On the ride.

The ride is about to begin and I am feeling the movement now.

After I got my bike we started planning the annual trip to the the Himalayas. Times have changed and getting out of daily life is a real strugle but when you have to ride you have to ride. Atul, Gautam and myself we have been best friends and riding partners for a long time. We have always shared the passion for travelling and motorcycling. Both Atul and gautam own Royal Enfield’s and both of their bikes were in dire condition, both of then got the bikes refurbished after shopping for spare parts and long hours with the mechanics. Finally everything looks in place. Another friend Shwetank is going to join us for his first long ride after listening to our stories for so long and he will be the only solo rider. Three of us got married in the last year so life has changed a lot from then. We are not lonely riders any more we are riding with our ladies now so the trip has to be special and needs more planning and energy. Things are planned and the unplanned has been forgotten. We plan to camp this year and bought two men tents that we are going to carry along.

As far as my bike goes I got a new saddle, new headlight halogen bulb and a custom rack for the stuff. Apart from that got a good riding jacket and saddle bags for our stuff. I am not very new top Enfield’s but also I’m not very confident about riding one to the Himalayas as I have just been with the bike for two months and less than 2000KM. I know its going to be a different ball game riding a heavier bike than before with load os stuff loaded on to the saddle bags and Sri riding behind me. Sri has always been very keen on riding to Ladakh, again after listening to our stories for so long she provable wants to do it herself. I had concerns about her health as she had breathing problem last year. So we visited her doctor and asked if she can do the trip. The doctor gave her some extra medicines and approved her travel but I am still concerned. So this time il be riding with a pillion about whom I am more concerned than anything else, I am riding a bike that I have never ridden to the Himalayas before though I am shore the off-road handling of the bike is better than my older bike and we are camping this time. In a worst case scenario we may have to return back if Sri is not able to cope up with the altitude but again i am shore we are going to have a good time together. Sri on the other hand is more confident and is up for the challenge for the strong lady she is. Hope everything goes well and we get to Ladakh in the best of health and spirit. Last but not the least we plan to camp that none of us are very experienced with. Thats what friends are for and we plan to take up the challange together. I'm really not shore what to expect from the trip but I think life is all about expecting posotive things and being confidant that we can overcome the difficulties.
I am already breathless about the whole feeling about the trip and hope that it turns out to be good what ever may happen one thin is shore every motorcycle trip teaches you a lot of thing about motorcycles, riding, nature, companions and life. I hope to write a good trrip log after we come back from the trip.

So good luck to all of us and hope we have a good ride without any major problems.