Helmet Stories

18/10/2024

The last day of riding from Kurinther to Kathmandu. A 100 kilometres of adventure with traffic. Specially days before Dashain (Dussehra) everyone is on the road trying to get home for the festival so it’s just all sorts of madness. With busses bellowing smoke in our faces we make our way to Kathmandu to end yet another X ride to Manang.

For the last dinner a walk to our favourite Chinese place in Thamel before we start packing the busses with the crew to send them home.

Manang is a brilliant ride this year was no different.
Now to plan for next year …

16/10/2024

It’s the day everyone has been waiting for. We try and get up early in Bhratang grab a hearty breakfast at the Farmhouse and then jump on our bikes. Today is the day we do the long stretch out of the valley and onto the highway towards Kurinther. It’s a long stretch but it’s a culmination of all the previous days riding into one day. It’s such s fun one. Also because at the end of the day a brilliant pool awaits to wash away the days mud and grime.

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15/10/2024

Manang to Bhratang is not very far on the map but we don’t go there in a straight line. It’s a short day of some brilliant riding with the Anapurnas as a back drop. The evening is well spent at the Farmhouse in Bhratang. Many wines are tasted and drunk you find your self tottering back to your room in the week hours of the morning.

14/10/2024

The rest day in Manang means time to wander the village find some yak cheese, sit back have a coffee and watch the trekkers get ready to start their climb up the pass. Also gives time to the crew to work on the bikes, fuel them up and get them ready for the ride back to Kathmandu.

Some of the enthused crew went for a sun set ride with the ever enthused to take pictures of them before coming back to settle in a cafe for brews, yak encheladas, burgers and lots of laughs.

13/10/2024

Leaving Tal we make our way on the road hewn out of rock. But today is the day that visually start to change as we start the final climb to Manang. The road as we leave Tal has some steep sandy inclines which are always a challange if you don’t tackle them with enough momentum. They seem like they are never ending and then you find your self at a turn and there is some more to tackle.

We stop for a coffee and an apple pie in Bhratang - because it’s too early for this delicious apple wine and you realise you just rode through the largest apple farm in the country. The apple pie is the perfect fuel for the final push to Manang. The valley opens up and finally you find your self riding under the mighty Annapurnas.

12/10/2024

Day two of the x ride to Manang.
When the road ends and the real fun begins. We head out of Behsisar and head towards Tal. Their is new tarmac to Vir’s sadness as some of the water crossings have gone - the mechanic is happy means less air filters to change.

But once the tarmac disappears you get to ride every kind of terrain you can imagine and then some stuff you can’t even think of. So by the time you get to Tal where we hang up our boots to dry for the night a perfect spot to wait from our 15kgs of Trout cooked two ways - fried and grillled.

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11/10/2024

Riding out of Kathmandu on the X ride to Manang is always a hoot. It’s the first taste of what riding in Nepal is like and well Kathmandu rush hour traffic is an adventure it self. It didn’t help that after the floods getting out of the city was hectic in it self with road closures, muddy roads and just a whole extra layer of craziness.

The first day offers the riders time to get to know their bikes, get into Nepals dal bhat meals and just get into the groove as a crew. A cold brew and the pool helps end a brilliant day on the road as we end the day in Besisahar.

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07/10/2024

The ride in from India to Kathmandu was wet. We sat in Kurinther for two days waiting for the road to open up to the Nepalese capital. The crews had landed from around the world and were itching to ride but we had not made it into the city yet. With the roads closed it meant no one was going anywhere. We got news the road had opened on the evening of the first day so we have it some more time and waited it out and got on our bikes next morning and headed out. The highway was muddy with many stops for roadworks - clearing the mountain off the road and yes chai.

Took us a few hours but we made it to KTM where the bikes looked dirtier than they have ever caked in mud that had to be chiselled off.

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22/09/2024

Here is wishing Chief Adventure Kingpin a brilliantly Happy Birthday.

Hope the boots are dry Nepal is calling.

14/09/2024

We expected the ride from Nubra to Pangong to be full of water crossings and lots of adventure. Also because the roads had been overrun by some mad water crossings and the BRO had shut the road to fix them. We got lucky and the roads were opened but the BRO did such a good job there was not a drop of water anywhere until we reached Pangong where the nallahs had started to rise and well you all saw what happened to bike on his page.

The Road to Pangong Tso has changed so much over the years not sure how we feel about its new avtar with fancy BRO cafes and 4 lanes of super fast tarmac everywhere.

02/09/2024

Two days of taking it easy and it was finally time to hit the road and ride to Nubra. Over Khardungla - which is always interesting down to North Pullu and towards Nubra for the night.

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31/08/2024