Trippin'

In December of 2008 I moved from Ahmedabad, where I had spent a happy but restless five years, to Noida. In keeping with the spirit of let's-just-do-this-and-we-shall-see-how-it-turns-out that seemed to govern my actions in those days I decided that I would make the trip by bike. All eleven hundred kilometers of it.

A few days back I chanced upon the little notebook that I carried with me on the trip and scribbled brief notes to myself in. To me it made interesting reading and allowed me to relive the trip and the accompanying excitement, fatigue and, eventually, relief on having made it to my destination two days after I started out.

For those of you who ride, yourselves, it might make interesting reading too, and bring back memories of similar trips you may have undertaken and similar emotions you may have experienced. I reproduce it below, slightly edited to make for easier reading, to record it for posterity if nothing else.

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DAY 1

9.45am
Start from Ahmedabad. Late as usual. Damn! The odometer reads at 10,440km

11.15am
First break at Himmatnagar. The roads were a breeze and the winter sun was out in full splendour. Perfect riding weather. The bike, though, took a while warming up to the task. Thankfully the cumbersomely tied rucksack has held fast to the luggage carrier. So far. Distance covered in this leg 90km. Odometer 10,530km

11.25am
Back on the road. Plan to keep riding until my butt and back give up, and then stop for lunch.

12.45pm
Lunch stop. Solitary dhaba somewhere on the way to Udaipur. The place doesn't even have a name and the proprieter seems less than amicable. Ah well. The insipid dal chawal doesn't do much for the system but its still fortification, right? Distance covered in this leg 90km. Odometer 10,620km

1.25pm
Sated. Almost. And back on the road. Full tilt ahead.

2.35pm
Chai stop. Another nameless place. The last several kilometers were terrible. The road, mostly. And, of course, the fatigue- on account of not having done this kind of riding for a while now. Butt and back are the epitome of agony. Change of plans- take a night halt at Udaipur about 10kms from here (as the chai shop guy informs me) and give my back a much deserved rest. Distance covered in this leg 80km. Odometer 10,700km

3.00pm
Longer break than I would've liked, but its back on the road for now. Thankfully Udaipur, and rest, is only a handful of kilometers away!

3.30pm
Udaipur! At last. Rest, sweet rest. Just checked into the Rani Palace Hotel near the center of town. The last 14kms were agony. And bad traffic, to boot. Who'd've thought this town boasts of so many vehicles?! Distance covered in this leg 14km. Odometer 10,714km

Haven't done anything like this for a couple of years now, and it shows. I've barely ridden 270 odd kilometers and my body's already in protest! Nothing an evening around town and a night's rest won't fix, though.

DAY 2

9.20am
I'm really out of practice; it took me almost 30 minutes to get my rucksack all trussed up on to the luggage carrier! Oh what I'd have given for a nice length of bungee cord instead of the cotton rope I'm using. The plan today is to get as far as Pushkar and call it a night. A stop at the Pink Floyd Cafe and Hotel should do me good. Their french onion soup is absolutely divine. So, up up and away...

9.55am
The cotton rope snapped! Within 20 kilometers of having started out! An unnecessary 20 minutes wasted getting it all up trussed up again. Distance covered in this leg 19km. Odometer 10,733km

11.16am
A longish stop for breakfast just off Nathdwara. The last hour was torture. Did all of 39kms in an entire hour. I don't think I've ridden much worse roads than these! Distance covered in this leg 39km. Odometer 10,772km

12.00noon
A couple of fags and just looking at the traffic go by is therapeutic. The dhaba guy tells me the road ahead is much better. Mad riding, here I come!

12.48pm
Three quarters of an hour and I don't see the road getting any better. Had to take this break to de-cramp my legs. Road, please get better! Distance covered in this leg 44km. Odometer 10,816km

2.48pm
Almost 2 hours of hard riding. Almost a hundred kilometers done. The road continues to harass me. This little dhaba just outside Jawaja seemed like a nice enough place to stop. And it is. The old guy sipping his tea and pufing away on a beedi is exceptionally chatty. Distance covered in this leg 94km. Odometer 10,910km

3.10pm
On the road again. Next stop Ajmer. Hopefully

4.30pm
A short stop just outside Ajmer. Figured it would be good before I enter the hustle and bustle of early evening town traffic. Distance covered in this leg 64km. Odometer 10,974km

5.30pm
Pushkar! And its beautiful in the winter evening light! Took me about an hour to get through the last 30 odd kilometers, which is par for the course, I suppose. Distance covered in this leg 37km. Odometer 11,011km

The hotel is just as I remember it from my last time here. Tucked away in a crowded nook and chock full of German and Israeli tourists. The winter evening air is refreshing and I certainly don't feel like I've ridden all day. Except for a mild reluctance to go anywhere near the bike, for today. The french onion soup was just as divine, as the last time around. The pasta and apple pie kinda hit the spot, too!

The other good thing is, of course, that I clocked a mildly healthy 300 kilometers today.

DAY 3

7.45am
Early start from Pushkar. Aim to make the most of the winter-morning sun. Also, quite some distance to cover before I hit Delhi. The guy at the hotel tells me I don't have to go back to Ajmer to rejoin NH8. In fact, there's a 70km stretch of newly built road that'll take me from Pushkar straight to the toll plaza on the Jaipur Expressway section of NH8. Does that mean my road troubles are finally over?

9.15am
Here I am, right outside the toll plaza, a shade over 70kms from Pushkar. The road was beautiful and I was tempted to push the bike to the max but the weather was even better. This trundling along bit in the winter sun is something I can get used to. Now for some breakfast. Distance covered in this leg 75km. Odometer 11,086km

9.50am
Fed and roaring to go. Expressway, here I come.

10.50am
Woohoo! That was good! Six lanes of uber-smooth tarmac, and a thumper between my thighs! Only an hour since I paid the toll and I'm already getting off the expressway towards the Jaipur bypass. The last 100 odd kilometers were the best road I've ever ridden on. Managed a top whack of 110kph but the euphoria was slightly dulled by the dude on the Yamaha R15 who zoomed past me like I was riding a bicycle! Distance covered in this leg 106km. Odometer 11,192km

1.00pm
Lunch stop at the Reliance outlet in the middle of nowhere. Or so it seems. Sure enough the roads went back to testing my patience the minute I got off the expressway! And they tell me this is the famed golden quadrilateral! Still, I think I made good time. Distance covered this leg 128km. Odometer 11,320km

2.00pm
Lunched and rested. The brief nap did me good. Ab Dilli door nahi ;)

3.40pm
Manesar, Haryana! Which means I'm spitting distance from Gurgaon, and then some to Delhi! The cigarette I'm smoking seems particularly sweet, and the sprite seems to have that extra zing! So close, now...
As an aside, you can never mistake Haryana for any other place. The difference is obvious the minute you cross the border from Rajasthan. The roads get a little bit rougher, the traffic a little bit wilder and the people a little more in-your-face than you've been used to for the last several hundred kilometers! Distance covered in this leg 100km. Odometer 11,420km

4.00pm
Last leg of the journey, one hopes. Its been brilliant so far, but very tiring. Perhaps I should do this more often, just to stay in shape...

5.00pm
I know I'm somewhere in New Delhi, but apart from that I'm hopelessly lost! The road signs, so far, have been less than helpful and everyone I've asked has had a different opinion on how I should get to Noida! I can't believe that after travelling a thousand kilometers, the last 50 are proving to be this painful...

6.15pm
I've ended up in Kalkaji, somehow. And even my painfully limited knowledge of the city tells me I'm on completely the wrong track. The traffic's absolutely the pits. My back is killing me and my patience is just about running out. I need deliverence. I need an angel to come show me the way to bloody Noida!

7.10pm
Noida! Finally! Blissfully! After much wandering over the last two and a half hours or so, I've finally made it. Thanks to the kind samaritan who rode with me all the way so I wouldn't keep getting lost. The sense of ecstasy, and relief, is indescribable. The pain is gone! I will get some food, shortly, and a bed to sleep in at night. As I stand here having a victory (sic) smoke I can make out the familiar sillhouette of Aby walking towards me. Distance covered in this leg 120km (!). Odometer 11,540km

If I had to pick three words to describe my last three days, I'd probably pick excitement, fatigue and relief! Those were definitely the three over riding emotions. It was good to get on the road again, though. I had been caught up far too long in corporatia and a desk bound job. As I sit in bed, dinner done, looking back on the last three days it finally hits me why I've always loved to be on the road alone- the connection between the road, my bike and me is an intensely personal one; a little like my concept of God. Its far too personal to comfortably share it with anyone else.

According to my odometer, I've travelled exactly 1100km in the last three days. Everything said and done, I think that's pretty impressive for someone who hasn't been on the road, on the bike, for a couple of years before this trip! Time to get some well deserved sleep now ;)