Raid De Himalaya

The raid de himalaya was flagged off today. Last year the raid was disrupted due to bad weather. Please follow the excitement here :

Raid Website
and
complete coverage on My Himachal Blog

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.

Finally Thumbing

I was provably four or five riding with my dad on his Black Enfield HPS - 1988. Sitting in front of my dad with my hands on the cold chrome handle the wind in my face. Its one of the picture that stays with you all your life and never fade away.



I always wanted to own a Royal Enfield just like my dad did, even came close a couple of times but always thought of having faster and more reliable machines. I did and rode them till the limit but by the end of it my heart said Royal Enfield. So finally found the time, money and most important the impulse to buy my own enfield. Last weeks were spent on the Internet finding out facts and figures about the machine and finally decided to buy the Electra 5S that has all the goodies of the classic Enfield and some modern day toys like a electric starter and front disk breaks. I walked up to the local dealer and found that they are short of bikes as the demand for the classic is high. The guy promised me to deliver my bike in ten days so I put down the booking amount. I'm feeling miserable now can wait no more to ride my very own enfield. Hope i don't cry when I take the delivery of my black beauty lol.. Still three days to destiny...

Ride it like you stole it.

Received this note from one of the biggest motorcycle blogs http://davedragon.rilysi.com
This is the best I ever got felt better that I felt after passing college: http://davedragon.rilysi.com/2006/12/ride-to-nirvana.html

It feels good to see that there are more people in the world sharing the same passion and respect for two wheels.

Trying to make some sense of it all.

Mankind...
====================================================================
Still going strong.
the walk on the clouds.
The drip in the rain.
Dreamy days and silver nights.
beyond the way a way there was to paradise and way back again.
life is on and going fast.
Figures going blunt.
Rememering names of known and strangers.
mankind...
no going back to whats forgotten.
The pain is gone no wounds are for ever.
Nevermind mankind....




Riding the Snake.
===============================================================
Riding the snake back home again,
Still miles to go hope we dont break.
You keep me up il keep my woe.
Is that rain on my eyes.
Dripping down to my knees.
Getting dark not so far I see the light.
Trying not to break on the wet road.
Its over? no it is not.
still miles to go hope we dont break.
Keep the best for the last.
If we could last.
Change some gears get some speed.
Rock till you last....
Rock till you last....

===============================================================

Stolen Damons diary.

Here is a day to day diary from the horses mouth. Sorry to have stolen this one though I intend to write one myself after riding the 10th Maruti Suzuki Raid-De-Himalaya myself this year. I always wanted to participate in the raid ever since my childhood when I used to wave at furious raiders passing through my small hometown from the side of the road I simply loved the roaring gypsies and the screaming bikes with riders wearing colourful helmets and armored riding gears with their fully covered helmet faces and small eyes under the goggles. I imagined myself doing the same some day. Well that's a different story I'm putting together.

I came across Damons diary searching his name on Google trying to find the winner of the 8Th Raid-De-Himalaya . Well Damon is not just one hell of a rider but a wonderful writer too, may be his profession as a journalist gives him that skill but I have never read a more detailed, precise and well explained diary about travel and emotions that too when it's not just travel its the one of the worlds toughest motor sport rally Raid-De-Himalaya. I found him on http://www.bikehigh.com/ and I have put him on my favourite list for ever. What a man and what an approach he has towards motorcycling. Appreciable in every sense .

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Anyone who contemplates taking part in the Rally Raid de Himalaya, with its terrifying and potentially fatal vertical drops, must wonder what it feels like to go over the edge, to leave the road and spin into the void. Well, although I only went over a small one, I now have a pretty good idea of how it feels. First there's a familiar 'whoops', then a cold realisation that as far as cock-ups go, one is presently engaged in a mother. A sense of 360-degree, what-way-up space precedes a mix of pain and relief as the ground is struck and left, struck and departed again. Spinning through the twilight, tumbling, sharp blows coming in from every side, a rag-dolling realisation that if you can't arrest the downward spiral, then you've probably opened your last Kingfisher. I'll be beaten to death by the rocks, or go over a big one. I've no idea what's below me.

Legs out rigid; arms, hands and heels searching for purchase. Flailure is failure. Arse over tit again and the heels dig in.

Delighted to be alive, I go through the post-stack motions: Toes wiggle? Check. Fingers move? 'Ow!' But check. Knees, elbows, shoulders all move stiffly. I know I'm all here because everything hurts. Especially my right leg. It isn't responding to instructions, but as I draw myself upright I'm able to pull it into position and when I put weight on it there's only a marginal increase in pain. I am able to lean forward against the slope to steady myself and start to climb.

I was in the lead, 2075km into a seven-day, 2100km race when the taxi punted me over the edge. Just 10 miles to the gate and I'd have clinched a win, but all I can now work out is which way is up. I don't know where my bike is and seem to have blown it, big-time. Having taken time out en-route to get some pictures taken for coverage in Bike magazine, I am perilously close to losing time on this last 'transport stage' and only have a lead of around 1min 20secs. If not on the bike and over the line within about half an hour I'm done. A week of hard-riding; four o'clock morning musters; changing tyres in the dark in the biting mountain winds; boily backside and dust-clogged nose; stinging eyes and sunburn; four previous crashes - it all looks set to end here in the rocky scree of the Rohtang Pass thanks to a stupid error of judgement. But, make no mistake, I'm happy to be alive and not smashed to pieces.

The Preparations
The run up to 'The Raid' was a busy few days - giving the Yamaha its first full service, changing my part-worn Metzeler Karoo tyres for Pirelli MT61 enduro rubber and buying provisions. To pass scrutineering I was also required to fit mud flaps fore and aft, and they have done wonders for the bike's styling. Lovely. It was also necessary cover the bike in an extraordinary number of race sponsorship stickers.
I did manage to find time to get in a couple of test rides, getting an idea of how the new Pirellis worked on the dirt, but didn't get nearly so much practice as I'd have liked. Still, with the bike now luggage-free and riding with a bunch of other riders (including English Matt, who I'd first met in Leh) I managed to get a measure of how quick I could go - which on the lose dirt was not quick enough.

For a couple of days another English fella and around-the-worlder, Adam Lewis, and I had teamed up to halve the number of stupid questions we felt obliged to ask the organisers. Despite Adam having competed in a number of UK enduro events, neither of us had a fool's clue on how this monstrous number was run. We were also both granted the use of Motoworld's workshops - the garage business of communications director, Vijay Parmar (thanks Vijay) - to prepare our machines.

Now I like Adam, he's a proper Brit grass roots racer; ready to smile and laugh his way through inconvenience, resourceful (stripping his BMW F650 to its underwear two days before the race to change its suspension bushes) and ever ready to lend a hand. Like I said, I like Adam, but I don't want to sleep with him, thanks. But that was the arrangement laid on for us the night before the race's kick-off.

Mind you I didn't join him until after midnight, thanks to unfinished jobs and a briefing that took up a good part of the evening. From there it was a completely sleepless night, if only a four-hour one, before rising to ride to the race's start.

Day One
Completely knackered at 4.30am, I'm strapping my toolkit and Baglux tankbag, containing requisite sleeping bag, emergency rations and first aid kit, to the tail of the XT. We have to be in the start area at 5.30 for the first vehicles to leave at six. It's bikes first and then cars and of the 33 (I think) bikes leaving, I'm 28th bike, near last thanks to my high (101) unseeded race number.

It's a weird sensation running quickly through the quiet streets of Shimla at 6.30am, cops waving me through the junctions and tunnels. Soon we're off the main track and heading for the first competitive stage on the dirt. A number of waiting bikes mark the start - for every minute early into the staging area, there's a five-minute penalty; for each minute late, it's just a minute's penalty. Accurate timekeeping is essential.

Stage One, Day One, is tight and rocky dirt track. At just 26km it is short and intense with perilous falls. Advice from experienced mentors (four-times winner, Bantu; seen-it-all font of motorcycling wisdom, Trigun; organiser Vijay et al) is simply to take it easy and survive the first day - around half the entry is expected to fall out by day's end due to failure to make the maximum permitted lateness (MPL), crashes, punctures, or simply realising they're not up to the job.

My friends give good advice indeed, but it fails to take into account the fact I might want to compete. And Vijay, after taking me for a short assessment ride to gauge whether I was fit for the Raid had marked me thus: "You are good enough to ride in the Raid, but you won't win it." Whether by intention or accident, this has fired me up - nobody likes to be underestimated, let alone written-off...

I reckon that if I fall too far behind on these initial tight dirt stages - where I know the small-engined bikes are quick and agile with more experienced riders - then I won't be able to make it back up on the more open sections later in the race. Today we have some 425km to cover, and with more than a quarter of this rough-track racing there's a long way I could fall behind.

So best advice ignored I go for it, hard as I can. Over the course of stage one I pass many slower bikes, have a few near misses and one slide that has onlookers running for cover. In competitive two I slide off on a shiny surface in front of an assembled village. I was showing off, trying to spark the pegs and Matt is proved right, the word 'twat' could have been invented for me. Luckily the road just here is so smooth that the bike and I are barely marked and I lose less than a minute. Next hazard is a dog that runs out on me. I manage to lose speed, spin Muttley around on the spot, and we both go about our ways.

All day I have been dicing with 'Big Nitin', number 100, on his madly modified and hugely tuned orange Enfield Bullet. His bike is fitted with long-travel forks, a Japanese monoshock rear end and he rides it like a devil, spinning the wheel everywhere and backing off for nothing. I pass him on the long Stage Three, over 60km of dirt track, when he has a technical problem. I then have a problem of my own when the front mud flap is dragged into the wheel, but get going before he re-passes.
Within minutes I hear the drone of his engine behind me and there he is, 25m behind and gaining. I have lost concentration, over-relaxed and slowed. Efforts redoubled, I manage to gap Big Nitin and finish the last racing stage of the day, having overtaken about 15 bikes on the road and stayed ahead (on the road,not in time) of the fastest cars.

The last transport stage of the day goes over the Jalori Pass at about 3300m and on to the finish at Manali. For once taking advice, I stop only for a quick smoke before tackling the day's last 250-odd kilometres. Five hours is plenty of time, but it's best to get going and refuelled early, in case of a problem later. I have this problem when 40km from the end I get a puncture in the dark. With half-a-dozen Himachalli villagers trying to 'help', I get a new tube in and hit the finish line at around 8pm.

Adam, with whom I am again sharing a room/bed, has lost time with a puncture in the first competitive stage and now his suspension problem has re-emerged. His friend Dan helps him strip the complicated BMW once more to find that the upper shock bush of his Ohlins has once more worn out - only 400km since replacement. With no permanent fix in sight, Adam withdraws from the race, which is a big disappointment, as not only have we been working as a mini team, but I'm also looking forward to a bit of a ding-dong with him on the tarmac.

Later in the evening the day's results are out. I am astonished to find myself in second place, leading a bunch of riders who are all within a couple of minutes of me. Ahead are a couple of cars and a rider nicknamed 'Rocky' - so named because of his love of the films and his mild-mannered behaviour off the bike and tenacity 'in the ring'. Rocky (last year's winner, number 71, riding a lightly modified Hero Honda Karizma) is a whole 11 minutes ahead. With the roads opening out tomorrow and more suiting the big, heavy Yamaha, I hope to take some time out of Rocky's lead, or at least stay in touch.


Day Two
The tough first day has done its job, all but halving the field. Today is an 'easy' day, with a 50km transport over the Rohtang Pass, a 100km dirt racing stage and a further 60-odd km to the Finish at Kaza in the stunning Spiti Valley. I'm tired, a bit achy, and struggling to concentrate and pace myself at the start of the stage.
About 20 minutes in, there's a beeping behind me as a blue rally car approaches for an overtake. I consider where to pull over and let it through. Then reconsider. Overtaken by a car? Not going to happen. If it does pass I'll lose time in its dust cloud and as we're starting to climb towards the 4500m Kunzum Pass may well get stuck behind on the steepest parts of the climb.

Being chased kicks some extra adrenalin into the system and I take off like a hairy bear with its arse alight, quickly gapping the Suzuki car and managing to focus for the rest of the stage. It pays dividends as by the day's end I've pulled back (I think - I didn't check the time sheets that night) around three minutes on Rocky.
In Kaza, determined to get some sleep (I've had around three hours in the past two nights), I check into a cheap hotel that I used on my reccy, eat early and get some kip.

Day Three
Three very steep, very tight and technical 'special' stages comprise day three. They are all in the stunning high desert Kaza area and we'll only cover about 100 miles, but I know the terrain is going to be very physical on what is basically a big road bike with knobbly tyres.

Each of the stages climbs from around 3000m to approximately 4000m within the space of about 20km, with vertiginous drops from which you could base jump. There are a couple of points at which officials wave speed down for some potentially fatal technicalities, and bugger-all grip throughout.

I crash three times in all - all slow ones. Twice the bike comes around on me on nadgery uphill sand; once I'm distracted by roadside officials and topple against the cliff-side after locking the wheels. One crash leaves the bike tank-down on a steep slope and I lose at least a minute hauling it upright.

One of the stages is run twice and the last downhill 7km is rough tarmac. Barrelling down and braking into the hairpins is pulling my front knobbly apart.

Overall, though, I'm happy to be pretty much on the pace. Although I have around twice the power of the bikes near the front of the pack (the bigger bikes in the field are failing to compete), there's no reward in 40bhp when you can only get 20 of them to the floor and you're wheel-spinning everywhere, struggling to hold the weight up in the hairpins. I don't know exactly where I stand behind Rocky, but am pretty sure he hasn't got away today.

Day Four
The main competitive section of this race is basically a reversal of day two, 100kms over Kunzum La with fast valley-floor sections. I've upped my tyre pressures to try and get some more stability and a higher top speed on the fast bits, which run over gravel and stone dry river beds. The 'death weave' now sets in some 5km faster and I'm able to top out at about 130kph, but it's arse-twitching stuff when you see what terrain you'll be tumbling over.

Running the stage this way also brings those of us running at the front over Kunzum Pass early - about 7.30am. There is ice lurking in the shadows.

Again I've slept poorly and am struggling to race all the time, wary of getting the bike's mass slowed and turned on the downhill 'pins. Staying full-on for every second of an hour and a half over this stuff is hard work. I miss an official short cut and lose time. Rocky gains a little on me, but not enough to worry too much about when this is the last of the serious dirt stages.

The last stage of day four is situated on the famous/infamous Manali-Leh road. All tarmac (or at least a rough version of it) and only 17km over a small pass, it's the ideal place to see what kind of time I can pull back on good surfaces, where I can use the Yamaha's power. I get confused by a roadside 'finish' sign, put out for cars competing in the 'reliability' class, and lose a minute or so dithering over what to do.But I'm still fastest here, quicker even than the lead cars.

My front tyre is now in a state of serious disintegration. The knobs on the sides are breaking off and it's not fit to compete another day. I have my part-worn Metzeler Karoo tyres (the dual-purpose rubber that has served us so well throughout the trip) being carried by Kevin, a Brit' with his Land Rover entered in the reliability competition. But there's a problem. We are staying in a military transit camp at Patseo and as Kevin has diplomatic number plates he can't.

I've my wheel out ready for the tyre change, so the officials (thanks you, guys) arrange to bring the tyre the 25km from the hotel at which he's now been posted. It arrives at around 9.00pm and is quickly fitted, but finding someone with a pump takes another half-hour. I'd wanted to change the rear, too, but it's getting too late and too cold at near 4000m.

Carrying kit has been a problem throughout. Most of the competitors have service crews running with them, but I'm having to ask favours of people to carry my overnight bag. I'm grateful to those who helped, but this means me rarely seeing my kit and is a constant hassle I don't need. I'm having to run around finding cars when I need to work on the bike, or sleep.

Night four I sit up and have a few much needed social whiskeys with friends before crashing out at midnight in the barrack room bunk beds in which w're billeted. It's cold, the roof doesn't fit, there's a plethora of snoring styles, but I manage to get some kip eventually.

I'll leave it at that for now, cos it's going to take about two hours to get this posted. More, probably, tomorrow.
Damon

Day Five

At 5am we all come alive in our barrack room. Washing and
brushing is outside, water from an old oil drum positioned
above a fire to stop the water freezing. I don't bother with
the washing bit. It's bitterly cold, but not so bad as it could
be, not so bad as it will be at around 7.30 when we climb
over Baralacha La (4890m) on the day's first competitive
stage, which starts at the army base and runs for around
60km to the nothing place of Lingti.

The cars preceding Rocky and I have broken the ice on the
streams, but this is not such a help when they've dragged
water onto the dirt and it has instantly frozen in their tracks.
The vast majority of the stage is tarmac in reasonable
condition and towards the transit camp at Sarchu the road
straightens out and speeds build. There are, however, deep
culverts ready to catch out the unwary... or the wary for that
matter. Hitting one at about 110kph, bottoms the
suspension out, before kicking the back end into the air as it
unloads. All that's to be done is getting arse out of saddle
double-time, gritting teeth, holding on and hoping.

WeÕve been warned about the ice expected on the steel
bridges, but I still go in too hot at Sarchu, crossing just
about the whole span on full lock with a football in my
throat. For some reason the bolts holding this simple
construction together have been inserted from the
underside, meaning inches of threaded steel spikes
protrude. Thankfully my tyres survive and I don't fall onto
the iron maiden.

All this fast road means it's not long before I've made up
Rocky's two-minute, on-the-road headstart and by the
finish line I've gained some three minutes. The rest of the
field are now comfortably behind our two-horse race.

Next comes a long transport stage across a huge, and
hugely stunning high-level plain. At the end of this is the
loftiest point of the Leh route, Tanglang La, claimed to be
the second highest road in the world at 5328m. At the
stage's start point, a couple of kilometres before the road
begins to climb up to the pass, there's a long wait in a cold
wind. But things look even worse ahead as dark clouds
gather over Tanglang, promising snow.

Tales of the Raid being snowed to a halt a few years back
have got me a bit twitchy and despite needing this 40km
stage to pull back some time, there's a part of me secretly
hoping it would be cancelled. A radio report from up top
suggests there's some light snow, but not enough to stop
the stage, so off we go, this time me starting ahead of
Rocky despite him being ahead in the bigger picture.

It's damn cold, with some light snow falling and at the pass'
summit the rough ground is hard and white with frost. Again
there's ice, but in most places the power is getting to
ground surprisingly well. On Tanglang's downside to Rumtse
the road is fast and wide, again suiting the Yamaha and I'm
able to brake into corners with a fair amount of vigour on
the front Metzeler. I get to the line and watch watch. Rocky
comes in some three and a half minutes behind me, so I've
made around a minute and a half. Things are going to plan
and I expect to be able to haul in Rocky's now six-minute
lead tomorrow.

The last transport stage to Leh should be easy going, and is
until I'm stopped by an angry mob blocking the road. Running first on the road, ahead of the cars, I find myself
surrounded, being met with some aggression and don't
understand why I'm the subject of the crowd's ire. There are
police wielding sticks and telling me to drive on through the
crowd, but I'm not up for ploughing old ladies over. I ask the
police not to hit the people, the people not to hit me and
hope I'm not about to get the shit kicked out of me by a
band of Buddhists. When they start to pull me off the bike I
feel I've no choice but to go and the assemblage parts to let
me through with only some token blows.

I'd assumed I'd committed some terrible sacrilege. Perhaps
some grand-master monk had been disturbed on his
deathbed. What awful act had I inadvertently committed? I
had been part of an event that had made their bus late...

More arse-ache was to come when I arrived at the Leh finish,
only to be told to bugger off back out of town until the
minister of inconvenience was in place to receive us arriving
at neat minute intervals. My next job was also to wait. To
wait around three hours for Kevin and Koos to turn up in
the Land Rover with my replacement rear tyre, which I
changed in roadside darkness near a garage with an airline.

My luggage, however, was in yet another vehicle, staying a a
different hotel and by the time I'd tracked it down, had a
shower etc, it was getting on in the evening. Nonetheless,
my new roommate, 'Little Nitin,' a fiend called Shetty and I
went to one of my old Leh haunts for dinner and a bottle of
beer. This proved to be very pleasant, but the food
poisoning that followed was anything but.
More tomorrow.
Damon

Day Six

I know the road from Leh to Pangong Lake as it's the one
Pankaj Trivedi and I took into the Ladakhi hinterlands when
going for our altitude record. I know it's just the territory
the Yamaha and I enjoy and that with the Metzelers back on
front and rear I can catch the leader today. Only two
problems - I haven't slept a wink all night (and little the
previous at the cold army base) and I have a raging shits.

Wearing the carpet out between bed and bathroom, I'm
considering bowing out. In store today we have a crossing
of the 5000m-plus Chang La, a pass that felt higher and
colder than even Tanglang La on my last ride around the
area. I doubt I can concentrate fully for 320-odd dangerous,
high-altitude kilometres when I can't even risk breakfast.

Having come this far, I decide to break the day into sections
and just try to get through each one. First, get dressed;
next get to the bike, scrape the 5am ice of the saddle and ride
to the start-line in the dark cold.

In the paddock, waiting, shaking uncontrollably, big spasms
wracking through me as I fight the urge to vomit. I'm
exhausted and so is my bog-roll.

Next task is to complete the long transport to the first
competitive section in the bitter cold. I feel a little happier on the
bike - I always do because it feels like home. A measure of
how bad I feel is that when I stop at a shop for loo paper
and water, I forget to buy cigarettes!

From the doctor's car at the competitive stage's start point I
am delivered a magical bowel-binding antibiotic wonder-pill
and some electrolyte sachets to add to my water. The other
required drug is, I know, that good old adrenalin stuff, but I'm
having trouble revving myself up in the cold and still can't
stop shaking, still feel like death.

The stage begins with a few kilometres of flat-out action,
which wakes me up a bit. I leave my visor up for a big fresh
blast - insects are grounded in these temperatures, so eyes
are fairly safe. As the road rises up to the pass, I manage to
slip into that full concentration zone where only the riding
matters - full focus, I barely notice my hands deadening
under my heavy gloves. On the descent I notice them alright
and as the blood starts to move again it feels like they're in
boiling water.

I can't even remember where I pass Rocky (somewhere near
the top, I think), but I do and make back some more
minutes. As the surface is mainly very good, I've started
catching the two lead cars, too.

The next section is ultra-fast (comparatively), with an
average speed of under 70kph required to 'zero' the stage. I
am feeling a lot better now, go at it hard and clear the
stage without any time penalty, faster than the two lead cars
and faster than Rocky. But I gain no advantage, time-wise,
as there are four of us who have zeroed the stage.

Things are now going to be tight if I'm to catch Rocky,
because we now have only three competitive stages left to
run, two of them today. So I put everything into the job,
gassing as hard as I can, everywhere I can. Again, I zero
stages and go fastest of all, but I'm not gaining all the
advantage I might. I'm busting the target time, but Rocky's
not coming in far over it and so not getting big time
penalties.

Had I taken it easy on day one, I would not be within
shooting distance. As it is, I estimate myself to be
somewhere between level and two minutes behind. The final
stage tomorrow is a reverse run of the Tanglang La stage
and I'm confident I can take two minutes back. My wish is
that I'm now a couple of seconds behind, so that Rocky will
start ahead of me - it's a letting the dog see the rabbit
thing.

Rumours that night, before the official numbers are available,
are that I'm in the lead; that I'm 1min 16 secs behind; that
someone's going to 'fix' my bike in the night. Rocky's brother tells me
their mother is making a special trip to the prize-giving to
see her son crowned. Having not eaten all day, I'm too tired
for other people's mind games. All evening I've been nurturing my own head problems and am considering withdrawing from the race anyhow.

In my tired state I'm feeling that if I win, I lose, because
everyone will say it's the bike. If I lose, I lose twice over,
because I must be crap if I can't win on the big Yamaha.
Nobody complained about foreigners competing on powerful
bikes when they weren't vying for a win - there have been
others before me and all have failed to finish. And nobody
gets shirty about the Indian riders on imported bikes. No-
one - except ultra-rude Brit' Matt, of course - has come out
and said: 'You're shit, it's just the bike that's doing the
work,' but I there's an undercurrent of such feeling, I'm
sure. Maybe it's just the fatigue messing with my mind and I
myself am my only accuser. Except rude Matt, of course.

Over pizza with Shetty, I'm a sullen old bugger. I sit silently,
reminding myself that there were four big bikes entered at
the start (a couple more suitable than mine, I reckon) and
that I'm not even entered in the same class as Rocky. I only
have the one bike on which to race!

Rocky has done extraordinary things on his 225 Honda, has
been a great competitor, a good sportsman and spending so
much time waiting together at the front of the field we have
also become pretty friendly. I have great respect for the lad,
but should I just hand him the race? Surely nobody should
expect to win. He shouldn't be feeling like a condemned man
when there's every chance he'll be a class winner - and by
some considerable degree. And, hold on a god-dang minute,
there's still one anything-could-happen stage to run and the
small matter of Leh to Manali and the finish, 475 high-level
km away.

I've ridden as hard as anyone, given the event as much
commitment, taken at least as many risks, endured the
same physical challenges. And all on my own, without the
help of a support team. As I've picked up the pace, people
have started to make assumptions: that I'm a professional
off-roader; that the XT is a competition enduro bike, etc,
etc. They do't see the stiff, short-travel forks, the rubber
touring footpegs, unadjustable suspension trying to control
the wild buckings of a 185kg road-biased machine, or know that as
standard this bike has sod-all ground clearance.

They can't feel the weight of the thing, the back tyre spin
everywhere on the torque, the effort it takes to get such a
long and weighty bike turned on the dirt, or slowed on the
frost. Still, it is one of the three best bikes to start, but only
if you can ride it.

I decide to decide whether to race in the morning, when,
hopefully, I've had some sleep and can get some kind of
reasonable perspective. A couple of small rums, earplugs in
and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Raid Report - The Home Run

With six hours sleep under my Arai helmet I’m a different man. The choices are no choices at all – if I retire from the race it will make no sense to anyone and may well cast a small cloud over what is, and has been, a fantastic event. It could be disrespectful even to the other competitors who have given their all. The least I can do is give the same and win or lose with the best grace an oik such as myself can muster.

Having simply parked the Yamaha up last night, I give it quick ‘n’ frosty check over. Tyres are still pressurised, split link still in place on a chain that hasn’t needed adjustment in over 1500 miles of racing. No leaks, no major rattles. I still don’t know where Rocky and I stand time-wise – and have a strange lack of concern, deciding to conserve everything for the last stage, whatever the situation. Worrying now is just a waste of mental energy.

At the start point the usual printout of our current time standings is not available, but still I’m unconcerned as we leave for the first transport stage, heading for the last competitive section. Rocky is above me in the starting order, so he’s still in first place and I will be chasing him up the mountain.

It’s colder than an Eskimo’s earlobes as I head out of Leh. Even at ‘just’ 3300m there’s a light glaze of ice smoothing the ponds. We will be climbing two vertical kilometres higher this morning. I keep speed low so as to buck some of the wind-chill and to avoid sitting around for too long while waiting for the off. Rocky has been employing the same thinking and we ride the last 20, or so, kilometres together.

We are nonetheless still some 30 minutes under time and are both feeling the chill in our spectacular, snow-capped, sub-zero surroundings. My cold-tattered cuticles are usually painful, but this morning there’s no sensation and the blood coagulates upon emergence. The streams are frozen, the valley is silent, not a bird in the sky. Even the ubiquitous crows don’t show. No breath of wind. Utterly lifeless, save two drivers, two riders, and the officials huddled in their vehicles. The peak snow oranges in the dawn and as the minutes pass and the sun rises higher somewhere over the summits, the glow drains down the sandy mountainsides promising a tolerable day. But not far enough. Not soon enough.

What feet? I’m jumping around, singing and dancing without a care, winding myself up, but still the ice blocks in my Sidi boots won’t thaw. This early morning podiatry discomfort is, however, less than peripheral. I’ve not an ache in my body and feel as fit at 4300m as I did in my Fen-level hovel before I left over four months ago. But stronger.

Like a demented native American witch doctor with a rattlesnake up his bison-skin kilt I stomp-hop over to one of the official cars to see if they can give me the low down on the time situation. They don’t recoil from the sun-and-wind-and-cold-burned, wrinkle faced, chapped-lipped, red-eyed nutcase, but instead get on the radio and come back with an answer: 1min 6sec. Then I’m called back – mistake, it’s 1min 16sec. Still purrrrfect.

Having made the decision to go for the kill (and to be honest I’d imagined how I’d feel in exactly this situation when I’d entered the race, only to berate myself for being over-cocky to the point of stupidity) I find myself looking at Rocky as prey. The high mountains can do strange things with the mind and right now they’re painting blood-red crosshairs on the back of the 22-year-old’s helmet.

In a physically and mentally challenging event like this you’re often looking inward. Once you’ve found the something, a mental condition maybe, The Zone, that will let you ride on the edge, your edge, on the edge of the edge, that big, scary, fatal edge, hopefully without going over it, then… then you start to write overly-long, babbling sentences with a surfeit of commas. And maybe you learn to work yourself into that zone.

First car goes… two minutes pass… second car goes… rabbit in the trap… two minutes pass… run bunny run! For two minutes Rocky is, I assume, giving it everything. In this time he can easily be over a mile ahead as I drop the clutch and begin to chase down his bobbing scutt.

In the thick gloves I’m wearing, I can’t ‘double-shuffle’ the slow-action, big-turn throttle in my palm, so I’ve started with my elbow cocked above the bars. Drop the elbow for full-fuckin’ open and use the wrist for more sensitive throttle metering. Power uphill is my huge advantage here, so I’m going to milk the bike for every wheezy (at three miles high) dobbin.

My biggest weakness throughout the event has been concentration when I’m racing alone – pushing hard without going too hard when there’s no other vehicle to gauge my performance against. On all the high-risk, technical race stages so far, I’ve been talking to myself, geeing myself up, usually with some hardcore self abuse and foul language: ‘concentrate, eyes up you dozy f’er, pick a line, push. Don’t look down you silly old git, stop fannying, open the throttle all the way, shit or get off the pot…’

Today, besides self checking that the throttle cables are like bowstrings where the grip is available, it feels easier – this is when you know you’re going quickly. The normal tension warning is exhausted hands, from gripping the bars too tightly. Now I’m focused yet relaxed, the perfect state. It’s smoother, less dramatic, but faster.

I catch sight of Rocky much earlier than expected and he doesn’t appear to be going so fast as usual. His body language isn’t what it should be – usually he’s wide-shouldered, puffed up like a boxer, but today he looks deflated, hunted, waiting for the sound of my engine. I feel sympathy when I come up behind him before the top of Tanglang La, sound the horn, and lope past.

On the first downhill section, mainly dirt and patchwork-mac, I’m bemused not to find Rocky anywhere in the mirrors. It’s only been a couple of kilometres since I passed him. I slow down – after all, I only have to keep him in sight – but he doesn’t show and normally he’d be barrelling downhill behind me. At the end of a long, death-drop straight I look back again, but he’s not there. I’m worried he’s overdone it in pursuit. I stop, put a foot down to crane backwards and wait. In a few seconds Rocky’s blue leathers appear, so off I shoot.

At the foot of the descent are a flat-out few kilometres to the finish. My top speed is still limited to 130kph as the bike bucks, sways and weaves beneath me, the damping in my overheated shocks failing to cope with the undulations and ever-shifting cambers. But there is certainly no way I’m going to be caught. As the line comes into view, the second-placed car is having his card stamped, so I’ve made up over three minutes on the four-wheeler.

The Times of India, 9/10/06: “[Asish (Rocky) was] hunted down by rookie Ianson (sic), a British auto-hack, powering a brute, 660 cc Yamaha XTR – which called for lots of Zen for motorcycling… Finally on the 7th day in the thin air at about 17,000ft near the top of Tanglang La, Ianson ‘went mental’ and passed the reigning champion on the last competitive section of the event,’

If anyone knows what that first bit means…

At the competitive’s finish, I’m congratulated by all and interviewed by a TV crew. I try to point out that the event isn’t actually over, that there are another 300-ish kilometres to the Manali finish and that anything could happen the remaining mountainous miles. And of course, anything does…


I reckon I’ll be very short of pictures for Bike, so grab a friendly photographer do a few shoots of the ride back. This, of course, murders my average speed, so I pick up the pace a little, which also helps my concentration – for most of the long ride, at least.

Rohtang is the last pass before Manali, one of the most beautiful spots on Earth and one of the most stunning rides. I’m over halfway down the Manali side, eager to get to the line and crack open a beer. I’ve been whooping through the tourist traffic that’s been making its way down from the pass’ top and making good progress I’ve passed most of the other returning competitors.


In the dwindling light I find myself behind a small taxi, itself behind a jeep. Beeping my tits off I pull out and start to pass, when so does the taxi. Beep, beep, beep is having no effect and I’m pushed to the edge, where I’m forced to brake. The Taxi’s rear wing takes my front wheel and leaves me spinning down the hillside.

As I struggle up the slope, kicking my boot’s toes into the dirt like a snow climber, a rope is thrown from above, courtesy of Cheta, the co-driver in the second-placed car. I wrap it around my right wrist. Mistake, it’s bloody agony as I’m helped/hauled up by my injured hand.

Near the top many hands pull me to the road where I’m relieved to see the bike lying on the falls’ edge. The right-hand footpeg assembly has been sheared off and the bars are twisted away to the right, but it looks rideable and starts after a few seconds on the button, so I tuck my injured leg into the side of the engine, ask which way I am supposed to be heading and with the steering pointing off the cliff, ride off towards the finish. I self-diagnose a touch of concussion as oncoming traffic leaves me weaving to a halt when it dazzles my pie-pupil eyes and I manage to drive straight past the turning to the finish before realising my mistake and U-turning.

At the finish gate everything is very low key, with few spectators and no photographer to record the event. Rude Matt has made it home before me, making him the first westerner ever to complete the Raid.

The battered bike is left in the Parc Ferme and I’m helped to carry my kit to the nearby hotel. In my room I’m joined by a gaggle of congratulatory friends and we sink a few beers before dinner, after which I crawl under the blankets like a beaten dog and pass out.

Malana, The Old Order Burns Down

What centuries of hostility could not do to Malana village, a devastating mid-winter inferno did so in half a day on Saturday.
Shrine of the all powerful Jamlu Devta, god of the Malana people, along with over half of the high altitude village was reduced to ashes.

The Complete Story.

http://himachal.us/2008/01/06/malana-the-old-order-burns-down/4188/people/ravinder

The birth of a motorcyclist.

The Ride to Key Monastery.

This trip is one of the best that that have I done on my Motorcycle. The experience was addicting. It felt like this trip made me a true biker. Since then I just think of Motorcycling and nothing else.
The trip was a difficult one but the feeling by the end of it was out of the world and full of adrenaline.

Click on the links below for a day to day report on the adventure.



Day One Shimla To Rekang Peo

Day Two Rekang Peo to Pooh

Day Three Pooh To Siziling

Day Four Siziling to Key

Day Five Back from Key to Rekang Peo

What did you hear tonight?

I herd Pink Floyd - Comfortably num.
Kind of..Wish you were here.

The first one was Queen I want to Break Free..Second Pinkfloyd.Then I decided to write about it when Thrill Is Gone. -B.B.King and Tracy Chapman played.
Have you ever remembered what you heard today? Well if you do listern then you would. Some people watch news, some worship, some do do what not.

I listern to music.
So what did you hear tonight....?

Raid De Himalaya 2007.

The 9th Raid De Himalaya was flagged of from Shimla on 2nd October 2007. The raid is one of the toughest motor sport events in the world. Though the participation is not as great as Dakar but the terrain and difficulty level is equal to any other top rated rally in the world. The raid is provably the only moptorsport event that runs through altitude as high as 5259 meters at Khardung La which is also the official highest motorable road in the world. The event covers almost 2400 Kilometers in seven days and is the real test of man and machine.

The raid this year is running in seven legs/stages .
Day 1- Leg 1: 2nd October 2007
After being flagged off from Shimla the raid went through nine sections throughout the day, 5 transport and four competitive. The day is a real long one and the raiders ride almost 400 kilometers.
On the first day the raid dose not pass through the toughest route still the day is full of excitement and rally thrills as the raid dose not take the normal highway route from Shimla to Manali instead it goes through some of the most unseen roads in Himachal.
Day one saw a large number of accidents and disqualifications in the first stage riding on two wheels VIKRAM V. RAO(BIKE # 117) got disqualified after mechanical failure on his bike, German rider JOACHIM VON LOEBEN(BIKE # 143) got lost on the way and did not make it in the given time, BIKE # 131 KURIEN PHILLIP riding YAMAHA RX 135 got left out with issues on the bike. KHUSHWANT RANDHAWA (CAR # 10) in his car blew a gasket and had to pack his bags.
Stage two from KHADRALA to UMLADWAR was no better and claimed ten raiders. DILIP RAMESH(BIKE # 132) was the first one followed by experienced ANIL WADIA(CAR # 4) with a broken differential unit. CAR # 15 driven by MAAN S CHAMBYAL was the first to go off the road both the driver and co driver were attended by Life Saving Ambulance(LSA) and are fine. BIKE # 136 RAJAN SIDHU went off road as well but was back on the bike with the organizers help. CAR # 7 with army entry MAJOR RAJESH PAWAR rolled off both drivers were lucky to have escaped scratch less, thanks to the strict safety standards required. JASBIR SINGH RANDHAWA (CAR # 30) broke the deferential and was out, BIKE # 124 GURINDER SINGH SARAO from HOUSTON, TEXAS was technically disqualified as he had lost his time card.
After all the action and rigorous driving rest of the participants reached manali after sunset and covering 400 kilometers.

Day 2: Day 2 started with snow and hail on rohtang pass and continued till kaza.

Day 3 : Unfortunately day three was the last day for the raid this year due to heavy snowfall on Baralach La. Day 3 kept Suresh Rana in his Gypsy in top position.
ASHISH SAURABH MOUDGHIL was the winned in the two wheel catogary riding his karizma.

Some favourates :

Some favourates :



http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/


http://www.leftwriteandcenter.blogspot.com/

www.advrider.com

http://q.frizzy.net/

http://www.pbase.com/rrathika

http://www.grainsandpixels.com/

Good old motorcycling days and many more to come....

Track: Wish you were here. Pink Floyd

The story of a practice that involves human sacrifise to please the gods or to get a higher position in the society.

Bhunda Narmedh Mahayajna .
The great Indian rope trick .


The story of a practice that involves human sacrifise to please the gods or to get a higher position in the society.

In Bachoonch village in the Spail valley, Bhunda mahayajna was performed last December to an audience of around 70,000 people. The village is 9 km from Rohru town,this death-defying human rope trick held there to please the local deities was performed after a gap of 70 years. Apparently it was last performed in 1996 in Pujarli village in Rohru tehsil after a gap of 30 years, but i think they may have used a goat rather than a human.

The link contains two videos from the three day celebration and a detailed description about the ritual and its origin.

http://himachal.us/2007/03/12/himachals-bhunda-narmedh-mahayajna/1579/religion/yashrazz#more-1579

Disclamer -- Do not watch the 2nd video on the page as it shows animal sacrifise.

Wild Horses by Roling Stones.

Music Video:WILD HORSES (STRIPPED) (by The Rolling Stones)

Music Video Code provided by Video Code Zone

My new Toy Canon 400D(Rebel XTi)

I was using a P2S Sony till now. Then I decided to pamper myself a bit so bought a bigger Canon 400d . Being one of the best entry level SLR camera its very powerful yet very convenient. Deciding the camera these days is not an easy task that too if you are running on a limited budget like mine and need the most out of your money. Upgrading later is a long story and not very convenient as SLR cameras are expensive and one expects to use it at least for a couple of years before buying a new one.

The factors I considered before deciding were:

1.PRICE !!!!! - When I started looking for the best in my budget I had different sourcing options like

a> ask some friend /relative to get one for me from the US or Singapore. That was not very convenient as international warranties are not valid in India hence I would get the camera without a warranty and will need to ask somebody for a favor.

b>Another option was to buy it from a website and get it delivered. Though this looks like a good option but I was not very comfortable paying through my CC to foreign website and again International Currier rates are high.

c>Buy it from an Indian website. I found only 2 websites http://www.ebay.in/ that i never rely on and http://www.jjmehta.com/ jjmehta looked like a good option though the prices were on the higher side. For some products even higher that the dealer price. Local dealers-- after searching for a SLR in the local market and wasting one complete afternoon it was clear that only photography shops keep SLR cameras. Well after visiting the major stores in Delhi mainly in CP I was shore of one thing that buying a camera from a authorized shop was waste of money as the prices were 30-40% higher that foreign or gray market prices.

Finally I bought my Canon 400D XTi from one of the recommended local dealers in Chandni Chok and he gave me a real good bargain. Though there is no warranty I’m shore the repair cost in 2 years is not going to be more than the extra $$ I would have paid for the warranty and bill. The worst part is that the warranty dose not cover breakage and damage due to water, heat or moisture.

Mega Pixel : The Canon400D has a 10.1 MP sensor. and is capable of processing images in both RAW "CR2"and jpg format.

Standard Lens: The camera comes with a 18-55 MM standard-----canon lens the lens cannot be bought without the camera. The lens though not very powerful but is good enough as a primary lens and is capable of capturing good landscapes at 18MM to anything as small as an Ladybird at 55MM. The F/stop is also great, especially since it is low (f/3.5 – f/5.3). Also extra lenses for canon are better priced than Nikon and option of getting 3rd party lenses is more. Here is a review about the lens: http://photo.net/equipment/canon/efs18-55/review/

The main features of the EOS 400D are :

• 10.1 effective Megapixels

• APS-C size 22.2 x 14.8 mm CMOS image sensor.

• Focal length of 1.6x.

• Dust removal system.

• 3 frames per second - maximum of 27 JPEG or 10 RAW.

• 9-point auto focus system.

• 2.5-inc LCD monitor.

Apart from the camera I bought a SanDisk CompactFlash 2 GB Extreme III memory card as each click with the 400d costs around 20-30 MB in raw format.

Photography - F/8 and Be There

A professional photographer once gave me an advise, he said if you have a camera, you are experimental and innovative with experience you will become a good photographer.

Well I'm still an armature and here is what I have learnt gathering information from the Internet and practice.

I'm not going into details about types of cameras etc .My focus is on Digital cameras. Digital cameras have changed the way the world looks at photography.
There are two basic types of cameras
1. Point and shoot camera- Most people today use point and shoot digital cameras. Though the quality of these cameras has improved with time but they have very few manual functions to play around with.
2. SLR or Single Lens Reflector cameras use the same lens to view an object and capture it so what you see is what you capture. SLR cameras have full manual functions and give more flexibility and creativity.

It may be it a film camera of a Digital SLR camera the basics of photography remain same.
There are some simple things that can change the was you look through your camera.

1. Light.
2. Shutter Speed.
3. Aperture.
4. Focal Length.


1.Light
Light is the most crucial factor in a photograph. one will always need enough light to capture the subject but the volume and direction of light is critical.


2. Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is the time for which the shutter window will remain open and expose the film or the digital sensor to outside light. (Remember the dark room where photographs ware processed in dim light. )

When neither the camera or the subject are moving the shutter speed is not very important. But when either one is moving shutter speed becomes relevant. If you are trying to capture a fast moving sports car you will need a fast shutter like 1/4000 (4000'th part of 1 second. Modern day cameras are capable of doing 1/8000 to even 1/16000) if you use a slower speed say 1/2 seconds you will find fading of Motion Blur . Again motion blur is not always a bad thing it is really interesting to give pictures a motion blur. In this photograph the rider looks still and the back ground is blur. Though I was standing on the side of the road and my friend was riding fast I was able to capture him and the bike you can see the motion blur on the bike as it looks shaky. The background is also blur focusing on the rider that is another trick using a wide aperture.










3. Aperture and DOF (Depth of Field)
Aperture is how the lens controls the light going through it.
Aperture is calculated in terms of "f" value. There is a mathematical formula for aperture that i have never been able to understand of remember. Simple thumb rule is more the shutter opens lower is the "f" value or aperture.

Looking at the figure
at f/2.8 the shutter opens wide and lets a lot of light inside the camera on to the sensor. The amount of light reduces as the increase in f/value
















at f/22 the shutter opens very less hence very less light gets in.



Why do we need to change aperture ?
The answer to the question is DOF or Depth Of Field precisely the focus of the photograph.

Here is an example

The yellow flower and The Yellow Field









The difference between the two is that in the first picture the yellow flower is sharp and focused where as in the second picture the background is clear and the flower is blur.

How did I do this ? Aperture is the answer. For the first picture i used a lower aperture value of f/2.8 for a shallow DOF in the second picture I used f/8.0 hence a deeper DOF and the flower near to the camera got blur.

The first image of my friend riding his bike is a good example as I used a small "f" value f/2.8 hence the background in that picture is blur but because of fast shutter speed the bike and the rider are clear and sharper.

Hence photography is all about Shutter speed aperture and focal length.


4. Focal Length
I used the term Focal Length or 35MM camera. It means that the lens used on the camera is 35MM wide. Here is a very good link to understand focal length.

http://www.paragon-press.com/lens/lenchart.htm

Below is a landscape that has been shot from the same camera using different lenses .

25MM

50MM

200MM

Very simply, it is the distance from the lens to the film/sensor, when focused on a subject at infinity. In other words, focal length equals image distance for a far subject. To focus on something closer than infinity, the lens is moved farther away from the film. This is why most lenses get longer when you turn the focusing ring. The distances follow this formula:




800MM

This means a 400mm lens should be 400mm long. If you get out your ruler and measure it, you will find it is less than 400mm. That is because a camera lens really has many individual glass lenses inside, and this makes it behave as if it is longer than it really is. This is called "telephoto."
Aperture ,focal length and shutter speed combined give really good results.

To get a shallow DOF one can use a longer lens like 200mm . Photographers who use long lenses are able to get the shallow affect with blur background easily with larger aperture like f/1.8. Specially portraits and fashion photographers use longer lenses with large aperture size. On the other hand nature and landscape photographers also use long lenses as long as 800mm but with smaller apertures like f/16 to f/32 so that the complete photograph is sharp and clear.

If you change one component (such as aperture), another component (such as shutter speed) needs to be adjusted while the third component (ISO, in this case) stays constant.

Tip: Use a Fast Enough Shutter SpeedThe general rule is to choose a shutter speed with a fraction denominator that's larger than the focal length of the lens. For example, a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. would be ideal if you're using a 50mm lens or a shutter speed of 1/300 sec. if you're using a 300mm telephoto lens.

Panning-

What if you don't want sharp results? Good question. One very popular and fun technique - called panning - allows you to capture a relatively sharp subject against a super blurred background.

If you try this, keep three things in mind.
Be prepared to take a lot of pictures. This takes a lot of trial and error to get winning results. It helps to team up with a friend who is willing to ride by you again and again while you master the panning technique. Don't worry if your subject is not perfectly sharp. As long as your main subject is relatively sharp - that is the main goal. Try to frame your subject so that it is moving into the scene instead of out of the scene. In other words, if the subject is moving from left to right, it should be slightly to the left.

Small f number = small depth of field

Choor Chandni

Chaur Peak (Choor Chandni or Choor Dhar) : 3,647 m. It offers an unhindered view of wonderful landscape, vast meadows, green forests, open valleys and distant habitations from the hill top-a gorgeous pointed peak. There is a Shiva temple and a Sarai located here. As per local legend it was here in Choor Dhar that Lord Hanuman found the 'Sanjeevani buti' which was administered to Lakshmana, brother of Lord Rama for his revival.

It is trekkers' dream, The trek leads through forests ad slush created by gurgling streams and snow. It is easily accessible from Shimla via Solan-Rajgarh-Nohra near Haripur Dhar or Sainj near Kotkhai or Tiuni.

This week I got the opportunity to trek to the Choor Dhar with four friends.
Though this was not the best time to trek to choordhar because of the snow but it made the trek more exciting and adventurous.

This page is going to be a joke in the next 23 years....

This page is going to be a joke by 2030.

For a long time I have been thinking of writing about Himalayan Glaciers on my blog.
Finally I did....


Bara Shigri :-
Bada Shigri is the largest glacier in Himachal Pradesh. It is located in the Chandra valley of Lahaul and it feeds the river Chenab. Bada Shigri glacier is more than 25 km. long and about 3 km. wide. It lies on the middle slopes of the main Himalayan range. It is also aided by many small tributary glaciers. It is surrounded by high mountains from three sides. It is said that this glacier formed Chandertal lake by causing a major havoc in Chadra valley in 1936. Bada Shigri glacier was conquered by all women mountaineers in 1956. It was further successfully trekked by Stephenson in 1956. There are number of prominent glaciers in Chandra valley in Lahaul. Some of them are Chhota Shigri ( means Small Glacier ), Kulti, Shpting, Pacha, Ding Karmo, Tapn, Gyephang, Bolunag, Shili and Shamundri. Gyephang is the chief deity of Lahaul valley and the Gyephang glacier is named after him. It is full of snow all the year. It is considered as the Manimahesh of Lahaul.

Chandra Nahan Glacier :-
It is located on the South-Eastern slopes of the main Himalaya in the area to the North-West of Rohru in Himachal Pradesh. Chandra Nahan Glacier is also aided by various small tributary glaciers. The famous Chandra Nahan lake lies in it and it feeds the river Pabbar. Chandra Nahan lake is accessible only to experienced trekkers and fed by a series of springs. Chandra Nahan glacier is surrounded by high rising peaks. The elevation of Chandra Nahan glacier is more than 6,000 meters. Bhadal Glacier: - Bhadal glacier is located on the South-Western slopes of the Pir Panjal range in the Bara Banghal area of Kangra district. It feeds the river

Bhadal:-
Bhadal river rises from the snowy range of the area lying between the Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar ranges. Bhadal river's catchment is made up of U shaped valleys, waterfalls, moraines, cirques and towering peaks. This river is one of the main tributaries of the river Ravi. The size of Bhadal glacier suddenly grows up because of rapid and heavy snowfall.

Bhaga Glacier:-
It is located on the slopes of the main Himalayan range in Lahaul area. This glacier feeds the river Bhaga. U shaped valleys, waterfalls, glaciers and moraines characterizes the upper catchments of the Bhaga river. The entire tract is devoid of a vegetative cover. The discharge of this river increases during the summer months, when the snow on the high mountains start melting. Bhaga Glacier is surrounded by high snow-clad peaks from all sides. Bhaga glacier is 25 km. long. The other important glaciers of Bhaga valley are Lady of Keylong, Mukkila, Milang and Gangstang.

The Lady of Keylong: -
The Lady of Keylong glacier is very popular among visitors. The name 'Lady of Keylong' was given by 'Lady Elashainghday' about a century ago during British ruling. The glacier is situated at an altitude of about 6,061 meters and it can be seen clearly from Keylong. It remains covered with snow throughout the year. But in the middle, there is seen a dark bare patch that looks like the figure of a womam, walking with a load on her back. It is also recorded as 'Lady of Keylong' by the geological survey team of India.

Mukkila Glacier :- It is situated at the height of about 6,478 meters. It is located in Bhaga valley. Its impression is awesome.

Sonapani :- It was first surveyed by Walker and Pascoe in 1906. It is visible from the Rohtang Pass. It is about 6 km. from the confluence of Kulti Nala.

Gora Glacier :- It has receded in the recent past due to a unstable mass balance. It lies in the South facing slopes of the main Himalayan range.

Perad Glacier :- The Perad glacier is small and easily accessible and it is near Putiruni. It also has a nice cave.

Parbati and Dudhon :- These glaciers are located in district Kullu. Both glaciers are 15 km. long. They feed the Parbati river. Beas Kund :- It feeds the river Beas and is located on the South facing slopes of the towering Pir Panjal near the world famous Rohtang Pass


Day before yesterday I woke up and as usual got hold of the news paper. The front page gave me a real shock "Forget Himalayan Glaciers by 2030" ie 12.5 years from now.

I rushed to my computer to investigate more and was astornished to see the facts. Here is one of the article I came accross.


"Don't dismiss it as one of the favourite whines of environmental campaigners. The result of the melting of most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2030, as predicted by the UN panel on climate change, could be truly catastrophic for India and its neighbours.

Rivers 'mothered' by the Himalayan glaciers are the lifeline of hundreds of millions of people in the Indian subcontinent and China, most of whom live far from the Himalayas.

As much as 70% of the world's fresh water is frozen in glaciers. The Himalayan glaciers are the largest store of water outside the polar ice caps, and feed seven great Asian rivers — Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Salween, Yangtze and Huang Ho (Yellow River). The glaciers are believed to be retreating at a rate of about 10-15 metres a year.

The first danger of the meltdown could be widespread flooding. In a few decades, it could be followed by irreversible droughts, threatening the livelihood of millions of people. This would not only mean unprecedented food shortages but also a massive water crisis. The Gangetic basin alone is home to more than 500 million people. Nearly 70% of the discharge into the Ganga is from rivers in Nepal, which means that if the Himalayan glaciers dry up so will the Ganga downstream in India.

In some rivers, the flow may go down by as much as 90%, according to glaciologist Syed Iqbal Hosnain, who has conducted extensive studies on Himalayan glaciers. Studies have predicted that in the Ganga, the loss of glacier melt water would reduce July-September flows by two thirds, causing water shortages for 37% of India’s irrigated land. As water flows from glaciers dry up, the energy potential of hydroelectric power will decrease, causing problems for industry, while reduced irrigation means lower crop production.

In a report in 2005, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned that "in the long term, the glaciers could disappear altogether, causing several rivers to shrink and threatening the survival of those who depend on them". What was forecast to happen "in the long term" two years ago, appears imminent now.

All is not lost, though. Experts say immediate action against climate change could slow the rate of melting. The Himalayan glaciers have been found to be in a state of general retreat since 1850. But the retreat has been alarming since the 1970s.

The Himalayan region, called the 'Water Tower of Asia', has a glacier coverage of 33,000 sq km. It provides around 8.6 million cubic metres of water annually.

Researchers have estimated that about 17% of the Himalayas and 37% of Karakorum is currently under permanent ice cover. The main glaciers of this region are Siachen (72 km); Gangotri (26 km); Zemu (26 km); Milam (19 km) and Kedarnath (14.5 km).

The Gangotri glacier, which supports one of India's largest river basins, is receding at an average rate of 23 metres per year. The Khumbu glacier, a popular climbing route to the summit of Mount Everest, has retreated more than 5 km from where Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay set out to conquer the worlds highest peak in 1953. "

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Himalayan_meltdown_catastrophic_for_India/RssArticleShow/articleshow/1848002.cms

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