Day 11 Manali to Malikpur, Ropar (240 kms)
What lay ahead was as extraordinary as the rest of the journey we had completed thus far. The roads descending to Sundar Nagar and Pandoh dam are amazing tarmac roads, which would delight the footrest scraping motorcyclist no ends. And despite the traffic jams on our way, we made very quick progress till Sundar nagar. We stopped for an excellent lunch at the Neelkamal hotel just at the foothill of Sundarnagar. That was the end of the happiness for the day.
For the road ahead until Bilaspur and ahead was worse than the mountain roads we had encountered during our journey. Due to the huge factory of ACC cement here, the road was left with menacing potholes by the heavy truckers. This road could destroy any fast progressing vehicle on this 50 kms stretch. Huge traffic jam and dusk light made things worse than hell.
As such we were forced to put up 50 kms before Chandigarh at a road side motel in Malikpur. Weary riders went for a quick shower before dinner. This was an extended session of discussion on an incredible ride that was coming to an end. This session went on late until 2:00 at night.
Day 12 Malikpur to Agra (500 kms)
Next morning the bikes were started at 6:15 am as planned the night before. Excellent highway made our progress fairly quick and soon we had reached Chandigarh. A fuel stop was made to take advantage of lowest fuel price here. The next hour was used to make excellent progress on the road. Following which we stopped for a quick tea, which would be our major meal for a good part of the day. We covered 230 odd kilometers until Panipat where we stopped for lunch at the famous Sukhdev Dhaba, at 3:00 pm. Our stomachs were growling like hell. After a hearty A la Carte meal, we did a quick stint to pass Delhi to reach Noida. A brief stopover for drinks and fuel was made here, before we launched the bikes back on to the Yamuna Expressway, to finish the last 180 odd kilometers of our journey.
The Yamuna expressway is a boring place to be riding on. It has vehicles passing you by at high speeds, and the inactivity and controlled traffic on this road often leads to drivers dozing off, leading to high speed accidents.
We rode in a close formation to keep ourselves alert. Most passing vehicles would slow down to cheer and photograph us. We made it a point to stop over at every toll booth for refreshments, as the heat was killing.
On the third toll we were pleasantly surprised to see all our club members waiting for us to welcome. It was as extraordinary moment of brotherhood. We spent a good hour discussing about how the ride had transpired, over the last couple of weeks.
Finally our club escorted us to the main city, before everyone bid adieu, to reflect upon 3200 kms covered during two weeks of amazing motorcycling journey by the 5 members Harish Khandelwal, Rajesh Chauhan, Himanshu Bansal, Sabya Sachi Gosh and Amit James David of WeRoyal Riders Agra.
Day 4 Srinagar to Kargil (230 kms)
