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Originally, the plan was to go to Tirthan Valley, Jibbhi from 2-5th Oct., reservations were made, most of the planning was done but, due to some exigency it had to be cancelled around 27th Sep. All this had left me feeling sour and sad as this was supposed to be my first long tour. Though I have been on a solo ride to Kasauli in the past (2 years back) but came back home on the same day covering 710 kms. The fact that those exigencies were cleared before my travel date but after cancelling the reservations and having bought Rynox Nomad saddlebags for the trip made me more agitated.
While on a walk on 1st Oct. night I said to my wife that lets go somewhere, even if only to Kasauli or any place which is within 200-250 kms. (one way) to Delhi as I do not want to waste the extended weekend sitting at home grousing about the trip that could have been. Around 10-10:30 in the night, after taking half approval from parents we started doing preparations, making a check list for packing, searching for the destination that can be covered within 3 days, etc. While we were preparing for the trip, there were 2 issues that needs to be resolved to make this trip happen.
1. Being a first long trip with my wife as pillion we were not sure for how long she can sit on bike (I was damn confident about myself :P), though we have done few breakfast rides to Jewar toll plaza on Yamuna Expressway but this one was a different ball game altogether.
2. This being the first extended weekend after lockdown restrictions lifted it was hard to find a good stay at decent prices specially when you are booking a night before the trip, as most of the stays has been booked already.
We considered Parwanoo to Chail and all the places in between as our destination but couldn’t zeroed in on anyone due to expensive stays and not being sure how far we should go.
With these 2 challenges left unresolved we decided to get on the Chandigarh highway and finalize the location and stay en-route. With our bags packed we called it night at 1 a.m. Laying on the bed was telling myself “tomorrow is a big day, you cannot mess it up, it is a first bike tour with pillion and if you want to cement both parents and wife’s confidence for travelling on 2 wheels you must get this one right. There’s no hurry, no shortage of time, just ride naturally being in tune with the bike, ride it in its sweet range and take adequate breaks as and when anyone of you feel the need”.
Day 1
Woke up at 5 a.m. Waking up on the day of trip the thought of skipping it altogether crossed my mind. I chickened out for a moment, may be the hasty approval of parents is the reason behind it, their fear of something bad happening (accident) overcame my belief that I can do it. May be they are right, may be this idea of going on a long trip on a motorcycle is bad and I cannot risk the life of a pillion even if I am willing to take risk on mine. I started to look for an excuse to tell my wife for cancelling the trip.
But this is something that I wanted to do for years, before even I own a bike, having read so many travelogues on xbhp I wanted to see how it feels to be in the scenery. And to settle it once and for all in my mind, I need to do at least one trip. We left home at 6:45 a.m.
The Karnal highway (NH 44) having flyovers under construction has many diversions upto Panipat. This coupled with traffic made our start bit slow. We took breakfast break around 09:30 at Sagar Ratna somewhere ahead of Karnal, after covering about 80 kms. Once settled inside we started our search for the destination and stay. This time we found a Stay at Hotel Emerald Valley in Chail which was costing us 3,509/- for two nights. We were okay with the price of most of the stays were charging way more than this. I asked my wife if she’d be comfortable to sit for this long. She was affirmative.
With destination being finalized we left from there around 10:30. Our next break came for coffee at Zirakpur around 12 in the noon. The highway from Karnal to Zirakpur was good with less traffic so we covered good distance in time. At the back of my mind I was worried about my wife that if she starts getting bored/tired she’ll start complaining about bike trips and that could dampen our prospects for travelling on 2 wheels. I told her that after 15-20 kms. she’ll start seeing mountains and then she can enjoy the scenery.
At Himachal Pradesh toll plaza we encountered 1-1.5 km. long traffic jam, but thanks to being on the bike we didn’t have to stop there much and were able to go past it comfortably. Around 2:30 in the afternoon we reached Solan. Solan to Chail is 47 kms. which takes around 2 hours in the mountains.
After Solan tiredness has started setting in. The lack of sleep was also contributing to tiredness of mountain riding. My shoulder has started paining but I was trying to keep going and reach my destination before sunset. Riding in mountains is a bit tricky. After couple of heart in the mouth moments with oncoming vehicles, I decided to stay calm and ride slow even it takes additional hours to reach my destination. When around 15-20 kilometers left I was looking at every kilometer milestone to convince my mind that it is not too far, stay calm and ride slow. I was taking a kilometer at a time. Somehow, we reached Chail only to find that our hotel is another 5 kilometers from there. I was mentally drained and covering even 100 meters seems like a task. We reached hotel round 4:30 in the evening, bone tired.
View from the balcony – Every morning around 6:30 a.m. a flock of birds used to fly over our hotel roof towards these mountains and it was such a peaceful moment, watching those birds flying, having only sound of them flapping their wings.
Panorama view
We found out that there are no shops nearby our hotel and market is approximately 7-8 kms. away from there. After 15 mins. Rest, took hot shower bath to soothe my nerves and body to get the supplies from market. This time I was able to ride more in my senses. Around 6:30 we head back to hotel, had our dinner and called it night.
Day 2
This day was all about exploring nearby places, and relaxing. We googled the nearby places to visit, had our breakfast and went for local sight seeing. First, We went to Karni Maata Temple. Views from the Temple are astounding.
View en-route Karni Maata Temple
View from Karni Maata Temple
Panorama shot
Then we went to visit Chail Palace which also double up as a hotel.
The palace has restaurant inside and snacks eating option in the park but the prices are bit on higher side.
Day 3
On this day, we had to leave back to our home and we decided to start early, primarily to avoid traffic in the mountains and have adequate time in my pocket in order to not to rush. We left hotel at 7:00 in the morning and our first break came at Zirakpur around 10:30. This time I was able to take better lines on the mountains and there was not any nervous moment while riding. Then we took a coffee break around 12:30. At 4:30 in the evening we reached back home safely completing our first long trip on a motorcycle.
Total distance covered: 850 kms.
Bike: Royal Enfield Classic 500
Saddle Bags: Rynox Nomad V2.0
Feedback of the bike: The bike has been serviced around a week before the trip and has been fed with Castrol Power1 Cruise 15w-50 for the first time. The refinement this engine oil provides over Liquid Gun simply amazed me. It feels like all the vibrations from the bike have gone and only its characteristic thump is left. The bike performed without any issues whatsoever and the engine refinement was making ride enjoyable in its cruising range. The only thing that bothered me is that its sweet cruising spot is between 80-100 and at times on the highway you want to go couple of 10k’s more than that but the bike reminds you of its limits and being on a long trip I didn’t want to ride it beyond its comfortable limit. This limit is felt sorely when I took Eastern Peripheral Expressway on the way back home.
Feedback of saddle bags: The reason I choose Rynox over any other brand is because of my experience with their product. Being an owner of Rynox Tornado Pro jacket since last 5 years I was sure of their build quality and I certainly didn’t took the wrong decision. The saddle bags are of good quality, fit and finish, has enough space to carry stuff for 2 people for 4-5 days along with necessary tools and other stuff and holds pretty well on the bike with just their basic 2 main straps tied. The reason to choose Nomad V2.0 was the idea that if in future I went on a solo trip on R15 then they’ll come handy. This thing needs to be seen.
Overall the experience was very good and positive considering that this was an impromptu and first trip for us.
While on a walk on 1st Oct. night I said to my wife that lets go somewhere, even if only to Kasauli or any place which is within 200-250 kms. (one way) to Delhi as I do not want to waste the extended weekend sitting at home grousing about the trip that could have been. Around 10-10:30 in the night, after taking half approval from parents we started doing preparations, making a check list for packing, searching for the destination that can be covered within 3 days, etc. While we were preparing for the trip, there were 2 issues that needs to be resolved to make this trip happen.
1. Being a first long trip with my wife as pillion we were not sure for how long she can sit on bike (I was damn confident about myself :P), though we have done few breakfast rides to Jewar toll plaza on Yamuna Expressway but this one was a different ball game altogether.
2. This being the first extended weekend after lockdown restrictions lifted it was hard to find a good stay at decent prices specially when you are booking a night before the trip, as most of the stays has been booked already.
We considered Parwanoo to Chail and all the places in between as our destination but couldn’t zeroed in on anyone due to expensive stays and not being sure how far we should go.
With these 2 challenges left unresolved we decided to get on the Chandigarh highway and finalize the location and stay en-route. With our bags packed we called it night at 1 a.m. Laying on the bed was telling myself “tomorrow is a big day, you cannot mess it up, it is a first bike tour with pillion and if you want to cement both parents and wife’s confidence for travelling on 2 wheels you must get this one right. There’s no hurry, no shortage of time, just ride naturally being in tune with the bike, ride it in its sweet range and take adequate breaks as and when anyone of you feel the need”.
Day 1
Woke up at 5 a.m. Waking up on the day of trip the thought of skipping it altogether crossed my mind. I chickened out for a moment, may be the hasty approval of parents is the reason behind it, their fear of something bad happening (accident) overcame my belief that I can do it. May be they are right, may be this idea of going on a long trip on a motorcycle is bad and I cannot risk the life of a pillion even if I am willing to take risk on mine. I started to look for an excuse to tell my wife for cancelling the trip.
But this is something that I wanted to do for years, before even I own a bike, having read so many travelogues on xbhp I wanted to see how it feels to be in the scenery. And to settle it once and for all in my mind, I need to do at least one trip. We left home at 6:45 a.m.
The Karnal highway (NH 44) having flyovers under construction has many diversions upto Panipat. This coupled with traffic made our start bit slow. We took breakfast break around 09:30 at Sagar Ratna somewhere ahead of Karnal, after covering about 80 kms. Once settled inside we started our search for the destination and stay. This time we found a Stay at Hotel Emerald Valley in Chail which was costing us 3,509/- for two nights. We were okay with the price of most of the stays were charging way more than this. I asked my wife if she’d be comfortable to sit for this long. She was affirmative.
With destination being finalized we left from there around 10:30. Our next break came for coffee at Zirakpur around 12 in the noon. The highway from Karnal to Zirakpur was good with less traffic so we covered good distance in time. At the back of my mind I was worried about my wife that if she starts getting bored/tired she’ll start complaining about bike trips and that could dampen our prospects for travelling on 2 wheels. I told her that after 15-20 kms. she’ll start seeing mountains and then she can enjoy the scenery.
At Himachal Pradesh toll plaza we encountered 1-1.5 km. long traffic jam, but thanks to being on the bike we didn’t have to stop there much and were able to go past it comfortably. Around 2:30 in the afternoon we reached Solan. Solan to Chail is 47 kms. which takes around 2 hours in the mountains.
After Solan tiredness has started setting in. The lack of sleep was also contributing to tiredness of mountain riding. My shoulder has started paining but I was trying to keep going and reach my destination before sunset. Riding in mountains is a bit tricky. After couple of heart in the mouth moments with oncoming vehicles, I decided to stay calm and ride slow even it takes additional hours to reach my destination. When around 15-20 kilometers left I was looking at every kilometer milestone to convince my mind that it is not too far, stay calm and ride slow. I was taking a kilometer at a time. Somehow, we reached Chail only to find that our hotel is another 5 kilometers from there. I was mentally drained and covering even 100 meters seems like a task. We reached hotel round 4:30 in the evening, bone tired.
View from the balcony – Every morning around 6:30 a.m. a flock of birds used to fly over our hotel roof towards these mountains and it was such a peaceful moment, watching those birds flying, having only sound of them flapping their wings.
Panorama view
We found out that there are no shops nearby our hotel and market is approximately 7-8 kms. away from there. After 15 mins. Rest, took hot shower bath to soothe my nerves and body to get the supplies from market. This time I was able to ride more in my senses. Around 6:30 we head back to hotel, had our dinner and called it night.
Day 2
This day was all about exploring nearby places, and relaxing. We googled the nearby places to visit, had our breakfast and went for local sight seeing. First, We went to Karni Maata Temple. Views from the Temple are astounding.
View en-route Karni Maata Temple
View from Karni Maata Temple
Panorama shot
Then we went to visit Chail Palace which also double up as a hotel.
The palace has restaurant inside and snacks eating option in the park but the prices are bit on higher side.
Day 3
On this day, we had to leave back to our home and we decided to start early, primarily to avoid traffic in the mountains and have adequate time in my pocket in order to not to rush. We left hotel at 7:00 in the morning and our first break came at Zirakpur around 10:30. This time I was able to take better lines on the mountains and there was not any nervous moment while riding. Then we took a coffee break around 12:30. At 4:30 in the evening we reached back home safely completing our first long trip on a motorcycle.
Total distance covered: 850 kms.
Bike: Royal Enfield Classic 500
Saddle Bags: Rynox Nomad V2.0
Feedback of the bike: The bike has been serviced around a week before the trip and has been fed with Castrol Power1 Cruise 15w-50 for the first time. The refinement this engine oil provides over Liquid Gun simply amazed me. It feels like all the vibrations from the bike have gone and only its characteristic thump is left. The bike performed without any issues whatsoever and the engine refinement was making ride enjoyable in its cruising range. The only thing that bothered me is that its sweet cruising spot is between 80-100 and at times on the highway you want to go couple of 10k’s more than that but the bike reminds you of its limits and being on a long trip I didn’t want to ride it beyond its comfortable limit. This limit is felt sorely when I took Eastern Peripheral Expressway on the way back home.
Feedback of saddle bags: The reason I choose Rynox over any other brand is because of my experience with their product. Being an owner of Rynox Tornado Pro jacket since last 5 years I was sure of their build quality and I certainly didn’t took the wrong decision. The saddle bags are of good quality, fit and finish, has enough space to carry stuff for 2 people for 4-5 days along with necessary tools and other stuff and holds pretty well on the bike with just their basic 2 main straps tied. The reason to choose Nomad V2.0 was the idea that if in future I went on a solo trip on R15 then they’ll come handy. This thing needs to be seen.
Overall the experience was very good and positive considering that this was an impromptu and first trip for us.
Attached Files
..Another trip log coming soon..
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