Rain, just what you need.
The last day, a long way to go, narrow mountain roads, and just to ensure your full attention, rain.
So we dressed for the occasion and took photos. I was hoping my rain gear, conscientiously repaired by Michael with copious quantities of duct tape, would hold up. But anything was better than nothing.
Then a group photo in full gear.
And we were ready to go, leaving behind our simple hotel and setting off into the wet, steep slopes.
It was all very quiet and steady for the first part. The rain gave way to mist and this receded to just damp. But we pottered on through wooded countryside and more habitation and population than we'd seen for a while.
Alex and Paul had disappeared into the distance and the rest of us kept fairly close as a group, stopping every so often as we had no idea of the way and wanted to double check with Abhi who serenely rode up to guess along with us.
About an hour in Michael was leading the group and stopped at another dubious junction. As I pulled up to him my bike started sliding on the wet downhill slope. I did a rapid calculation of the options and rather than dropping the bike, an immediate stop option, the oncoming bus seemed to be slow enough to let me get to the other side of the road on the corner. So I fought my recalcitrant bike all the way to a standstill and took a deep breath.
Michael had enjoyed watching me sail past but thought I was in mortal danger from the bus and extremely lucky. I probably was, but dropping the bike had always been an option. Keith was impressed I'd held the bike up, which was a compliment. So I resolved to be a lot more careful in the wet, on the downhill and took up my normal position at the back.
This didn't last for very long. There were a few stretches where a little throttle left was the easier option in the increased traffic. Plus it meant I was keeping up a reasonable speed and not holding everyone up. It also meant I ended up at the front where I started having fun as the road dried and there was more tarmac.
Of course I felt in the zone and was smiling and greeting people all over the place. About half an hour after I wanted to stop for chai I was still sailing along, but thinking I should slow down when I came round a bend and serenely perched on a low wall was Paul.
I happily greeted him and decided to stop. Somehow this involved losing control of the bike and coming off, hard. I was furious with myself as I'd had four days with no spills and wanted to make it through the last day. It also hurt, a lot and I knew I'd damaged my right ankle again, which I'd done a couple of years before. The safety gear I had on was good, it was cracked and scratched but held up well. The post event analysis concluded that I just got off the bike before it stopped. It may have been pulling in the clutch, which is a good way to lose control, combined with too aggressive braking.
It is really good riding in a group as they rallied round, hauled the bike off me and helped me up.
Paul had stopped for a flat tyre and was quietly waiting when I sailed by with a cheery greeting and display of bad biking.
The support team arrived pretty quickly and Doc got another go at patching me up. Ashraf got to work immediately on getting the bike roadworthy. Doc had some magic spray and a good bandage which got wrapped tightly round the ankle. Vidhya was good at the psychological support, though his time there was no chai!
But I was not in a good state, so I happily gave Ashraf my helmet and gloves and the opportunity to ride the bike in his suit. Of course a mechanic needs a suit.
Vidhya told me off for being too 'bikery' about it all, which was absolutely correct, there was no point in trying to be macho with the support team. In fact there was no point in trying to be macho on the adventure at all, just being was so much simpler.
So we passed the time in the bus chatting and what started with a conversation about languages ended up with me teaching Vidhya awful phrases in foreign tongues. She may even remember that 'your sister' in Greek is 'adelfi sas'. I digress.
We reached the first chai stop, by which time the damp had returned. But the food was good and I was tired.
We hung around for a while. Alex wisely decided that I should stay in the support van for the next stage, which involved a crazy tunnel that went up and down and round, with no lights. He prepared Michael to make sure that I did not get shirty about that. I didn't. It was a very sensible and I was relieved to get the chance to get my head back on straight.
Besides the conversation in the van was fun and I got to know the team a lot better.
I knew my ankle was bad and took a couple of pain killers, which were more suppressors than killers, but a lot better than nothing.
The tunnel was more like something form Lord of the Rings with unfiltered fumes, but noone lost consciousness inside. After the tunnel we passed a big lake. The tunnel's escape route seemed to open right onto the lake and you could easily imagine a stream of vehicles escaping the tunnel only to plunge into the icy water. But there must have been another solution.
Doc and Vidhya told me of the large group of teenagers on a school trip that were swept away when they opened the sluice gates without
warning. That had been a big tragedy and must have been terrible for the parents and everyone involved.
A little way on we stopped again and I was ready to bike some more. The next stretch was going to be tough Alex said. Up a mountain track with loose rocks and rivers and mud and difficulty and danger. So it was time for me to start again.
Alex and Paul disappeared quite quickly again and we had the fun of the main following group keeping pretty close as we needed lots of collective decisions about the route. At one stage we got off the bikes to examine the mud for tyre tracks to see where Alex and Paul had gone.We seemed to be getting it right. Certainly we had the really hard biking bit. I had to keep the gear low and the revs up to have any control. The bike seemed to lose a lot of power as we got higher and there were quite a few occasions where I had my feet on the ground, helping to push the bike over one obstacle or another. It was hard work, but sort of satisfying. I came up one relatively straight stretch to find Michael helping Keith back up. He had come off on a steep, stone-strewn hairpin, which was going to be a bugger to do in one go.
I parked up at the edge comforted that someone else, and an experienced biker like Keith to boot, found it hard and eager for a rest. It was a very quiet spot with trees and streams and moss. A small group of people were waiting patiently just up the mountain, watching us in our body armour wrestling with Keith's bike that had no clutch lever any more.
Michael and I had a smoke. We realised that we could be on the wrong road, there was no phone signal and no one had arrived for ten minutes. So we decided he should set off up the mountain. Since we had been going for so long we expected a stop in about ten minutes time. I stayed with Keith. We chatted, he went for a wander down the road, which seemed a big use of energy to me, so I laid on a stone and tried to get a kip. Some time later Abhi rode up and said the van would be there soon. Knowing that I would be worse than useless if I stuck around I set off, hoping to get some chai in a few minutes, but happy I could go at my own pace.
About half an hour later it was getting tedious and hard work, I had negotiated lots of difficult stretches and a few junctions where I asked passers by which road I should take. There were another ten minutes of yaks and geese and people walking in the track before I reached a mist enshrouded shack with a burnt out bus and some Bullets outside, That was very, very welcome.
I needed a lot of food. there was no phone signal in the shack but at least we were out of the misty rain. After the calories took effect it was a lot easier to join in the conversation.
We were there for a while before Keith and Abhi rolled in, which was fine by me but Alex was a little edgy about time.
Apparently the advice was to go down quickly, but that did not register with me. The way down was really, really hard, for me anyway. Lots of feet down and revving to get through large rocks in a riverbed that used to be a road. No real chance to get any speed and difficult to balance. But that was as much a lack of confidence from the morning fall as anything.
As with most sports confidence is everything. So we battled and struggled down the mountain stream.
There were slips and slides. Finally the patches of tarmac linked up and the scenery was awesome.
Then round a bend were the group, strangely stopped with no chai in sight. Alex's bike had a serious mechanical problem. So we hung around for the van. How that had got down the mountain was intriguing, but given the skill of the drivers, and Lovely is from this part of the Himalayas, they could get through almost anything, sometimes in second gear.
Alex's bike got repaired and he set off with Paul. Michael's bike lost all its electrics so we hung around a bit for that, though Keith, Martin and I set off before it was completely finished. There was a really hard river/landslide/rough rough patch where the road dipped into a gash in the mountain. I waited the far side for Michael to come through, which was a few minutes later. Then I pottered on and soon he was far ahead. I was going at my own pace, which was a lot slower than the others. Again it was Abhi and I and a long while later I stopped at a roadside shack, but they didn't have chai, just chemical waste being sold as carbonated drinks. Even I couldn't handle that so we carried on. I vowed to stop at the next place which we came to, which was in what seemed like only another half an hour. I was exhausted, a lot of it from the mental strain of trying not to fall off but at the same time trying to keep up some sort of speed.
Well I needed sustenance and it felt like at least a couple of hours since lunch. Having got a bite to eat and a lot to drink the van caught up and they were all really hungry. They'd missed out on lunch at the top, so I happily stood them for it and pottered off again. They were in no hurry as they knew they'd see me soon enough.
About 15 minutes later there was a town, chock-a-block with traffic. Backed up and not moving. I just jostled and bustled forwards, being pretty aggressive, at 5 miles an hour.
Abhi caught up while I had the Bullet at 45 degrees trying to get past/under a lorry by tilting the bike to get under the back of it. We pushed through and somehow he overtook me in the jam. I swear he could go into a revolving door behind, on a bike, and come out in front.
After that we wound uphill, passing a queue of at least half a mile from the town, on a road that was single track for most of the way.
Soon enough in a semi-catatonic state we came across the boys who'd settled in for a while, having waited far too long in the last town.
At least there was a chance for more chai and a snack, which made me happy. They were all bored senseless by this time!
Alex said we would wait for the support team and I was ready to bet proper money that we would have to wait at least an hour. So about 15 minutes later they turned up.
It helps to have a doctor on board ready to flash his credentials. That and the local dialect had seen them through the logjam.
So we saddled up again ready for the last stretch to Tethys. I had parked up at the front of the row of bikes and there, a couple of yards in front, was a fresh, wet cowpat. Being a nice person I signalled the pat to Paul and made motions of revving the bike. He gave me a very stern look which was a clear message not to. Then the beggar whipped round in front of me and positioned his bike for the Hu Flung Dung competition. So I set off to go round him and the assembled group were shouting at me because the bike stand was down, which is dangerous. I did not care in the least, I was only getting ahead of the inevitable spattering. Once that exhibition was over we could all set off again.
My memory of the rest of the afternoon is misty. Partially because of the weather, partially from tiredness. Apparently the road was blocked by a landslide and they were trying to dynamite a way through. We had to take a major detour to get to the hotel. Apparently we passed the spot I had fallen off on the second day. Apparently I didn't fall again, or fall too far behind.
But it was a very weary set of bikers that reached the hotel. We had made it. And the one who was really happy was Alex!
Our sense of achievement would come later.
The last day, a long way to go, narrow mountain roads, and just to ensure your full attention, rain.
So we dressed for the occasion and took photos. I was hoping my rain gear, conscientiously repaired by Michael with copious quantities of duct tape, would hold up. But anything was better than nothing.
Then a group photo in full gear.
And we were ready to go, leaving behind our simple hotel and setting off into the wet, steep slopes.
It was all very quiet and steady for the first part. The rain gave way to mist and this receded to just damp. But we pottered on through wooded countryside and more habitation and population than we'd seen for a while.
Alex and Paul had disappeared into the distance and the rest of us kept fairly close as a group, stopping every so often as we had no idea of the way and wanted to double check with Abhi who serenely rode up to guess along with us.
About an hour in Michael was leading the group and stopped at another dubious junction. As I pulled up to him my bike started sliding on the wet downhill slope. I did a rapid calculation of the options and rather than dropping the bike, an immediate stop option, the oncoming bus seemed to be slow enough to let me get to the other side of the road on the corner. So I fought my recalcitrant bike all the way to a standstill and took a deep breath.
Michael had enjoyed watching me sail past but thought I was in mortal danger from the bus and extremely lucky. I probably was, but dropping the bike had always been an option. Keith was impressed I'd held the bike up, which was a compliment. So I resolved to be a lot more careful in the wet, on the downhill and took up my normal position at the back.
This didn't last for very long. There were a few stretches where a little throttle left was the easier option in the increased traffic. Plus it meant I was keeping up a reasonable speed and not holding everyone up. It also meant I ended up at the front where I started having fun as the road dried and there was more tarmac.
Of course I felt in the zone and was smiling and greeting people all over the place. About half an hour after I wanted to stop for chai I was still sailing along, but thinking I should slow down when I came round a bend and serenely perched on a low wall was Paul.
I happily greeted him and decided to stop. Somehow this involved losing control of the bike and coming off, hard. I was furious with myself as I'd had four days with no spills and wanted to make it through the last day. It also hurt, a lot and I knew I'd damaged my right ankle again, which I'd done a couple of years before. The safety gear I had on was good, it was cracked and scratched but held up well. The post event analysis concluded that I just got off the bike before it stopped. It may have been pulling in the clutch, which is a good way to lose control, combined with too aggressive braking.
It is really good riding in a group as they rallied round, hauled the bike off me and helped me up.
Paul had stopped for a flat tyre and was quietly waiting when I sailed by with a cheery greeting and display of bad biking.
The support team arrived pretty quickly and Doc got another go at patching me up. Ashraf got to work immediately on getting the bike roadworthy. Doc had some magic spray and a good bandage which got wrapped tightly round the ankle. Vidhya was good at the psychological support, though his time there was no chai!
But I was not in a good state, so I happily gave Ashraf my helmet and gloves and the opportunity to ride the bike in his suit. Of course a mechanic needs a suit.
Vidhya told me off for being too 'bikery' about it all, which was absolutely correct, there was no point in trying to be macho with the support team. In fact there was no point in trying to be macho on the adventure at all, just being was so much simpler.
So we passed the time in the bus chatting and what started with a conversation about languages ended up with me teaching Vidhya awful phrases in foreign tongues. She may even remember that 'your sister' in Greek is 'adelfi sas'. I digress.
We hung around for a while. Alex wisely decided that I should stay in the support van for the next stage, which involved a crazy tunnel that went up and down and round, with no lights. He prepared Michael to make sure that I did not get shirty about that. I didn't. It was a very sensible and I was relieved to get the chance to get my head back on straight.
Besides the conversation in the van was fun and I got to know the team a lot better.
I knew my ankle was bad and took a couple of pain killers, which were more suppressors than killers, but a lot better than nothing.
Doc and Vidhya told me of the large group of teenagers on a school trip that were swept away when they opened the sluice gates without
A little way on we stopped again and I was ready to bike some more. The next stretch was going to be tough Alex said. Up a mountain track with loose rocks and rivers and mud and difficulty and danger. So it was time for me to start again.
Alex and Paul disappeared quite quickly again and we had the fun of the main following group keeping pretty close as we needed lots of collective decisions about the route. At one stage we got off the bikes to examine the mud for tyre tracks to see where Alex and Paul had gone.We seemed to be getting it right. Certainly we had the really hard biking bit. I had to keep the gear low and the revs up to have any control. The bike seemed to lose a lot of power as we got higher and there were quite a few occasions where I had my feet on the ground, helping to push the bike over one obstacle or another. It was hard work, but sort of satisfying. I came up one relatively straight stretch to find Michael helping Keith back up. He had come off on a steep, stone-strewn hairpin, which was going to be a bugger to do in one go.
I parked up at the edge comforted that someone else, and an experienced biker like Keith to boot, found it hard and eager for a rest. It was a very quiet spot with trees and streams and moss. A small group of people were waiting patiently just up the mountain, watching us in our body armour wrestling with Keith's bike that had no clutch lever any more.
Michael and I had a smoke. We realised that we could be on the wrong road, there was no phone signal and no one had arrived for ten minutes. So we decided he should set off up the mountain. Since we had been going for so long we expected a stop in about ten minutes time. I stayed with Keith. We chatted, he went for a wander down the road, which seemed a big use of energy to me, so I laid on a stone and tried to get a kip. Some time later Abhi rode up and said the van would be there soon. Knowing that I would be worse than useless if I stuck around I set off, hoping to get some chai in a few minutes, but happy I could go at my own pace.
About half an hour later it was getting tedious and hard work, I had negotiated lots of difficult stretches and a few junctions where I asked passers by which road I should take. There were another ten minutes of yaks and geese and people walking in the track before I reached a mist enshrouded shack with a burnt out bus and some Bullets outside, That was very, very welcome.I needed a lot of food. there was no phone signal in the shack but at least we were out of the misty rain. After the calories took effect it was a lot easier to join in the conversation.
We were there for a while before Keith and Abhi rolled in, which was fine by me but Alex was a little edgy about time.
Apparently the advice was to go down quickly, but that did not register with me. The way down was really, really hard, for me anyway. Lots of feet down and revving to get through large rocks in a riverbed that used to be a road. No real chance to get any speed and difficult to balance. But that was as much a lack of confidence from the morning fall as anything.
As with most sports confidence is everything. So we battled and struggled down the mountain stream.
There were slips and slides. Finally the patches of tarmac linked up and the scenery was awesome.Then round a bend were the group, strangely stopped with no chai in sight. Alex's bike had a serious mechanical problem. So we hung around for the van. How that had got down the mountain was intriguing, but given the skill of the drivers, and Lovely is from this part of the Himalayas, they could get through almost anything, sometimes in second gear.
Alex's bike got repaired and he set off with Paul. Michael's bike lost all its electrics so we hung around a bit for that, though Keith, Martin and I set off before it was completely finished. There was a really hard river/landslide/rough rough patch where the road dipped into a gash in the mountain. I waited the far side for Michael to come through, which was a few minutes later. Then I pottered on and soon he was far ahead. I was going at my own pace, which was a lot slower than the others. Again it was Abhi and I and a long while later I stopped at a roadside shack, but they didn't have chai, just chemical waste being sold as carbonated drinks. Even I couldn't handle that so we carried on. I vowed to stop at the next place which we came to, which was in what seemed like only another half an hour. I was exhausted, a lot of it from the mental strain of trying not to fall off but at the same time trying to keep up some sort of speed.
Well I needed sustenance and it felt like at least a couple of hours since lunch. Having got a bite to eat and a lot to drink the van caught up and they were all really hungry. They'd missed out on lunch at the top, so I happily stood them for it and pottered off again. They were in no hurry as they knew they'd see me soon enough.
About 15 minutes later there was a town, chock-a-block with traffic. Backed up and not moving. I just jostled and bustled forwards, being pretty aggressive, at 5 miles an hour.
Abhi caught up while I had the Bullet at 45 degrees trying to get past/under a lorry by tilting the bike to get under the back of it. We pushed through and somehow he overtook me in the jam. I swear he could go into a revolving door behind, on a bike, and come out in front.
After that we wound uphill, passing a queue of at least half a mile from the town, on a road that was single track for most of the way.
Soon enough in a semi-catatonic state we came across the boys who'd settled in for a while, having waited far too long in the last town.At least there was a chance for more chai and a snack, which made me happy. They were all bored senseless by this time!
Alex said we would wait for the support team and I was ready to bet proper money that we would have to wait at least an hour. So about 15 minutes later they turned up.
It helps to have a doctor on board ready to flash his credentials. That and the local dialect had seen them through the logjam.
So we saddled up again ready for the last stretch to Tethys. I had parked up at the front of the row of bikes and there, a couple of yards in front, was a fresh, wet cowpat. Being a nice person I signalled the pat to Paul and made motions of revving the bike. He gave me a very stern look which was a clear message not to. Then the beggar whipped round in front of me and positioned his bike for the Hu Flung Dung competition. So I set off to go round him and the assembled group were shouting at me because the bike stand was down, which is dangerous. I did not care in the least, I was only getting ahead of the inevitable spattering. Once that exhibition was over we could all set off again.
My memory of the rest of the afternoon is misty. Partially because of the weather, partially from tiredness. Apparently the road was blocked by a landslide and they were trying to dynamite a way through. We had to take a major detour to get to the hotel. Apparently we passed the spot I had fallen off on the second day. Apparently I didn't fall again, or fall too far behind.
But it was a very weary set of bikers that reached the hotel. We had made it. And the one who was really happy was Alex!
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