To the Missing Link and back

posted on 28 Jun 2026

I am 37 — well past my prime. Any new endeavour now takes more effort than it would have in my twenties. So, when the novelty of the ride I took a couple of weeks ago began to fade, I got a little worried. Is this going to become one more thing in the long list of things I have simply dabbled with and not continued?

The excruciating pain I have been carrying in my scapula/rhomboid — and in my heart as well — made it difficult to make up my mind for another ride. But then I saw an Instagram post about “Rider’s Point”, with a breathtaking view of the Missing Link, and I knew I had to go.

Unlike last time, I started slightly early — 7:30 in the morning. Had a banana before leaving. I couldn’t resist the thought of starting the ride with a “chai and cream roll”, so after filling up the fuel tank, I headed to Yewale Amruttulya for tea. I realised how much I needed that tea only after I had it.

I set the route on Google Maps and headed off. Morning rides hit you differently.The calm of the morning and the empty roads give you a different kind of hope. When I started, it was a bright sunny day. But as soon as I took the left towards Talegaon on the Dehu road, it started getting cloudy. I really want the rain gods to bless Pune, but today morning I hoped they would hold off until I reached home. I was carrying a raincoat, but I am completely unprepared to ride in the rains.Thankfully, the clouds cleared after a few kilometres.

I have taken the old Pune–Mumbai highway multiple times. But unlike those times, when I rode either to meet my nieces, drop them off, or escort them from Talegaon to Pune, this time I was riding for myself.The roads took me through villages and farms, but this time it was mostly the highway. Funny village names always crack me up. This time, the names I encountered were Taje, Saate, Adoshi, Kune, and Karla.I always wonder how places get their names. Along the way, I saw hoardings and advertisements for Abhay Prabhavana — the Jain museum — a couple of times and made a mental note to visit it someday.

I took a short pit stop around Karla. The pain in my scapula had aggravated. Fortunately, I was carrying a painkiller — Zerodol SP. Took the tablet, stretched a bit, and resumed the journey. When I reached Lonavla, I slowed down because of the traffic. But once it eased a little, I picked up pace until Khandala Talao.

It is after Khandala, towards Khopoli, that the breathtaking views begin. Just before the Khandala Ghat starts, there is a spot where the road overlooks a deep gorge. The view was surreal. Clouds touching the mountain tops. A lush green valley below. The kind of view that makes you stop mid-thought.

I clicked a few photos there and headed towards Khandala Ghat. I then stopped on the ghat at the very first sighting of the Missing Link. And that is when I realised this was the same spot where I have photos from my college days. It felt as if it was not that long ago, although it must have been at least 18 years.

A few kilometres ahead, there is a bridge-like spot with better views of the Missing Link, where a lot of bikes and vehicles had pulled over. I stopped there too and clicked a few photos before heading further to the other side of the Missing Link to get an even better view from the right hand side.

Then came the signboard I had seen online which clearly indicates the road to Aadoshi gaon/Mt Alterra. But I still managed to get confused. In spite of Maps showing the right direction, I took a wrong turn. Thankfully, I realised it within a few metres, corrected myself, and continued.

There is another viewpoint on the road that leads to a village named Garmal through Aadoshi. The same road eventually leads to Mount Alterra, a Hiranandani construction site. This viewpoint has an even better view of the Missing Link.

I reached the spot after riding for about four kilometres. I realised how famished I was only when I saw a guy selling corn chaat. The view was visible from an elevated spot, and I wanted to rush there immediately. But before that, I had to feed myself. So I bought some corn chaat and then headed to the spot. It was amazing. What I saw totally blew me away.

The Missing Link is an engineering marvel. It connects Khopoli to Kusgaon and bypasses the old, accident-prone ghat section of the Mumbai–Pune Expressway. The project includes two tunnels — roughly 1.7 km and 8.9 km long — along with a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. The bridge is around 650 metres long and rises more than 180 metres above the valley. It stands there quietly, connecting two hills, saving thousands of commuters around 20–30 minutes of travel time, and reminding you what human effort can do when it decides to cut through a mountain. I had travelled through it on May 4th and was amazed by the long tunnel. But seeing the bridge from the outside made me appreciate it even more.

Funny how it is popularly called the Missing Link, while it actually connects two points where the link was previously missing. In fact, the name over the tunnel at the start calls it the “Connecting Link Tunnel”. I sat there for some time, just marvelling at the beauty in front of me. After a while, I took out my notebook and began scribbling what would later become this blogpost.

I then headed down towards where my bike was parked. I felt like having tea and bought some from a guy selling tea on his scooter. I began chatting with him. He said he works in Pune at Yerawada on weekdays and sells tea and maggi at this point on weekends to make some money on the side. He takes a train from Vadgaon to Chinchwad every day at 7 in the morning, and then a company bus picks him up from there to Yerawada. This guy wakes up at 5:00 am every day. He said he does this for his family and has no complaints.I chuckled. What a man!

I headed back home after that. A few kilometres into the return journey, I noticed an open plateau off the left side of the road. Sunset Point, they call it. Some people had parked their bikes on the road and gone down to the plateau. And me, in my foolhardiness, decided to take my bike off-road down a short slope because I saw a spot where a photo of my bike would come out cool. That was a mistake. The slope was a bit steep and slippery, and my bike skidded a couple of times before I got control of it. I reached the spot at the end of the plateau, and the view was amazing. I could see the expressway from there. But in the back of my mind, I was already worried about how I would get back up. After spending some time there and clicking a few photos, I started heading back. As expected, I ran into trouble while climbing the last patch of the slope. Thankfully, a few good Samaritans came to the rescue, gave my bike a push, and I was back on the road again.

Along the way, I passed by Piccadle Resort, where I had gone right after Covid with Kavita. It brought back fond memories. I also grabbed some of Lonavla’s famous Maganlal’s groundnut chikki and some marshmallows for Kittu. Right before you enter Lonavla from Khandala, there is a bridge over which the Pune–Mumbai Expressway passes. While riding past it, I noticed something written in big, bold letters on the outer wall of the flyover:

“Maza kay chukla?”

“What wrong did I do?”

Whoever wrote it, for whatever reason — bro, I feel you.

After touching the old Pune–Mumbai highway, I stopped at a snacks centre named Shrawani Misal. While waiting for my order, I resumed scribbling in the notebook for some time. Then I savoured the misal along with buttermilk. It was much-needed fuel for my body — and soul.

I got back on the highway and rode continuously for the next 30 kilometres until I was home. Overall, I rode 125 kilometres in about 6 hours, with two big breaks of around 45 minutes each. The ride felt liberating. The strong gush of air on my face made me feel alive.

My only regret? I wish I had started this sooner.