Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

Travelogue Approved

Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

[MENTION=61437]SidharthaN[/MENTION] : aha! a place close to my heart... ajmer... dargah-e-shareef... yaa gareeb nawaaz... khwaja moienoodeen chishti awaliya...
been over a decade since my last visit there to pay my humble obeisance...
am certain u must've visited this holy shrine during ur trip too...
that foto looks very very exciting...
awaiting for more fotos & the log
ride safe my friend!

Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

There is a reason why I have mentioned the travelogue " miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep ! ". The trip never was supposed to be happening for Ajmer. I had planned out the trip for Himachal Pradesh, but the rains played spoilsport. Only a week ahead I had gone to Murthal for paronthas and the highways had been enticing...had planned out the trip for this weekend. Initially it was supposed to be a 2 day trip Sat-Sun, Monday back to office however could not convince my family for it. BTW did not push further since in july will be doing the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi route and approval has come about with a lot of difficulty.
The trip was going to happen this weeked that was for sure. Deciding the destination was posing a problem since it was raining in the hills all around and that is where I wanted to go. Started looking at destinations in the plains. Closest to Delhi is Rajasthan which has some intresting places. Initially was considering Sambhar Lake or Bhangarh. Since the trip was decided for Rajasthan did not want to extend the itienary to 2 days since I could cover a lot of kms on plains.
A rider knows that it is not about the destination but about the journey!! I wanted to extend the ride to more than 500kms however wanted to complete it in a single day. Suddenly Ajmer came into consideration. Previously I had done Delhi-Ajmer-delhi in my car around 5 times and all of them in a single day. However doing the same on a bike was something I was not sure of. Secondly I work in a BPO and night shifts are a part and parcel of my life. I had office on Friday from 07:00pm- 04:00am. Decided to move out of Delhi after my shift.
Now I think you can relate to why I mentioned " Miles to go before I sleep, Miles to go before I sleep !". Suited up and moved ahead from Gurgaon at 04:00am. I was following the slip roads and not the six lane which we have for the cars. Close to Manesar the slip roads had become nightmarish and before I could gauge a pothole..bang!I went into it. I was sure I had screwed up the endurance shocks of my P220.Got onto the six-lane as soon as I found the opening. The projector of the P220 is amazing. I had a RE TB earlier and had done some highway nightriding on it. Guessing the road was a game, I used to play, but the P220 beams were fabulous. As soon as I crossed Manesar got caught up in a huge line of trucks stuck in a jam. Even in my car I used to follow the same route at the same hours and always used to get stuck in such kind of jams. On a bike its different. Made my way through the narrowest of gaps and voila was out of the mess in 10 mins. I found the regular traffic minimum since I guessed only crazies like me would travel to Rajasthan for visiting purposes in summers and not the hills. In any case it helped me to cover distance. Kept speeds of around 80 kmph all along till Jaipur. Had a couple of Dhaba stops in the middle when sleep started to get over me. There were familes in the dhabas who gave me the alienated look and some young alecks who love to press switches whenever they get a chance. Highways an dhabas are inticate. Once I had travelled to Agra on the newly made Agra Expressway. I felt the absence of Dhabas which to me adds element to the roads.
By around 07:30am I was crossing Jaipur. I had done a lot of breaks to ease my back and to click pics. I have a serious case of cervical and lumbar spondylosis, have to give frequent breaks to my back or it starts to irritate me . The temperature was just about not to make you feel hot. I could gauge the temperature through the mineral water bottles I was carrying. The bottle I had purchased at Jaipur lasted me till Ajmer.
The biggest problem post Jaipur was the windblast. The speeds never let me cross 80kmph on my speedo. I was beng driven back/left/right by the force. Loved the ride on this strech since there is a lot of scenic element and traffic is minimal. I was accompanied a lot of times by locals from neighbouring villages on 100cc's trying to either match or overtake me. Almost on all instances I slowed down to make way for them since these guys do not even wear a helmet and do speeds of 100 right in the midle of the highway. The best part of the entire route is bikers do not have to pay toll. In a car the total round trip would cost you around Rs1000 but on the bike not a single penny.
Reached Ajmer at 11:00am. Did not want to take the bike all the way to the Dargah, since lanes close to the site are like lanes we have at Delhi 6. Parked my bike near the railway station. A quick visit to the holy shrine and I was free by 01:00pm. Last week it had rained tremendously in Delhi and my ride in the rains had dried up the chain. Unfortunately I did not get the time to have the chain lubed and it was acting weird. Had checked out a lot of local mechs while entering the city and had even found a Bajaj ASS Center. Did not want to go to the ASS since they would charge me a bomb. Got a local mech to lube the chain for Rs10, sweet !
I was already feeling the exhaustion since if you remember I was travelling after a night shift. Wanted to get back to Delhi before I finished my juice. The chain lubing had helped and on my return route there was no windblast. Easily maintained speeds between 80-90. The exhaustion and my back started to become worse. Made a couple of pit stops between Ajmer and Jaipur for water, since the bottles I was carrying was becoming hot. As soon as you cross Jaipur the innumerable diversions irritate the hell out of you, coupled with maniac car drivers and slow moving trucks. Delhi to Jaipur you find most of the flyovers completed but the return route work is still in progress. As soon as I hit an open strech to pick up speed there came a diversion. Like I said earlier in a car a person would get struck in traffic but on a bike it was a breeze. By 07:00pm I had entered Gurgaon and office traffic slowed me down considerably. You have maniacal mirrorless bikers weaving in front of you trying to show their skills. Decided to give all of them a pass and reduced my speeds around 70.
Reached home at 08:00pm and took my back off the saddle. The P220 is a commendable machine. The beast begged me for more without even tiring on the entire route. The route was done more to check the durability of the machine in comparison to the trip I would be doing next month. I was more than satisfied and am sure will do the 3000kms comfortably. Till then......Ciao !!

Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

Lovely photos there & a well written log too. It was almost like I were riding on that same route. Yes, the pulsar is a proven, tried & tested dependable machine. Couldn't agree more on the projectors too. All in all a great trip with good fun. Ride safe my friend... Cheers

Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

Good going bro...Nicely written!!!! A Pulsar is a 'PULSAR' Boss..!!! I had this P150 Classic (round headlight) model and did Pune-Nagpur-Pune ( around 1700-1800 Kms in 2 days) way back in Oct' 2005... Had no issues at all..!!

Cheers.. Ride Safe and do take care of your back pain...

Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

Great pictures & concise write-up!! You sure had a lot of fun.....


PS - Didya meet our Moderator?? - Mr. Samarth , I think he is from Ajmer.

Re: Delhi-Ajmer-Delhi

Awesome experience.. Must say, a ride after night shift ?

Hat's off

p220 is a great machine