Day 3 - Wildlife park visit in Hyd...

1000 hrs on 7th-June-08, press folks had gathered at Aashish's uncle house to get a glimse of our K2K riders and to take notes about their ride. Reports from E-NAADU, a TV channel from Hyd were at the spot ready for an interview. Once the interviews were through, Aseem and Aashish departed on their planned ride to PLANET Theatre where they again had media and crowd waiting to click a few pics and have a chat ! Our next way point was Karuna International Wildlife Park, where the rangers were supposed to meet the riders at 1100 hrs. As planned, the park rangers met our riders and were given posters, banners and stickers, prepared by team BMC reflecting the message intended to be spread to save the big cats from extinction. These were later taken by the rangers and posted around the park perimeter so that people would take note of the message !

With this, it was time to move on... Enroute, as planned, Team RED BULL had their representatives meet up with Aashish and Aseem and gave away Energy drinks enough to last through their journey to the next waypoint - NAGPUR. Again, we appreciate RED BULL's prompt actions in tracking our riders through their journey.

It was lunch time and our K2K riders headed back to Aashish's auncle's place. Post lunch, at 1500 hrs both the riders started off towards their next waypoint - NAGPUR.
Just a couple of minutes into the rider, Aseem notices a problem in his brake drums. They aren't functioning efficiently ! So, the duo immediately head to a garage nearby called Nirmal Autos. This garage apparently, is owned by one of the local political leaders and he pooled in a group of local media folks to publisize the event ! It was 1700 hrs now and with the 400+ kms to cover, our bikers hit the road again. Enroute, at Adilabadh district of AP, a beautiful stretch of ghat section welcomed our riders. I remember an ecstatic Aseem narrating this to me over the phone as they enjoyed the jungle ride ! They were well past into the evening and then, rear tyre on Aashish's bike went flat ! It was 1830 hrs now by the time they fixed the tyre and started riding again... As per plan, Mr. Harpal Singh (an editor or Hindu Times newspaper) was waiting at a jungle Check post near Adilabadh. Along with him were a group of AP forest department officials waiting for a photo shoot. Post photo session and chat, the ride continued.

Considering the long distance they had to cover to reach Nagpur, Aseem and Aashish came to a conclusion to ride quick and reach overnight. It was around about 0000 hrs by the time the duo entered Nagpur ! Tired and Hungry, both of them stepped into one of the 24 hour Cafe Coffee Day at Nagpur to grab a bit and sip hot coffee. As usual, a crowd collected around the bikes, curious to know what was happening !
Sitting in the opposite table at CCD were two guys (Ashish & Ritesh) who were localites of Napur and apparently had their own bikers club there ! They owned and run a Royal Enfield Bullet club in their city ! The elated duo met our K2K riders and spoke for a while about the trip and other general stuff. Next, they took our riders to a nearby lodging hotel called "Hotel Chidambaram" for their overnight stay.

0900 hrs on 8th-June-08, both Ashish and Ritesh came to the hotel and met up with our K2K riders and took them to a well know mechanic called Shaanu who owned a garage called Shah Automobiles. Both the bikes were sent in for a complete overhaul !
Incidentally, a few passerby from Nagpur who are strongly involved in wildlife conservation work met up with both Aashish and Aseem and suggested places where Tiger movement is more in Maharashtra ! With that, the routes to be taken around forest zones to access tribals and witness tiger movements etc...were handed over to our riders. A few reference contacts in and around Nagpur were also handed over to them in order to seek help. So, the original waypoint map had to be tweaked to accomadate these new changes. Rest of the day was spent planning to factor in the extra few places to be visited enroute. The plan to travel directly to Agra from Nagpur had now been changed to -> Nagpur - Wildlife places in MH - Agra !

Day 2 - Riding on their own...

0100 hrs, both Aseem and Ashish had left their family and friends behind and started their motorcycle expedition... This was it... no looking back ! For the rest of us from team BMC, just the media gathering, crowd, enthusiasm of both the riders, had us on high for the day and we headed back to our retreats. With drowsy eyes and high spirits, both the motorists hit the road (NH-7) towards Hyderabad (Hyd - first waypoint of their journey). It wasn't long before both of them realized they won't be able to make it Hyd, overnight !

About 100kms from BIA (and 350 kms from Hyd), the guys stop at a dhaaba on NH-7. A cup of chai and cigarette in their hands, both of them finally decide to take time off to rest for the night. Wise decision they had made ! Thankfully, the owner of the dhaaba agreed with them and asked them to sleep there till dawn and also promised to look after the duo's expedition bikes overnight. 0300 hrs - both the guys woke up and decided to hit the road again ! They still had a 300 km stretch to cover to reach Hyd...

Around about 80kms into their journey towards Hyd, they hit a bad patch of road torn apart from the recent rains that lashed the region. Both the guys decided to park their bike for a while on the road side and then - the first mishap happened ! Aashish's bike (parked on side stand) couldn't hold all the extra weight burdened upon it and it just slowly tipped over to the left. Result - front windshield broke and the head lights damaged ! Rains, bad roads, and now - no light on Aashish's bike... things couldn't get any worse for our riders !! But, this was just a small test for both of them and they knew that the REAL CHALLENGE was yet to come. Aseem decided to switch on all 6 lights on his bike and Aashish would trail em. So, they moved on...

Riding through the night and next day, both of them reached Hyd at around 2130 hrs on 6th-June-08. Aashish's cousin (Mr. Naresh Jain) was eargerly awaiting the duo at the outskirts of Hyd. They met up and Naresh took them to Aashish's uncle's place in SBI Colony. Once they reached, both the guys breathed a sigh of relief and freshened up themselves. It was a much needed break for them as they had ridden the whole day in bad weather ! It was way past dinner time and the duo were greeted by an ecstatic/exotic variety of traditional marati feast. Now i don't have to exaggerate on this anymore ! we all know how good it feels to be fed good food at the end of a tiring day :) Post dinner, the family was curious to hear from the guys about their experience of the journey from Bangalore to Hyd.

So, a quick chat session with the family to end the day...