| This is the story of my solo motorcycle ride to Dhanaulti, Uttarakhand in India, during October, 2017. Best part of this journey was, that i tracked 627 kilometers in 18 hours only, in a single day |
Ghaziabad (4:05 AM)
- For last few days, I was feeling the intense pulls to ride again. My restless soul is eager to gain some peace from a ride
- I read a mesmerizing story Leh to Kanyakumari in 61 Hours by Balaji and challenged myself to ride maximum in a single day
- Worried of uncertainties, which I might face during the todays long ride. i said nothing to my wife about my todays rigorous plan
- As always, early start of day and I am ready with my motorcycle, without any compromise with my riding gears
- Heading towards NH-24, light traffic and no sunlight, i am traversing through good roads of Ghaziabad
- Arrived at NH-58, the state highway, which connects Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India
- Owing to major festival (Diwali) next week traffic is comparatively low from usual
Modinagar (4:30 AM)
- State of solace arrives; internal dialogue between mind and heart is started to culminate
- Feeling powerful again; feeling unattached to any man made classification, I am just a nomadic rider now
- All myriad thoughts about reactions, judgments, hates and regrets are passing through my head
- Adios all my fears, adios all my worries, I am living in the moment!
- Not able to see any long distance rider, which I usually encounter on this route, I throttled to ~70 kmps
Meerut (5:00 AM)
- Bypassed Meerut, took the new toll way to Haridwar, riding towards Modipuram
- This is the perfect road to experience the real cruising speed of an Enfield
Muzaffarnagar (6:00 AM)
- Bypassing the famous city of Uttar Pradesh, India. Famous for its sugar and jaggery
- Muzzarnagar is famous for its sugar cane farming. Greenery around is so peaceful in morning time
- And the first encounter with notorious fog!
- Trying to stay behind a truck but it’s risky for a motorcycle. When not able to move completely, i stopped and took some pictures of infamous north Indian fog
Roorkee (6:50 AM)
- Roorkee has a large army base with headquarters for ‘Bengal Engineer Group’ (BEG), also known as Bengal Sappers
- Old classical city, has a reputation of one of the top most engineering institute of India, known as IIT
- City is full of life and school kids and service class has started their day
- I am bypassing traffic and trying to avoid the notorious traffic jams of this city
- Soon took the left turn to the Dehradun road. No sign of any clear road, frequent gear change is ruining my ride
Bhagwanpur (7:20 AM)
- Usual traffic and bad roads, giving eerie feelings. No one is interested in the joy of a man
- Relying on honking and overtakes, slowly steering through this small town
Chhutmalpur (7:40 AM)
- A small town surrounded by several villages, makes it a minor hub of semi urban life
- Passing through the sugarcane fields, at a limited speed of ~50
- India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in World. This northern part of UP is known as a bowl of sugar
- Farmers of this reason are famous for the highest sugarcane production
Mohand (8:15 AM)
- And the hills start, I took a pause, gulped some nuts and started my action camera
- Some local riders are curious about my outlook trying to catch up with my speed
- Road is broken at several places but still the peace of driving in hills is worth, to ignore some holes
- Arrived at Daat Kali tunnel and famous temple. As usual a jam is in my sight. I ignored the rules and try to skip some traffic by riding wrong side
- I was able to leave the tunnel behind comparatively quick and throttled towards Dehradun
Dehradun (9:30 AM)
- Arrived in capital of Uttarakhand, it’s a typical city, with traffic and encroachment
- From my earlier visits to this famous hills city, I see a big difference of flyovers and red light based traffic governance
- I am heading towards Mussoorie and finding that the road to Mussoorie is more commercialized now
- Exactly before the hill town, took a pause of few minutes
Mussoorie (10:30 AM)
- Mussoorie seems so busy now, I thought of my earlier visits to this beautiful city and realized the changes
- Road to Dhanaulti is exactly before the government inter collage, on your right hand. I missed it and took a U turn after esquiring from locals
- Arrived on road to Dhanaulti, its steep and narrow now; which means excitement
- I found that road is under construction and with some minor halts here and there, i was peacefully riding uphill
- The more I drove, the more peaceful and lonely it became. Finally i halted at a turn to rest and captured some beautiful moments
Dhanaulti (12:00 PM)
- Arrived in this beautiful village. It is a small heaven, far better than highly commercialized Mussoorie
- On my right is the famous Dhanaulti Eco Park, stopped for some photos there. Some more riders also resting here
- The usual noodle (maggi) & tea stalls everywhere on the roadsides. Restarted again for my next stop Kanatal which is the next village
Surkanda Devi (12:30 PM)
- Surkanda Devi is a famous temple on the top of hill
- The journey to the temple requires you to trek for two kilometers which is quite steep
- After few minutes of stoppage, i headed towards Kanatal
Kanatal (1:00 PM)
- Arrived in Kanatal, which is more scenic and peaceful. It has a famous Mahindra Holiday Home
- After a pause of few minutes, i restarted again towards Chamba, passing several holiday homes in my route
Chamba (1:30 PM)
- Arrived in Chamba, the long drive has left me hungry
- My eyes are in search of an eatery, which can serve me enough to survive another six hours
- On the main square of town, found a Janta hotel, typical dhaba style
- Parked my stallion at the front, the staff is curious. I jumped on a vacant bench and ordered the lentils (mix daal) and bread (roti)
- Scrounged good enough but limited to avoid any fatigue. Chamba is also the nearest town of famous Tehri Dam, which is only few kilometers away from here
- After few minutes of rest, i restarted again towards Rishikesh
Fakot (2:15 PM)
- Took a halt of few minutes in this small village
- I am thinking to halt at Rishikesh tonight. Its is only 2 hours drive from here
Nagni (3:00 PM)
- At a small road side village named Nagni, which also has a petrol pump, took bath in small stream of river, which is flowing adjacent to the road
- Filled my belly and my water bottle with rich mineral water, with a thankful glance at my stallion, i gave the famous mild half kick to it
- Thump of Enfield is aloud in hills, the famous dug dug sound makes people curious, school kids waving and receiving the joy back
Narendra Nagar (4:15 PM)
- Arrived in Narendra Nagar, thinking to stop here, but finally throttled towards Rishikesh
- My body is lazy now, i can feel that my brain is tired from this 12 hours continuous drive
- Food and bath has also affected my brain activity. Its performing slow now
- At a turn my turning calculations went wrong and motorcycles front tire skid into the roadside small ditch
- Luckily my riding gears helped me to skip any big injury except a minor sprain in my left wrist
- A gentleman helped me to drag my motorcycle and after few minutes of inspection, I climbed my motorcycle again
- After riding few minutes, i started feeling that my wrist is in acute pain while holding the clutch
- Holding the clutch is necessary while driving down in hills. Pain was increasing every moment
- I took a pause to give some relax to my hand. I learned the lesson to Always carry the basic medicines during the rides
Rishikesh (5:30 PM)
- Arrived in Rishikesh, and my wrist is giving me a hell of a pain. Time for me to switch on my endurance mode
- Stopped near a small fruit juice shack, gulped a big glass of sweet lime juice while chatting this laborious vendor
- Within 10 minutes of meeting, he shared about the hardships of his life. How he is struggling to pay off his loans
- After buying a pain spray and applying on my aching wrist, i looked in sky and visualize myself crossing Haridwar before sunset
- Wrist is still the same, but my will is more stronger than the pain, Here the bravo rides again
Haridwar (6:20 PM)
- Arrived in Haridwar, there is no sign of reduction in wrist pain. It’s hurting like hell while i press the clutch
- I am constant riding on ~70, Its not excitement now, its craving to reach home and kill this pain
- It’s getting dark, I have switched on my headlights
Roorkee (7:30 PM)
- Arrived in Roorkee, feeling like a big mistake to ride with wrist pain
- Laughed on myself and realize that madness is necessary to live life. Real life is always beyond madness
- At least i have a story of courage for myself!
- My extra lights are not working, sounds like a fault with switch, it made me to open my helmet visor, to see clearly
- Trying to mix with local traffic, to avoid facing to any potholes, on this newly constructed highway
- Wrist is almost dead by this time. Giving me every kind of feelings to accept that I am a big fool!!
- Yes, i am a fool but i will be wise if i avoid the same mistake again!
Muzaffarnagar (8:20 PM)
- Arrived in Muzaffarnagar, Reduction in local traffic but lack of road lights is making difficult
- Lesson learnt that i will install two sets of extra lights, except the head light. Lights are necessary to stay more vigilant in dark
- Paused at the toll tax plaza, emptied my bladder and called home to surprise that i am riding back!
- Mild breeze of air is giving a soothing feeling but my hand is like hell and pain spray is useless now
Meerut (9:20 PM)
- Arrived in Meerut, limited traffic on road. I am riding at the same ~70. There are road lights at some places, which makes it easy
- My hand is like hell. Every moment its becoming hard. With unbearable pain of pulling the clutch, i gave a final push towards the best place called Home!
Modinagar (10:10 PM)
- Passing the small roadside town with a good speed with mixed feelings of excitement and pain
- Traffic lights are reminding me the old classical Hindi songs where the protagonist is restlessly wandering on roads in nights
- With heart full of gratitude to the great riding spirits, I am riding towards my home!
Ghaziabad (10:30 PM)
- Arrived at home. Ate beans and rice, before jumping on bed and lay like dead!
- I finished my journey! there are going to be more such stories in future, but every story is going to make me a better Man!
