Indo -French joint venture June 2010

Yes it was strange, but , the Bajaj had 100 kgs less than my Harley and was easy to move ,even though it doesn't go more than 110 km /h ( with a good wind in the back ) and i was surpriesed that it keep a right speed at 5000m .

Brigitte 's equipement photo

I have a Lumix PanasonicDMC-TZ7 12X and a video camera Sony40x optical zoom, HDD .This ride was very physical for me,like "enduro"on difficult tracks because i am only 1m52 and 52 kgs

"horse's mouth"

It's impossible to compare 2 very different bikes,and on the road so different conditions .Avanger can't go quikly but it had not importance on tracks ,i could move it easily because it wasn't heavy for me and on regular tar, driving was pleasant.But the back break was too soft and the light's conception are bad and a dangerous error for life because light depends from "dynamo".So when you are breaking , it's because you are in danger, and in this case you need to see more what happens and when your light die away you cant see nothing and i fell down in dangerous conditions . I think that 's inadmissible ,near criminal for a bike's manufacturer.

To be more positive, Avanger is a strong and reliable bike.If you want i talk about my sportster 1200 ,you can ask me and at Ken Cool more questions and tell me if you are interested by Free Wheels , a great bike meeting in France 6, 7, 8 august because i'll take photo and i can relate for xBhp this event if you are interested .

Welcome to xBhp Brigitte FAYET!

Great to see you as a registered member and replying and posting on the forum.

Great Shots Ken, 220 looks Sexo Naked

Great! Thanks for taking your precious time out to reply to the queries, Brigitte.

Day10: Leh - Sarchutyres with studs on snow! I a not sure about the viability of finding such tyres in Leh. I did not even think about it!

Lost Keys!sweating profusely in my state of mental disarray. And then I found the whole bunch inside my helmet! After losing 45mts.

We set off finally. We nearly had 250kms to cover to Sarchu before nightfall. And we had no idea about the condition of the roads. Though we knew that till Sarchu, quite a few bikers had attempted and reached.

I had promised a photo-stop to Brigitte near Hemis, right next to the Indus. This stop was made a little short of Karu.



Hemis in the distance:






Loved the colour of the mountain rocks here:




And we kept moving. Turned right from Upshi. The road remained quite good till Rumtse, 100kms from Leh. Covered that in less than 3 hours. But then we came across disappeared tarmac, road laying working going and a lot of ice and snow and quite bad roads and a lot of melted water in huge puddles, all the way till Tanglang La. On one stretch I even had to help Brigitte cross over a patch of construction work where they were had laid broken stones on the road before continuing laying the road on top. It was a tough stretch of about 50 odd metres that I helped Brigitte cross.

You can see the path leading to Tanglang La behind my head!


Photo and Diamox time. Then I let Brigitte go ahead for the second time in our trip. She kept going. The next 15kms took an hour! Brigitte had already reached Tanglang La.

YouTube - Climb on Tanglang-La

Registered by my GPS.

Brigitte First


Me following later:




Tanglang La Baba watched over us!DebringBreakfast, Lunch and Dinner; Beds also available!Tents near Debring


The Lovely Kitchen that prepared our Maggi Noodels!


More Plains Guess what those black spots are in the distance...


They are this:


Getting out of Debring and on to the More Plains was a tough affair with deep stretches of sand. I spent a great amount of time of my ride looking in my rear view mirror to see if all was well with Brigitte in the tough Indian riding conditions. What I saw Brigitte do in the sand at More Plains was nothing short of Chris Pfeiffer spectacle. She swerved to the left, she swerved to the right, trying to maintain a steady line, her front wheel came up; it was almost miraculous and I had my heart nearly out of my mouth. And she left a blazing cloud of dust big enough to show that she has been riding a tank at full throttle! But she did not drop the bike.

I have enjoyed riding on More Plains before. But not this time. BRO in its efforts to widen roads, most of it was unfinished and the rest of it was deep sand, difficult to ride in if you are not a seasoned off-road rider.

Reached Pang. Photos.

Road to Pang




Everybody knows where and what this is...


Closer look of what Brigitte calls Fairy's Chimneys!


Then came Kangla Jal. It was past 4 in the afternoon. The melting snowcapshit boulders under the stream and nearly lost it. The current was strong and I tried countering the current. I hit another boulder and the bike swerved to the left and I climbed a rock piece. The rear axle was still in the water. The bike had not stalled. Thankfully the current here was manageable and I pushed a rock to reverse a bit and with gradual throttle I managed to cross the stream. I had broken into a heavy sweat.

I was not scared of dropping the bike or falling into the water. I was mostly scared of dropping my expensive photographic equipment into the water.

I went back jumping on rocks and helped Brigitte with her bike. There was no way she was going to manage this all on her own. This time I chose another trajectory to cross the stream. It was deeper with current but there were lesser boulders. I managed it.

Then came the second part of Kangla Jal. This too was nearly axle deep and a pretty strong current. This was when two Europeans came on their bullets. I showed them what to avoid on the first part. And I let them go first on the second part. Checked out the gradient, depth and current while they made their crossing. I got it too. This time Brigitte managed to do it on her own. She looked happy having done it. It was fun. Ten minutes ago I was not smiling when I was stuck in the middle of the crossing!



The depth was till the axle, but the current hit me till nearly my thighs!


YouTube - Kangla Jal Crossing after Pang

Back on the road again. Or what was left of what was once a road. I calculated; two more major passes at 5000mts+, Gatta Loops and then another hour to Sarchu. I feared that we would be riding in the night. I stopped thinking and started riding. I maintained a brisk pace and Brigitte kept up. We did a brisk stop at Lachlung La, none at Nakeela and then came the 21 sharp hairpin bends of Gata Loops as we descended a thousand metres in less than 8 kms. All of it was thankfully tarmac.

Lachlung La








So far we made it


The only person from xBhp who made it past this point before us this season was KurtThere was not a single bed available! Everything was sold out to such an extent that I saw people lying down in the seats of their cars with engine running and the heater on! Then I came to the last tent and there was a lady who was wo-manning it! I pleaded with her saying I got a small son, a lady and I could not find a place to staytin shack abandoned by the armyOur Army Tin Shed




The following day was the acid test! I already knew that we would make it till Manali. But the thought was, in what conditions and under what circumstances! Kurt had said, attempt it only if you are an accomplished rider on snow, black ice... One cannot do much on black ice! One falls.

I too left Upshi with the same optimism of crossing the mighty Baralacha La. I too was hopeful. I too believed that it is just an over-hype and BTop should open up. I too met a few bikers enroute who instilled confidence, though they had left Manali a week ago, and crossed BTop when the road opened for just a day on the 8th of June!!

We took the same risk, Ken. The only differnce is that you crossed over, and I had to cover 1350 kms to get back to the place which was merely 500 from Sarchu

I am surprised to see so less snow and so much water, especially at Kangla jal, which was dry when I crossed it! But I guess that is expected moreover when Moray plains changed from white to green in just a day!

Great narration Ken! Keep going.

And yes, a special congratulations to the the lady who travelled with you. She must have come across such roads/landscapes for the first time. Riding over them is no child's play. Requires strength, grit and determination, especially in June! She did it, crossed over and came back safe and sound. Hats off!

Nice narration of the day followed by some pictures. Thanks for sharing. The last part (lover, et al) was hilarious. Waiting for subsequent day's log and photographs, now.

Thanks Kurt.

I don't know if I had the optimism of making it or if the Big B was going to be accessible! I just went there taking a chance. Day1: the chance paid off. Kangla Jal was the only major obstacle. Tanglang La was difficult for some, but certainly not impossible.

But this is not yet finished, Big B is yet to come!

Yes, really hats off to the lady! She has got real grit and determination.

Not much left now... following day is going to be Judgment Day!

Ken- Lovely write-up and pics. True adventure with all kinds of challenges (including the guy waking you up looking for his girlfriend.. ha ha)

Appreciations to Brigitte and special mention for the little adventurer Mael. Very nice. Keep it coming.

Much respect to the French lady, helmets off to her spirits!

We did Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai last month and crossing BarlachLa was as big an achievement as riding all the way from Mumbai to Leh for me. We waited for 3 days @ Sarchu for BarlachLa to get open, we made our 1st attempt on Day1 and one of our bikes clutch plates went kaput.

We covered Tanglang-La to Pang after 05:30pm, so kinda missed those beautiful mountains right after the Moore Plains end.. thanx for sharing those pics, Ken Da.

You did? Which day/date? On motorcycles?

Yes they did last month.. Spidy, MOtor & Alankar.. On motorcycles

Ok! That one? I was reading it.