Roadtrip Day 38: The day of overwhelm, fear & 2nd thoughts in Manali [Apr 15, 2021]
Now that I was closer to Spiti, I realized that I am bit fearful about doing the Spiti ride by myself. It has started to show in terms of procastination. Guess I do that when I am uncomfortable or I have fear about something.
I planned to visit Atal Tunnel on the day but I was up late. I was being told that Atal Tunnel opens from 12 PM to 6 PM only. People usually start by 10 AM or so. I had been backlogging on blog posts & decided to change plan to write posts on Day 38, rather riding to the tunnel. I took bath in the morning, washed my clothes (I usually do it in the previous night but I chilled the previous night) & when I went to terrace to put them up for drying, I met Akshay who was relentlessly doing his morning workout session.
Soon Akshay & I were talking & that is when I got to know that Akshay is an avid cyclist from Mumbai who has ridden his cycle from Delhi to Manali. He has done multiple cycle rides in/around Mumbai & also a ride from Paris to Amsterdam, which he managed to pull off in INR 18k budget. We spent good amount of time talking about traveling experience. Akshay talked about his ride misadventures as to how once, some villagers offered to help him while he was riding close to night, by offering to drive him & his cycle to their own house in a towing auto, made space for him in their own small house when the entire family slept outside the house so that Akshay can sleep inside. He also talked about his venture Honey Bee Adventures India, where he donate the funds raised to drought relief in Maharashtra region. Akshay is on workation & has managed to secure a house for Rs 5k/month in Manali & now intend to bring his family (wife & daughter) to Manali as well.
It was 10 AM & I decided to start on my Day 36 post. I was hungry & ordered Omlet with toast from the Blue Elephant cafe itself. There is this River Music cafe right next to the bridge which had fond memories for me. My wife Lakshmi & I had eaten here during our first visit to Manali 12 years back & I learnt to put sliced tomato in omlet from them. I wanted to head there for breakfast but then decided in favor of the cafe in Moustache as I needed internet to start writing my post.
By the time I was done writing, it was already 12 PM. I realized I can push the plan of Atal Tunnel for tomorrow & decided to chill a bit. I could sense a feeling of fear inside me. I was feeling a sense of unpreparedness for Spiti. Will I be able to do it all alone. I dont have a plan & dont know which all places are stay worthy. I have managed to do it unplanned till now but I had internet to figure out options on the way. There will not be internet in Spiti so how I am going to manage. I am not sure if my bike is ready for such a ride. These were some of the thoughts that were constantly going inside my mind.
At around 3 PM, I decided to make use of time by at least visiting a mechanic to get some checks done. I had posted about some mechanic contact in Manali in Motorcyle touring India FB group & got contact of Pankaj Thakur of Hardev Tours . I called Pankaj & he asked me to come to his place where I reached at around 4 PM. After a thorough vehicle wash, Pankaj inspected the vehicle & also rode it. While he had said that it would be worthwhile to service the vehicle at the start, he changed his opinion post inspection & said the vehicle seems fine. He gave me a list of spares to carry, particularly around fixing puncture & asked me to get those from a R K spares shop on the way to Vashishth. He also suggested & eventually tweaked carburator for better power but I was not too sure if I was able to get more power post the tweak. He also replaced air filter as the previous one was clogged (the engine oil had spilled into air filter when it was over filled during oil replacement in Bhuj at Reliance Petrol pump). I asked him various questions around mechanic contacts on the way, internet/network & petrol pumps. He answered all of them patiently. Apparently, there are no bullet mechanics in Spiti region & there is a Royal Enfield Service Center in Kaza. The internet & network will cease somewhere in the middle. A BSNL sim can help with calls but no internet. There are petrol pump in Rampur, Reckong Peo & then Kaza. I paid Rs 375 for the work, said bye to Pankaj & left for buying spares. Pankaj runs bike tour company & he can be reached at 98161 06966 . Pankaj told me that he is not exactly a mechanic but since this is offseason & his mechanics are off-duty, he is doubling up as one. I liked the diagnostic skills of Pankaj. He has good idea of what could break on mountains & he did a due diligence check of those.
Pankaj also asked about my riding gears specially gloves as it would be pretty cold. I did tell him that I feel I packed a bit inadequately specially with pants & gloves. But on hearing details, we jointly decided that it can suffice. I did ask him if there are any good gloves that I can get in Manali & he said it probably is not a good idea. He also mentioned to ensure good rain packing as there is a good chance of encountering rain around Banjar/Jibhi area.
On the way to Vashishth, I realized that my bike is losing power & eventually engine is stopping in 4th gear during a climb. I was concerned if this was due to bad carburator tuning. I asked the R K Auto spares guy about a mechanic & he said that since it is not the season, the good mechanics are not in Manali (yet). I showed it to one shop next door & the guy there did a few tweaks but it did not help much. Finally I decided to tweak the carburator myself & during the ride back, the engine did not felt like dying in 4th gear during uphill. I decided to do mileage check the next day just to ensure I did not tune it too rich. A very less mileage might create problem for me with fuel running out in Reckong Peo to Kaza route which is around 200 kms.
I was back at hostel by 8 PM. I think my fear of Spiti has only increased post the carburator tunning issue. I might decide to give a few days for fear to settle in. Or to hear my inner voice more clearly about what is the next thing I should do. As for now, the plan for tomorrow is to be up early, write pending post (something that I should have done today), check bike mileage & leave for Atal Tunnel by 11. I also intend to have my breakfast at River Music cafe for the old time sake.
I went for dinner at Shanti Dhaba on Akshay’s suggestion but found the food to be average. I came back & decided to sleep after having a longish conversation with Rudra, at around 11 PM. I spent some time googling about ‘how to prepare for Spiti bike trip’ & came across some informative posts from Vargis khan. All the items he had suggested, I had checked it already on my check list. I felt a bit re-assured but I guess I was still nervous for the trip. Lets see how tomorrow pans out.