Route:
Day 1: Mumbai-Charoti-Surat-Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Shyamalaji : 724 kms
Day 2:Shyamalaji-Udaipur-Kelwa-Ajmer Sharif-Pushkar : 435 kms
Day 3: Pushkar-Ajmer Sharif-Jaipur-Dausa-Fathepur Sikri-Agra: 432 kms
Day 4: Agra-Delhi: 122 kms

Ride Statistics Total Mileage: 1713 kms
Max Block Speed: 77.79kph (Charoti to Surat 188 kms)
Min Block Speed: ~52kph (Surat to Bharuch 78 kms)
Best Mileage: ~38 kpl (Udaipur to Jaipur)
Worst Mileage: ~26 kpl (Vashi to Vasad)

Notes:
¹The Mumbai-Delhi Highway, NH8 is now a 4 laned highway for the most part. NH8 must rank up there as the most sinfully boring road I have ever ridden on! This is one highway with no character whatsoever! And the never ending truck jams dont help either!

²A little after entering Gujarat, the NH8 turns into a nightmare and remains a harrowing experience until we cross Ahmedabad: Roads being constaintly patched, a string of diversions, cattle, mile long truck jams etc etc etc. And the propensity of the *err* locals to talk on the mobile phone while riding and break traffic rules with impunity doesnt make the task of riding through the state any easier! After numerous close shaves you just want to stop and slap these anti-socials!

³In Gujarat, saw a lot of tractor trailers powered by Royal Enfield engines crudely lashed to the chassis hauling everything from the farm produce to school children: a tribute to the sheer versatility and strength of the Royal Enfield! This is what RE's were built for: to be hard working and reliable steeds. This is something that bitchy RD-boys need to understand: an RE is happiest to be on the road munching away the miles. An RD on the other hand prefers to be a garage queen! :P

⁴Riding through Ahmedabad City was painful. The whole city looks like it was inspired by Dahisar or Nal-Sopara! Took me a frikking hour to find my way out of the place. Fortunately the city cops were very helpful! :thumbs up:

⁵The first hill climb starts just after entering into Rajasthan on the ride from Shyamalaji to Udaipur. FANTASTIC roads and the first time on the ride i began to have a ball - Loads of twisties to go peg-scraping!! The ride from this point onwards upto Shreenathji is loads of twisties running over low-lying hills.

⁶Udaipur does have a certain charm. Sometimes it looks like it is trying too hard to replicate the Hampi magic. That isnt gonna happen anytime soon! The lake palace, now converted into a 7-star hotel(with 7-star prices) is well preserved for its age. However many walls are scribbled over with obscene graffiti. Pathetic considering its private property!
⁷The city of Udaipur, Jaisamand and nearby Haldighati merit a full 2 day iten! I officially propose Udaipur/Jaisamand or Mandu as my choice of locations for our next annual meet.

⁸The ride from Udaipur to Pushkar via Ajmer Sharif was the best part of this ride for me. The twisties start around 5 kms out of Udaipur and stay with you almost till the turnoff for Ajmer Sharif. And Boy did i have fun or what! :D

⁹I was coming to Pushkar after well over a decade: the last time being as part of the Symbiosis college trip. In the vain attempt to emulate Hampi and Varkala, Pushkar has certainly lost its charm! Pushkar still attracts quite a few of the foreign tourist traffic: most of them "white trash" category rather than the well heeled, and the old charm is certainly gone. The spate of attacks on female tourists, the uncollected garbage and sewage etc etc flowing through the streets is a clear sign that all is not well with Pushkar! :( On the other hand, Bramha Temple and Gandhi Ghat still rock!!

¹⁰No shortage of cheap accomodation in Pushkar: just dont come here during the Camel Fair! :) I paid all of 100 bucks for a VERY decent room! Ofcourse, being a religious place, no booze. Marijuana however was no problem! :D Spent the evening on the terrace with a group of Israeli and American backpackers who were ducking military service back home and these fellas had enough stock to make Chinky and Sushil look like saints!! Needless to say: had a shockin rockin time!

¹¹Ever found yourself in a position where the subject part of the photograph is properly exposed, but the rest of the photograph is overexposed or underexposed? Common enough eh? Well as an experiment, i tried something out this time: The photograph of the chabutara on the Ghat was created using 2 separately taken shots layered together! This was done to overcome the problem bought about by uneven lighting on subject in an otherwise bright place. So in the first take, the subject was correctly exposed, which resulted in the background being washed out due to overexposure. In the second take, the background(sky) was deliberately underexposed (to bring out the color saturation) but which almost completely blacked out the subject itself. The challenge was to keep the camera/tripod rocksteady between shots (taken 5 minutes apart since i had to wait to ensure the pigeons left the scene completely for the second shot)!

¹²The ride to Agra was decent enough - smooth boring roads across boring flat terrain. The last 20 kms into Agra however was a total nightmare!! Darkness set in by the time i reached the outskirts and to make matters worse a thick fog enveloped us forcing me to crawl along at 30/40 kph. And the traffic? SHEER MADNESS!! Had to pick up a friend at the Cantt Railway Station: and learnt the valuable lesson to avoid the area called Taj-Ganj when on the bike.... BRRRRR!!!

¹³Agra attracts the more well-to-do among the foreign tourists crowd, so good quality mid to high range hotels are not a problem. The Fatehabad road has a dozen of them lined up: all of them the best of the lot. My fav has always been Ashish Palace: decent and very modern place and for 800 bucks it is a bargain for the quality u get! Yatri Niwas located next door is also a great place!

¹⁴Entering Delhi was a breeze this time around: thanks to accurate directions given by fellow bulleteer Sumeet. Reached my hotel in Vasant Kunj from the Badarpur border in 25 minutes flat out!