Preface

Where am I?

I look at this spot, desolate and no habitations of any sort as far as my eyes go.

Somewhere between Barog and Nahan, 6 Kms from a sleepy little hill town called Sarahan, I want a stop.

Nay, I need a stop.

I park, put the side stand on, and slide off the saddle. My lower back is slightly sore, and my jeans are soggy.

The helmet visor is moist and my socks are soaking wet. I take a look at him; it’s all muck and dirt everywhere.

The saddle bags are dusty and slightly wet from the snowfall at Shimla.

I take my helmet and the balaclava off; the visor is fogged up from the inside from my breath.

I do not take off the gloves; it is 4 degrees and the wind is strong.

I just look.

God is an amazing artist.

The world is his canvas and well, the easel has colors that we can only think of. 

I close my eyes, and my view becomes slightly misty due to the fog settling down on the lower Himalayas in front of me.

My mind begins to wander and I start thinking . . . 

Introducing my Best Friend:

Sometimes the best things in life come in small packages. Very small packages.
For me, that package was about 1/5th of a liter, and was gift wrapped in a beautiful mustard yellow cladding.
Yes, I am talking about my trusty best friend, my little Pulsar200 NS.

Sometimes bruised and sometimes utterly battered, however always ready for some action, my baby has already taken me places that I could only think of going to earlier. He has never let me down and whenever possible, I have treated him well to the best of my abilities.
However for all meaningful purposes, let’s cut short to the chase.

 
Overview & Planning:

It was the morning of 21st December 2013, when I was supposed to leave for Goa for the last wedding shoot of the year. My heart called out to ride to the party capital of the country, and my mind asked me to stay away, since it was a lot responsibility at stake. Leaving alone the fact that an untoward incident en route would leave me grounded for the better part of a month or more, the sheer thought of screwing up someone else's wedding by not being able to capture the most important day of their lives left me no choice but to take the most hated form of transport. 

A Bus. 

You see, trains are long and there is a lot of place to stretch. Not to mention the huge list of interesting people who you can start a conversation with, other than the fact that sometimes, there is a howling toddler who can keep all the passengers awake or a coughing old man who can infect the whole of Bangalore with one wheeze.

A flight gets there mighty fast. And sometimes there are these nice airhostesses. The in-flight menu has items reminiscent of food and they are served somewhat hot. 

And then there are buses. A bus is slow, and the drivers are maniacs. Generally, I am a sober person at heart and in mind, and hate genocide, but as long as there are these buses around, I am sure there will be quite a few of 'em.

So, as I settled in between a college girl with earphones on, probably Honey Singh queued on the playlist and freckles fresh on her cheek, and the aisle in the center, I started toying with the idea of going back home for New Year. At such short notice, flights would be expensive, and well, a train was frankly out of contention.

"Why not ride?” I asked myself.

And that's when I immediately decided I should.

The journey from Bangalore to Kolkata, my hometown is about 2100 Kms as suggested by google maps and by some people who had done this route earlier. I planned to do this in 3 days, evenly spread out. Before anything I had to complete the shoot and I could return only by 28th of December. This meant that I had to leave on the early morning of 29th December if I had to make it back home on time for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

The shoot was a grand success, and the couple loved the photographs. They are currently in Australia, and having a whale of a time. A big shout out to them, for being very patient and lovely subjects in front of the camera!

I had all my gear ready and the bike serviced on 28th December when I returned, and wanted to call it an early night for the big ride ahead. Invariably, sleep gives me a miss, the nights before a ride. Some chemical locha (translate: instability) goes on inside my head whenever there is a ride ahead. 

My mind goes into overdrive and adrenaline plays its part well.

So I start to think.

“Just Kolkata and back? Not good enough man!”

I open my ipad and randomly open a road map of India, and out of nowhere this crazy stupid idea strikes me. 

A close friend was getting married in Jaipur, and his ping comes up on the screen, “ Dude, you coming right?”

I have no more shoots scheduled ahead. No work in the pipeline. So why not?

And thus the plan happened.



The Route:
Bangalore-Vijaywada-Bhubaneshwar-(Kolkata-Maithon-Kolkata)-Varanasi-Agra-Jaipur-Kuchaman-Shimla-Dehradun-Nainital-Delhi-Udaipur-Mumbai-Pune-Bangalore

NOTE: The original route was followed though the course of the trip, however the stops were altered due to reigning weather conditions at those times.

Calculated Trip Length: 8206 Kms
Actual Trip Length: 8407 Kms
Total Trip Duration: 30 Days
Total Days of Riding: 15 Days
Coverage: 15 States and 1 Union Territory

States:

1. Karnataka
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Orissa
4. West Bengal
5. Jharkhand
6. Bihar
7. Uttar Pradesh
8. Rajasthan
9. Haryana
10. Punjab
11. Himachal Pradesh
12. Uttaranchal
13. Delhi
14. Gujarat
15. Maharashtra

Union Territory:

1. Daman & Diu

 

Riding Days:

Day 1: 
Bangalore - Rajahmundry : 896 Kms
Day 2: 
Rajahmundry – Kolkata : 1110 Kms
Day 3:
Kolkata-Maithon-Kolkata : 600 Kms
Day 4:
Kolkata - Varanasi : 706 Kms
Day 5:
Varanasi-Agra : 620 Kms
Day 6:
Agra – Jaipur: 268 Kms
Day 7:
Jaipur – Ambala : 500 Kms
Day 8:
Ambala – Dehradun: 296 Kms
Day 9:
Dehradun – Nainital : 350 Kms
Day 10:
Nainital – Delhi : 360 Kms
Day 11:
Delhi – Ajmer : 501 Kms
Day 12:
Ajmer – Ahmedabad : 508 Kms
Day 13:
Ahmedabad – Mumbai : 600 Kms
Day 14:
Mumbai – Pune : 160 Kms
Day 15:
Pune – Bangalore : 932 Kms

 

I chalked out the plan, the clock struck 1, and sleep slowly started to get the better of me. I drifted into sweet slumber.

Now, there is a lot to share.

I will write about each day and experiences of each and every kilometer travelled. 

Everything is a vivid memory. 

I will pen down my memories one day at a time so that it becomes easier to sink in, and also because I can relive all of it again. 

One day at a time.

Only thing I can say is this. 

India is a beautiful country.

We look forward to going abroad, skiing in the alps, beaches off the coast of Italy, the Grand Canyon, The Niagara Falls, and in the process we fail to look at our own motherland.

She is indeed breathtaking.

Lots of Love
Preetam

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Some Important Details:


Riding Gear:

• Helmet: SOL S68II Touring + M1 Breather Balaclava
• Jacket: Spartan Helios, Mesh, CE Approved Knox Armor + Rain Liner
• Gloves: Alpinestars M1 + Inner Thermal Gloves + Surgical Gloves
• Knee Guards : Spartan Perseus
• Shoes: Puma Sneakers x2

Motorcycle Luggage:

Total Luggage Weight : ~60 Kilograms

Total Luggage Capacity : ~110 Liters


Saddle Bags – Rynox Nomad v2.0

It has a Semi Hard case with 32.5 Liters of carrying capacity on both side and 2 thick Velcro straps act as primary harness points, one of which goes under the rear seat. The fastening and positioning varies from one bike to another. There are 2 netted elastic pouches on the front side of the bags, which are easily accessible when on the saddle. 3M high visibility lining and patches make sure that the extra width is clearly visible in low light conditions. There is a tightening strap that can be used to hold the two bags together. It isn’t much of a problem if this isn’t fastened securely, as the bags hold very well with the primary harnesses. It comes with full rain-covers, however it does not extend to the inner side of the bags, thus the splash from the rear tyre get the bags wet, more on that later.

Luggage Stuffed into it comprised of:

• 4 Denims
• 2 Shirts
• 2 thermals for upper body
• 2 thermals for lower body
• 3 Shorts
• 4 Tee shirts
• 3 Pairs of socks
• Sherwani
• 1 Sweat Shirt
• 1 Sweater
• Underwear
• Pair of flip flops
• Extra pair of shoes
• Bath Towel
• Gatorade Pouches and Snickers Bars in the outermost zippers
• 1L Motul 7100 20W50 on one side in the netted pouch
• 1L Water Bottle on the other side in the netted pouch

Tail Bag – Lowepro Computrekker 350 AW

It has 35 Liters of carrying capacity and comes with a heavy all-weather cover. This is not a specialized motorcycle luggage however for all realistic purposes, does the job quite well. This is my primary bag for carrying camera equipment during the shoots. This was held down by a couple of 3x heavy-duty bungee cords attached to the stalks of the rear foot pegs during the ride.

Luggage Stuffed into it comprised of:

• Rain Liner of Riding Jacket
• Spare Parts which included:
• Foot Pump
• Puncture Repair Kit
• Clutch Cable
• Throttle Cable
• Headlamp Bulb
• 3 Spark Plugs ( 1 Primary and 2 Slaves)
• Tool Kit
• Set of Allen Keys
• Motul Chain Cleaner
• Motul Chain Lube
• Extra Ropes and Bungee cords
• Diary
• Pens
• Chargers for Cameras and Phone
• iPad in the rear sleeve.

 
Tank Bag – Viaterra Fly

It has 12 liters of carrying capacity and the harnessing points are 3 in number. The front harness goes under the cone set of the handle bars, and the ones at the back are attached to the aluminum stalk of the rear footpegs. This is a beautiful bag and for its price of 2100 INR, does a brilliant job of keeping all essentials close at hand.

Luggage Stuffed into it comprised of:

• Canon 450D + Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
• Canon 7D + Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L
• Canon 50mm f/1.8
• 2x 8 GB CF Cards
• 1x 16 GB CF Card
• 2x 8 GB SD Cards
• USB Transfer Cable
• First Aid Kit
• Volini Spray
• 2x Deodorants
• Small Hand Towel
• Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Trimmer and other Toiletries
• Spray Cleaner and 3M Micro-Fibre Cloth
• 2x 3M Double Sided Tape
• Printouts of magnified Google Maps Routes
• Wallet
• Phone
• Cigarettes and Lighter (Statutory Warning: Smoking is Injurious to health)
• Documents

 
Documents Carried:

• Vehicle Registration Card
• Driving License
• Pollution Under Control (PUC) Certificate
• Copy of Insurance Papers
• NOTE: No Objection Certificate (NOC) was not carried because my stay would not extend beyond 30 days.

Thats all for today.
This one one epic journey, stay tuned!