The Mother of all Cycling expedition Manli-Leh - Initiation

A historical town, a mythological town, a religious town, an ancient trade post through to Tibet, a land of apples, a flourishing town. Manali – Manu Alaya located at 200 m above sea level, at the end of the Kulu valley. At the foothills of the secondary Himalayan ranges overlooking the mountains filled primarily with pine trees. Thought to be a sleepy town with less than 10000 population, but now a flourishing and bustling town. This is where we start out journey. This is where the Epic begins.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein.

After the epic ride to Pangong Tso last year, it was time for the next set of adventure. This time the mother of all - Manali to Leh Cycling/Biking. After a few hiccup's with the dates, we were all set. 01 July was earmarked as the day. But our journey started in Bangalore on 29th June . Or really did it? Or was it each of those 100km rides and multiple Nandi climbs. The creation comes after you have thought of it.

When Satnam picked me up on 29th afternoon, I was in the midst of packing. I was not sure if I had carried everything or did I carry more. Saurabh our expedition leader said - "pack unpack and then throw out half of the items. You don't need to plan for armegedon". After an hour's journey we were at the airport and the fellow riders joined in. Soon we were on our way to Delhi our first stop over.

Delhi was it's bustling self. We decided to grab dinner at Bikanewala at Karol Bagh. Little did I know that this was the same place where I and Amma went to grab dinner during our trip to Kedarnath and Badrinath. We had chole batura and lassi. ISBT terminal was a few kilometres away but it took us around an hour to get there. Luckily in time for our 10pm bus. Bobby joined us there and now we were the full strength of BWCC riders. Through the rumblings in the night, I caught some sleep, hoping that I get to Manali around the scheduled arrival time of 10am and catch some sleep.

Screech...and here we were at a Dhaba near Mandi ,Himachal. It was 8am and 4 hours journey left. As we approached Kulu, the beautiful apple orchards started appearing alongside the road. The roads were not that great as they seemed to be lashed with flash Rains and minor landslides. Our bus stopped a few kilometers before Manali town and we walked our way to our hotel Sarthak residency where Saurabh and Abhishek greeted us. Tired, exhausted and cold we decided to get an afternoon nap and to hear debrief from Saurabh at 5. Couple of riders had already arrived at the site.

The alarm buzzed, but I was in no mood to get up.  I had to drag myself out of bed. My room mate Bobby had given me the responsibility to wake him up as well.  5 more minutes I felt, like a kid who doesn't want to get up and go to school.

5-7 pm the Lecture went on. What to do what not do. AMS, Camping equipment, support available, riding patterns, timings, acclimatization ride and so on. We went out for a walk in the evening at the city center. The delicacy - Momo's. and some last minute shopping

Sunday did not feel like Sunday. It was like yet another workday. Our first task to get acclimatized to the uphill climbs, the bike and the gear combination.  Our bike was kept ready at Nagar and the plan was to ride uphill cross the river Beas and ride until Manali. While Saurabh handed over the Trip 360 jersey's, we handed over the BWCC jersey to Saurabh. The weather was bright sunny and sultry. Scott Aspect bikes for all the riders were ready at he location. The first 10 km were all uphill which helped us get the tempo, gears and alignment right. The downhill then on till Beas river crossing was filled with apple orchards and pine trees. A truly awesome view. We crossed the river on a hanging bridge and another 14km uphill till Manali via the Kullu - Manali route. We reached the destination around 2pm, had a quick lunch and then crashed.

We woke up around 4:30pm and headed towards Hidimba temple and lurch for Trout at the Johnson's Cafe in Manali. Hidimba temple is nestled within Cedar forests. It is an interesting story because Hidimbi with here magical powers knew that her son Ghatothkacha born to Bhima would get killed during the war and warns Ghatothkacha. Ghatothkacha still goes ahead because it was his father's wish and believed it was his destiny and went to war. Hidimbi went into penance (at the place of this temple) and went to Samadhi.  We prayed to give us strength for the long journey ahead and left to Johnsons. The Trout was good was not even close to the one I had last year at the Tibetan kitchen in Leh. So all the more reason to look forward to the ride. We went back to the hotel in an Auto (something that I think just has an engine and nothing else - no breaks no horn , all temporarily dangling).  It was a warm and sweaty. I need to get more water in before the ride, I thought. 10 pm and it was time to crash. As I went to bed I reflected on the last two days in Manali. I could sense that all my riders were looking forward for the ride across the 5 mountain passes.

Now to the Riders.. who are they?

Tandava - A fun loving and family oriented, open, honest n friendly person, hit with midlife crisis in pursuit of challenges and looking for a week Sanyasa to indulge in self and realize any potential, hence this Manali - Leh ride.  Pursuing for a week Sanyasa with friends on this cycle ride with no internet, mobile connectivity is the gist and super excited about this trip.

Manas - Once upon a time driving in the famous Bangalore traffic I had to overtake a cyclist multiple times within a few Kms. That inspired me to ditch my car and take a cycle to work. Have been commuting to work since last 3 years. Met a few experienced cyclists and got inspired to go for longer rides. Have been doing 100+ rides around Bangalore for some time now. Read about a blog about someone doing a self supported ride from Manali to Leh and have been hooked on that since. Want to challenge myself to complete this ride and set sights on greater challenges. Riding in the wilderness with all of you and my thoughts for company will be truly rewarding. Looking forward to it

Satnam (Singh) - I started Cycling in 2009 in Bangalore primarily to be fit and be around with my cycling buddies. I was happy doing some 50 km loops in nearby villages and occasionally go to Kolar, Nandi Hills around Bangalore. Big change came with my buddies Bobby and Dileesh came up with idea of Cycling in Leh Ladakh. In 2017, we did Leh- Pangong Lake with Saurabh. That time itself, we decided that we will be back in 2018 with Saurabh and do Manali Leh. Here, we are, just a few days away from the trip. Super excited for the Epic along with my Life Time buddies :-) . Besides Cycling, you can find me on the rocks in Bangalore and Badami. I picked up Rock Climbing in 2002 and continued bsince then. I am also a rock climbing instructor and working  towards  bringing more people to climbing. By profession, I am a data scientist and my passion is to build data products.

Pandu - I am not a poet, nor I am an artist, nor I am a cyclist, ya I did run few marathons. Then I met some friends, who were cycling for fun, so here I am, to do a Manali to Leh expedition. They say I talk less, but when it comes to action I am all game. I am a outdoor person.

Bobby - I'm an easy going person, love outdoor sports, keep experimenting with food (foodie) and spend lots of time with nature & loved ones by traveling around the world. And I'm also a cyclist 😊.... I got into crying in year 2009 when I moved to Bangalore. Being very regular on BWCC"s weekend rides, now I'm finding it difficult to pursue cycling due to my travel job and location change. We planned Manali-leh trip 2 years back with BWCC core team and started  preparing for this toughest cycling challenge. So here I'm.. traveling more than 5000km to pursue my passion for  cycling with my buddies. Look forward to this once in  life time experience!!

Benson - I am Benson and you can call me Ben. I'm a just another techie from bangalore who is annoyed by bangalore traffic. Unlike others, I got interested into cycling when I saw Manas's Bike. That was the first time I saw a cool bike with disc brakes and great looks. I fell in love with the bikes 😍  I was over weight and managed to reduce 18KG in 3 months by riding 50KM a day and 5 days a week. I am foodie and never dieted 😉 Once I reduced my weight I became casual cyclist and did some occasional rides to just keep myself fit. Recently I couldn't keep up with my cycling and make any trips due to my affected work-life balance and I am excited for this ride to accomplish both. See you all soon 😃

Gautam - Inspector with center board of excise and customs (now cbit) working in bangalore. I used to pedal around even when I was in Delhi but the frequency was very less. Only after I moved to bangalore cycling became a daily thing. I like photography and I am very hopeful of getting some nice pics on this journey

Ria - Studying Banking and Finance from the London School of Economics. I’ve been a semi-professional tennis player, playing national women’s and international juniors. Due to a back injury, I haven’t been able to compete since a while. However, if not with the sport, I love embracing new challenges and outdoors let me do just that. I cycled from Manali to Leh last year but didn’t get a chance to do Khardungla so I had to do this again.

Vinayak - I am an outdoor enthusiasts. Have done Himalayan trekking in college days. Have been a regular runner and have done a few full marathons and quite a few half marathons. Two years back, I shifted residence and met Bobby. He was a part of cycling group. Was looking for an activity other than running and decided to take up cycling. Thanks to Bobby and BWCC group led by Satnam, got hooked on to it. Last year decided do join the gang for Leh trip but had to drop off last minute. This time I decided to make it for Manali to Leh trip My son went to the US for undergraduate studies last July. He was coming for vacation. Decided to co-opt him as I thought it will be great way of father son bonding. Hence the we are, both us. I haven't been to Manali or Leh and really excited about the trip. The landscape is enchanting, nature at its best. Looking forward to having once in a lifetime experience. The terrain looks daunting for cycling though. Don't know how well prepared I am. But I know the rest of the group is there to motivate and hopefully I will make it. My wife is going to join me and my son in Leh and so it is going to be extended family vacation for us. Looking forward to that. By the way, I work in Oracle and have been in Bangalore for last 15 years. Before that I was in Mumbai, studying and working. I am from Sangli in Maharashtra.

Ameya - (Vinayak's son) currently pursuing Computer Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. I'm very much an outdoor person and I enjoy playing many different sports. My top two include basketball and football, both of which I've played at state level. Though I'm a newbie to the cycling world, I'm very much looking forward to having an exciting trip!

Our Organizing guys from Trip 360/Cox and Kings
    Saurabh - having done this trip more than 10 times as well as many other international expeditions. "Cycling Bastard" as we fondly call him, he started his own company GoMissing which was later taken over by Cox and Kings. He was going to be our lead rider
    Abhishek - Also rode with us in Pangong Tso. Helped us with a lot of backend operations and support for the ride. He was going to be the trail rider for the group
    Sandeep a.k.a Sandy/Mandy - Mountaineer from Himachal, having done multiple treking expeditions in the past. He was going to be our residential altitude expert, camping support and the man behind the engine for the trip.

And Myself  Dileesh - Engineer by profession, I like sports, travelling and blogging. Also practice the oldest martial art in the world - Kalari. All under the firm belief/ethos that "Limits exist in your mind.. you need to continue challenging them”. I took up Cycling 7 years back as part of a goal to get back in shape and have been doing regular weekend rides with Satnam and BWCC friends for the past 7 years apart from office commutes. Last year we did Leh - Pangong with Saurabh   as a preparatory ride to the mother of all "Manali - Leh". Looking forward to the Manali Leh 2018 challenge to push my limits further , enjoy the view of Passes and share camaraderie with fellow riders. To cap it all, relax and spend vacation with family in Leh.
In a nut shell, I am exploring life...

Next : Crossing the pile of Corpses