Mumbai to Jalori Pass

Riders: Christopher “The Sandman” Keve
Monish “The Dark-Knight” Bhansal
Bikes: Royal Enfield Machismo 500 – The Nomad
Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 - Liberty
Route: Bombay, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal
Climate: Experienced extreme heat, cold, thunderstorms and snowstorms
Authority: Pompous, ignorant cops in Gujarat and corrupt cops in Chandigarh
Bike issues: Overheating (due to bad fuel), Libertys wiring problems


Internal routes for the most of it through Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana gave us a detailed insight into the sights and sounds in the states. Bad road conditions were another reason why for avoiding the NH8 (wherever possible).
A short stint with adulterated fuel in Gujarat left both bikes overheating terribly, fortunately the quality of fuel improved in Rajasthan and the overheating issues vanished.

Most of the route was done in true truckdriver fashion, with longer riding times, followed by naps at dhabas. The heat in Rajasthan left us with a couple of nose-bleeds, only to bless us with a mild shower on our exit from the state into Haryana.

In Haryana (while setting tappets on the roadside) we met with a member of The Bullet Rodeo (Maharashtra) who was riding to Punjab.

The NH8 is sinfully boring for the most of it, unplanned construction work doles out no respite! Portions where a 4 laner are being made into a 6 laner have 2 lanes covered in building materials, rendering it as a 2 laner!

The 500 was a perfect companion on the twisties, and it made sure that my speed didnt drop below 70kmph. Monishs bike broke down enroute Solan, thanks to the speeds I was doing I had shot ahead my 50kms, and reached Solan. Headed back, met up with the Ambala Bullet group (Royal Bikerz, who had been to Chail), on the way, and had a mechanic with them. Their mechanic fixed the wiring issues and we proceeded.

Got rain from Shimla to Narkanda. At Narkanda the wiring problem repeated itself and we got it fixed from a local mechanic. Went up the Hatu, met with lots of snow on the way up. The road was steep, narrow and wet (from the rain). The LB500 took mine, Monishs and the luggages weight with a certain amount of ease.

The next days ride was to be a tough one, and Monish didnt feel comfortable riding, so he came along as a pillion.

The Jalori Experience:
Jalori pass, the climax to the ride, was more like a violent orgasm!

The road from Narkanda to Jalori is typical of any Himalayan road, it follows the River Sutlej for the most of it. Saw some Cannaibis Indica (marijuana/hemp plant) growing wild. A little short of Jalori, Monish waited back and I proceeded to Jalori.

I stopped by a couple of construction workers (clearing the rubble from a landslide that had happened the previous day) to ask for directions, they advised me not to ride up, but to trek (if absolutely necessary) as the terrain was bad and there was no certainty of the road conditions to, and at the pass due to heavy rainfall the region had received the previous day. I looked at my odometer, I had ridden 2000 kms for this, and was not about to give up now.
The ascent was steep, with snow on both sides of the road. While ascending, it started snowing, fortunately the flap on my Vemar helmet kept most of the snow off my visor. Reached the top, took some pics, and the snowfall that was initially mild, got much more intense. I decided to descend to Soja while I could. The climb up just a teaser, the decline to Soja was the real test, the mud road was wet, and had a decent amount of black ice on it which left my tire with almost no traction at all.
Did the most natural thing that occurred to me, put the bike in gear to control the speed! BAD IDEA! The tire began to slip violently, tried to control the speed with constant use of the brakes and gears till I reached the end of the ice. Turned back and headed to meet up with Monish.

There was a little confusion, and I couldnt locate Monish on my return to our meeting point, no mobile networks meant I couldnt call and ask him his whereabouts either! Ascended Jalori again, I guessed he might have trekked up. It gets dark at about 16:00 hours, and it was already 14:00, to my good luck, I bumped into him on my decent from the pass.

We headed back to Narkanda, after a few kilometers, it started drizzling, hoping that it would pass, we took shelter in a nearby village. Far from stopping, the drizzle, turned into a thunderstorm. We were still more than 100kms from the hotel where we were put up, I decided it was wiser to push on in the rain while it was still bright. The temperatures were in the single digit and the rain wasnt helping either. My leather jacket was drenched, and I was shivering. My finger nails had turned a weird purplish colour, and I could barely move my fingers anymore. I rode on till we reached back to the NH22 (India - Tibet highway) where I had to stop to warm my body up, my fingers were so numb I couldnt use the horn on the bike anymore. A cup of tea later, we were back on the road. Keeping the bike on the road was getting much more difficult, the gusts of wind would leave the bike wavering until I steered it back to the center of the road.
The temperatures fell further, and the Himalayan rainstorm turned into a snowstorm. I had never before seen snow (save when I was a kid and my family had traveled to Europe) leave alone ridden in it, and riding in the snow storm certainly left me bewildered. At this point instincts were all that kept the rubber side down and me and my pillion on top. Visibility dropped steadily until eventually I could barely see for more than 3 to 4 feet. Dropped the speed to 20kmph and pressed on. Finally reached Narkanda at 18:00, grabbed a bottle of rum, and tucked myself under the covers!

The ride had been completed! This ride leaves me as the first Inddiethumper to do the Jalori pass, probably the only rider to do it 4 times back to back, and certainly the first person I know to have ridden through a Himalayan Snow storm! However what is has really left me with is the understanding of exactly how harsh nature can be, how important it is to trust your instincts, maintain your motorcycle well, and exactly how good rum is when your cold and drenched ;)

Links:
Writeup: http://www.royalenfield.com/keveterminator/bid=1397
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/christopherkeve/Himachal