Man Machine
Madness.
Buying a Harley Street 750, I knew, would trigger a spurt of biking expeditions. I travel and I travel a lot but I have only travelled on my four wheel. A mobike was something new and I realize, it requires a different mind set altogether.
My first expedition has been to the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. I started on the 30th September 2014 from Dehradun and was back on the 5th October. It was seven days of unadulterated fun and adventure. And I am the first person in the world to do it on a Harley street750!
The first
day I and my daughter left the house around 8 in the morning. We took the
Dehradun, Chakrata, Rohru route. It was a wrong choice. After Chakrata there
are no roads! It was a motorable track and that’s that. It took us 8 hours to
cover a distance of 209 km.
Rorhu is a
small dirty and a dusty town. We spent our night in a seedy hotel on the main
road. There is a Himachal Tourism hotel in Rohru but it was full. The chief
minister with his cronies was on a visit to the town. Thanks to him it was
jam-packed. There is a small market where you can find almost everything you
need but nothing more.
The next day
we started for Rampur a big town compared to Rohru. We started around 9 and
were able to reach Rampur around 1 in the afternoon. As usual the roads were
missing. It was a tough ride. We were tired but decided to carry on with our
journey anyways. We left Rampur around 2:30. The roads were great and we
reached Tapri around 5:30. Tapri has a petrol pump which of course, was
required for my Harley. After Tapri again there are no metalled roads. Its all
uphill and the bike starts panting. We reached Spello village at around 10 in
the night and decided to call it a day. It was a tough tough day. It took us 12
hours (with breaks) to cover a distance of 205 km.
The next day
we started for kaza. On our way we bought some petrol from Pooh. Mind you there
is no petrol pump but you can purchase it from the street on a premium. The
roads were surprisingly good. Most of it was metalled and it was a great ride.
All along the Spiti river was with us. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful
part of the journey. The mountains and the clear green blue waters of the Spiti
were a delight to the eyes. The small road side dhabas kept us fed. The meals
were simple. Usually dal with a sabzi and loads of rotis and chawal.
The next
morning at Kaza the first thing I did was to get petrol. This is the last
petrol pump till Manali. The ride started smoothly. The roads were metalled but
just before Kunjam pass the roads vanished. It was a misery. The scenery was
fantastic which sort made up for the road. We planned to camp at Chandratal
which is 12 km off the road to Rohtang Pass. But somehow I was too tired to
take the detour. Instead we kept riding. Todays ride was also the most
demanding. We had to cross waterfalls, face winds and ride on some of the most
treacherous roads. It was at 9 pm in the night that we reached Rohatang pass.
It was windy and it was cold. There are no hotels along the Pass so we had to
go Manali. We hit Manali at around 10:30 pm. A 12 hrs continuous ride left us
exhausted. We covered a distance of around 200km.
From Manali
it took us another two days to reach Dehradun via Shimla. It was one hell of a
ride worth every sore muscle!
Every
journey is a lesson learnt. Other than good and bad memories there is always
something of value to take back home.
My take
away:
Don’t
Overplan:
Thinking of
every small detail left the most obvious unattended like food. I had planned
for a puncture but forgot food! I was carrying loads of clothes but never
thought that the weight can actually slow me down. The same is true of life. We
tend to go into too much details, forgetting that it is the unpredictability
which makes life adventurous.
Commitment:
The second
day of my ride, my bike overturned (mostly because of the weight I was
carrying) and I thought to myself “Should I carry on or turn back?”. I and my
daughter with nobody else to pitch in made me think that I had put myself in a
dangerous situation. That very moment two other bikers came forward to help and
we were on the road again. We made new friends and rode with them late night.
We are always thrown into situations that we think we will not be able to make
it but help is always at hand. So commitment not quitting is the option.
Don’t loose
your nerves:
There were
times when actually I feared. Especially the last of my ride when I had to
cross waterfalls. I thought of my daughter sitting at the back and I knew the
only way is forward!
It was a
great ride and a great learning experience.
