"You want to get Leh'd on RX100?"
"Will RX be able to climb the passes?"
& the best of all "Udhar sirf bullet hi chalti hai" And numerous other questions that came up when I expressed the desire to get Leh'd on my beloved RX100. Of course some of it came from dear ones with genuine concern however some were from people who don't even ride a bike. A punch on their face would have been right but thought a successful trip will be the best response.
The idea of visiting Leh was itching from quite a while and the itch just got worse after reading all the blogs here on xBHP. After hearing Sachin's first hand experience of the place and seeing the unedited video's the decision was taken. There was no turning back now. I had to do it. I can't wait long. Leh it is in 2012!
First discussion:
Discussed the idea with my pals and the first reaction was, "Tu pe ke aaya hai kya?" "Yeh pagal ho gaya hai" "Itna chutti nahi milega" (the adjectives have been removed to suit the forum requirements
) Felt ridiculed and dismissed but didn't loose hope. The wait till the next weekend was long and painful. The Strategy was to share pics and videos with the team. As it turned out over the next few weeks, Highest Motorable road in the world, Pangong Tso, Rohtang, Kashmir and more so riding an MH numberplate in Jammu & Kashmir was too enticing for the group to resist. Eventually everyone was convinced. Now, I had the big task to plan and chalk out the itinerary for a group of 8 to Leh.Group of Eight or Group of Ten?
After reviewing almost all the blogs on xBHP, I noticed that people prefer to travel in groups of 2 to 4 people and some brave hearts even ride solo! With only one ride to Goa under my belt in 2010, going solo was out of question. And now I was to plan for a group of eight.
Riders:
Bimal (Bullet 350cc) Kamal (Pillion on Bullet)
Krunal (Pulsar 200cc)
Nilesh (Honda Unicorn)
Niranjan (Yamaha RX100)
Niraj (Yamaha RX100)
Jatin (Yamaha RX100) &
Yours truly, Pratesh (Yamaha RX100)
As the saying goes, you never know what destiny has in store for you. When the trip started it turned out we were 10 of us on eight bikes. More on this a little later.
| Date | Day | Schedule | |
| Phase I | Journey of a thousand miles | ||
| 8-Jun | Friday | Train to Jammu from BDTS 7:55 AM; Bike Parcelled to Jammu | |
| 9-Jun | Saturday | Reach Jammu aroud 2:45 pm. Pickup Bikes, do last checks & prepare for an early morning start. | |
| Phase II | To the top of the WorldPhase III | Home Run | |
| 24-Jun | Sunday | Train to Mumbai; Bike Parceled to Mumbai | |
| 25-Jun | Monday | Reach Mumbai around 8 am. | |
This part would not be complete without a round of thanks.
Family: For being super supportive and understanding my itch to take this journey.
Friends: For accompanying and helping me out on this epic journey.
Deven Joshi: For lending his beloved RX (MFL 8511)
Sachin Nair: For lending his saddle bag and also taking some time to review my itinerary. Thanks mate!
xBHP mates: Aargee, Hoodibaba, Nav75, MSD, xStunter, aatifs, Satyen & all xBHP mates for your responses to my queries. Rachit Kohli, Vishwas, Alankar Misra (The Leh Diaries have devoured hours and hours from my personal time. Have read it umpteen times already, but still feels good to start afresh and re live the entire journey. Hats off to you Alankar!) for your lovely blogs.
Just sharing some pics from this epic journey of mine. Hope you like them. Feel free to share feedback but yeah, please be gentle. Cheers!





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