PRIDE & PREJUDICE,
THE LADAKH: THE SEARCH FOR A BIKER WITHIN....
THE LADAKH: THE SEARCH FOR A BIKER WITHIN....
“Don't pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.”
― Andy Warhol
― Andy Warhol
“You must be kidding, aren’t you?” mom said. “I am going to Ladhak on my Bike” I insisted. And the Battle begins a year back. When I started touring on motorcycle “enthusiastically” I never thought of riding to Ladhak. Earlier, Ride to Lonavala just mere 200 km seems a journey of life for me and as time passes by I keep on taking a step towards the Journey of lifetime memories A Journey which will change the way you Ride, a Journey which will excel your Riding Skill & the journey which will leave u in Ecstasy. “The Law of Attraction” as described in Secret (Novel) by Rhonda Byrne has always worked for me since my childhood, and I was sure it will for me this time too & it did worked for me within a year. Ladhak is the Journey which overcomes all the obstacles, it was a Journey built on Criticism, Faith & Pride.
A Question?
“CRITICISM IS PREJUDICE MADE PLAUSIBLE”
A Question Or A Criticism, WHY TOUR? WHY MOTORCYCLE? You can do it by Train or by Airplane too in less expense & less time,
Touring, traveling or visiting places, you get to see much of the city, meet people and explore what you haven’t done at all. In a Car It’s different from the other side of line, cause where you see if from where you’re sitting it’s probably different then what you experience going across the line. When you are in car, its different fun no doubts but you are behind the metal & window, but you actually don’t feel the weather, the twist & the pride. Motorcycle rides there are, of course, great dangers to this, but a freedom & wisdom too. When you travel you realize the world is not exactly the way newspaper project it, we learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. “The world is too much with us, and we are too much with ourselves. We need sometimes to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what." . Harvard philosophy of Travel.
The Preparation
“START BY DOING WHAT IS NECESSARY, THEN WHAT IS POSSIBLE AND SUDDENLY YOU DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE”
This is how my journey proceeds for a motorcycle diary. Started by touring for 200 km Solo Ride to Kashid Beach (Maharashtra) then to Lonavala, Nashik, Bordi with group of riders, slowly the km’s got increased an it becomes 500 km solo round trip to Mahableshwar and it become periodic. The great thing about Riding is, you get to meet different people and you get to know the world outside and there I meet one of my Ride Partner during Leh Trip. A Year back in mid 2012 I never thought, I will be riding to Ladhak, 6000 km away from home on two wheels covering ighest passes (controversial) in world. As 2013 begins the idea of crossing the state strikes in my mind & with 3 other Riders we did Round trip to Udaipur & Mount Abu (Rajasthan) & then to Vansdha National Park in Gujarat – Maharashtra Border. I recall, in Jan 2013 I got a chance to Ride with Paddy to Jawahar and there I told him about my Ladhak dream and he seems to be interested but wasn’t sure if within 6 months or may be next year. Ladhak was all in our mind, in any of our next trips during Vansdha we had long discussion whether we are ready or not, and what all need to be taken care for this Ride, finally the day came when Paddy got ready for a Ride of Lifetime memories it was 17 March 2013, we were on our Trip to Mahableshwar to have Strawberry Milk Shake, after a long passionate talk about Leh he nodded his head in agreement & said lets try to do it between June – July. Happiness reaches to next level. Soon planning, preparation & shopping begins for Riding Pants, Saddle Bag & Riding Shoes for me. All seems to be fine, but as Day’s were coming near nervousness begins and we realized that more then Physical Strength it was a mental strength which matters, leaving our loved one, better half or kids (for other two riders) behind was the biggest challenge as mentioned before it’s a mental strength which matters. A trip of total 19 days 6000 km & 6 states away from your loved one’s without contacts & the added Risk on 2 wheels.
Search for ?
”What all is pending”? Paddy said, “hhmmm, Riding Shoes, bags, bike servicing & 2 more riders”. Yes, we ever since we thought of getting leh’d we decided to keep maximum numbers of rider to 4, our decision was more based on our experienced & the input from other fellow bikers. We asked riders we know, who can join us and searched end with Kedar & Avinash. Let’s have introduction,
1. Kshitij D Hunari – Hero Honda Karizma ZMR
2. Kedar R Parikh – Royal Enfield Bullet
3. Avinash Rathod – Yamaha Fazer
4. Shahbaz A Patel (Myself) – TVS Apache 180 “ABS”
Itinerary
BUT THINGS NEVER GO THE WAY YOU ACTUALLY PLANNED AS, THAT’S LIFE
It was my responsiblity to create the blue print of the Ride, and I started to search contents, stuffs & all possible information about the destinations, halt & the road to be taken. Every week I used to make an excel sheet of plan & preparation, and during our weekend meet we used to discuss same, and just 15 days before out ride we had our plan ready. I remember the most difficult task was the City, places & points to be covered in those day’s.
12th June – 2013 Mumbai– Udaipur
13th June -2013 – Ratangarh
14th June 2013 - Amritsar
15th June 2013 – Rest Day, Golden Temple, Wagah Border & Sight Seeing.
16th June 2013 – Srinagar
17th June 2013 – Kargil
18th June 2013 – Alchi
19th June 2013 – LEH
20th June 2013 – Nubhra Valley
21st June 2013 – Back To Leh
22nd June 2013 – Pangong Tso
23rd June 2013 – Tso Kar – Tso Moiriri
24th June 2013 – Sarchu
25th June 2013 – Manali
26th June 2013 – Delhi
27th June 2013 – Udaipur
28th June – Mumbai
29th – 30th June -- Reserve Day’s….
Thanksgiving
Our Family & loved one, without there blessing the journey wouldn't be possible.
Satyen Poojari, Rishab Shukla & Nitin Manore - Thanks for your help in making plan, tips on places to visit, where to rest our ass & what precautions to be taken care of.
Our own RoadRunnerz, Rider Beingz
And Whats app.
Equipment Used to Capture Moments
Cannon D1100 DSLR
HTC One M7
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Uncover the Truth, Teaser
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