cYcling to the top of the world

Everybody leads their lives according to his/her terms, or at least they try to; if not, they should. For me, when satisfaction seems like a distant memory, I head to the mountains.

A glimpse of what to expect 

Ever ask a biker what his dream road trip is? More often than not, the answer you hear will be a bike ride to Leh-Ladakh. Given the crazy being I am, I needed to be a step above the rest; therefore cycling(mountain biking). The cycling expedition was from Manali to Leh to Khardung la and back to Leh, covering close to 600 kms over a period of 12 days.

Our route. We further went to khardung la as well.

The journey to Manali was a pleasant one. At one point we cross a dam on Beas river where it had a layer of clouds kissing the water, and the early morning haze along with the lush green mountains in the background made it a sight to behold. I reached the base camp which was 15 kms before Manali and finished the reporting formalities before feeding myself with parathas. The next two days were dedicated to acclimatize and get used to the cycle. We had two practice rides to a place called Naggar castle in Kullu, one on each day in which the gradient was darn high. Though only 6 kms, the first test ride took me 3 hours to finish and it gave me reasons to worry. I was skeptical about the route to Leh being equally steep and exhausting, and if 6 kms made me feel this way, imagine how 600 kms would cause a sense of panic within me. These apprehensions were laid to rest when the camp leader announced that nowhere on the route to Leh will the roads be this steep. They will be tough but not as tough as this one. This came in as a blessing as it gave me the confidence to pull off the impossible. We had people across all ages and walks of life. Looking at people at least two decades older to me who are brevets, Super Randonneurs, marathon runners and triathletes has given me a perspective that being fit is not a destination but a way of life.

The family

To be honest, I did not expect this route to be as highly regarded as the cyclists perceive it to be. I was pretty casual about it until I learnt that a few cyclists consider this route to be the Everest of cycling. The magnitude of what I was about to achieve began to sink in when our field director announced that if completed successfully, this feat would find its place in the Limca book of records. The overwhelming realization that I'm here to do something huge gave me the adrenaline rush that fueled the entire journey.

The start of our expedition

Hamare tent 4 wale, tent ke saath :D

We started our expedition on the fourth day of reporting at the base camp. A festival atmosphere prevailed at our campsite during the flag-off. Fellow cyclists were going Facebook Live and a few VIPs were invited of course. The first day is supposed to be the toughest in terms of gradient and everybody had this etched in their minds to be mentally prepared. The route lived up to the expectations but the landscape to which we were riding often had us lost admiring its serenity. As we kept going higher towards Rohtang pass, into the clouds with every pedal, the weather started to get rough and foggy. The visibility got so low that we could hardly see anything more than 10 metres away. To no one's surprise, it started to rain and made things even tougher. The ascent to Rohtang pass was among the toughest rides throughout the journey given all these circumstances. There's a famous saying that goes, "the best views come after the hardest climb", but we didn't have any view after reaching Rohtang - all thanks to the foggy weather. We gained around 5000 feet covering a distance of 38 kms. The first day gave us a preview of what to expect for the rest of the days. We got into our camps with hot soups waiting for us along with snacks. The nights get pretty chilly as we got into our sleeping bags and played bluff and mafia which became the main stays of our tent for the days to follow.

Weather clearing up just a few meters after Rohtang

The details about the route - distance covered, gain in altitude, terrain, difficulty level - for a day were given on the previous night itself. Each day would start by waking up at 5 AM, even early for people who preferred to poop in the dark. Tea would be served by 6, breakfast by 7, and we would start our journey by 8. Riding along to picturesque backdrops had become a routine; along with it, cycling uphill.  A fellow cyclist once dropped his hat while cycling downhill, and instead of riding back up, he parked his cycle to the left and went walking uphill to pick up his hat. One gets vexed with riding uphill but never with the pleasing landscapes. The most exhausting ride for me was the day we crossed Gata loops. Gata loops is a name known to everyone who has traveled on this highway, mostly for the difficult ascent and for a ghost that resides in the loops. It is a series of 21 hairpin bends that take you to the third high altitude pass on the highway, Nakeela, at an altitude of 15,547 feet. I took around 4 hours to ascend the loops but the uphill steep didn't end at the loops. It continued for a further 8 kms and this made it exhausting as I was unprepared for it. One loses the enjoyment in the ride once you start focusing on the destination and all I did after the Gata loops was look for the destination which never seemed to come.

ONE loop

10% of Gata loops

The relief after reaching nakeela

Through this journey I realized that each cyclist has his/her own journey - own cycle and legs to pedal besides their own stamina, endurance levels, mental strength, preparation levels and physical fitness. All of these put together corresponds to their journey. In any physical sport, one cannot compete during the race itself but the actual competition lies in building all the other aspects leading to the race. Similarly, in life too, there will be people who started their journey with you and might have achieved the goals before you do; this is not a sign for you to give up, but instead a motivator to make you believe that you can do it too. One has to pedal his own cycle to reach to the top. Yes, true that in between at many points you feel tired, exhausted and there will be challenges that you will have to overcome. But if you show grit, persevere and sit through the challenges, the sweetness of success will have an aura of confidence around you that will give you the courage to accomplish anything in life. There will be a visible change in yourself that nobody can ever take it away from you.

Had our lunch here sitting on the shores of the lake

An incident took place with my fellow cyclist which I got to witness. Tanglangla is the world's second highest motorable pass at 17500 feet. The ascent to this place is steep and difficult, like any other high altitude pass, but here the Oxygen levels in the air are pretty low. One struggles to breathe and while cycling we keep panting for air every few meters. Overcoming all these struggles, we reached Tanglangla; once we had reached, we put our cycles aside and were soaking in the moment. It was a momentous feeling of joy and only the ones who have experienced the same will empathize. A tourist who just got out of his taxi, comes to us and borrows my fellow cyclists cycle to click pictures along with it. My friend blatantly asks the tourist to put the cycle away as he does not deserve a picture with the cycle. He said, "If you want a picture with the cycle, you've got to earn it. Take this cycle, pedal up to this point and then I will let you take a picture with it." It might sound rude, but that is how it is. The tourist is oblivious to the pain/risk/hardwork/determination/fighting against the odds we've been through to reach that place.

Crossing a river stream

At Tanglangla

The best of the rides was on day 9; we covered from Pang to Debring which is 51 kms, out of which 40 kms are the More (Pronounced Mo-ray) Plains. Imagine a 40 km flat land at an altitude of 15,000 feet, a kind of plateau that none of the geography books were written to teach. Breathtakingly beautiful. The clouds and sun play hide and seek yielding the most amazing photographs even with the basic cameras. A place where landscape photographers would wish to have their bodies buried. Cycling on these roads after 8 days of uphill roads was a stress-busting gift from nature. Almost everybody I spoke to had their most beautiful moments on this stretch. Another stretch from Rhumtse to Leh was equally breathtaking with red soiled mountains surrounding the road from all sides. The rock formations were all so natural, that they looked man-made.

Everything seems to be inclined to the left

Want to be reminded that you don't matter in the bigger perspective? Spot the two cars to the right side of the image.

AKA Leh Gate. This marks the entry into Leh

How did these end up here? Looks natural to you?

I have the sharpest peak competition

The effort of the support staff has to be appreciated. Support vehicles(two wheelers) running up and down every day trying to help every cyclist who had had a problem. The problems varied from tire punctures, gear problems, break issues, health issues, and the most important of them all- supplying water. Our effort for the day ended when we reached the campsite for the day, but the support team's day ended only after all the 100 odd cyclists entered the campsite. 

The entire stok range from one of our campsite's

With the help of the support staff, we covered a total of 5 high altitude passes before getting to the king of them all, Khardung la, at 18,380 feet claiming to be the highest motorable pass in the world. Unfortunately, only 52 of the 107 people completed the ride until Khardung la. The ride didn't seem difficult considering the passes we have passed before. The final 11 kms to Khardung la alone was challenging because there was no road and we had to cycle on sand and gravel. This, along with the taxi's pushing us off to the sides made this ride a little taxing. In the end, once you reach the destination, all the hardships seem worth it, and if not for the challenges thrown at us, the achievement would have been far less sweeter than it actually is. 

At the top! Yayy!

One quote I would dedicate to the people stuck in the vicious cycle of the contemporary corporate life, "Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it."