The flag off ceremony began with the chants of morning Ragas, a ‘Rose-and-Tilak’ ritual by children and culminated with the riders moving out in formation, the thump of their bikes keeping pace with the high notes of the classical crescendo. After the flag off from India gate and an escort till the outskirts of Delhi, the group of bikers stopped for their first break at the Rasoi Dhaba for Parathas and meeting up with a special Rider who had participated in the earlier odyssey. They immediately set off again towards Chandigarh making good speed as they rolled into Chandigarh by mid-day and settled into their hotels. The summer heat did take a toll on the riders as well as the machines but in true Himalayan odyssey spirit it was all attended to and the next day everyone was ready to hit the hills.
The 2nd day saw the riders move from the plains to the foothills of the Himalayas and after Bilaspur move towards Manali. Erratic tourist traffic and haphazardly driven trucks on the narrow mountain roads couldn’t prove to be any deterrent to this bunch of enthusiastic bikers who reached Manali in good time. It was here in Manali that most of the participants especially hailing from the southern parts of the country caught their first glimpse of snow laden peaks for the first time.
On the 3rd day the ride up from Manali to Keylong was very adventurous as it crossed one of the first mountain passes in the route; Rohtang-La. The ride up Rohtang was made more difficult by drizzling as well as a few flat tyres as the bikes encountered rough roads for the first time. Rohtang itself was suffering from chock-a-bloc traffic due to the overflow of tourists but the Royal Enfield machines made good use of their power and torque to wiggle through steep slopes and narrow places to descend into Khoksar for meals and documents check. Keylong saw half the group stay in a hotel while the half stayed atop a hill in huts having a monastery for company and exhilarating valley view. Keylong was the place by which most of the riders as well as bikes had their first set of repairs done on them and the terrain now onwards as well as the climate was going to be tough. It was here that we had the last fuel pump of this leg before Leh and most of us tanked up for the 356 km long journey ahead.