From Asansol, the GICR team had Shankar the winner of the Shell Advance Contest as company for the ride till Varanasi. Entering the holy city was quite an experience as the GPS took us on a wild goose chase through the tiniest of lanes. We progressed from mud and slush, to brick roads, to broken tar to tarred roads before we actually got into the city! Too much technology is not always a good thing! Enroute we passed through Jharkand a state with a lot of natural beauty, and this was visible from the main highways itself, but on the other hand we saw a toll being manned by locals with not an official in sight taking money from the truck drivers. A bit scary to see people take the law into their own hands so openly.


Shankar the winner of the Shell Advance Contest rides with the GICR team from Asansol to Varanasi



After a night halt at Varanasi it was time to move on to the state capital - Lucknow, The city of Nawabs and Kababs. The route used is normally to turn off at Allahabad and go ahead via Rae Barelli and Uchahar, but that being a 2 lane undivided highway in bad shape, the team decided to move on via Kanpur. Since i was literally sniffing distance from home, i decided to catch some good home cooked grub, while the rest of the team headed straight on to Lucknow.

Unfortunately we were in Lucknow during the week and we didn't have a lot of hope of meeting many xBhpians. But Atul, the silent ninja assassin had other plans. Silent he is, as few have ever been lucky enough to hear him speak. Ninja assassin he also is because he gets things done very efficiently!!! On a humid tuesday evening the bikers of Lucknow rode through the maddening traffic of the city to IIM, the meeting point. And we were surprised. Very surprised. Quite a large number of bikers had managed to make time to meet and ride with us. It was a wonderful feeling that even after a hard day at work these bikers were enthusiastic to ride. Great going guys.

Since it was already dark, it was the customary lineup and photoshoot was going to be bit of a struggle. But thanks to the bright lights of the Land Rovers Evoque and Autobiography we managed to click a few pictures in which the bikers were visible. After the shoot, we all rode out in formation to Fauji Dhaba on the Sitapur highway. There we cut the 11th Birthday cake of xBhp. After some light hearted banter and lots of cake eating, we dispersed bringing a long tiring day to an end. We must also thank Andrew and Rishabh for escorting us back to IIM where we were staying.






Lineup in candlelight!


The tasty butterscotch cake!


Helmet pe Helmet - Too much protection!




Cake Cutting


Cake being distributed


Mmm.... delicious














How can a g2g happen without a selfie!


The next day was spent enjoying the Tunday Kababs and meeting with the Nawabs along with indulging in some authentic Lucknow Ganjing! Atul after work once again escorted us from Hazratganj to meet up with some of the xBhpians of Lucknow over momos and kababs. If the food was a spectacular combination, the guys out there were even more entertaining. With some of the best Lucknawi jokes being told and then the guitar was brought out and some great hindi songs were sung. After a soulful evening we headed back to the IIM early as we had an early morning ride all the way to Delhi.




The Samsung Gear, very useful when travelling


Meeting with the Nawabs of Lucknow








Uttar Pradesh does have broad roads




UP without kushti in an Akhara would be no fun!


i the wrestler!