Nature and Motorcycling

It was hot and humid and my throat was drying. Though there are many small Dhabas (Restaurant) on GT Road from Ludhiana to Ambala to stop and quench the thirst but this scorching heat made it seems as if all such small oasis were dried out. Finally, I stopped at one such small Dhaba on the road side, parked my Motorcycle and asked for a mineral water bottle and drank half of it in no time. I started feeling better.

It was peak of summer and I had decided to visit my In-laws’ home in a small town by the name of Jagadhri some 160 kilometres from Ludhiana on my new acquired Kawasaki Eliminator Cruiser. I started in early hours of the morning and the roads were empty. It was relatively quiet and calm when I approached a small city called Khanna some 45 kilometers from Ludhiana on NH – 1 or the GT Road. As I was cruising pass Khanna, the sun came out and the darkness vanished quickly. Summers in North India tend to be scorching and hard to bear.
With rising sun, the heat was rising and I had another 110 kilometres to go. I cruised pass some small towns on my way to the open highways which was all empty and broad enough to test my bikes top speed and I didn’t miss the opportunity to do that. I opened the throttle and there I went like a rocket, burning rubber on the broad highway and touched the top speed of 120 kilometres per hour. The wind was hitting on my face I felt one with the nature. That’s the pleasure of biking one can feel the power of nature as you become one with it. You can feel the wind, the heat, the chill and the rain on your body. It’s a wonderful feeling; no wonder nature has always inspired, attracted and challenged man.

As I approached a small city called Rajpura, I slowed down and thought of stopping by a famous restaurant EAGLE MOTEL. I bought a can of chilled Coca Cola and some chips. Standing by my motorbike I drank it along with chips. It was around 7am in the morning and the heat was building. I was another 70 kilometres away from my destination. I pressed the ignition button again and my motorbike came to life, raring to go. I hit the road again. I was now around 30 kilometres away from Ambala city. I was thinking of filling some petrol in my bike at Ambala. It took me another 30 minutes to reach Ambala. This is another very famous and old stoppage where people halt to fill petrol and to have snacks at two very famous south Indian restaurants on the either sides of the petrol pump. I had my motorbike filled up and moved ahead towards my final destination, Jagadhri. Ambala also has a very famous Dhaba next to the bus stand by the name of PURAN SINGH DA DHABA, famous for its Indian styles cooked chicken curry. I rode through Ambala Cantonment and reached the link road to Jagadhri.
It’s a single road not as broad as the GT Road, shaded from both sides by huge trees. It took me another 40 minutes from Ambala to reach Jagandhri. I was tired but I enjoyed my whole drive and was looking forward to my journey back home in the evening. My motorcycle was calling me to mount her for another date with nature.