Complete links for Getting High, And How?!
3
Day 2 – 17 June 2012
I was awakened from my sleep as the bus jostled
with other vehicles – all eager to get to the only operating lane at a toll
booth right ahead. I instantly realised that my right knee felt a little numb. I
had earlier exchanged my seat with Chandramouly, so that I could sit toward the
aisle. That way, I could stretch my legs every once in a while.
My right knee had been giving me quite a bit of trouble
lately. It had all started a few months earlier during one of my practice rides
with Gurudeep. One fine Saturday, we guys did three consecutive Nandi Hills climbs on our bicycles, while
challenging ourselves not to take a break while at it! Approaching the summit on
the last climb, I felt a slight discomfort developing in my right knee. I
should have stopped right away, but instead, we rode down and did another loop
around the hills. Thinking about it now, I guess I have been giving trouble to
my knee, and not the other way around! Anyhow, I spent the rest of the day, and
a fair bit of the next – limping. The pain eventually receded, and I thought I
was fine.
But, I was wrong. The pain kept creeping back in
after almost every ride thereafter – even on those that were nowhere as
strenuous as a Nandi Hill climb. I
finally consulted an orthopaedic, and he suggested I get a MRI scan done. On
studying the reports, he told me that I had a tear in one of those ligaments in
my knee, albeit, a little one. He prescribed few pills and stuff, but told me
clearly that getting some rest would certainly outdo what those pills could. Knowing
well what was in store ahead, I gave it a little rest, but not as much as the
doctor had advised! Though, I did change my training regime greatly – I had not
done a single Nandi Hills climb since
I got the MRI scan done. And it had been a fortnight since I last cycled.
Looking outside the window, I realised the bus had started its ascent towards Swarghat. Although the road was lit only by the headlight, I could recognise a few of those turns from the previous time I was here on my motorcycle. Himalayas was not too far away from here! Even though it was just past 0230, there were way too many trucks on the road. And unlike I did on my motorcycle last year, the bus could not get past them easily. I figured it was going to take quite a while before we would get to Manali.
The constant turning and twisting, accelerating
and braking meant I could hardly get any sleep. So I stayed up and looked
outside the window – reminiscing. At dawn, the bus stopped beside an eatery. While
we enquired with the driver, he said we would reach Manali only at about 1100. We had all thought we would be getting
there a lot earlier than that, and had made plans to go an acclimatisation ride
around the place. But now, we had to drop it.
Once the bus got back on the road, I did manage to
catch some sleep. I really doubt if the turning and twisting reduced any bit, but
I slept like a baby anyway. I woke up only when a few passengers were
deboarding the bus near Kullu. I
recognised the river that ran beside the road. It had been a companion for
Shoib and me last year. Memories rushed in. I could not help smiling to myself.
Getting closer to Manali, the
mountain peaks seemed to rise from behind the tall pine trees that hid them. The
first thing I noticed was there was a lot more snow than last year. And there
was a lot more traffic on road than last year too. And yes, a lot more people
too.
It was about 1030 when the bus finally rolled into
the bus station. It had been the longest bus journey for me yet. Virender, our
guide for the ride ahead was already there to collect us. We transferred our
luggage from the bus to the waiting jeep. And then, we got into the jeep ourselves.
A few more agonising traffic jams later, we made it to our hotel room. Even
before unpacking, we decided to call for breakfast. The girls reminded that
Akshay and I had not brushed our teeth yet. The others had brushed while the
bus had made that little pit stop earlier. The two of us did not heed to what
they said, and ate anyway! After all, we were all going to do things a little
differently in the coming days.
Although we had only just arrived, we were already
behind schedule. While the girls went to their rooms and started cleaning up,
we guys got to the task of assembling the packed bicycles. While Gurudeep and
Akshay stayed behind, dealing with finer adjustments on their bicycles, the
rest of us followed Virender, on foot, through many pine trees, and descended to
Old Manali to pick up bikes for
ourselves.
After trying out a few bikes available for hire at
the store, Ramya, HT, Chandramouly and I selected one bike each for ourselves. Once
done with that, we rode back into town and caught up with Gurudeep and Akshay. After
first splurging on some pastries, we rode to get ourselves lunch. Lunch consisted
of local delicacies and was scrumptious.
Once done with lunch, we took the trail that swept
through the pine trees back to our hotel room. Although it was a rather short
climb, most of us were caught gasping for breath. Of course, the gradient was
rather steep and not conducive for amateur mountain biking. But overall, it was
a lot of fun! Once we got to the hotel, we chained all the bikes to each other
and left them by the compound wall.
It was finally time to clean up. Once in the room,
I unpacked my luggage and kept aside the stuff I would need for the ride
tomorrow. A quick shower and a shave later, I was all spick and span! I knew
well that it would be long before I would get to do either of these again in
the coming days. We spent some time chit-chatting while everyone was getting
ready. By about 1930, everyone was ready and we could leave for dinner. Well,
everyone except HT. She had a headache, and decided she would not join us. The rest
of us walked down the same trail that we had ridden up a little earlier. I am
sure it would have been a lot of fun riding downhill here!
Once at the restaurant, Virender told us that
there was this guy, Mizan, from Singapore,
who was here on a vacation and was keen on joining us for the ride. All of us
agreed to have him in our group. Mizan joined us for dinner too. Most of us had
trouble remembering his name, or pronouncing it right! He was the youngest
among all of us, and oddly, we began to have some apprehensions about him
completing the ride. To his defence, Mizan told us that he cycled occasionally
back home, but there were obviously no mountains in Singapore. He said he was a
runner, so that would help. In any case, we all knew we had a jeep for backup,
though no one at the moment had any plans of getting into it anytime soon!
Dinner, like lunch, was brilliant. Virender and
Mizan parted a little early, and we would see them tomorrow morning. We guys
chatted up for some more time before calling for the check. Night had fallen by
now, and the air was cold. We took a slow walk up the trail back to our hotel,
in darkness. Along our way, we spotted many snails and slugs that had crept out
in the open. We kept a lookout, so that we do not accidentally step on them. For
one last time, we got back to the hotel.
I quickly washed up, and changed into my night
clothes. As I jumped on the soft bed and tucked myself under a warm blanket, I figured
I should relish this moment. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
