Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Thanks Krishna

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Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Fantastic man! Reminds me of my KB days! I had always wanted to do leh on my KB. Long live two strokes!

Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Here is the video of the moment when we reached Jalori Pass in night at 2030hrs. After stopping our bike on top of Jalori Pass, we rested and then shot this video. Enjoy

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Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

The morning happened early around 6am which is what I life especially when I am in hills. I like to see the sun rise and feel the morning chill, it rejuvenates me. So I got up and as usual did all the good morning chores. Went outside and breathed in the fresh cold air of the beautiful valley. I went down to the kitchen and Thakur ji was awake, I requested him for tea. He woke up his kitchen hand and told me within 10mins I will get it. I went and saw my bike after that and man what a mess she was in. Mud and slush everywhere, some oil leaks as well. I went to my room and got the keys, two kick and she got up as well. I was happy that she is all well, warmed her up till I got the call that my tea is ready. I shut her off and went up. I have one spot where I love to drink tea here at Raja Guest House and since I have been visiting this place since last 5yrs so I get the privilege of being able to move things around a bit, I will see if I can look for a picture of it. So I pulled a chair and sat there with a hot cup of tea admiring the flying birds in the valley which is green and lively. On the left side I see the Jalori pass and thinking about yesterday’s journey, lol I laugh at myself for being such a crazy person. Coming downhill from Jalori to Shoja with more than 10 to 15 feet of snow sideways and that also after 8:30pm lol, but I was proud of my RX for being able to do and coming to hills after 5yrs she did not complain anything.
Finally Atul also came out so got tea and sat together and started discussing what to be done for the day. We were planning to go ahead and take our bikes to Jalori pass once again. We both were excited and we knew that this is going to be tough as well as adventure. So we both got excited and started cleaning our shoes and riding pant which was covered in mud from last night’s ride. We ordered paratha and of course tea for breakfast.
Now we all ready to go uphill again, we went to check our bikes. The bike was covered in mud and then there were oil stains almost everywhere on our bikes. Then only Thakurji came in asking us what the plan is for today, we disclosed him our adventurous trip. He said do you really want to do it. We said yes, he said the traffic has started moving and the slush will be getting worst now. Also the government will be attempting to run the bus today from Banjar to Jalori and see if it can go through or not. Then only one Tavera guy came from Jalori side. Thakur ji asked him in local language about the road conditions, the driver of the Tavera said that an before he went to climb Jalori and cross to other side but he got stuck and had to come back. He said he will try till noon again, but for now it’s quite bad as the water flow from the snow on the sides has increased which has created lot of slush.
Now we both started to think and there were too many things coming up in mind. One of them was that we both had 2 strokes which have been abused a lot yesterday, and we still had a long way back home. But again coming to Shoja and not going to Jalori and eating magi and egg bhuji with few cups of tea was something which we cannot miss and it has to be done at any cost. Discussed the same with Thakur ji and we came to a solution, that we will catch any of the taxis who are going to cross Jalori Pass and get down at Jalori pass, spend time out there and then come down through some other taxi. Yes, Atul also agreed to this plan. So we got relaxed and had our breakfast and then started waiting for the taxi to come by. After a wait for about 30mins we got the Taxi and jumped in it. There were few other people in the taxi which was Tata Sumo. So we started from Raja Guest house and we both were excited as never took a trip by taxi on this route, always did this route on our bikes. Now the Tata Sumo was going all well for the 2kms and then it hit the patch where the incline becomes too much and seeing the slush and the snow around, we were missing our motorcycles. But then only something happened which made us feel that we made the right decision.
There was another vehicle coming downhill from Jalori, the Tata Sumo in which we were travelling had to move sideways to give pass to the incoming vehicle. Now as the vehicle passed by, the Tata Sumo tried to get out of the sideways and it got stuck. The tyres started rolling and spinning the mud was splashing but no luck. We got down and tried to push the Sumo, but it being a heavy vehicle and stuck it could not come out. After lot of tries the driver managed it to get into back gear and pull it backwards, but he was not able to go ahead and was getting stuck again and again. The driver finally gave up and said he won’t go further and reversed his SUV and went out. Atul and I decided to get down and wait for the next incoming vehicle and then we will go up. Till now it was already 1000hrs. So now waiting on the side of the road it was already around an hour, we were strolling and slowly we were trying to go ahead. But the slush was too much for us, so we got a nice spot where we got easily stand without worrying about the incoming vehicles and then started playing with snow, and we were just doing absurd things. Time passed by and we were being stared by the vehicles which were coming downhill from Jalori. So after a while we decided that we will go down and wait for another taxi.
Now as we were walking downwards we saw that a Mahindra Bolero Camper was coming downhill, so we asked him for a lift and yes we got it. We climbed on the back and there were two other people sitting and there was pile of Telecom Cables. The ride was quite a bumpy one but one hell of an experience. Nowhere to sit we were actually sitting on cable and could feel the cable well within, just after few meters of bumpy ride. We did not have any other option, so we tolerated what beating we were getting underneath and as soon as Raja Guest house came we told the driver to stop, jumped out and thanked the driver. We got down and some kids were playing on the parking lot of Raja Guest house. The cook came in and enquired what happened, we narrated him the whole story. He was like don’t worry when other one comes then you can go in that. So since we were getting bored, Atul started recording the kids playing cricket in his GoPro. And I joined the kids and was playing cricket along with them. So this happened for quite some time, I think easily an hour or more, before we spotted another taxi coming and going uphill. We waved and sat on it, this time it was Toyota Qualis. So we sat in there and again started our ride uphill, this was the second one and the time was already past 12pm. We again got excited and were happy to be on our way. One more reason to be happy was that we did not order for lunch as we wanted to have lunch at Jalori. So while going we crossed the spot where our Tata Sumo got stuck, and we were happy that this vehicle crossed it, but damn our happiness was short lived. Just I think 100meters ahead of the spot where we got stuck before the Toyota got stuck. The rear wheel started spinning moving the vehicle ahead slowly, so we were like yes it will do it. The only “bbbbaaaammmmmmm” and I knew, the rear left tyre of the vehicle burst. We were like what the hell? We asked the driver if he has a spare and very confidently he said YES. So I was like alright lets help him changing the tyre. As soon as he got the spare down from his luggage carrier on top, his face turned pale. He was like it got punctured yesterday night and he forgot about it and hence did not repair. The result – the spare had no air. Atul and I were like wow. Well the family which was sitting in the Toyota started walking upwards and were making fun of us, saying come you can do it. We were like yeah why not but in other direction. Atul and I lost it completely, we started laughing and abusing and what not. We lighted a smoke and then got back to our senses. We decided whatsoever happens we are not going to go back, so we once again started trekking uphill and towards Jalori. We were playing and doing some crazy things and laughing our guts out. The vehicle going downhill were staring us and thinking that we have lost it big time, which actually we did. So we did trekked uphill for sometime before our stomach alarmed us that the paratha consumed in breakfast in no longer available as fuel, kindly fuel up. Now this was an issue, if we went this time then I am not sure if we will be able to get the cab in time or not. So what I did is I called Thakur ji, thank God I was still getting the Cell phone reception which usually vanishes at this place. Called him and narrated him the whole thing. He said what we want; I informed that we have to go to Jalori, that’s all. Thakur ji said he will send a taxi. We said alright, we will keep moving ahead slowly so till the taxi comes we will be able to cover some distance already. After sometime we got a call that Maruti Alto will be coming and taking us to Jalori. And hence finally we reached Jalori, thanks to Thakur Ji.
The amount of snow on top was simply amazing. I have been visiting this place since year 2010 and I have visited this place in the month of March as well, I have done it twice. But this time the snow was simply amazing. Everybody even the locals were a bit surprised about the snowfall this season. Atul and I went to the dhaba which I always visit here, and the cook recognized me and we greeted each other. Then we ordered food and then visited the temple. And then we were just lazing around on the bench in sun and speaking to the locals and the Police guy who stays at this place 12 months and in all weather. We had a good long chat while we were getting our tummy filled with magi and Egg Bhuji and tea. We spent some more time and then it was time to go down back to Raja Guest house. The Alto driver was very nice, he waited for us without saying a word. Once we were back in Raja Guest House, we ordered our dinner and in evening it got quiet chilly so opened the drinks and enjoying the snacks we crashed off, tomorrow we were to reach Delhi.

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Thanks for reading out till now, now enjoy the pics :

Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Some really beautiful shots!

Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Thanks Krishna

Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

The next day we had planned to leave early so that with our two strokes we can go ahead and take breaks and reach Delhi. But we were being a bit too adventurous for the last leg. As we all know going back from hills is one of the most boring part and which is tedious as well. So we decided to make it a bit more interesting.
We got up at around 7am and then we started getting ready, by 9am our Bikes were saddled up and ready to go. But we still had to have our breakfast, which took about half an hour. So by 10am we left Shoja on our way to Delhi, and the route which we took was Shoja – Mandi – Ner Chowk – Bhota – Una – Nangal – Kiratpur Sahib - Rupnagar – Ambala – Karnal – New Delhi.
This route had beautiful roads throughout only about 10% of the road would be bad or worst. We enjoyed riding our two strokes on smooth tarmac in hills. It was good initially, as we started coming down in elevation and altitude, the warm of the sun started increasing making us and our bikes exhausted. We hardly clicked any picture. The stops which we took were either to cool down our bikes or for some quick bite. But yes the frequent breaks were more in frequency thanks to the hot weather which started as soon as we reached Mandi. After Mandi it was stop and go as we were getting too exhausted in this heat. It was around 6pm when we reached Bhakra Nangal Dam. I don’t remember if we stopped for dinner that night. I only know that we stopped to cool of our bikes and to fuel her up. But yes we rode continuously and reached Delhi next day in morning. A hard ride with our butts numb beyond recognition of any feeling. Well still in morning when we reached Delhi Atul and me were happy and stopped for a smoke before we departed for our respective house.
We both were happy on touring on our two strokes and specially that our bike did adapt to the way we ride i.e. butt breaking rides. Yes while coming back our machines did not had to face any torture as it faced while climbing to Jalori. The road were all smooth and it was quite eventful.
Now lets see when the next ride happens, till than you all ride/drive safe. And yes thank you once again for going through the complete log and delayed updates. Ride Hard Ride Safe.

Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Will be waiting for your next ride.

Re: Epic Ride with Epic Bike

Travelouges like this force me to love my Raxy even more