumbai – Goa Cycle Trip Itinenary

  1. Sat, Nov 30, to Murud, 80km
  2. Sun, dec 1, to Kelshi (appox.), 90km ?
  3. Mon, dec 2, to guhagar, hedavi, etc , 75km to 90km
  4. Tue, dec 3, to Ratnagiri, 80km,
  5. Wed, dec 4, to padel, 77km
  6. Thu, dec 5, to malvan / tarkarli, 60 ~ 70 km
  7. Fri, dec 6, Local Sindhudurg, Malvan, sightseeing…
  8. Sat, dec 7, to aarambol, GOA, 75km

Map / Route


View Larger Map

Costs

  • Lodging / Stay – Appox ₹ (1000 / 3 ) x 8 = ₹ 2700
  • Food
    • ₹100 / meal x 2 x 8 = ₹1600
    • Biscuits, etc – ₹500
  • Water – 4 litres x ₹20 (mineral/bisleri/aquafina) x 8 = ₹640
  • Cycle Accessories
    • Carrier
    • Gel Seat – ₹700
    • Handlebar Ends (सिंगड़ा as the cyclewalla put it) – ₹150
    • Misc – ₹300
  • Return Bus Ticket – ₹ 700

Summary

  • Distance : 580 km
  • Costs: ₹8000
  • Hours on cycle: 60hrs+
  • and burning ass …

Installing Handbrake on Fedora 19

If you want to install Handbrake via a yum repo, slaanesh has provided us with the rpm packages.

[root@localhost #] wget http://negativo17.org/repos/fedora-handbrake.repo -O \
    /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-handbrake.repo

[root@localhost#] yum install HandBrake-gui

UPDATE: I’ve replaced the original fedorapeople repo with the new WORKING repo (non fedora hosted) [Jul 27, 2013 07:19 IST]

Schrödinger’s Cat (Fedora 19) hobbles …

The highly awaited (really ?) Schrödinger’s Cat has managed to walk. Many reviews are out. But for me here it is..

  • Gnome 3.8 is (yet again) memory hogging [Check attached pic]
  • However Gnome 3.8 is getting better, refinements, small tweaks around making it look better, Alas! only if it could consume lesser memory.
  • Gnome Classic – Only feels ‘classic’, It borrows all the good, the bad and the ugly from the gnome-shell. The memory hog continues [check screenshot]. The standard ‘Super’ (Windows) key works just as the gnome-shell, the interface that it paints is just the shell. I don’t know how does it make classic. Atleast memory footprint should’ve been reduced.
  • Developer’s Assistant is new, Lets see how it could actually help developers.
  • gstreamer-ffmpeg didn’t work!!! so I have to rely completely on vlc. there are these gstreamer1-plugins* which are being used. I searched for gstreamer1-ffmpeg, in-vain

I’m sure there is more to it. But as an end desktop-based user, I’m quite unhappy with Gnome and Fedora’s effort. Fedora is bleeding edge, ya.. don’t bleed till you die!

I’ll be checking MATE and Cinnamon as well. I’m sure Cinnamon too would be a hogger.

UPDATE: A complete update helped opening avi, mp4 files in totem.

12% of System RAM !?
12% of System RAM in GNOME-SHELL !?
Even gnome classic has the bad boy gnome-shell running
Even gnome classic has the bad boy gnome-shell running

Matheran on pedal-power

Jun 22, 2013

The new cycle was in need of a long trip, rains as another occasion, Matheran the destination. Me and Surya boarded CST local with our cycles and got down at Vadala to change our train for Panvel. The rains were intermittent and it was cloudy and slightly breezy, A lovely weather for cycling one would say.

Only for our disappointment – At Panvel, the sun turned rogue, the rains few hours before just adding to the humidity levels. By the time we reached ‘Shri Datta Snacks’ at the NH-17, NH-4 junction, we were wet, sweaty, dirty (thanks to mudguard-less cycles) and out of hope!

Luckily post the vada-pav session, the weather went sober a good cloud cover and dry with some rains to be seen far aside – Perfect for cycling. The left at Karjat junction at Chowk led us to up and down roads with its similar frequenting rains. Another left and 7kms at the junction took us to the base of Matheran.

A pit stop was mandatory – there was a 7km continuous and steep climb that we intended to do on our cycles. Yet another vada-pav and chai and we thought our batteries were charged enough. Just 5 mins of climbing probably few hundreds of meters and the Duracell-legs were out so were the lungs. Had some water and hopped back on to go another few hundred meters and we lost to the incline. The rains were on-off but our body was completely off. We walked along with the bikes and reached ‘Jummachatti’, Matheran’s toy train station. We needed more in our bellies and blood than just vada-pav. So we hogged on some sweet, cream biscuits trying to build the glucose levels. Surya asked the shop vendor how further was Matheran, where he replied…

और ४-५ km होगा, अभी तक तोह सीधा रासता था, अब चढाई शुरू होगी !!

Surya and I were just laughing at that. But he was right, the next set of turns and climbs were the most difficult. But there were some waterfalls that were welcoming. Where ensured we cooled down our warm bodies even in the rainy hills.

At Matheran, we were not even allowed to take our cycles along, we parked them in the toll-office’s godown.

Down the hill

Next day’s ride back down was a thrilling experience. At 9.8 m/s2, the acceleration is way to high even for a dud powerless cycle. There was not a moment when we had not slammed our brakes hard down the hill, When we reached the base, the palms, wrists were aching thanks to hardy slopes of Matheran.

The back journey was yet again via NH-4 to Panvel. Our initial plan was to ride back to Mumbai, but weather had something else in store. Just as the previous day. It was hot, humid, sunny, sweaty. We decided against our Mumbai ride, and boarded the trains. But the pressing, crowded train made us think – Next time a ride even in the heat would be easier and comfortable option than the train commute.

Route / Travelling Directions


View Larger Map

A night to remember

May 25, 2013

Well…. I confess the title got you here. But there is no page-3 gossip on the wire here.

It was the night ride in the full moon all the way to Amby valley. The glittering markers on the road, the sparkling arrows and the glowing green boards in the cool foggy night. As if the full moon had played its round of magic.

Manas and JK the regular partners in sin. We left Mumbai around 2100 and were back by early dawn around 0515 creeping back into the bed for some sleep.

60 km of bicycle ride through nothern Mumbai

May 18, 2013

The ride that started off from relatively clean smelling areas of Mumbai, Khar, Andheri, etc.. It started stinking (fish, drying prawns, etc) till we reached Goregaon. And by the time we reached Marve, we thought we were already used to the bad stench. The pass-through from Marve to Madh was the worst of all. Me and Surya thought we were gonna throw up.

Even though as it might suggest, the ride itself was not bad. Literally enjoying the sights, smell and sounds of the local life. Most of the route was well paved (tar – luckily) and was an absolute joy to pedal along the hills.

Riders

  • Rutu (Montra Rock)
  • Surya (Firefox Pro-Runner)
  • Swapnil (RockRider)
  • विनय और पुरू ने हमे टांग दी

Time: 0430 – 1015 (6 hrs appox)

Route


View Larger Map

Puma Urban Stampede

April 14, 2013

We (office guys, Girls weren’t really interested it seems) participated in the Puma Urban Stampede 5km x 4 relay.  Following are the results and the snaps.

Route


View Larger Map

Results & Timings

Company: MEDIA.NET SOFTWARE SERVICES (INDIA) PVT. LTD.(Team #1)

team Number: 136
team Overall rank: 21
team Category : MEN
team Category rank: 15
Runner (136 C): SURYASEN SINGH
Runner (136 C) Net Time: 00:25:37
Runner (136 C) Overall rank: 81
Runner (136 C) Gender rank: 74
Transition Time : 0-1:0-20:00-43
Runner (136 A): RUTURAJ VARTAK
Runner (136 A) Gender: Male
Runner (136 A) Net Time: 00:25:26
Runner (136 A) Overall rank: 80
Runner (136 A) Gender rank: 73
Transition Time : 00:00:34
Runner (136 B): AMIT BHAWNANI
Runner (136 B) Gender: Male
Runner (136 B) Net Time: 00:28:42
Runner (136 B) Overall rank: 151
Runner (136 B) Gender rank: 138
Transition Time : 00:26:32
Runner (136 D): ZAHEER ADENWALA
Runner (136 D) Gender: Male
Runner (136 D) Net Time: 00:26:47
Runner (136 D) Overall rank: 108
Runner (136 D) Gender rank: 98
Aggregate Time 01:47:59

MEDIA.NET SOFTWARE SERVICES (INDIA) PVT. LTD. (Team #2)

team Number: 135
team Overall rank: 43
team Category : MEN
team Category rank: 32
Runner (135 A): SUDHANSHU SINGH
Runner (135 A) Net Time: 00:40:03
Runner (135 A) Overall rank: 327
Runner (135 A) Gender rank: 288
Transition Time : 00:00:31
Runner (135 B): VIPRESH JHA
Runner (135 B) Gender: Male
Runner (135 B) Net Time: 00:27:01
Runner (135 B) Overall rank: 116
Runner (135 B) Gender rank: 106
Transition Time : 00:00:25
Runner (135 C): ROHIT NAIR
Runner (135 C) Gender: Male
Runner (135 C) Net Time: 00:27:29
Runner (135 C) Overall rank: 121
Runner (135 C) Gender rank: 111
Transition Time : 00:00:25
Runner (135 D): GUNJAN JUYAL
Runner (135 D) Gender: Male
Runner (135 D) Net Time: 00:26:30
Runner (135 D) Overall rank: 99
Runner (135 D) Gender rank: 90
Aggregate Time 02:02:20

Photos


Image courtesy: Gunjan & Facebook

Certificates