With the tank filled up sufficiently, I decided to see which destinations would be doable for me.
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Bored, bored out of my mind, yet too bored to be lazy. Hmm, maybe I need to get out of this room, my parents always told me to get some fresh air and sunshine. And that, dear reader is how I ended up in Rishikesh.
I missed playing Holi yesterday because of a project I was working on. With the project submitted on Saturday morning I had nothing to do.
Might as well scratch that itch to go on a ride then I guess. I booked a bike on Freedo and apparently they are run by Hero themselves which explains the suspiciously low prices. I’ve always liked the Xpulse , so purposeful, rugged, built for a very specific task which it excels at. I admire that dedication.
But why OP, you may ask, why an adv and a low powered one for a trip that’s going to be on tarmac?
I’ll tell you something dear reader, I like the Xpulse and I have always wanted to own one. Of course i could’ve gotten the new Himmy 450 or something like a meteor 350 ,but there’s more to bikes than just spec sheets isn’t it.
So after a “quick” metro ride from Gurugram, I get off at Noida and take a brisk 15 minute walk to the Freedo dealer. Being a long weekend , they’re understaffed, but the good chaps bring out my bike and send it to the Hero service centre just half a mile away for some checks. With all the formalities completed (I just had to share my mobile number again and click a picture of me with the bike since I had completed the KYC on the app itself) I put on my helmet and took off in search of the nearest petrol pump.
With the tank filled up sufficiently i decided to see which destinations would be doable for me. It was already 15 past eleven and well, I did not wish to ride at night.
Alwar seems nice I thought, 4 hours one way isn’t too bad. I wonder how far Rishikesh it thought, I haven’t been to Uttarakhand in a long while now. Maybe when I was in 10th grade , when my father was posted in Delhi. Rishikesh was also 4 hours away , why not I thought…..
So to the mountains we go !
But wait which route to take, no highways and motorways, too many reckless drivers and such roads get boring quick. So a sort of B road would be fun, through the Ganga canal route then, a twin lane road running next to the Ganga canal (duh) with open fields , armland and villages in the other side.
Such a peaceful route this was! It’s always great of get out the busy city , especially when that city is dusty and noisy Gurugram.
Good tarmac ,fresh air and oh so many trees. But you have be cautious as there are tractor logging around trailers loaded and i mead loaded with sugarcanes which take up more than a lane. So one has to be careful while overtaking them. Also another point of caution are the junctions or 4 way roads where a bridge is made over the canal again , one has to be careful and watch out for traffic as these junctions have massive blind spots.
So ,through fields and canals I managed to get impressive pace, flat out the bike was topping out at 115 kmph at a dizzying 8500 rpm , 80kmph was at a easy 6500rpm while the ton was about 7.5k. I felt the bike was better kept under a 100 on these roads as there were patches covered with leaves and the random bike and tractor popping out of the farm.
After a odd hundred kms on the Ganga canal route google maps decided I had seen enough good roads and then proceeded to direct me straight through some villages ,three to be precise (forgot name). Still , single lane roads with loads of twists and 90° turns which were fun and the ride through the cobbled streets of the villages were fun too. But of course not a trip goes by where the GPS picks up a random route for no seemingly reason. After the end of district after the third village, it wanted me to drive over a bridge covering a railway track. Slight problem, said bridge was under construction and I was not keen on testing the bikes long jump potential (yet).
So cursing the GPS once and taking the detour on my left I started off again. This was a dirt track , 6 feet higher than the surrounding area, on my left and below were endless sugarcane fields and on my right and below was a train track! This route had tonnes of craters and stones but God did i have the time of my life! Standing up and dipping the bike through each and every nook and cranny this machine was incredible, it never lost its posture and confidence regardless of the quality of the surface or the rider smug. Never have I felt this free, never have I felt like Ethan Hunt . With this detour I spotted the flyover of the NH34 and I headed towards that , merging with the highway I started my journey towards Haridwar.
Haridwar was when I finally decided to open my visor and the way the air hit my lungs felt like that sip of cold water you have at 4am, refreshing and gives your life meaning. After seeking blessings from lord Shiva , i made my way to Rishikesh. The 3 hours of riding could be felt at this point as my neck wanted to run away and be a part of this ride no more. Minor ouchies aside, the roads had left me mesmerized. Soft curves and plenty of trees, as orange as an errrr orange ,thanks to the impending autumn, this felt amazing.
Just before Rishikesh though the railway crossing was closed, costing me 20 minutes of waiting.
Once I reached Rishikesh and ride down the main boulevard i could now properly see the hills , the majestic Shivalik’s as far as my eves could see. A quick full up and a couple photos later i parked my bike next to a shopping center where I walked around a bit and had some water.
After roaming around a few places and clicking more photos I set out , back to the capital region. I decided to stick to the highways as I did not wish to travel on unlit country roads.
The Meerut highway was in great shape. And the people were driving quite sensibility which was a first. So open throttle across the next 50 kms I realise that I had completely forgotten about my fuel(refine) and I pulled up in a cafeteria where I had a whopper. I liked the bike so much that I ordered a takeaway, stepped out of the restaurant and then walked all but 2 steps to my bike where I sat down and had the damn meal.
Once back on the road i kept on riding and riding on what seemed like an endless endeavor, just a ribbon of tarmac cutting across the ever-changing terrain of the great plains. Night had struck and I just reached the outskirts of Delhi. A quick sit rep for my dad and I entered Delhi where I found out i was quite close to a place I knew.
The ride from Delhi to Gurugram was uneventful. The diplomatic area of Delhi has great roads but so many roundabouts!
After a long day i parked the Xpulse next to my friends classic 500. I had done about 466kms in 8 hours, not bad.
I do like rented bikes , because each one of them is unique and has different traits. In the end this day trip cost me under 3k rupees and was worth every paisa.
I returned the bike on Sunday morning, under the 24hour rental limit. While waking back to the metro station i stopped by a few dealerships. The KTM dealer was the first one i got to as i wanted to check out the ergonomics of the new adventure. I do like a well executed high fender. Then i got to the Kia showroom and checked out the Syros. Its compact, but has a lot of space. The petrol auto combination was smooth and easy to drive. Lastly I visited the Mahindra showroom. I last saw the EVs at the Auto Expo in January and wanted to see how they actually looked like in normal lighting, being a design student and an intern for a popular car brand, i wanted to see the EVs up close. And then i test drove the XUV700 in its petrol auto guise. Insanely refined and quiet, this crossover hides its size while driving well.
When will I be hitting the roads again? Who knows I’m back at work, busy. Maybe I’ll have a long weekend soon, a very boring long weekend.
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