1000+ kms solo ride.. It was for a purpose & the purpose was solved...

If you had the only opportunity to achieve whatever you wanted from life & you let it slip, this is something not easily acceptable! You keep prompting your inner self about your capabilities to withstand the most malignant competition you’d ever have, even then you end up lost & thinking if it had been a better attempt by you to capture what belongs to you for the taking. But now there’s no shot no opportunity no favour for a chance to stand high for claiming what you say should have been yours. Success doesn’t belong to anyone unless worked hard for! This is something I learnt from my experience at the Delhi Event of the Castrol Power1 Passion Hunt 2009. For an average guy like me who had willingly lost himself in dedicating his life for nourishing his instinct for something materialistic called Biking, this was a whale of an opportunity!

The pic says it all..

As they say, “Try and Fail, but don’t Fail to Try..” I’m officially in favour of this context, after all I went through on that bright day of March. I guess I took it for granted that my keen interest in Biking would pave way for me at the competition. But folks, seriously, it doesn’t work this way! I learned why..

After losing it at the Castrol Power1 Passion Hunt Delhi Event on 8th March’09, I was shattered, for this not only destroyed my confidence however, gave me a reason to question my own capabilities. It’s tough to manipulate what went wrong on that perfect day. Though, it didn’t turn t0 be perfect in all senses for me. The time I was witnessing the winners being rewarded & applauded on the stage, I was talking to myself. “I should have been there.. I could do it!”, I said to myself. Goshh, I being an emotional person, could really imitate in the way I’d normally do. Honestly speaking, I was hurt.

Nevertheless, I decided to give it another shot in Lucknow where another City Event was to held on 14th March. Parents disagreed to let me go alone, but this was my last chance to showcase & discover the true biking substance inside me. I can fairly say that I wanted the world to know what I was made of. And that’s why, I packed myself up for the ride and went around to push the soring 1000+ kms down with my best pal, my HUNK.

The HUNK itself!

ABOUT THE DESTINATION:

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India. Lucknow is also the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division. Located in what was historically known as the Awadh region, Lucknow has always been a multicultural city. Courtly manners, beautiful gardens, poetry, music, and fine cuisine patronized by the Persian-loving Shia Nawabs of the city are well known amongst Indians and students of South Asian culture and history. Lucknow is popularly known as the The City of Nawabs. It is also known as the Golden City of the East, Shiraz-i-Hind and The Constantinople of India.

MY JOURNEY:

A day before I had to ride, I got my bike serviced on 12th March. And bought a new OGK full-face helmet the same day. I decided to kick start at 5 in the morning but due to my ever-lasting laziness, I managed to leave home at 05:45AM. The day was 13th March’09. Setting the tripmeter to 0000, I was expecting a mileage of around 50kmpl or more from my machine as during the last roadtrip to Agra in January 2009, my bike snored fuel @ 50 kmpl. Rather, I was expecting a lot out of this roadtrip! I was a bit aware of road conditions on NH-24 coz everyday I had to travel a piece of the highway to my college near Hapur City. But I never knew that the roads were a real mess after one crosses Moradabad and reaches Bareilly & Shahjahanpur.

The route looked like:

Roadmap from Delhi to Lucknow

DELHI—-60—-HAPUR—-100—-MORADABAD—-91—-BAREILLY—-160—-SITAPUR—-90—-LUCKNOW
(distances as per my bike’s odometer)

At 07:35AM, i stopped at Sambhavli to make a phone call to dad n that jotted down 76kms on my tripmeter. I left sambhavli at 07:45AM n drove along the under-construction sites on NH-24 to reach a dhaba at 08:15AM in Gajraula, 109.5kms from home. I was starving so I jumped up onto the menu and ordered an omlette with a coffee. Having gulped the stuff, I clicked a few shots of my ride and the place (like the one above) & soon went off leaving 5 bucks for tip, for I needed wishes, regardless the manner they came.

At the dhaba in Gajraula

I crossed Moradabad through the smooth roads & reached Bareilly at 12:00PM having rode 251kms already.. Bareilly is a crowded city man, full of rickshaw drivers & street hawkers, so definitely not a stoppage for me for I hate crowd.. I again stopped at 01:15PM (307kms) somewhere near Bareilly district to freshen up n give rest to my companion. It was a Hanuman temple on the other side of the road, so I decided to hop in. Clicked some pics of my bike with the temple in the background. I even called up my cousin here in Delhi n confirmed him my well-being. It was around 200 more kms to go, so I decided to start afresh n riding through the messed out, pot holed roads of Sitapur, I landed in Lucknow at 05:15PM. My ride went upto 501kms.

Now I was in the Passion Hunt City itself, so I drove directly off to the venue of the hunt in Hazratganj, for I couldn’t simply wait until I saw the place. It was a college ground on the Rana Pratap Marg where the next mega city hunt was going to be held the next day. I felt low standing in front of the entrance gate of the venue, as it was a mixed feeling of confidence n fear. Afterall coming 500kms down the line for a competition wasn’t worth it, atleast as far as for my family is concerned. But this was what I chose for myself, so I cheered myself up & called up my friend in Delhi to give me the contact details of his uncle in Lucknow. Having got the details, I landed up at the place at 06:45PM, parked my bike inside the house n stretched myself as soon as I hit the bed there.. I was dead tired, so no more theories now, had dinner n fell asleep at 09:30PM with the alarm clock set to ring at 7 in the morning.

Alright, it was 14th March, the day itself. I was pretty confident regarding the hunt. I packed myselves up for the competition & reached the venue at Hazratganj before time at 09:45AM. I found only 1 person standing near the parking with his bike which was by the side of the registration counter. I parked there n went to fill the registration form n check out the rules n all.. I met the rider from Lucknow itself, named Sam, was studying as well as working in Lucknow only. It was nice meeting a passionate biker in the first place after entering the strange city..!! I registered myself n got inside with my machine with a hope that may be this time I might get what I missed in Delhi..

Hunt was on!!! 1st round, the figure of 8 round.. I managed to create 8 figures of 8 in 90 seconds (which was the allotted time..), it was same as much as I did in delhi..!! Then I was forwarded to round 2 which was a slow race n the rider had to finish in the maximum time the distance of 50 feet in a prescribed area..!! I finished the slow race in 47 second which was pretty less than the highest which was 1min22sec.. But I still didnt loose hope for I knew i was gonna kick this one in the quiz round.. And so what happened, I answered 10 out of 10 correct.. I was delighted to hear my name in the top 11 bikers in Lucknow Event.. Now it was the stage round in which every biker out of the final 11 had to speak for 2 minutes on the stage about his passion for bikes n the reason for which he was the most passionate one in India..!! People spoke a lot, so did I.. I spoke my heart out in front of the judges.. I’m glad I got a chance to speak what I really felt for biking n how strongly i was connected to it!! I’m glad that everyone was impressed by my speech n applauded me gracefully..

Now came the time when final 4 bikers had to be declared..!! I had my fingers crossed n guess what, I made it to the final 4.. I jumped again coz coming so far n getting selected in the final 4 was much of an achievement..!! Now it was the slow slalom round in which each biker had to complete a slalom race in the maximum time.. I completed it in 67seconds but there’s always someone better than we are n so what happened.. The winner guy did it in 2min or so.. He won n I ended up as a runner up.. It was a feeling of having achieved what I wanted & at the same time I felt disappointed for not winning the competition. However, I was willing to forgive myself for not being perfect. I felt glad that I did what I wished!! As a reward, I got a Castrol Power1 official jacket n two cans of Castrol Power1 Engine Oil.. The jacket is super-sexy, I must tell u..!!

With the judges

It was 7 in the evening, so I headed straight to my room n took rest, informed my parents in Delhi about what happened that day n fell asleep at 9.. Early morning on 15th March, I started afresh from Lucknow at 05:30AM n my city was roughly 498 kms away.. The moment I looked at the km-stone of 498kms, I felt tired n at the same time I was excited to go home n share my experience with my parents and relatives.. So I kick started myself n ofcourse my bike and drove off for not-so-giant roadtrip back home 500 kms which I completed in 12hrs down the road..!!

What goes next are some photographs that I clicked on my way back












Reaching back home is an eternally delightful feeling. Looking at the faces of your loved ones, gives you a sigh of relief for sure. When I reached home, I was dead tired coz I drove slowly but continously for 12 hrs the whole day & felt like hitting the bed as soon as possible.. But the moment I met my parents n friends at home, an aura of ease n delight pinged inside me & I was fine.. Truly, it was amazing coming back home after a this special roadtrip.

SOME POINTS TO MENTION:

Total distance covered – 1082 kms
Total fuel burnt – 22.54 litres
Total cash spent – 1100 for fuel & around 200 bucks extra
Total time taken – 11.5 hrs forth n 12 hrs back

I couldn’t roam around the City of Nawabs myself but it’s necessary to let my readers know more about the city. Some tourist attractions of Lucknow are listed below:

• Qaiser Bagh Palace
• Sikandar Bagh
• Chattar Manzil
• Bara Imambara
• Chota Imambara
• Aurangzeb’s Mosque
• The Residency
• La Martiniere College
• State Museum

The city offers a wide range of accommodation options, and is easily accessible form the major cities of India by air, rail or road transport.

WELL-KNOWN HOTELS IN LUCKNOW:

• Hotel Clarks Avadh, U.P. Hotels Limited, 8, Mahatama Gandhi Marg, Lucknow-226001
• The Taj Residency, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow-226001
• Hotel Gemini Continental, 10, Rani Laxmi Bai Marg, Lucknow-226001
• Hotel Sagar International, 14-A, Jpling Road, Opp. Butler Palace Lucknow-226001
• Hotel Deep Palace, 12/47, Cantt Road, Lucknow-226001
• Hotel La Place Park Inn, 6, Shahnajaf Road, Lucknow-226001
• Hotel Arif Castle, 4, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow-226001

I lost my bike keys during the course of the hunt, but luckily I had spare keys with me which I took as per the checklist I prepared a day before going for the roadtrip..

I didn’t win the title in Lucknow though, however i still feel like a winner coz i won in the eyes of my parents & i discovered a real biker inside me who could follow his passion as far as it could take him..!!