Q.Delhi- Chandigarh- Shimla- Delhi-- Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350

[SIZE=16px][B]A RIDE TO REMEMBER[/B][/SIZE] It was just a normal day, with boredom getting the better of me. I was doing some errands when all of a sudden I had an intense impulse to do something about it. That is how crazy ideas are born. Pure impulse. I called up an old friend of mine and told him about my plan to visit him in Chandigarh. I was not sure initially, but then he topped the idea off with a motorcycle trip to Shimla. That was all the convincing and inspiration I needed. There was a fire burning in my heart that made me do all the assignments beforehand so that the weekend was left free for unadulterated motorcycling madness. [B]Day One:[/B] “He will ride across land and time To find a way through this endless night There’s a storm in his heart and fire burns his soul But the wanderer’s part is to ride alone” That’s a song by the metal band ‘Ensiferum’ which reverberated in my brain, blanketing the need for rest, tying knots in my stomach and making me yearn for adventure. At 03:00 am, I couldn’t wait anymore. So, I had a couple of Redbull and Snickers energy bar, geared up and swung my leg over my mechanical steed, Royal Enfield Thunderbird. I left from Daryaganj and the moment I joined the highway, I was greeted with a number of 18 wheeled behemoths barrelling down on either sides of me. Overtaking is a breeze when the engine produces a canyon conquering torque 29 Newton metres, hauling the 200kg motorcycle with ease. Riding with a tinted visor at night is always never a good idea. But luckily, for most of the part, the roads leading out of Delhi were well-lit and maintained with only a few dark patches in between. After half hour of relentless overtaking, the heavy vehicles thinned out and the ride was much more relaxed. I came across a group of motorcycle riders near Sonipat, who were heading towards Baraut. After a brief tête-à-tête with the leader, I continued down the legendary Asian Highway- One (AH 1). The reason this highway is legendary is because, at around 20,500 kilometres, this is the longest stretch of the Asian Highway Network. The six lane road is butter smooth and arrow straight, making the perfect habitat for a highway cruiser. The ride felt planted even at high speeds, thanks to the weight and ergonomic position. The foot-pegs, saddle and the handlebars are designed in a way to ensure least fatigue to the rider. Royal Enfield has done a good job on this. [CENTER] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1382[/ATTACH] [/CENTER] [CENTER]Obligatory Sunrise click[/CENTER] At the crack of dawn, the gleaming metal tank bathed in the sun’s maiden rays as I was thumping my way through a little town of Samalkha. The sunrise was truly a sight to behold. I pulled over for a couple of pictures and I continued towards Panipat during which I came across numerous riders, both group and solo riders. We thumbs-upped each other and continued at our own pace. I was doing a constant 80kmph when all of a sudden I saw a drunk man in the middle of the road. I swerved on the left, narrowly avoiding him. Disc brakes on both the front and rear made me survive the incident. The next hour of the ride was pretty much uneventful with only the sound of the engine and the wind prevailing in my mind. There were no distracting thoughts and it was just absolute silence soothing the soul. The kind of silence which is never attainable through any other activity. With the heart humming in sync with the engine, sometimes, riding just feels like meditation. At around 08:30 am, I passed through the epic battlefield of the Mahabharata, Kurukshetra. After an hour of racing against time, I crossed Ambala and entered Chandigarh, the city beautiful. [CENTER] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1378[/ATTACH] Chasing the horizon on the Asian Highway 1[/CENTER] [CENTER] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1375[/ATTACH] [/CENTER] [CENTER]The roads in Chandigarh are a delight to ride![/CENTER] The moment you enter the city, you can feel that this is how India in 2020 would be like. With perfectly maintained roads, proper lanes and signal systems, it feels surreal to know that India can also have a well-planed city devoid of chaos. I met my friend at his office and then went straight to his company’s warehouse, another 50 kilometres away. It was almost evening when we left the warehouse and despite being on road for almost the whole day, I felt no fatigue as I was intoxicated with the sense of accomplishment and the excitement of what lays ahead the next day. We went to the local mall at night, watched a really pathetic movie and went back home at around 01:30 am. I caught some shut-eye and woke up the next day at nine in the morning, all eager to pursue that seductive temptress, Adventure. [B]Day Two:[/B] Me and my friend geared up and started off to Shimla at 11:00 am. The bike had no issues, whatsoever. We fuelled up and then cropped up one annoying issue. The fuel gauge stopped working. We couldn’t afford to stop at the service centre as our schedule was quite packed and the issue wasn’t that serious anyway. After an hour of riding, we reached Parwanoo and stopped at a vantage point to assimilate the breath-taking beauty of the mountains with clouds adorned on top like nature’s hand-made tiara. The road from there got a whole lot more interesting with numerous hairpin bends and sharp turns uphill. Traversing through this challenging terrain for the first time gave me a surge of adrenaline rush that lasted through the entire trip! As we climbed further, the view just got better and better. The torque from the engine helped me climb with ease. But as the altitude increased, the loss in oxygen was apparent in the power delivery of the engine and I had to open up the throttle a little more than usual to get going. Surprisingly, despite the drop in power, the torque is delivered so relentlessly throughout the rev-range that I was able to stay in the fourth gear throughout my climb, snaking through the mountain roads with rigour. Despite the size and weight, the motorcycle is quite nimble, all thanks to its redeveloped chassis and the wheelbase, which is now a little shorter than the previous generation Thunderbird. Royal Enfield claims that this is the best handling motorcycle next to the Continental GT. I have no reason to doubt that. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1373[/ATTACH] [CENTER]One could see cable cars carrying logs of wood from here.[/CENTER] We stopped at several good vantage points to admire the absolute beauty of the mountains and human establishments dotted across the vast uneven terrain. Swinging my weight left and right over corners, scraping the underbody at curves, the whole ride to Shimla felt like a ‘MotoGP’ session. The bike felt planted on the corners, thanks to the grippy MRF Nylogrip Zapper tyres. How I wished having a helmet mountable GoPro camera! We stopped at Solan for some light food. It was a delight to feel the hot tea warming up the stomach. The roads were good in the first half of the distance, then came the dreaded potholes. We had to veer left and right to avoid them, at the same time look out for oncoming vehicles. As we were nearing Shimla, the traffic got denser and each overtake was hair-raising. In one occasion, I almost rear ended a car because the driver stopped suddenly for no reason. I panic-braked, the rear wheel locked and I veered off to the left, avoiding collision by inches. ABS equipped brakes would’ve made the ride a lot safer. Royal Enfield should seriously consider this, at least as an optional fitment. For a long distance cruiser like the Thunderbird, it is indeed essential. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1436[/ATTACH] We made a pit-stop at Waknaghat, round 25 kms from Shimla, where we met and interacted with a seasoned riding group from Delhi, who incidentally, also travelled through Chandigarh. They invited us for a cup of coffee and we had a good like-minded chat about our rides and took selfies. We then continued and at around four in the evening we reached Shimla. The moment I entered Shimla, an overwhelming sense of elation engulfed me. I have finally made my first trip to a hill-station! Perched at 7,234 feet, the view of the scenery is absolutely stunning. We checked in into a budget hotel, took some much needed nap and set out at night for shopping at Mall Road. Being a tourist place, things are expensive over there. One has to have good bargaining skills in order to get a good deal. We then gorged on wood fired pizzas at ‘Café Simla Times.’ The ambience and the quality of the food totally justifies the bill. From the windows of the restaurant, one could see the city lights shimmering and clouds slowly enveloping the city, a sight to behold. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1437[/ATTACH] [CENTER]This is how heaven looks like[/CENTER] [B]Day Three:[/B] We decided to head to Kufri for breakfast. We set out early in the morning and despite the bone-chilling coldness, we maintained a brisk pace. Impulse, adrenaline and the thirst for adventure makes one do crazy things. At 8600 feet above ground and 45 minutes later, we reached Kufri and had some heavenly bread omelette and hot coffee at a café. After having our fill, we decided to go back to Chandigarh. After three hours of intense downhill riding, we stopped at Solan for lunch and continued. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1438[/ATTACH] [CENTER]Bike, bread and omelette![/CENTER] Racing against time and oncoming vehicles, constantly braking and maneuvering through slower moving busses and trucks we managed to average 60 kmph. In four hours, we crossed Parwanoo and headed towards Chandigarh without any breaks. The wide roads helped us maintain a good pace throughout. We reached home by six in the evening. [B]Day Four:[/B] The next day I had to go back to Delhi as it was a working day. The adventure was slowly coming to an end with only one last ride left. I left from Chandigarh at four in the morning and thumped my way into the highway. The fog forced me to ride with the visor open. I reached Ambala city in an hour where I fuelled up, cleared all the dead bugs in my spectacles and continued towards Delhi. The absolute need to reach the class as soon as possible made me gun my way into the highway at silly speeds. After five hours of relentless riding, I reached the college and went straight to the class with my gear on and a super wide grin plastered across my face that said it all. Dirty clothes, cramped fingers and neck, never bothered me one bit. The whole experience was worth it and it took me almost an hour to sink in the reality. This is the craziest and the longest distance I’ve ever done on two wheels. With 927 kilometres on the trip-meter, pure motorcycling nirvana speaks for itself. All in all it was a weekend well spent. I am happy now. [CENTER] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1439[/ATTACH] This was clicked just the night before the Blood moon[/CENTER]