The Helmet Stories Breakfast Club, Manali

En-Route Manali

Finally we are on the highway riding/driving towards Manali. Pangi Valley here we come.

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And then there were 2

Ouseph and Jamshed will be riding up while we drive. Our bikes are all ready waiting for us in Manali primed and ready to ride.

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Heading for the Hills

Leaving Chandigarh on our way to catch up with Ouseph who has ridden in from Mumbai on a Multistrada and then we shall be on our way to Manali. 

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Out fishing

While the bikes are getting fixed...

Mellow Yellow Tour

The bikes have arrived in good shape! Tomorrow to Manali early start to beat the heat. Bumblebee is running a bit harsh but we'll see to it at Bilaspur. Fingers crossed! Watch this space...

Rider Mania 2011, Guhagar

Odometer shows that we rode 380 km yesterday to Guhagar. Late start today as we were waiting for Varad 'Speedy' More who started from Pune this morning. He's still a 100km away so we will start without him after breakfast. Today's destination is Tarkarli where another Stray Bullet - Jamshed- will be hooking up with us.

Raging river

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Badrash

Back on NH22 and the first view of the river sutluj.
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Well groomed bikers

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First pit stop

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The thing that lies ahead and beyond what you can see

Tomorrow morning, before first light, I hope to hit the road on Bumblebee along with a couple of buddies, riding-wise and otherwise, friends whose lines I trust and whose company I am at ease with off the bike too. A slow churn of excitement has already begun in the pit of my stomach as I contemplate the ride ahead. Our destination is Goa to attend the Royal Enfield Rider Mania and escape the real world for a few days.

There is something special about just hitting the road on an unarranged adventure, a couple of days worth of clothes in the saddlebags, a handful of spares and nothing more than a vague direction of where you’re headed. The plan is to head south on NH4 from Mumbai till Satara and then cut across to Mahabaleshwar via the Kas plateau, where hopefully the unseasonal rain is still nourishing the wildflowers. Google Earth shows a promising route winding up and down the bluffs of the Western Ghats, the road a faint promise of the potential for fun. 

Hopefully, we'll be grinning as idiotically as Debu at Kas

Top Gearhead and friend Debu, who was in the vicinity a month ago has given typically vague directions like: ‘take a right on the dirt road on the plateau after the last dhaba,’ so we know it’s going to be a memorable ride, one way or the other. It feels good to not be worrying about where you’re going, just that you’re getting there.

Where's the road?

It’s illogical and yet it’s trips like this that makes the motorcycling life so much fun. More than the sum of their parts, these rides are built on a collection of random roads and off-the-beaten path routes, which expand your personal geography transcending the ride, road and machine.

Enough introspection. It’s time to ride.