Bulls on Parade to Alwar

The Alwar Adjutants

22 - 23 Feb

The riding season of 2014 had already kicked off. But there was no time for rest. Riders who couldn't come for the inaugural ride now had the chance to enter the second ride. Keeping this in mind, in the immediate weekend this Ride to Alwar was organized. And what a Ride it was. If the inaugural Ride was completely planned, then this was just the opposite. We did not have a pre-Ride BBB for this one. We didn't do any bookings for the night stay. Even the destination was subjected to change. But then, some of the riders would be starting in the evening. Keeping this in mind, we dropped the idea of going to Churu and stuck to the original destination.

Hence, as per plan, I reached the flag-off point at Leisure Valley Park at Gurgaon at 7 AM. Gyan was on his way from Panipat. Rohan and Vihans had just started from Delhi after a big party the night before. I had to wait for almost an hour before anyone else reached the venue. Keeping me company for a short time was a passerby who came enquiring about the safety gear. He was a local lad and had been riding regularly to Ladakh for the past three years. I guess, my mention of the destination as Alwar must have given a puny impression. But we don’t ride to impress, do we? We discussed more on how spoilt Ladakh is now and how difficult it is for a regular Indian to ride.

The take-off finally happened at 8 AM. I must be careful about reaching on time in the future. The following were the Adjutants, presently:

Rohan Kaushik – Royal Enfield Classic 500

Vihans Gupta – Royal Enfield Classic 350

Gyananath Moshahari – Honda CBR 250

Diptinder Singh Chhabra – Royal Enfield Electra 350

A second group will be joining us in the evening at Alwar.

Unlike the last time, we had speed riders now. Being the slowest rider, I had to play catch-up all the time. Surprisingly, the traffic was lighter than the one we faced during the Deeg ride even though the departure time was nearly the same. The distance till Bestech City Center at Bhiwadi was covered in no time. Pleasingly, the weather wasn’t as cold as last time. We again had tea at that place and also had no phen as last time.

The benefit of holding a second ride so quickly was that all the catchphrases of our previous ride were still fresh and frequently used on this ride too. To add to that, the newer participants added their own catchphrases and the amount of BBB just doubled. One might say that Chadha Paaji was also riding with us, in spirit. He had given us the maximum amount of catchphrases in the last ride.

We moved towards Tijara now. On the way, we passed through the Karishma Kapoor housing society and the Food signs without the store. These details are covered in the Deeg blog. Moving towards the Tijara Fort, we could not pin-point the location from where we had taken an off-road. On asking the locals, we were told that the path had been shut off now. We were directed to a new off-road path through the surrounding fields.

On entering the fields, we stopped to marvel at the sights we were travelling in. Wide open green fields and motorcycles parked in between. Rohan took this opportunity to venture even further into the fields to relieve himself. That sight will soon sport a huge forest in a year.

As soon as we started again, we stopped. The path ahead was muddy enough to sink in but not enough to drive clean through. Moreover, at a few spots where it was completely dry, tractors had made huge tracks that could cause scraping on the undersides of the motorcycles. The going was tough. Foothold was tricky due to wet mud. So we couldn’t walk through and move the machines alongside. We couldn’t ride on the machines because our feet would go deep into the tracks. One by one we did get through. There were few scrapes on the motorcycles, I had a fall, but we were through. Our shoes were all shaded in mud now.

We made forward to the gates of the Fort. All were locked. We had thought that the ruined section that would not be converted into a heritage hotel would still be open for visitors. But a huge wall now covered the entire Fort and there was no way through. We sat there for some time while Rohan studied Vihans’ PUC. This was to become a habit on this ride.

On the way down, Gyan took the sensible route to go back the way he had come up. We went the other way through a short-cut. This was another tricky path and I fell again. As Rohan began to park his motorcycle to come to my rescue, he also suffered a fall. This was supposed to be an easy-going ride and we had already suffered three falls. The rear tyre of Gyan’s CBR was also in complete distress. Rohan had even offered to make grooves on his tyres but he had refused. Being a Dad has made him play safer now.

By now, we were hungry. We went through the Tijara town and stopped at the first dhaba we came across. But it wasn’t serving anything to eat. So, we went to the next one. This one had a rural setting. Rohan described it as “Suvidha Kaksh” and the name stuck. Hot parathas were ordered. We had asked for medium masala. When the parathas arrived, true to their Rajasthani nature they were loaded with chilies. It would be a big dare to ask for maximum masala.

The first batch was gobbled up even though they were so spicy. The next batch was ordered without chilies. The curd and butter that came with the parathas was authentic. None of that fake curd and margarine. We had Amul butter, and a whole 100 gm pack of it. For some, it would be a tall task to finish the meal, but we had Gyan with us. He was wearing a Che tee, so another mouth to feed. On finishing the meal, both Gyan and Che were completely satisfied.

We carried on towards Alwar now. On the way, we encountered another group of Royal Enfields. They were travelling to Sariska. They didn’t look part of any club. Just some friends out on a holiday.

Our riders changed their machines now. Rohan tried his hand on the CBR while Gyan tried his 500. Then Vihans was on the CBR and Rohan on his 350. I couldn’t say whether they had changed their positions while moving.

On reaching the outskirts of Alwar, we stopped at an emergency booth. We had ridden continuously for 40 kms now. This was a big distance without a break. We began to discuss our options now. Entering Alwar city would be entering into a world of chaos. Vihans had travelled here frequently as part of his job at Jaipur. He called up a contact of his and he recommended staying at Siliseth Lake Palace. It sounded like a good idea and we made our way there.

The Palace was property of RTDC. All the rooms were occupied. Moreover, there was no network here so the contact couldn’t be reached. Suddenly, Vihans noticed that the fuel cap of his Classic 350 had fallen off. A few kms back Rohan had stopped at the roadside when he had heard a sound of something falling off the motorcycle. But looking at the road back didn’t indicate what piece had fallen off. Moreover, the fuel cap came on the blind spot of helmet. It was only at the hotel that he realized the source of the clunk.

We started to make our way back to Alwar. Enroute we had crossed another hotel just 4 kms back, Hotel Sariska Inn. It looked like a good enough place to stay. So while Vihans had the fuel cap replaced, we looked at the rooms of that hotel, asked for the rent and decided that this was the place for tonight’s BBB. The short distance to the Lake meant that we could explore that too.

Dumping our luggage in the rooms, we made our way back to Siliseth Lake. We would be travelling on this route multiple times. The sight of jet skis had excited us earlier. But later we learnt that the piloting would be done by the employee. This left us dejected and we opted for a motorboat ride instead. It was a misnomer though as the boat hardly had any speed.

The lake was huge. It was claimed to be 11 kms in perimeter. Sadly, no swimming was allowed. Keeping our behavior in check were rum-soaked raisins. After doing away with the motorboat we took the paddle boat. The going was much slower now. It can be also attributed to the fact that it required manual labor. We can ride for miles and miles on our motorcycles but doing manual labor is something we are just not capable of. The raisins helped in getting us at least away from the deck.

There was conflict going on between Rohan and Vihans over who would control the steering. This spat kept Gyan and I entertained. But it was only for a short time. When it was our turn to paddle, the steerer would always turn the boat around 360 degrees. It took a while for Gyan and me to realize that this was being done deliberately. But once we did, paddle-work was over for us. We spent a leisurely 45 mins on the lake before returning to the shore.

Now we were thirsty. The bar at the hotel was opened and we helped ourselves to some beer and snacks. Sitting by the window, the lake provided wonderful view. Little did we know that Adit and Ankit had reached Alwar and were frantically trying our phones. None could be reached as we were in a no-coverage area.

When we reached back to Hotel Sariska Inn, phones were reachable again and the duo quickly arrived. Another rider, Himanshu would be joining later. The hotel didn’t serve non-veg food but they could bring a packed one for us. We ordered a full Tandoori and a full Curry Chicken. While we were on the lake, two families had arrived and were now staying in the Deluxe rooms. As a result, our waiter Munshi refused to lay down tables in the huge lawn in front of the rooms for our BBB. Gyan asked if the dining area would be suitable and Munshi readily agreed. It was also convenient for him as the rooms were located at quite a distance from the kitchen, while the dining area was just next to it.

Two tables were laid out in the dining area, I brought out my bottle of rum and the rum-raisins and the BBB was on. I thank my Bullet’s leg guard which had kept the baggage from crashing to the ground with my two falls and breaking the bottle. But with six consumers, one bottle was a severe constraint. Our hopes rested on Himanshu who would bring an additional one. He had only reached Dharuhera as yet. It would be a very long wait for us. We tried to maximize our rations by mixing generous amount of cold drink and water. Vihans’ PUC also helped in prolonging the BBB.

Soon we were on our last drops. Out came the football. So after having rum, some of us were running around playing football. It came as a helpful distraction. Another distraction occurred then. There came the sound of arguments from the kitchen. Something was going on with the staff. They were bitterly arguing among themselves and the owner over the phone. This meant trouble for us. We had got our Tandoori chicken, but Chicken Curry was off now.

Vihans went to check what the matter was. After a long time things calmed down again. It seemed we had lost our dinner. But fortunately, things were normal again and we could have some paneer, mix veg and rotis. We were tired of waiting now. After another hour Himanshu arrived. His GPS guided him perfectly to the hotel. He was given a hero’s welcome. Then he brought out the rum bottle, Sikkim. The first round was taken eagerly. But by now the riders were tired and drowsy. The PUC had added onto it. Everyone retired to their rooms.

The non-deluxe rooms were all vacant. We could help ourselves to them. Adit and Ankit quickly retired into one. VIhans and Rohan took the next while Gyan, Himanshu and I took the third. I tried to give company to Himanshu on Sikkim but soon dozed off. Now he was stuck between the stereophonic sounds of Gyan and I snoring. I guess it must have taken a good potion of the rum to finally help him get to sleep.

23 Feb 2014

Munshi had mentioned a waterfall on a path that diverted from the lake. We got up lazily and got ready even slowly. Tea and Parle-G were ordered. Meanwhile an old couple had taken a non-deluxe room in the morning next to ours. The hotel was out of blankets now so Munshi asked in our room whether we were done with our blanket. Without waiting for a reply, he quickly grabbed it and gave it to the old couple. Now that’s called as sharing and caring.

Another sharing and caring happened with the teams of monkeys frolicking around the hotel area. Vihans threw a twig at one of the younger chimps. Immediately, the seniors of the herd began to gather at the rooftops. They were getting into a war-mood now. We all quickly went into the rooms and shut the doors.

When everyone was ready and the monkey-herds were gone, we checked out of the hotel, left the bulky luggage in the dining area and made our way to the waterfall. The road circled around the huge lake into the neighboring villages. The villagers were very excited to see our batch. We reached the parking of the waterfall and started trekking up the rocky path to where the actual fall was. It was miserable. The waterfall was just a trickle. In fact, it looked man-made. One couldn’t even stand under it; it hugged so close to the rocks. 

The pool under the fall was only ankle-deep. Usually we take a dip at such sights without hesitation, but this time we skipped. PUC was again taken out, as well as the Sikkim rockets. An unusual sight was the co-existence of monkeys and langurs here. The two families usually don’t get along together. We were prolonging our time here as we didn’t want to return to our boring city lives. One of the monkeys came down and took a bite out of Ankit’s snake leather helmet. I’m sure that animal will become the king of the family.

After a while we got up and started to make our way back. It was lunch time now and we stopped at Baba hotel near the lake. We took a look at the rooms also and thought of this as an alternative to Hotel Sariska Inn. But had we stayed here, phones would have been unreachable and the rest of our riders would not have been able to join us.

Lunch was again vegetarian until Gyan noticed the presence of a chicken meal at someone else’s table. We also saw wild fowl roaming around the back lawns. A plate of Tawa chicken was quickly ordered. It tasted wonderful. Another point in favour of Baba hotel.

Now it was time for the return journey. Our convoy had grown larger now, from 4 motorcycles to 7. But I was still the slowest one and playing catch-up. On the way, we waved to the same motorcycle group that we had encountered on our to-journey.

The distance to Tijara was covered quickly and the disappointment showed. We had already covered half of the return journey. We considered the idea of returning by Tijara – Firozpur Jhirka – Nuh – Sohna – Gurgaon route. Then Adit brought out the idea of taking the Bhiwadi – Sohna – Gurgaon route. We were already in praise of the Bhiwadi – Tijara road and readily agreed. The Sohna – Nuh stretch was unpredictable.

As we neared Bhiwadi a group of three Enfields (2 Classics and a Thunderbird) overtook us. Plenty of riders on the roads now. All of this has worked well for Royal Enfield. But lets see how many would still be around in the months of May – August.

The stretch from Bhiwadi – Tauru was bad. Lots of trucks covered the road. The industrial strength of Bhiwadi had deteriorated this stretch. Huge, big potholes covered the roads. There came some good stretches but in a limited number. If we were looking to prolong our journey, this stretch delivered it though not in the way we would have preferred it to.

We regrouped near Sohna and then started to look for a theka on the left hand side for our final halt. To my amazement, all the thekas were on the right. This remained true till we reached Gurgaon. But we simply had to have our final cheers. So, we turned into Golf Course Extension road. It wasn’t until Devinder Vihar at sector-56 that a theka finally came on the left hand side of the road. Himanshu had disappeared again. Adit gave him the GPS co-ordinates. We called in another Rider, Vibhor to meet us here. The final cheers was celebrated here and then the riders went on their ways.

The two rides of 2014 have been filled with mad BBB. Full respects to Himanshu for riding alone late at night on these isolated stretches. I hope this trend continues throughout this year. Now the month of March is uncertain as we don’t have any nearby destinations left to cover over the weekend. But I sure hope a Ride does happen in March even if I’m not able to participate in it. The momentum is now built and it should be kept going.

JAI BoP!!!