There are some rides that run with clockwork precision: from planning to execution everything goes in textbook fashion. Like the ’05 ride to Ladakh for example. But most rides are more relaxed affairs with the occasional gaffe contributing to the adventure. And then there is the other extreme: a ride where nothing, NOTHING, it seems goes right and disaster comes out at every corner. This tale from the road is taken one such ride, which nearly became the last ride for some of us.
It was 2007, and like we do every Feb, planning had already started for that years pilgrimage to the Himalayas. I was originally planning to ride down with Poncho and Chotu, and we had already worked out the itinerary and other details. However in March, work pressures would force me to back out of the ride, and Poncho decided to ride ahead alone. Being a “Leh-Vargin” meant that this ride was a must do for him, especially since the only other “Vargin”, Chotu, had done it the previous year. So solo it was for him, while I cursed my luck at being left behind.
Fate however had other plans. An old friend from my Symbiosis days, Manish was also making plans to ride up to Leh on his (then) new Thunderbird. He was going out with 2 other friends of his and he dropped in regularly to consult about routes etc at my shack in Mumbai. Meanwhile a window had opened up on the work front, and I quite suddenly found myself signing up to join them for the ride barely a week before D-day! I clearly must have been drunk on some potent stuff! 
So early on a rain-washed morning in mid-August, I rode out alone from Mumbai on the Ghodbunder axis, hoping to sync up with the gang either at Thane or at Fountain Hotel which is the usual sync point on rides up north from mumbai. Manish and gang, who were to ride down from the Pune side, were late in starting up and texted me to push ahead. As it turned out, i reached the days planned halt at Mt.Abu 760 kms away bang on schedule, while the gang, having made a very late start, only managed Udvada by their end of day. It was only late evening the 2nd day, that the gang managed to catch up. Oh well! This gave me an unexpected day to take in the quaint hill station that till that day had only been seen in films.
It was only in Mt.Abu that I first met up with the other 2 members who were to form the gang! Joggy, also a fellow Jacobaite Mallu from Pune like moi, was on a military green Standard 500. What Joggy lacked in physical stature, he made up with some of the finest riding skills seen on the road. Param, with his AVL350 was the final member of this motley group. At 38, Param was the eldest of the lot and hence the natural leader. Joggy, was the archetypical Mallu union leader, ever ready to veto any proposal suggested by Param! I was to learn 8 days later that Param had been Joggy’s senior in the Navy in the not too distant past which apparently hadn’t gone too well! Manish, my link to this group, was the loyal friend wanting to stand by his buddy Joggy irrespective of right or wrong! Yours truly was the outsider in the group who usually kept his trap shut for that reason! Why is that so hard to believe? Cougar CAN keep quiet you know?! Despite the contradictions, like with most bikers, the connection was instantaneous! Introductions over, we settled down for an exhilarating discussion on the ride ahead.
