The word Shillim sounds out of consonance with the names of most districts and villages in rural Maharashtra. It is in fact a village enroute to Pavna Dam from Lonavala. I discovered this beautiful valley of paddy fields, rolling grasslands, bright minty green forests, streams and towering ranges, quietly nestled villages quite coincidentally, and since then have cycled on the roads of this mesmerising valley twice. On this trip, I was accompanied by cycling buddy and fellow explorer, Nishish, who bravely brought along his 6 gear Firefox. He was brave, because I knew ( and he didnt) that some sections on the way to Shillim have a steep ascent with a gradient of upto 12-14 %. With the bikes, sitting well on the rack, we had made our way to Lonavala from where we began our climb towards Aamby Valley. The return distance to Shillim from Lonavala via the Aamby Valley route is 54 kms.