The Initial push

Day 1

I started from Chennai on May 12th 2017, Friday morning by around 6 am. My rough plan was to reach Hillhacks in 6 days or less with a tyre change in Delhi. What I didn’t expect was the scorching sun in central India, I kept drinking a lot of water but still I felt dehydrated. I got too tired that I slept at a bus stop before Hyderabad. Yes, I actually slept in the middle of the day, at an open space, right next to the highway, for more than an hour. It was a deep sleep and when I woke up I was a bit disoriented and worried if my things were safe. Yeah, they were safe. It was really annoying when they stopped me from entering the Hyderabad bypass, because 2 wheelers weren’t allowed, urgh. I had to take the other possible roads, it kept taking me into some village or other, and I had to find my way back. That really slowed me down. Finally by dark, I stopped at a city called Nirmal, found a hotel and checked in for the night.

That’s my awesome pose for the self-timer, but then I dozed off.

Day 2

The next day I was a bit more prepared, I made sure I had at least a litre of water every hour. But I never stopped to pee though, because you see, the sun just kept sucking the water out of me. The roads in Telangana weren’t always great, there were lot of construction zones and thus just 2 lanes, but then there was no traffic and so the ride was enjoyable. There’s no single identifiable highway after Hyderabad though. So whenever I reach a crossing, I had to open maps to confirm my way. Sooner I had my headphones on with the voice guiding me. On the way I saw a group of naked men marching on the road, with umbrellas. There were people around them, I still don’t know who they are or what’s up with them. But umm, it was the first time I’m seeing another guy naked, no comments. Though it was sunny and hot, the ride was okay, until I reached Jhansi. By the time it was late evening and Oh God, the Jhansi to Gwalior stretch was terrible. It was dark, there was no road and it was a goddamn one-way. With every passing car or a truck, there was a blinding light and I was gripping my bike hoping I don’t hit something. And there were so many “take detour” boards which isn’t really visible from a distance. Eventually I reached Agra, got into the first building that said “hotel”, got a room and slept like a log. That day still remains the longest ride day of my life with 1,118kms. Someday I’d like to finish the Bun Burner challenge, but until then.

Day 3

The next morning I woke up a bit late to the view of peacocks behind my building. Next stop Delhi. But how can you leave Agra without seeing the grand structure of the Taj Mahal. So I drove over, parked my vehicle, bought tickets, left my luggage and walked inside. It took me around 15 minutes to go in, roam around, take a few pictures and be back. I was talking to a guide on the way back and he was surprised at my lack of interest. Turns out tourists usually spend hours in there and take about a thousand pictures, on an average. Wow, okay I took like 12. Anyway, the place was pretty crowded and I was curious how the monument looked from behind. So I took my bike and tried to get to the other side of the river. I saw a bunch of kids swimming in the river and the path to the backside was thorny-bushy, so no luck.

I started from Agra by noon and I got into this amazing 8 lane the Yamuna Expressway. I just loved it, especially after that Jhansi-Gwalior stretch, this felt like heaven. I paid around 250 bucks at the tollgate and kept dashing through, it was my first time paying toll fee for a bike. There were no vehicles and I had 4 lanes just for myself. But soon I was bored out of my mind. But that wasn’t my biggest concern, it was the heat. I’m sure the temperature easily crossed 60°C and even with my helmet on, the hot wind on my face started to burn my skin. And the road was pretty dry, no view, no trees, no shade but somehow I managed to push till Delhi.