Aryan

Foremost, I would like to mention that you won't find any 'teasers' or 'trailers' here. It's all here! I am more of an old-school writer, who likes to keep things simple, precise and 'to the point'. No use really to give everybody a teaser and make them wait for so long, that the thread itself becomes 'old school'!

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Breaking The Jinx - Biker's Way

Heartbreak hurts. I have experienced it; I know it. But, when a few riders from xBhp decided to break a jinx, they had absolutely no idea how it would feel. Damn! Did it feel good or what! While some boys had decided to ride to Chail, I could not, unfortunately, join them as I had to work on Saturdays as well. But, some last moment pestering and sitting a little late on Friday, at office, ensured that I got the requisite off!

The destination was always going to be an issue. Being in close proximity to the hills is not always a good thing, you see. At first, I thought of joining the Chail ride at the very last moment since I was not quite in the mood to ride solo. But then again, I was not up for a big group ride either. Hence, called up a few buddies,; they all seemed so busy. But I kept pestering them till the last moment to join me on this ride. A few joined, while some had prior committments because of which they could not. Last minute planning and rush ensued, after which we all unanimously decided to ride to Chakrata. The final list of riders (and pillions) for this 2-day trip stood as follows:

1. Born2Lead (who, true to his name lead all through this beautiful[and not so beautiful] & scenic ride) on his red Pulsar 200.
2. Jukebox and Priyanka on their black Pulsar 200
3. DCS on his black Karizma
4. DD & Shelly (the newly wed couple ) on an Yamaha RX100 no less!!
5. Aryan on his blue Pulsar 200


For the uninitiated, Chakrata is a quaint, little hill station situated 7000 feet above sea level, in the beautiful state of Uttarakhand. It is the unspoilt natural beauty and the wonderful vistas which made sure that we braved the wretched stretch of road we call the SH-6 (State Highway-6) between Pipli and Paonta Sahib, to reach Chakrata. It is basically a military cantonment and was established by Colonel Hume of the British Forces in 1866. The Cantt. has restricted access as it caters to Indian Army’s special forces and hosts commando courses as well. Hence, no foreigners are allowed in Chakrata.

The major part of the ride was uneventful, except for the fact that some stretches of roads were so god damn hapless, that it made me question my intention of even thinking of visiting Chakrata. The bike took a good beating, not to mention the riders. But, once you catch a glimpse of the hills, believe you me, all the tiredness, all the inhibitons, all the doubts that might have crept in the minds of the rider(s) just vanished into the thin, fresh hilly air! We started riding uphill towards our destination. The roads, at places are butter smooth, while at places, it makes you feel,right here on Earth, how the surface of the Moon might be! At places, it had gravels that checked the limits of the already 'tremendously grippy' MRF stock tyres of the Pulsar 200 that I was riding, while at places, it was so smooth that it made me remember the wonderful, glowing face of Katrina Kaif!

After an early morning start, after braving the pathetic stretch of roads, after leaning and bending and after innumerous breaks, finally, we reached Chakrata. Somehow, these hill stations in Uttaranchal (or rather Uttarakhand!) looks all the same to me, and Chakrata, frankly was no different. But, it is not really the 'difference' that you search for once you are in such a place. Serenity, peace, tranquility, unruffled nature is the name of the game. These, you can find aplenty here. Life in these quaint towns seems so glorious and resplendent that every splendid scenic beauty of the Mother Earth seems to have stood still in front of its symmetrical stature. It was really heartning to go on such a break after what seemed to be like ages...

The evening was spent like it is supposed to be spent when one is in such a beautiful place. Just watching the sun go down is a wonderful, unexplainable experience in itself. No matter what words I use, I wouldn't really be doing justice to the wonderful colors that the sky changed in a matter of minutes as the sun went down behind those mountains. You can give your life to see such a sun-down ONCE in your lifetime; trust me on this!

Enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, and the good, tasty food, we chatted till late at night. But, thankfully (for me, atleast) eventually everybody bid goodnight and we slept! "Thank you GOD", I murmerred and closed my eyes. I was lost; I was lost in the wonderful world of dreams, when suddenly JB's mobile's alarm started ringing and I was awake, while JB himself was sleeping like a pig! I take a peek at my mobile, and it's just passed 5am, and I thought I had JUST slept!

However, it was not long before he was wide awake, and quite a few of us did what we had perhaps come here to do - click pictures! And click pictures we did, in loads. The plan was to leave for Tiger Falls (which also is the 2nd highest falls in India, I am told). I was pretty excited hearing this, only to be shocked to hear that a treacherous trek of 5 bloody kilometres(!!) needs to be completed to reach the falls. Another option was to ride 1 hour, and then trek for 15-20 odd minutes. The second option instantly cheered me up and I somehow influenced the rest of the guys (and girls) to take the second route. As everyone agreed, I grinned!

Thankfully, we did take our bikes to the place where the trekking trail starts, from where we trekked down to the Tiger Falls. Now, this fall is as beautiful a fall as you could imagine. The pictures you would see here, or the numerous pictures you would see off the net cannot even begin to comprehend the actual beauty that this place is. Ask B2L, he would, I am sure, go all ga-ga about it!

Water gushing down from high above with so much force as to even make a 6 feet tall person like B2L a couple of inches shorter. I didn't even dare go down below the rushing water. However, adventorous people are a crazy lot and B2L and DCS planned to shed their clothes for some 'nirvana'. They took to the water together though, THANKFULLY not two-gether (if you get the drift)!

All done, after spending a good amount of time trekking down, enjoying at the falls and trekking up (which was really treachrous), we finally reached our hotel where we had lunch and started back for the long return leg at 3pm! The road snakes downhill and it is one of the most fun parts of the ride that I, as an individual would ever remember. Although there is not any kind of barricade, block, etc. to save you if you over do things, but experienced riders hardly 'overdo' things, you see.

Finally, we hit Delhi by 1am after which eventually I went to bed by 2:30am only to be back at work by 8:30am the subsequent morning!

With the successful conclusion of this 750kms. round trip, I have realized that 'breaking' doesn't mean it will always hurt...

@B2L: You proved yet again your credentials - Mr.B2L. You are, in essence Born2Lead. It was sheer fun seeing you lead a trail of bikers, while mere mortals like the rest of us followed and tried to keep up with you!

@JB & Priyanka: Yet another successful ride with you two. I look forward to more such escapades, ofcourse to the hills.

@DCS: This was the first time I rode with you. You are a very good rider, but I would really like you to know the logic behind you zooming ahead of us only to go ahead and slow down and signalling us to go ahead. Then, again the same thing - what is the 'secret' behind this vicious circle (quite literally) of yours!?

@DD & Shelly: DD, you are a seasoned tourer; one who has done Leh successfully. I really don't need to comment on your capabilities here. But, your wife, who has hardly been on a bike, forget touring on it, took the 750kms. round trip with sheer elan. This was an incredible thing to witness.

@Shelly (DD's wife): I bow to thee!

@Bandhav: Dude, two words - Missed you! How I wish you could also join us. But, destiny it seems, had some other plans.

@All: Let's hit the hills again some-time!

A few pictures from my side:

Overloaded!


The group


The Vistas














The Locals










Standing Tall!


Finally, it's all because of my Pulsar-200, because of my 'Lost and Found' beauty,that this trip was possible. Thank you Puslie!



P.S: JB, B2L, DCS, DD: Please do share some pictures or a few lines about this whole experience, if you guys can. Please.


Thanks,
-Aryan

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aman_pulsating

beautiful pics there Aryan....

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Praful

Aryan, this was lovely read! I enjoyed every bit of it.

Pictures, well are the usual superb quality stuff!

Welcome back to riding, hope to see you ride more now!

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BANDHAV

I dont give a damn that what school of wrting you belong to, you do know how to write.

Man and my pain is coming back, the heart wanna cry once again.

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Yes, i blog too..

hitanshu

awesomely written, but gimme as sexy a pic of tiger falls man.

know enough junta who went and got confused and ended up visiting some other tiny falls!

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Aryan

Thank You Aman!

Thanks for that huge appreciation Praful.


Thanks Bandhav, and do not worry my friend. Next time, we ride to ANY god-forsaken place. YOU ARE IN!
I have a couple of pictures, but those are somewhat blurred Tau. Perhaps, JB or B2L or DCS could upload a few. Rest assured, WE didn't get confused!

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fullmoon

aryan,i know if one haspassion to ride,he can tour on any bike.but i always doubted a bike of 100 or 125 cc can be able to ride to hillstation that too with a pillion.
kudos to DD & shelly , but still aryan i want to know whether that couple travelled on rx 100 all the way to that hill station or they exchanged bikes with you friends?
btw,just a curiosity,on what speeds they travelled?
@ aryan
4. DD & Shelly (the newly wed couple ) on an Yamaha RX100 no less!!
5. Aryan on his blue Pulsar 200


For the uninitiated, Chakrata is a quaint, little hill station situated 7000 feet above

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"If you care enough for a result,you will most certainly attain it."

inder.cool

@ All the riders : Nice ride there fellows...!! The place looks to be very beautiful..!!

@ Aryan : Nice pictures man..!! I still believe you have a lot more pictures but you are not posting...!

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Aryan

@FullMoon: Yes, DD & Shelly travelled all the way from Delhi to Chakrata (350 odd kms.) on their RX 100! They kept up with us, and as for us - we were keeping our speeds between 80 and 95 km/hr. So, there!

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darth_lucifer

PP is wee-bit overdone in couple of pics but overall they look good and triplog is good too.Thanks for sharing