Last year while I was visiting India my friend Tashi Nima, owner/operator of Built to Ride, approached me about getting him some US connections for his motorcycling touring business. His dad has been in the regular touring business since 1994 and Tashi wanted to start a motorcycle touring branch. The Himalayas offer spectacular scenery and some very adventurous roads so I was all in! Initially he wanted at least 8-10 individuals and I wanted a small group that I was familiar with for the maiden trip that I was responsible for recruiting. We will be riding the iconic Royal Enfield Bullet 500 over some good roads, some not so good roads and very poor roads. The ride will include 2 passes of 13 K feet, a 16K, a17K and 18K ft pass! After putting a few feelers out and sending some e-mails around five willing participants emerged. My cousin Paul from the UK, George Catt, Danny DiGiamio, Bruce Collins, and Danny's friend John Mickowski. Bruce very unfortunately became ill and his ride is in limbo right now. I'm still hoping that he is able to go but his Dr. has advised against it 
. Tashi has agreed to take him in August or next year.
I'm leaving for India with a lot of excitement in my heart today! My trips there are always special, visiting with my mother, catching up with old friends and relatives, and this year a 2 week moto adventure thrown in! I'm going to spend a week with my mother. The rest of the group is to arrive in Mussoorie on the 29th to spend a couple days acclimating to the altitude, the bikes and riding on the left side of the road. We will take a few short rides during these days before we start on the real tour. The adventure has already begun as they had a late snowfall and the Bara Lacha pass has been closed with 30 ft of snow and we are being forced to take a different route to Leh that will have it's own trials! The plan is to return on the original route as they are predicting the roads to be open by June 1.
I'll post pics here and have started a blog (first one ever) himalayantour.wordpress.com (Mussoorie to Leh 2014). Type it in your browser as I've posted without any www and you should get there. I'm new at this so forgive me, I'm sure I'll get better as the days go by.
I'll try and find time to post a couple sample pics from previous trips to give you all an idea of what's coming up for us.
And so the adventure begins....
. Tashi has agreed to take him in August or next year.I'm leaving for India with a lot of excitement in my heart today! My trips there are always special, visiting with my mother, catching up with old friends and relatives, and this year a 2 week moto adventure thrown in! I'm going to spend a week with my mother. The rest of the group is to arrive in Mussoorie on the 29th to spend a couple days acclimating to the altitude, the bikes and riding on the left side of the road. We will take a few short rides during these days before we start on the real tour. The adventure has already begun as they had a late snowfall and the Bara Lacha pass has been closed with 30 ft of snow and we are being forced to take a different route to Leh that will have it's own trials! The plan is to return on the original route as they are predicting the roads to be open by June 1.
I'll post pics here and have started a blog (first one ever) himalayantour.wordpress.com (Mussoorie to Leh 2014). Type it in your browser as I've posted without any www and you should get there. I'm new at this so forgive me, I'm sure I'll get better as the days go by.
I'll try and find time to post a couple sample pics from previous trips to give you all an idea of what's coming up for us.
And so the adventure begins....
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