Recently we came across this bunch of riders from the city of joy, Kolkata. These guys call themselves Wolves On Wheels and can be seen riding some of the most exotic bikes available in the country. But what makes them special is that they are not just coffee-shop-on-a-Sunday-morning riders, but have done some serious long distance riding on these unforgivable machines, like a group ride to Rann of Kutch and a ride to snow-laden roads of Leh-Ladakh! We’ve had a chance to clock some long miles on these kind of big machines too and we know that this is not an easy task at all. The challenges are much bigger on these big machines – most notably their unforgiving power, often unsuitable riding posture for long distance riding, and nonavailability of backup/service in case of a machine failure. And since xBhp has always thrived to promote motorcycling as a leisure tool, we always try to bring these stories to our readers so that more & more people get inspired by them! So here’s a story of Wolves on Wheels’ ride to Rann of Kutch from Kolkata and back. If you like it, do let us know in the form of your comments below and you can also follow these amazing riders on their facebook page Wolves On Wheels
All photos & text courtesy: Abhishek Kumar/Wolves on Wheels
Travel Period: December 6, 2015 to December 18, 2015
Total distances covered: 5386 kms
The Riders:
- Navin on his Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R
- Abhishek on his Kawasaki Z1000
- Shamsher on his Triumph Tiger 800XRX
- Irfan on his Kawasaki Ninja 650
A Brief Pictorial Essay: It took us a few months before the plans & routes were finalized and the itinerary was marked for the Rann Utsav (Tent City, Dhordo). As we all didn’t intend to have any backup car for luggage, new strap on luggage kits were ordered locally. New harness points were fabricated to suit easy strap on and strap outs to reduce the stress post riding hours. We were carrying our 15 days’ worth of belongings (Clothes, Shoes, Power Banks, First Aid Kits, Rain Gears, Pneumatic Tool Kits, Air Compressors, Puncture Kits, Visors, Energy Drinks, Dry Fruits and a few Protein Bars ) tightly packed in our strap-on luggage systems. We all were connected on our paired Scala’s, which made our stopovers easier and synchronized. Riding 4 different machine of different calibers over 5000 kilometres and maintaining synchronized pace isn’t an easy task on highways and this is what we all enjoyed doing. The trip was scheduled, marked and logged as following:
Day 1: 7th December 2015
Kolkata (West Bengal) – Mohania (Bihar)
Four riders on 4 machines travelled a total distance of 617 Kms on the first day.
The delays faced on day were mostly while pairing our rider to rider communications and strap-on luggage systems. Finally, we started with all the adrenaline and enthusiasm as we were to be on the road for many days.
Day 2, 8th December 2015
Mohania (Bihar) – Agra (Uttar Pradesh)
Total distance covered: 708 Kms.
With dense fog all along the highway, we had to slow down for the first 100 Kms. With temperature going down, it was time to get the liners out as well. The ride was fun otherwise as Allahabad bypass has always been a breeze to ride on.
Day 4th: 10th December 2015
Agra (Uttar Pradesh) – Pali (Rajasthan)
Total distance covered: 541 Kms.
Well, we spent the 3rd day around the Taj. You are bound to fall in love with Taj, no matter how many times you have visited the magnificent structure. Getting out of Agra is a mess though. But you are soon greeted by the brilliant Rajasthan highways.
Day 5th, 11th December 2015
Pali (Rajasthan) – Mount Abu (Rajasthan) – Bhuj (Gujarat)
Total distance covered: 697 Kms.
We cleaned our machines, put on the gears, and we were ready to roll for our target destination.
Oh, wait ! Did we just see a Mount Abu diversion signage! That was it! All riders replied in affirmative to the proposed diversion. So we stopped, re-routed, and were there on a hilltop through some good twisty roads and village by-lanes. If you ever thought that you have seen the country’s best infrastructural corridors somewhere down south, do visit Gujarat once!
Day 6, 12th December 2015
Bhuj (Gujarat) – Rann Utsav, Tent City (Dhordo)
Total distance covered: 95 Kms.
Goodness ! Finally we reached our destination. We never got excited with road signs until we saw these marked road signages. Welcome to Gujarat – The place where it starts with a permit for everything. As in for liquors, you get to go through a 5-step verification process for availing liquor consumption permits and you go all veggie.
The day started with looking out for riding glasses for the rider in yellow in and around Bhuj, the glasses couldn’t keep to his speeds the previous night.
Care for some off-roading? The rider on the Z1000 takes his machine in to the dry marshlands. Not to miss the signage ‘Tropic of Cancer’ en-route the white desert. Finally, we made it to the tent city. Pro Tip: Don’t miss out on the check post before entering Dhordo. You need a permit to enter the White Desert region. We could see a bit of habitat after traveling through deserted places. The organizers were pleased enough to see these exotic motorcycles that too with all West Bengal number plates. Till we checked in, we had to park our motorcycles outside the premises, post which we were allotted privileged parking for our motorcycles.
The tent city is a must visit with ample of luxurious facilities and amenities. It’s a perfect destination for family outings and hangouts with quality services and well-gestured man-powers. Pricing per tent per night gets dearer by ₹20,000/- approximately and they get our 9/10 rating. Worth it!
Day 7th, 13th December 2015
White Desert (Dhordo) – Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
Total distance covered: 493 Kms.
This should be included in everyone’s must-do checklist. Beautiful indeed! The Tiger was out there at its best to get into the marshlands. With numerous photo breaks, we started for Ahmedabad only by 12 noon. Riding is a bliss on the beautiful Gujarat highways. Wait a second! We lost a tyre just before entering Ahmedabad and that made us stop for an extra day (8th day). A rest day of course! Thanks to guys at Ahmedabad for coming out with their generous help in procuring a new tyre the very next day.
Day 9th, 15th December 2015
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) – Udaipur (Rajasthan) – Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh)
Total distance covered: 821 Kms.
It was the longest stretch of the journey. After the 8th day devoted to rest during our stay at Ahmedabad, we decided to check out by 5 am. And it was the coldest stretch with temperatures below 8 degrees, so we had to take out the extra liners finally. Through some of the finest ghat sections, we made it through Udaipur and Chittorgarh in no time.
Finally we entered Madhya Pradesh through Kota. The traffic eased out as it was sun down and we had to cross through Chambal ghats. No petrol pumps, hotels or even a single commercial truck or lorry to be found on either lane of the highways! Phew ! That was quite a stretch through Chambal.
Day 10th, 16th December 2015
Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh) – Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)
Total distance covered: 657 Kms.
The last 2 days of the journey and we had 4000 odd kilometers covered already. The road conditions worsened with every passing kilometer. Allahabad bypass again proved to be a life saver. We covered 100 odd Kilometers in no time. One pointer for travelers on this section; instead of getting into Varanasi city (23 kilometers deviation from the highway) to look for hotels, one can opt to stay at Grapewine, Mughal Sarai.
Day 11th, 17th December 2015
Varanasi (UttarPradesh) – Dhanbad (Jharkhand)
Total distance covered: 427 Kms.
The last leg of the journey started with a relaxed riding through the busy city of Varanasi. Time consumed while we had to deal with a bike losing tyre pressure and sprocket issue in another bike of ours. We had plans to spend a night in each of the seven states we passed through, namely West Bengal, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP, Bihar, & Jharkhand.. So Dhanbad was to host us for the night.
Day 11th, 17th December 2015
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) – Kolkata (West Bengal)
Total distance covered: 275 Kms.
On the final day, all of us were in a hurry to reach home and to attend to our personal & professional lives. The city of Joy, Kolkata, seemed to have given us a grand welcome with a spell light rain and a cloudy winter sky.
Phew! What a ride it was!
