Children's Day Ride - Golden Pentagon

I Accept it. I'm a Kid. And I'm not alone. I play with so many like-minded peers. My parents keep on scolding me for playing outside the home for so long. But I'm a stubborn kid. Once I take out my wheels, there's no stopping.

So, on the occassion of Children's Day, it was obvious that we would not be staying inside our homes. Most of our "thinner" buddies were left disappointed as we did not allow them to play with us on the Anniversary occassion. It was reserved for only us "fatsos". The slim kids were scorned and decided to hold one of their own tournament. But, they are more open-minded and invited us also to come along and play with them.

Alright enough of the kiddie talk. Lets talk Man stuff now. Most important reason was, our dear friend, Mrinal Doley had been yearning to go on a ride. His close buddy, Gyan, was all-supporting. Also, worth mentioning is that Gyan rarely refuses to go on a ride, even though he always travels 100 kms in advance from Panipat to get to the assembly point. Invites were sent to all, but in the end only 3 of us went for the ride. We had just completed our Bulls on Parade Anniversary Ride, so none of the Bulleteers joined. I joined in because I had ridden my Bullet for only a few kms in the Anniversary Ride.

It was a unique ride. We didn't plan anything. The only certain thing was we would be heading out on NH-8. We traversed what can be called as Golden Pentagon. Hey, when you cut across two corners of a Golden Triangle, you do get a Golden Pentagon.

Gyananath Moshahari - Hero Honda Karizma - Chinky 1
Mrinal Doley - Bajaj Avenger DTS-i - Chinky 2
Diptinder Singh Chhabra - Royal Enfield Electra 4S - Sardaar 1 and only
(No, I'm not racist)

14 Nov 2009

The night before had seen some partying. It has sort of become a ritual to ride heavy-headed. The weather was great. It was partially cloudy and chilly. Gyan called to wake me up at 6 AM. He and Doley had gathered at South Ex. I got dressed hurriedly. Fortunately, I had packed my stuff the previous day only. I waited for the two to join me at Gurgaon Toll Plaza. As I was waiting, a rider stopped besides me. He was riding a brand new Bullet Classic 500 and asked me if everything was OK. Fellow riders always show brotherhood. I told him everything was fine. He was stretching the legs of his Bullet by riding a short distance on the NH-8.

After some time Gyan called up. He had been waiting at the Manesar Toll Plaza. I had missed the name in my sleep. I took off quickly. As I crossed the 500, I waved to him. Gyan had told me that he would stop at the first petrol pump after the Toll. Instead, I found them waiting in front of a theka with a Carlsberg in hand. C'mon, its 6:30 AM in the morning. People are doing Yoga and offering meditations. Gyan just cant resist booze, whatever the time maybe. I took the last sip.

We decided to halt after covering at least 100 kms. This might be the only time we could rip and we wanted to make the most of it. As we raced ahead, we heard a couple of rumbling noises behind us. And then passed a Black Yamaha R1. It was followed by a Black Tri"oomph" Street Racer. Superbikes are easily seen on this highway early on weekend mornings. Someday, you'll see mine too, which I'm patiently waiting to be launched.

The run till Neemrana was swift. But, as we neared Behror, it began to crowd up. Motorcycles can escape the trap through the leftmost side, but still our average speed was being ruined. The jam lasted for quite some distance. We were getting tired from the crawling pace and then Gyan stopped just outside Behror for tea and smoke. All this time the traffic was continuously piling up.

We stretched ourselves to face the next challenge and started our machines. Painfully, we crossed the dreaded traffic and started to open the throttles once more. But soon enough, another jam welcomed us. Funny thing was after crossing the traffic, it couldnt be figured out why the jam actually took place. There was no sign of any accident, no closed lanes. The pleasure of riding on NH-8 was being soured.

After crossing Kothputli, we stopped at a familiar dhaba. My Bullet had been left at this dhaba during the Anniversary Ride owing to a fellow rider's, Rishi's, accident. The owner and I were pleased to see each other again. They asked about the condition of Rishi who has recovered well now. Unfortunately, he did not serve parathas. We had to eat at the neighbouring dhaba. Some very heavily made Egg and Mooli Parathas.

After stuffing ourselves, we began to consult the map to look for a suitable destination. Gyan suggested the idea of doing the Golden Triangle(Delhi, Agra and Jaipur). It sounded like a fine idea. To add some masala to the route, we decided to take the NH-11A. This highway connects Manoharpur on NH-8 to Dausa on NH-11. None of us had travelled on that road before. Bidding goodbye to the dhabawala, we set off. The traffic had now lessened.


Soon, we crossed Manoharpur and took NH-11A. This road was single, but looked beautiful and virgin. Accelerators twisted and we ate the kilometers. There were some under-construction patches, but the dirt was all settled down due to moisture. Maybe, it had rained here the day before. So, even the rough patches had been smoothed down. The sun was getting brighter and that required some immediate treatment. BEER. As we crossed the villages, we could not locate any theka. The landscape was vast and we just soaked in the lovely atmosphere.

We stopped for a few photographs on the superb terrain. 40 kms passed in no time. As we came to an intersection that led to Dausa, a theka came in view. Emergency brakes were applied and a U-Turn was taken. The brand of the beer was Bullet, one of our old favourites. Its a different feeling to have beer on khaats.

Moving on, we touched the NH-11 that connects Jaipur and Agra. This is an excellent toll road. This was how NH-8 used to be before being crushed by heavy trailers. Traffic was rare. Gyan was immediately seen crouching over his bike and zooming ahead to speeds above 120 kph. But he did so only in spurts and quickly rejoined the group.


The thing about tolled roads is you get bored travelling at near about the same speed in a straight line. The fun that you get on curvaceous state highways is simply missing. We had about 100 kms to cover till Bharatpur and we were bored after ripping for 30 kms. Fortunately, the weather was still pleasant. The wind was cool and there was little sunshine.

Almost forgot to mention, Doley is better off riding without beer. Until that day, I had thought our Vihans to be the maximum leaker. But Doley shattered his record with ease. He was leaking every hour.

As we reached Mahwa, an interesting looking fort was visible. Maybe, this will be conquered in some future ride. Mahwa is just 250kms away from Gurgaon.

By now, we were feeling slightly hungry. We stopped at a roadside dhaba. Since, we needed some rum desperately, we took the charpais at a corner. Coke and pakodas were ordered. Doley preferred to drink his whiskey he had brought along. It is during these times that our minds become creative. As we wished each other Children's Day, we decided that this would be the name of the ride.

We turned off NH-11 after reaching Bharatpur. The road from Bharatpur to Mathura formed the 4th side of our Golden Pentagon. This was going to be covered in the dark. Bharatpur was a typical small town. We negotiated rough roads and lots of dust to reach the road that connected Mathura. By now, it was dark too. All the vehicles on this road drive on high beams.

As soon as it gets dark, Gyan is quite unlike what he is during the day. His pace becomes very slow. A railway crossing was closed with a defective gate that the mechanics were fixing. After entering UP, the road conditions improved, much to our surprise. There was good markings on the sides. Only disappointments were the ultra-high beams and unmarked speed-breakers. This carried all the way to NH-2 and then to Mathura Refinery Nagar.

We let out our throttle noises on reaching our friend, Nilu's place. He was happy to see us as he hardly gets the time to get out of Mathura nowadays. The time was 7:15 PM.

The next programme on the agenda was obvious. But we needed more snacks. I went with Nilu to the town to get some fish and chicken. Also picked up another bottle of rum. As we returned, we did not waste any time and got down to business right away. For the record, Nilu is a master cook. The subject of the following day's programme was always brought out but no concrete decision was made. Time had ceased to exist. No idea when we got up and went to sleep. Sleep time is usually governed by the amount of alcohol left in the bottles. When the bottle is empty, go to sleep.

Places covered: (Gurgaon - Behror - Pavta - Manoharpur - Dausa - Mahwa - Bharatpur - Mathura)

15th Nov 2009
(@ Mathura)

We woke up lazily. Again the topic of the day's programme was started. Nilu had to go visit the IOCL pipeline site at Bharatpur. We tagged along. But first, we had our meal, the dinner that was skipped last night.

The drive to the site, was through village roads to the interior. Two heavy machines were laid out on the field for the work, one of which was a CAT. Nilu had showered so much praise on this machine previously, we had to see and feel it with our own eyes. Some time passed as the machine was busy handling the pipe for weld.

Then, Nilu went closer to it. The driver, Sonal, laid the massive scoop of the machine on the ground and Nilu climbed on it. He was air-lifted to reach the driver's cabin. Pretty interesting sight. Then Nilu drove it himself to the edge of the field. As he got out, he asked if anybody wanted to try. We were a little skeptical, but he urged us to. I got in nervously. As you sit in the driver's seat, you see the great big boom in front of you. Its a rush to your head as you realise the great deal of power in your hands. As Nilu guided, I turned the ignition key to start. The headrush exploded as the massive 6.4L engine came to life. Immediately noticable was the refinement of the mammoth. Smooth power delivery. There's one joystick each on the two sides of the seat. Two levers in front, one for each track. As I tried the different controls, I got the same power feeling that you get when you first ride the Bullet, or maybe greater. It was awesome.

We got out and then Nilu showed me the massive engine. The AC alongside it is like a 3 tonne home unit. The numerous hydraulic pipes looked like an industry within itself. We didn't let Gyan try the CAT on purpose, as he's prone to making the machines he rides, go horizontal.

As we returned to the house, we started a beer session. I was too sleepy to join. Nilu went to another site. As I woke up, the beer was still flowing and I joined in. Nilu had gone to visit another site. We sat out on the balcony. The IOCL township is a very peaceful and green place. You can see peacocks roaming around. No wonder, we sometimes refer to Nilu as Krishna.

I have a childhood history at Mathura. I lived here for more than 3 years. Since Nilu was going to take some time, we took the time out to go for a spin in the nearby cantonment. Gyan had some other plans though. He did burnouts on Nilu's bike, on mud and then on road, before taking it along for the spin.

I relived some of the old days as I passed through the once familiar roads. Then we reached my favourite place, the Officer's Institute. I roamed around looking at the tennis courts, swimming pool, badminton courts, gym, places I used to frequent years earlier. The facilities had much improved since my time. But the turnout was low. It makes you realise how the digital age is crushing much needed playtime of today's kids. Then we passed outside my old school. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more nostalgic than revisiting your old places of education.

As we were making our way back to the Refinery Nagar, we picked up supplies for the night. Our initial plan was to return to Delhi that evening only. But knowing that we would skip the evening session, we postponed the ride to next morning. It has been a long standing tradition of our rides that Gyan bites the dust. And sure enough, this time too. After picking up the supplies, as we were taking out the bikes from the parking, Gyan loses his hold on Nilu's bike and it went horizontal. To fall on a ride is understandable, but to fall off on a stationary bike, thats raw talent that only Gyan possesses.

This time Doley did the cooking. He's a smashing cook. I have tasted his gahori, but the chicken he made that night was too delicious. This time, however, we did have our dinner on the same day.

16th Nov 2009
(Mathura - Faridabad - Delhi)

We woke up early at 5:30 AM and left for Delhi at 6 AM. I parted with the rest after tea near Palwal and turned towards Gurgaon at Faridabad.

A weekend stint that was nothing short of activities. I'm thinking of taking such trips more often.