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nice write up!! keep it coming....
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Ride Safe, Ride Longer -
That sound really pissed me off............
HOW Mania...Comment
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Do all the HOW! guys think alike...I mean even the Sikkim has a trademark characteristic to it. Amazing captures and a very well written log.
This is amazing...
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LoneWolfRides©Comment
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Day 3 : Vashist - Jispa : Part I
18th August, 2009 : 07:00 hrs - Vasisth
No matter how hard we tried, we could never stick to our original target of starting at 5 am. It would definitely be deferred till 7 am.
Nevertheless, off we start to conquer the mighty Rohtang Pass. Little did we know that we are about to pass through one of the most difficult parts of our journey. Why do I say so ? read on to find out.
Rohtang pass : Altitude – 13,051 feet
Agreed, its not that much an altitude to boast off, but what stands out is the condition of the terrain. There is no asphalt over Rohtang pass. And add to it the fact that it is a hill made up of loose soil, not rocks. And to make matters more spicy, we encountered bouts of showers just ideal to make the entire surface completely soft, slushy and slippery surface. In a word it was un-rideable. Had I been travelling in a 4X4, I might actually have enjoyed the color and texture of the road surface which reminded me of delicious chocolate mousse. Ok, imaginations under control, we saddle up to tackle the slush and muck. We tread softly, at the base, the ground is soft but still has some traction. All thanks to the sand being dumped by the BRO guys. As we climb up, the road starts deteriorating. Infact after a while, it had become a single lane route with almost zero traction. Trucks required boulders to hold them in the slope. A number of times we came across vehicles braking and immediately starting to slide down the slope. It is indeed a scary sight – a fully laden truck sliding down a mountain slope, all wheels locked and making a deadly sound. But I must admit, these drivers are the best in their class, no matter how sticky the situation is, they seem to have a way to wriggle out of it and at the same time make it look so easy. But not us. I pull in slowly at a slippery right hander, gently ease off the throttle and start angling into the turn – only to realize that the front tire is overshooting the corner; although a light dab on the rear brake brings her back to line but it still is extremely discomforting every time I do it with 20 kilos of luggage tied on to the back of a 180 kg bike. And if these heart stopping moments don’t shake you up, wait till you are faced with the supreme frustration of getting stuck in the mud with the wheels trying frantically to get some traction. This happens mainly due to the deep ruts in the road made out by the heave vehicles ahead. But bikers never say die and it didn’t take us long to find out a way to keep the bike from getting stuck and make most of whatever traction was available. The answer – TORQUE !! The first time in my life I learnt the importance of torque and fortunately the bullet had bucket loads of it. Just put her in second, leave the clutch alone and thump ahead with a gentle throttle. You won’t believe it but the bike never lost traction, leave aside getting stuck. It merrily pulled up the steep inclines as if mocking at my previous incompetence in handling her. At places where I needed to slow down to negotiate the terrain, just down shift to first and voila, no need to brake even, the torque is so well usable that the bike felt absolutely relaxed while crossing Rohtang.
However, one small piece of advice – try and follow the path taken by vehicles before. It is better not to try alternate routes. Sometimes that the surface to the left or right may appear to be dry and stiff compared to the rest of the road but many a times they act as tire traps just waiting to cave in the moment your tire goes over them. Try and avoid such situations. In case you do get stuck in a rut, don’t rev the nuts off with half the clutch pulled in. Perfect clutch burner. A CBZ and Pulsar 150 climbing with us had to suffer this fate. All you need to do is put in the first gear, pull in the clutch (fully) and get off the saddle. Now slowly release the clutch with a gentle throttle and try to push your bike out of the rut. As you slowly walk your bike out of the rut, feel happy that you had been nice to her and hopefully she should be able to complete the trip in one piece.
Coming up vashist to Jispa part II..Last edited by pistonheadz; 10-22-2009, 05:39 PM.Comment
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Ritwik, the simplicity of the words and the amazing pics spellbound the readers. Please hurry dishing out the amazing logs and simple, yet effective tips like the one above.In case you do get stuck in a rut, don’t rev the nuts off with half the clutch pulled in. Perfect clutch burner. A CBZ and Pulsar 150 climbing with us had to suffer this fate. All you need to do is put in the first gear, pull in the clutch (fully) and get off the saddle. Now slowly release the clutch with a gentle throttle and try to push your bike out of the rut.Comment
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As we had time constraints, our initial plan was to return from Leh via Manali again.
But Just after crossing Rohtang through that monstrous mud sea, in the very first break we took, we decided to change our plan and return via Kargil, Srinagar route. No way we are going down through this road again.
Crossing Rohtang is one of those experiences, which you will never want to happen with you again. Consider this, taking a steep hair pin with zero traction at your tire, following a feet deep track made by the truck ahead and in the mirror a Matador, just a feet behind your rear wheel frantically blowing its horn. you can't slow down as you need to keep the power band, you can't speed up as that will make everything out of control, you can't stop as that will take you down in no time and you can't give side as not you but the terrain is controlling your front wheel. That's called a perfect dead lock.
But thanks to the survival torque produced by my Electra. It was the perfect condition for perfect disaster, unless my bike made it just like that. Without clutch, in first or second gear, with a gentle throttle. she was slow, but much more steady in comparison. Love you baby!Last edited by burnoutz; 10-23-2009, 01:30 PM.Comment
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Originally posted by burnoutz View Post
So very true !! and just when you thought that you have generated enuf momentum to tackle the hairpin and outrun the van behind, the truck in front of you slows down !! DAMN !!
and ofcourse, by the time you cross the pass, your visor, jacket, gloves, trousers, shoes and your entire bike will be covered in thick brown muck. all thanks to the mudslinging by the tires of the truck in front of you.Comment
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Hey Kunal, welcome man. its been a long time. it's so great to see you here. check out our pics and logs. will bring in the rest pretty soon.Comment
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My memories of HOW! Ladakh Chapter
Hi Ritwik,
Thanks! Its great to see you guys here! I am so fascinated by your log and photographs! I will soon write a log on Ladakh at xBhp! Your style of writing is very good. I am reliving my Ladakh memories reading your log!
Coincidentally we guys had the same itinerary from Delhi to Leh as yours! We first saw each other at Mandi@ Hotel Monal! Then at Jispa, Deepaktal...and finally when I crashed trying to climb a mud road at the 19th Gata Loop, you guys helped me get back on the road!
Staying in Pang at Wet Canteen 'Hotel' was so bloody uncomfortable because of the cold and lack of oxygen. But one look at the night sky in Pang left us dumbstruck!
You guys stopped in More Plains for photos and for the last time we met in Leh.
I missed going to Pangong So and Nubra Valley
But next time for sure!
Here is one for the good times riding together!
Riders in Leh (August 21, 2009) (L-R) Indranil, Ritwik, Rahul & Kunal
Keep on writing your log man!!
Cheers to HOW! Ladakh Chapter!!
-Kunal (rollingthunder)Last edited by rollingthunder; 10-23-2009, 04:49 PM.Comment
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Lovely stuff. Very informative.
Awaiting the rest.A professional candid photographer - 17000+ followers. Be in touch
https://www.facebook.com/Jonak.Photo
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Day 3 : Vashist - Jispa : Part II
Day 3 : Vashist – Jispa : Part II – Post Rohtang
Finally Rohtang was won. We slipped, slided, got stuck, got all covered in muck and what not; still we managed to pull it off. We have crossed the first pass of the trip. One down, seven more to go. One might have a tendency to believe that Rohtang is the toughest part of the trip (all the other passes are asphalt covered, you see), but trust me when I say that this is just the beginning. You see, right after crossing Rohtang, I was starting to feel a bit relaxed and was just about to enjoy the scenery when suddenly.. SCREECH-THUD-BANG-THUD !! The front wheel crashed into a series of horizontal craters that stretched along the entire width of the road. As the rear wheel followed suit, I could sense a strong sensation of pain arise from my forearms and tailbone. I could see Indra and Rahul suffer the same fate. A pretty nasty bump indeed. The bump had in fact made me sharpen my focus on the road instead of the surroundings and what I saw ahead made my throat go dry. I seems that all our peg scrapping days were over. Ahead of us lay a road, no not a road, its rather a mountain with a part of its slope flattened so that vehicular traffic can call it a road and travel on it. As far as my sight could travel, I could see no change in the terrain. Suddenly everything became clear. Till Rohtang, it was just any other mountain ride. Rohtang is the gateway to a very different experience. Forget asphalt, all you get is a jagged rocky surface under your tires, the chilly wind whistling through your helmet visor, the rare air getting the better of you every time you take off your helmet. As you keep on crashing and banging into the craters, you stop worrying about your suspension – instead you start worrying about your spine. The adrenaline rush makes your heart beat faster and makes breathing even more difficult. It feels your body is sweating on the insides, yet your throat has gone dry. Yes, the survival instincts have taken over. This is the real deal. The virgin trail, the unforgiving terrain, the uncharted land where only eagles and men with guts dare.
The next few hours were spent in observing the gradual change in the geography. From the lush green hills in Manali the terrain has been slowly losing its greenery and is now smeared with random patches of black and brown. The polarizer filter on the dslr cam went on overdrive as we tried to capture the fantastic blue shade the sky was doused in. The color can actually made you feel heady if you look at it for a long time. However, the road conditions remained unchanged. And after a long butt-breaking session (it felt a lot longer than it actually was) we reached Koksar and took a much needed tea-snacks break. I could literally feel my bones rattling and creaking as I stretched my arms and legs. The dilapidated wooden bench felt like a velvet sofa and was a welcome relief for our abused butts. It was so surprising that this ride had brought out the humility in us as we sat there appreciating the comforts provided by this otherwise neglected piece of furniture.
While sipping into the steaming cup, my rear tire appeared a wee bit flat than it was in the morning. May be I was being paranoid. We came to know from the locals that the next 16 kms have wonderful surfaces to ride on. The excitement completely erased the thought of the tire out of my mind. But this excitement was short lived. Hardly a few kms from Koksar, Rahul who was riding behind me pointed out that my rear tire was looking a bit flat. I checked and to my horror, found it to be indeed low in pressure. I immediately realize that it was a very small leak and the tire was slowly losing pressure. I decide to gun the throttle – the roads are good and I will try to make it to the next town till the tire goes full flat. This will save us the time to do it ourselves. But it didn’t work that way. The road and the scenery were just too good to be sped across. The mixture of the green, brown, blue and white were so vivid it felt as if we were moving through a painting. The deep blue sky above, the brown hills on our right, the green hills to the left and the white river below , flanked by a better smooth blacktop – it was biking nirvana. The way the two distinct planes – one made by the river below and the other by the road above, seemed to meet in the distant was just too beautiful. The thought of the leaking tire kept on popping out of mind and every now and then I would stop to admire the surrounding beauty. But look at the tire and off I would run. However, as I would have it, couldn’t make it till Jispa with the leak. Tire went flat around 25 kms before Jispa. This time we managed to wrap it up in 30 mins. Boy, we are good at this !!
We managed to reach Jispa at around 17:00 hrs. Now we are faced with a dilemma. Should we try and cross Baralacha La before nightfall. It was definitely a risky option and considering that fact that if we cant make it, there would be no turning back. Hence we rode down till Darcha only to find that there is no suitable accommodation. Came back till Jispa and checked into a tented accommodation at Rs 500 for three people for the night. It was our first tent stay and it was indeed a very different experience.
Coming up : Jispa – Baralacha – PangLast edited by pistonheadz; 10-26-2009, 12:57 PM.Comment
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you missed one Ritwik... let me post that one !
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Prep time : Shopping
Clothes
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2. Full sleeve high neck t-shirt
3. Couple of shorts
4. Loads of socks, underwear
5. Light t-shirt for nightwear
6.
7.
8.
9. Goggles are a must to cut out the solar glare.
10. Balaclava or similar things to protect your face from the harsh conditions.
Luggage
Please refrain from carrying stuff in large bags / rucksacks / haversacks tied on the seat. Instead opt for specific motorcycle luggage like saddle bags / tank bags / side carriers etc. each one of us carried Cramster saddle bags, tank bags and one small backpack each for tools which was tied over the rear seat on the saddle bags. Avoid carrying bags on your shoulder. This will limit maneuverability and render you unsafe. The whole idea is to travel light. So plan accordingly.
Bike parts and tools
1.
2.
3. J)
4. Clutch cable, throttle cable
5. Headlamp bulbs, tail-lamp bulbs
6. Fuses (take a few of them)
7. Rear brake shoe spring
8. Rear brake shoe (if the current one has done over 7-8k kms)
9. Chain link
10. Disk brake oil
11. Spark plug, plug cap
12. Distill water
13. Some wires
14. Electricians tape (black tape)
15. Slide range
16. Puncture repair kit
A full bike cover is very useful for overnight parking and covering the luggage in case of rain. Please do take one with you.Comment
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