Lansdowne Weekend 3,4 May 2014

Rage works. I hope it’s not a short term thing. I had let out my angst at the club members when I was forced to make a solo ride to Chakrata. Our most respected member, Chadha Paaji then made a weekend plan for a ride to Lansdowne. Although the destination would be repeated but this is the closest hill station to Delhi and the weather demanded hills. Soon confirmation began to pour in. I was skeptic about the confirmations though. Riders had confirmed earlier and later cancelled. But when you confirm to Chadha Paaji, you have to stick to it. And when the day came, following was the turnout:

Sandeep Singh Chadha – Royal Enfield Standard – Laal waale Sardarji

Vibhor Bhardwaj – Royal Enfield Electra – Semi-formal Corduroy

Ankit and Vihans Gupta – Royal Enfield Classic 350 – Chandni Chowk ke hain

Himanshu Rawat – Royal Enfield TBTS – Pin-drop

Diptinder Singh Chhabra – Royal Enfield Electra – Author

3^rd May, 2014:

The day started bad. My alarm failed to go off. Or maybe, it had rang, but I was too sleepy to hear it. I was woken up by a call from Vibhor. He was waiting at the Gurgaon Toll Plaza. I told him to carry on and meet at Akshardham. I got ready hurriedly, packed up and made my way quickly to Akshardham. Ankit, Vihans and Vibhor were waiting. Luckily, I wasn’t the last one. Chadha Paaji arrived after me. I tried to make my excuse that we had been waiting for half an hour, but Chadha Paaji soon busted my lie by saying he had seen me overtaking on the Nizamuddin bridge. The most noteworthy aspect however was the brand new red track pant of Chadha Paaji. The traditional gray one had been ditched. This was going to be a most colorful ride indeed.

Chadha Paaji had received a call from Himanshu that he was waiting at a bus stop some distance ahead of Akshardham. So we chose to progress on our path and catch up with him. As we turned towards Vaishali, and still no sign of Himanshu at any of the bus stops, we stopped and called him up. It turned out that he was waiting near Mayur Vihar Metro station. The reason was he had asked me for the directions to the assembly point. More specifically, he had asked for a pin-drop in Google maps. I’m not so technologically advanced so gave him directions instead. Somehow this had led him to Mayur Vihar. We told him to meet up at Mohan Nagar and started off again.

We reached Mohan Nagar quickly in relatively thin morning traffic of this road. Now began a long wait for Himanshu. 

But while purchasing a pack of cigarettes from the roadside shop, Vihans got into a clash with the shopkeeper. The guy was highly confused even with the low number of customers and started to argue. This pissed off Vihans and he bade farewell to the man saying “Jai Ram ji ki”. Later, we wondered if an English curse would have solved the issue. The result was not to be verified but the cuss word, whorehouse stayed with us and kept us entertained for the rest of our trip.

We were still waiting for Himanshu. I had recently learnt how to share my current location on Whatsapp and sent that to Himanshu. Once he had the pin-drop location, he made it quickly to the spot. Mankind is becoming too much technologically dependent nowadays. Whatever happened to asking directions from locals?

Now all of us were together and it was time to trigger the ride. With a shout of JAI BoP, we were off. I had missed the feeling of a group ride for very long. It had been quite a long time since we had come on this stretch of road for a Ride. The last ride was in Feb 2011 to Dakpatthar. Justifiably so, because the road till Meerut is very narrow and traffic volume is very high. Moreover, our first experience of this stretch back in 2008 during the ride to Rishikesh had been a horrifying one. Since then we have been very scared of the 60 kms between Meerut and Delhi.

There was no reason to be scared in the morning though. Although we encountered traffic, it was easily circumvented on our motorcycles. As soon as the 6-lane toll road started, we turned off the highway to enter Meerut town. We had made it in good time. Kids were going to school. Although we did catch quite a bit of stares but I noticed that we used to capture amazement earlier. It seems that there are too many motorcycle groups around now.

After some navigating around the city, we reached the turn towards Bijnore. The route is difficult to remember and I’m sure we would need to ask directions everytime. Now began the search for a dhaba. But there weren’t any forthcoming. 25 kms on when finally we noticed one and took the halt gratifyingly.

Without any delay, Vihans brought out the chilled beer cans he had been carrying. I think it was more to lighten the weight of his baggage than thirst that the can came out. But since it was out, everyone had to take a gulp. Other tourists were arriving now. It seemed many people have now heard of Lansdowne. Travelers on this route would be travelling either to Lansdowne or Pauri.

Off the motorcycles it was time to share observations. Chadha Paaji’s red track pants were the highlight. But then Paaji counter-attacked and pointed to Vibhor’s corduroy trousers. A debate followed on whether they could be called semi-formal or semi-casual. There was no result of the debate because soon tea and parathas arrived and we dug in. We were taking the ride casually given the short distance that needed to be covered. Also, we were saved from the severe heat today. The shade from the surrounding trees helped in making the travel cooler. So we spent time longer than necessary at the place. Another piece that attracted attention was brand new pair of Quechua shoes Himanshu was wearing. They were claimed to be waterproof and immediately a plan was hatched to test the claim later that night. The usual remark on Ankit’s overpriced riding jacket was also mentioned.

When the time for bill payment came, Chadha Paaji flatly refused to be the treasurer. He has been doing this for few rides now. He wants the enjoy rides to the maximum and not be stuck with any responsibility, or maybe he doesn’t have access to a printer anymore to take the printout of excel sheet. None of the others look interested too. Vihans being the gentleman agreed and we all gladly gave our share to him.

We made our way forwards to Bijnore now. On the way we crossed Madhya Ganga Barrage. Views of our last Lansdowne trip came into my mind now. We reached a fork in the road where one led to Bijnore and the other led to Muzaffarnagar. I had been enjoying this section of the road and so was a little ahead of the pack. I stopped at the turn and waited for the others. Everyone except Himanshu took the right turn. When Himanshu rides, he makes it straight for it, not bothering to look here and there no matter how big and bold the signage may be. I had to catch up with him and drag him back the right way. This was a first for me, playing the collector. My Bullet has become very responsive thanks to Zaheer bhai.

The last 15 kms to Bijnore were rough. The road was full of potholes. One of the things that make riding uncomfortable is high temperature. If bad roads enter the picture too then the discomfort multiplies. Moreover, UP roadways travelling on this road kicked up lot of dust. This was the most uncomfortable part on our way to Lansdowne. We would be facing worse on the return trip. But construction was in progress. In fact, even one of the diversions was made of asphalt. That was a unique sight.

On entering Bijnore, everyone of us went in different directions. Five of us gathered on the way to Najibabad. We decided to halt for a while and wait for the sixth, who else, Himanshu? But surprisingly, when we called him, he had reached Kiratpur, 4 kms ahead of us. So apparently, signboards are ignored, but roads without markings are rightly taken. Chadha Paaji told him to wait at Najibabad along with “Over and out”.

Post-Najibabad, again the group split into two with me and Himanshu in one group and the rest in another. So while the rest hydrated themselves with cane juice, we reached the foothills at Kotdwara. The seduction of curves started and I gave in. Throttle was opened wide and the Bullet responded wonderfully. The sensation of the curvy roads fills the inner sense with ecstasy.

It’s a common thing among riders. If the curvy road is empty, a normal person would take the route marked as red in the picture above (No, its not on the way to Lansdowne). But a rider will take the green line following the entire curve. It allows more opportunity of leaning the motorcycle.

We all regrouped at Dugadda and hydrated ourselves again. It is very important while riding in the month of May. We noticed a dhaba serving chicken curry and decided to have lunch there. The place was poorly furnished, but in the hills, it is in such places that you find delectable food. The chicken was well cooked. We ate to our fill.

Now came the final climb upto Lansdowne. The going was swift again. But it was a short run. Our hotel Jadli was located 8 kms before the town. This is one of the risks of online booking. At that moment we were disappointed. But seeing the hospitality of the staff and the garden with a view for the evening session, our disappointment faded away.

The time was only 2:30 pm. It was way too early by BoP standards to have reached their destination. Some took a nap while some freshened up. But the statement that struck everyone was when the hotel manager came and asked for Laal waale Sardarji. We were in splits. Around 5 pm, we all gathered and headed to Bhulla Taal. It should be noted here that Chadha Paaji was going to take his jacket. But we all convinced him not to. All of us would be regretting that later.

The town surely had become touristier than the last time we had been here. Earlier it was only government employees and their families. Accommodation was easily available at the GMVNL guest house. But now, number of hotels had grown. Many honeymoon couples were also present. For such couples, the sight of six brats on Bullets must be an eyesore. We didn’t care. Himanshu rightly observed why there are so many birthdays in February. We had our loud fun while boating around the lake. Then made our way to the second tourist spot of the place, Tip ‘n’ Top to catch the sunset. The number of cottages has increased dramatically. Earlier we had seen only 4 wooden cottages. By now it had grown quite windy and we were feeling a bit cold. Tea and pakodas were ordered.

The sunset couldn’t be seen as the viewpoint is towards the sunrise. So we returned to the town and started our shopping for supplies. 3 quarter kilo of raw mutton, a bottle of Blender’s and 15 gulabjamuns for dessert were picked up. Alcohol has become very expensive in Uttarakhand. By now it was dark too. Although we had taken into account the time difference between sunset and darkness, the calculation was missed by 45 mins. The wind was quite chilly and it shook us. We descended our way carefully back to the hotel with our fragile cargo and immediately called the waiter to get the preparations ready. Chicken pakodas and French fries were also ordered.

And the BBB started, the most fun part of any Ride. 

Under the moonlit and starlit sky, surrounded by the Himalayas, a cool breeze and ice clinking musically in the glasses, what else do you need in life? The answer is ass-kicking. Every BBB promises a lot of it and lives up to it too. Some utter golden statements are made, the best among them are remembered for days to come. From this night’s session, some such statements was “Bahua kehte hain..”, courtesy Chadha Paaji, “Cute boy”, courtesy Vibhor ‘Uncle’, “Triceps building”, courtesy unknown. I’m sure they were even more but when two bottles of alcohol are consumed, memory does tend to fade. The location of the hotel away from the city proved to be a boon now as we wouldn’t have been able to have so much fun otherwise.

We all headed to the restaurant to have the mutton curry. Chadha Paaji had also ordered butter chicken. After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we crashed out for the night. The occupants were separated as smoking and non-smoking.

4^th May 2014:

We intended to visit the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Museum today before leaving town. But laziness was the order of the day. I was the major culprit. I woke up at 9:30 am and got ready taking my time. Compensation of sleep was necessary. In the urban jungle, I don’t get enough sleep during the week. The others had finished their breakfast by the time I started mine. The hotel manager gave me company and told me some hangover curing steps.

Plan to visit the museum was skipped. We had skipped it during our last time too. Maybe on our third visit it would be flagged. We began to pack our stuff. It was only until 12 noon that we were ready to leave. We were thinking of taking the Moradabad route this time. It would be longer by 40 kms, but the roads would be good. The manager had also given directions to a stream on the way back where we could have a bath. This spot was reached in the neighboring Dugadda under a bridge.

The stream had a very low level, even below the knees of Vihans. A dip wouldn’t be possible. Since all of us had already showered at the hotel, we weren’t very keen on another bath so soon. So we just hung around chattering away. Meanwhile, Ankit tried his hands on fishing, unsuccessfully. Bottles of beer were greatly missed at this point.

We would have hung around there even longer but Chadha Paaji sensibly told us all to get up. We needed to leave to avoid the Modinagar-Delhi chaos before it started. Vibhor challenged him with a question whether there was any work to be done at home. Big mistake. Chadha Paaji calmly replied, “There is never any work to be done at home. Even parents ask what would you do at home”. The hammer had struck. We packed up quietly and left. Quechua shoes were still not tested for their claim.

Swift descent through the mountains and we stopped again after touching the plains. Temperature was rising and hydration was frequently needed. Chadha Paaji was most helpful in bringing out his fluorescent water bottle from his sling bag immediately as we stopped. That bottle became the most prized possession now. It’s strange how it’s always a liquid filled bottle that becomes so valuable. Only the form of liquid keeps changing across seasons and locations. The heat of the day made us reconsider our decision to go to Moradabad. It was decided to take the original route back.

Nearing Najibabad, we encountered a signboard sporting a strange looking direction to Bijnor. It was a U-turn direction turned 225 degrees anti-clockwise.

 

This was new. I had never seen a directional symbol shaped such as this. Himanshu was in the lead and took the next right turn. The others looked quizzically at him and continued straight ahead. I was in the back and followed Himanshu to call him back. But he was racing ahead. Being Sunday, the markets of Najibabad were closed and he was gunning his TBTS. I remembered looking at the route that this was the way we had come after all. So, the two of us just continued in the direction to Bijnore trusting the others to find their way. This time we took the byepass and avoided entering the Bijnore city.

We waited at the mid-Ganga Barrage for rehydration with banta. The others had also crossed Bijnore and all of us finally regrouped at 77* resort. Taj and Oberoi hotels are for cheap tourists, they are only 5-starrers. We were at a 77-star hotel between Meerut and Bijnore. It was still under construction but the restaurant was fully done. A swimming pool was being constructed in the backyard. The place looked worthy of a weekend party.

Unfortunately, the food wasn’t that good. Shahi Paneer lacked flavor, but the dal was better. Chadha Paaji got his favourite Lachha Parathas here. It remains to be seen whether BoP would visit this place again or not. The atmosphere was surely relaxing. Innovating too, as we created an advertisement on Vibhor’s corduroys in the lines of “Main bahot pareshan thha..”. Writing about that ad would be meaningless. One would have to be present at that time to realize the full extent of the laughter it created.

Moving on, we had another quick water break and entered Meerut town. As soon as we were about to enter the Cantonment Area, all of us were stopped by the police. They had a checking drive going on. Never before had it happened that our entire group was stopped purely for purpose of checking.  Usually it happens that the police stop one and when they see an entire convoy stopping, they let everyone go. But not this time. They checked each and everyone’s papers. The mishap was Vibhor wasn’t carrying insurance and pollution papers. So, he paid the negotiated fine and we continued on our way.

After crossing Meerut, the dreaded 60 kms stretch to Delhi began. It still instils fear in me. Sure enough, a long traffic jam greeted us. This was caused by bullock carts carrying sugar cane to the mills. This was only the first hurdle and it took us half an hour to cross it. We braved the heat further till we reached Modinagar’s famous Jain shikanji. This was supposed to be our last rehydration stop. It took another half an hour to get it. A long ordering queue awaited us.

We prepared ourselves for the calamity ahead now. The last 50 kms awaited us. But as soon as we started, Vibhor’s Bullet stopped. We tried our usual methods to solve it, but to no avail. Asking around we reached Sharma Bullet shop. Sharma ji already had the shutter down but Bullet specialists always open their doors in times of trouble. The shutter went up again and he brought out his set of tools. Sharma ji was in high spirits, but still worked diligently on the Bullet. The trouble was spark plug. While I went to look around for a spare parts shop, he replaced it with a used one so that the Bullet could start going. The new one was kept in reserve. Lightning started occurring then and it seemed that all the elements of a BoP ride would be met now.

We got ready for the onslaught that lied ahead. But surprisingly, the way ahead passed smoothly. In fact, we zoomed through one of the toughest stretches, Muradnagar. Himanshu took the turn to Shahdara and continued on his way home. The rest of us gathered at Akshardham to celebrate the completion of the ride.

Although the destination was repeated this time, the main agenda was to bring people out of their lethargy and re-discover their lost passion for riding. Naaahh, we just wanted to have our fun. But I sure hope this would bring some more lost riders out in the next ride in June.

Until then,

JAI BoP !!!