Shut Up legs...You are fine!!

( A Road sorry A Ride trip to Kasauli)

 

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.

Cycling in mountains is something which has always fascinated me but at the same time I have been a little doubtful about my capabilities. In the last two years, I made plans to ride to Mussoorie from Dehradun a number of times, but could not muster courage. And anyway a planned trip is not happening until it is cancelled a number of times!!

During Covid I was riding regularly to maintain my fitness and was unaware of the fact that my rides were being monitored by some of my cyclist friends. To name a few, they were Kamal Bisht, Avdhesh Goel, Rupesh Gupta, Mohit Mendiratta, Gurleen Kaur and many more. 

So on this one very fine Tuesday, Avdhesh Goel called up and asked for a ride in the mountains. I was hesitant and so I asked if I could do so. He simply said, "Have I ever told this to you before?" and it was more than sufficient to have boosted my confidence. It felt like a step closer to fulfill my "ride in the mountains" dream!!

The third rider with us in this trip is a brilliant chap Rupesh Gupta, CA by profession and a wonderful cyclist. All three of us were really excited about this trip and planned to carry our bikes to Chandigarh by car. We loaded our cycles (or rather yet to be cycles for they were dismantled) in my Toyota Fortuner and began our journey on Friday at around 3 PM from Delhi to Zirakpur (a town in Punjab, 10 km from Chandigarh) where we stayed at a Hotel.

This is where it all begins

After reaching Zirakpur, we took our dinner at one of the relatives' place of Avdhesh Goel but stayed at the hotel.

We began our expedition at 6.15 AM on Saturday from our hotel.

Early to rise and early to ride 

To begin with, the first 15 km were relatively flat but I found it slightly difficult due to the mild headwind and some additional resistance offered by the new tires in my bike. At the end of those 15 km we were accompanied by a local rider Mr. Mukesh as a guide up to Parwanoo. 

चार यार .... चारों बेकार ......

We took around 2 hours for covering a 30 km distance up to Parwanoo. Last 15 km were difficult but we didn't have any problem so far. I was very happy to cover more than half of the total distance in less than 2 hours. At Parwanoo we took Maggi and tea as refreshment. We clicked some pics near famous Timber trail Resort over there.

परवानू में परवाने!

Bringing our own sunshine!!

Timber Trail @ Parwanoo

During our breakfast session, I found that the front derailleur of my bike was not working properly and it is an important part for riding in mountains, specially at steep climbs. It was an add on to my insecurities. We made some temporary adjustments in the cycle and resumed riding towards our destination. 

A group of three friends is always legendary.

There were two roads to reach Kasauli from Parwanoo. The first one was via Dharampur which is around 29 km and a bit easier while the second was around 25 km but very steep without any downhill patch. Difference in distance was a mere 4kms but the difference in effort was oceanic. One is required to keep pedalling continuously for 4 to 5 hours. We took the second one (the steeper one) and decided to return via Dharampur.

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. 

The ride was really difficult and treacherous but we didn't allow fatigue to dominate us. We were riding slowly and leisurely having lots of chit chat with a tempering of shero-shayri and jokes and capturing the beautiful moments as well.

शनि'war' is open

The three musketeers

We started taking breaks every 3 to 4 km as it was becoming difficult to ride continuously especially for me as I was a beginner for the mountains to cherish me.

देखें मेरी पजीराई को अब आता है कौन,

लम्हा भर को वक़्त की दहलीज पर आया हूँ मैं।

When we were around 4 km away from Kasauli, I started feeling nauseous. I had to stop riding immediately as I knew that if I vomit, it would be a mood spoiler for all of us. I decided to take a walk for around 250 m to feel better and fortunately it worked for me. After that I continued my journey which was an alternate blend of walking and riding and successfully reached Kasauli!! 

भाई खा लेने दे थोड़ा मुझे भी, वैसे ही सूख सूख कर कांटा हो रहा हूँ।

Kasauli is a cantonment area and that is why it is very well maintained by The Indian Army. At Mall road Kasauli we clicked some more pics near Major Dhyanchand Statue, ate Bun-Samosa (one of the many famous snacks of Kasauli) and tried correcting my cycle's fault. Once again after making some temporary adjustments in my cycle, which was a must for the downhill ride, we further started our journey downhill. 

Major Dhyan Chand Statue@Kasauli 

A downhill journey is easy and much fun at the same time. From Kasauli to Dharampur was two lane road without any road divider, so we were supposed to keep our speeds in control but from Dharampur to Chandigarh was a four lane national highway with traffic divider on it. So from Dharampur to Chandigarh we maintained our speed at around 50 kmph or even more than that. The return journey too was joyous and why not,when the speed itself gives a great sense of thrill. Even the return journey gave us many chances to click pictures and embrace the experience. 

 

सफ़र में धूप तो होगी, जो चल सको तो चलो, 

सभी हैं भीड़ में, तुम भी निकल सको तो चलो। 

On a whole it was a very nice, pleasant and memorable cycling trip to Kasauli. I feel bereft from a lot of insecurities that I had earlier. This trip has endowed me with a great confidence and happiness. Thanks a lot to our cycles and of course my cycling buddies!!

मेरे दादा जी कहते थे, "अंत भला तो सब भला।"