Biking Pune-Great Rann of Kutch-Pune 2015
It is just three days to go for the bike trip to Pune-Rann of Kutch-Pune. Though we have done the Pune-Leh-Pune in 2011, this one is different in many ways:
1. This is a one week bike trip, as against the 21-day Pune-Leh-Pune.
2. When we did Pune-Leh-Pune, we didn't have our child to worry about. This time, we have Ovee. At 2.8 years, she is just old enough to stay with her grandparents, but small enough to miss us when we go out-of-sight for a week. Though we are sure that she will let us complete the trip, we are still worried. (After you turn parents, you always worry! This is not a cliche.)
3. We have most of the riding and bike stuff, and the experience to carry our luggage in just a pair of saddle bags and a tank bag. However, Kutch is a different terrain than Leh. It is going to be arid and mostly hot.
4. We had planned the Pune-Leh-Pune trip an year in advance (no kidding). We planned this Pune-Kutch-Pune just four months in advance. There has been enough time to service the Karizma, but no time for test rides.
5. We rode Pune-Leh-Pune with our two friends -Sagar and Mandya. This time it is with family -my cousin Sukhad and his wife Alka. And though we are more of friends than cousins (No cliche here either), they are riding a Thunderbird and we are a little worried about that bull coming with us...Thankfully, Thunderbird is of a better repute than the other bulls of Royal Enfield.
6. Tejas has bought the HTC RE camera that can be attached to the bike. This means, we can record and our entire ride with enough memory cards and charged batteries. If not all, at least the ride within Kutch. We are pretty excited about this.
7. After we return, it is just a day's respite before we drive to Konkan with Ovee and our parents. This means that we have to pack for Kutch and Konkan for us and Ovee three weeks in advance so that there is no last moment rush. It is shit, but it is exciting.
However, before all these trips beckon, this week has been crazy shit! We are getting hardly five-hours of sleep with everything happening right here right now -my doctor's appointment for the still ongoing Granulomatous Mastitis, Ovee's school admission and the compulsory medical check-up by various doctors, my father's dental treatment, winding up work at the office to make up for the holidays are just the few last moment hassles before we set off.
Despite all this, the trip has been planned fairly well, our energy levels have doubled just thinking about the bike and road, and I have started dreaming about it already (no cliche here too! I am writing a pretty serious blog post).
And so following is the itinerary:
Things that we are carrying:
PERSONAL
1. This is a one week bike trip, as against the 21-day Pune-Leh-Pune.
2. When we did Pune-Leh-Pune, we didn't have our child to worry about. This time, we have Ovee. At 2.8 years, she is just old enough to stay with her grandparents, but small enough to miss us when we go out-of-sight for a week. Though we are sure that she will let us complete the trip, we are still worried. (After you turn parents, you always worry! This is not a cliche.)
3. We have most of the riding and bike stuff, and the experience to carry our luggage in just a pair of saddle bags and a tank bag. However, Kutch is a different terrain than Leh. It is going to be arid and mostly hot.
4. We had planned the Pune-Leh-Pune trip an year in advance (no kidding). We planned this Pune-Kutch-Pune just four months in advance. There has been enough time to service the Karizma, but no time for test rides.
5. We rode Pune-Leh-Pune with our two friends -Sagar and Mandya. This time it is with family -my cousin Sukhad and his wife Alka. And though we are more of friends than cousins (No cliche here either), they are riding a Thunderbird and we are a little worried about that bull coming with us...Thankfully, Thunderbird is of a better repute than the other bulls of Royal Enfield.
6. Tejas has bought the HTC RE camera that can be attached to the bike. This means, we can record and our entire ride with enough memory cards and charged batteries. If not all, at least the ride within Kutch. We are pretty excited about this.
7. After we return, it is just a day's respite before we drive to Konkan with Ovee and our parents. This means that we have to pack for Kutch and Konkan for us and Ovee three weeks in advance so that there is no last moment rush. It is shit, but it is exciting.
However, before all these trips beckon, this week has been crazy shit! We are getting hardly five-hours of sleep with everything happening right here right now -my doctor's appointment for the still ongoing Granulomatous Mastitis, Ovee's school admission and the compulsory medical check-up by various doctors, my father's dental treatment, winding up work at the office to make up for the holidays are just the few last moment hassles before we set off.
Despite all this, the trip has been planned fairly well, our energy levels have doubled just thinking about the bike and road, and I have started dreaming about it already (no cliche here too! I am writing a pretty serious blog post).
And so following is the itinerary:
Things that we are carrying:
PERSONAL
- Four T-shirts -3 half sleeves, 1 full sleeves.
- One jeans, one track suit pant, one cotton track pant.
- Three pairs of socks
- Innerwear including panty liners because we might not get to wash our delicates in the Rann.
- One Thermal top just in case.
- Bath Towel
- Face Napkin
- Toiletries (as needed)
- Torch
- Swiss Army knife (everyone should have one)
- Riding jacket
- Good helmet (Vega Boolean is what we will have been using)
- Riding goggles
- Knee Guard (even for pillion rider)
- Balcalava
- Copy of the itinerary
- Emergency phone numbers (of hospitals, ambulance services, highway ambulance and patrol service, people we know in Gujarat)
- Original License
- Original PAN Card
- Photocopy of Marriage certificate
- Photocopy of passport
- Cell phone charger
- Pen
- Notepad
- Sling bag for me (is needed)
- Cash (as required)
- Credit/debit cards
- Extra set of bike keys
- Camera with charger, extra battery and memory card
- BSNL postpaid with 2G (Maybe only BSNL or MTNL postpaid cards will work in certain parts of Kutch)
- First Aid kit and medicines (separate list given below)
- Dry fruits and Snicker bars.
- Hand sanitiser
- Paper napkins
- Toilet paper
- Empty plastic bags of all sizes
- Empty zip pouches
- Safety pins
- cellotape
- Rubber bands
- Press buttons
- Nylon ropes
- Copies of maps (hard copies) other than google maps and navimaps android apps.
- Toolkit
- Bungee cords
- Headlamp bulb
- Tubes
- Cables
- Clutch lever
- Spark plug
- Puncture kit
- Foot pump
- Big torch
- One can get the ready -made first aid kit available at most medical stores
- It usually has cotton, eyepads, band-aid,dettol,a couple of paracetamol and pain-killer tablets among others.
- In addition, we are carrying:
- Kailas Jeevan
- Amrutanjan
- Vicks
- Tribhuvan Kirti
- Entero Quinol
- Volini pain relief spray
- Crocin
- Combiflam
- Electral
- Odomos
- Digital Thermometer
- Crepe Bandage roll
- खड़ी साखर
So long for now... Will try to live blog as we start on Sunday. At the least, we shall put up quick Facebook posts or Twitter updates at run time for those interested to follow our ride.
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