Finally after a lot of resistance from home and the GF, I was hitting the road for my grand new year ride welcome ride to Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Those who accompanied me on the this ride were Saurabh and Ashwani again, Rohon had chickened out for some seriuos professional committments. Saurabh had already been in a little pain from the ailing left knee of his, but still decided to come for ride, so tempting it was.
This was also the same time Dr. Arnob Gupta was attempting his Saddle Score Ride (http://ironbutt.com/ridecerts/getdocument.cfm?DocID=1 from Chennai to Jaipur. Having already achieved the Iron Butt (100o miles in 24 hours couple of years back), he aimed higher. Was supposed to be his witness at the terminal point in Jaipur, and then continue riding with him the next day towards Mumbai, before branching off the NH8 at Himmatnagar to continue to Kutch.
Bhuwan Singh, a fellow Nomad and BCMT member, was to join us for the II Leg (Gujarat) at the same time when Arnob would start his return to Mumbai. This was the setting for the ride.
Leg I -(Day 1- Day 3) : Rajasthan for Saurabh, Ashwani and me.
Leg 2 (Day 4- Day7/8) : Rajasthan, Gujarat.
The three of us (Saurabh, Ashwani and I) decided to discover as much of Rajasthan in 3 days as possible and return to Jaipur on the night of 26th to start with Bhuwan and Arnob on the 27th. Out initial plans were to cover up the desert districts of Jaisalmer and Barmer for the first three days.
What happened in the following days was mix of high and dry....not very inclined to write the complete trip log, just a brief of it all...
Day 1.
Started from Gurgoan @ 0445 hrs to arrive in Jaipur @ 0915 to meet bhuwan.
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| From Rajasthan (De... |
Travelled thru Kishangarh, Ajmer and Beawar to finally reach Jodhpur @ 1730 hrs.
Day Stats :
Total Distance covered : 625 kms
Total Time in the Saddle : 610 mins.
Avg. Riding Speed : ~ 58 kmph
Highlights of the Day:
Breakfast with Bhuwan, great highways of Central Rajasthan
Day 2
Left Jodhpur @ 0815 hrs and travelled to Jaisalmer and Sam, through Phalodi, & Pokhran.
Day Stats:
Total Distance covered : 350 kms
Total Time in the Saddle : 260 mins
Avg. Riding Speed : ~ 80 kmph
Highlights of the Day:
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L NH15 most of the way, some twisties
Saurabh took a fall negotiating a hairpin - broke his leg guard. I went off road to bite some desert in my efforts to negotiate a calf who decided to run across the highway without notice.
Stayed the night at a Camp Site in Sam (40kms from Jaisalmer city) and visited the last accesible village (without BSF permits) towards the Border.
Day 3:
Sam to Jaipur via Jaisalmer, Nagaur, Pushkar and Kishangarh.
Day Stats:
Total distance Travelled : 639 kms (my personal best in 24 hours)
Total Time in Saddle: Not sure (too many turmoils in day, so didnt record)
Avg. riding speed : again no times, so no Avg.
Highlights of the Day:
Very disappointing day. Woke up to learn that Arnob had to call off the Saddle score ride at Lonavala when he was all set to crack it.
Saurabh's knee just got more painful and decided to head to Delhi with Ashwani the same day
Mother and GF combined emotional forces and made me call off the the gujarat Leg.
Terrible handling problems with the bike. Too much sway while riding fast.
Ashwani went off road near kishangarh and damaged his bike and self (nothing serious though)
Ashwani and Saurabh stayed in Ajmer for the night. I was ahead of them, and before I could realise the fall Ashwani had, was too far towards Jaipur to return. I decided to continue to Jaipur and wait for Saurabh and Ashwani to reach in the morning to continue to Delhi.
Day 4
Jaipur to Delhi
Day Stats:
Total Distance covered : 310 kms
Total Time in the Saddle : Disappointments from previous day, didnt record
Avg. Riding speeds: Insufficient data
Highlights of the day:
Got the bike repaired. Apparently the front rim needed some realignment (probably coz of my going-off-the-road-to-avoid-calf-and-fall episode the previous day).
Saurabh and Ashwani arrived at the same time the bike was ready to hit the road.
Finally hit Delhi @ 1900 hrs.
Total distance on the Trip: 1924 Kms
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/DEL430/RajasthanDecember2006
