Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Day1: New Delhi to Chandigarh - Distance: 270km

All packed and ready to move. Once on my bike with all the fellow riders, I could see the adrenalin rush and excitement that
people were having. There was a lot of enthusiasm in the air. Then i heard the first few bikes thunder and roll. And everybody
followed suit. Guided by a Delhi Cop on his custom white police bullet, we rode through the streets of Delhi. 51 bullets
means lots of noise, fun and attention of the people of the road. This whole procession was quite charismatic, and had taken
the people on the road by surprise. We did not stop for the red lights, traffic was diverted to make room for us on the road.
Once we reached the highway, we bid good bye to our police guide and continued our journey towards Chandigarh. After some 100
kms we stopped at a dabha for regrouping and snacks. The heat had taken toll on me and I had to drink 2 bottles of Maaza to
cool myself down. Mr. Sachin our veteran and INCHARGE of the trip briefed us about the ride for that day and asked us to keep
our calm on the road and not to over heat our engines. But the road were so nice and smooth, that most of us could not keep
off from speeding. I did a stretch at around 110km for about 25 kms. I was quite pleased with the way my bike was responding
and even after the heat, the gearbox was very smooth. We had to take a long unscheduled stop, as there was a road block by
the villagers protesting against lack of electricity. Everyone lazed near a nearby chai shop and had tea. After about 2 hrs,
we started all over again toward Ambala. This stretch of 50km, was the most tiring, as the heat and the stop had taken a toll
on me, the idea was just to reach Ambala somehow and take a break, much needed for both me and my bike. The dealers in Ambala RE showroom had done great arrangement for us. Amazing meal and cold drinks, is what everyone on the
trip wanted. Took a much needed rest, lay in front of the cranky tent house fans. Finally at 4PM we decided to head towards
the destination for the day i.e. Chandigarh. The folks from the dealership made us do a round for the city, and scare the
people of the small town, added to that was the blasting done by couple for the biker. When I say blasting it means, cutting
your engine and bringing it backup while revving. This make a loud blast sound. After we moved out of Ambala, there was
suddenly strong winds which almost swept me off the road, and then came real heavy rains, which drenched me to the CORE.Finally we reached the outskirts of Chandigarh and stopped for a regroup. Then moved to our hotel, "Lake View", nice and cozy
hotel. Just as we started changing, I realised that because of the day's heat and then the rains, I have fever. That sounded
very bad, as it was my first day of the ride. Anyways, RE had hosted dinner for us at the Press Club, we all once again
gathered there and after dinner slept well at the hotel. As we had to wake up really early the next day and the ride next day
was the longest and toughest for the bike.

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