Ride to RM: Day 6

Day 6. Friday. 23rd Jan. Panipat

Today was going to be a Top Gear kind of day. The Race between a flight and our bikes.The wives and Amaaya were to start from Bangalore and land in Chandigarh at 12 pm. We had to cover about a 160km, stow our bikes away, get a taxi and then get to the airport to pick them up. I very badly wanted to get there before they landed and couldn't wait to see Shub and little Amaaya.

We decided to head out by 7, but managed to get out only close to 8. A quick fuel stop and we were on the Grand Trunk Road. A wide 6 lane highway but with loads of traffic. Loads of crazy traffic I mean. The 390 was of course the agile one and making its way through all the traffic with me looking out for open stretches to shorten the gap between our bikes. The cold wave  of North India was not helping things in the water output department and a couple of stops had to be made.

In the morning, when checking our route I was intrigued to see that we would be passing a place called Kurukshetra, which of course is a part of our mythology. As much as I tried keeping an eye out for this, we had passed it in a jiffy and it hardly registered. All our focus was on beating the flight.

Passed by Ambala soon enough and we were in Punjab. Fuel for the bikers was called for and we stopped at our first punjabi dhaba. Boy this was the real deal! The aaloo paratha's were just awesome! We were stuffed with one each but got greedy and split a third one. We checked our phones and realised that the flight was delayed due to bad weather and we now had much more time on our hands than we originally thought. Game set & Match to the bikes!
The victory goes to our heads and we take some pictures to commemorate this.

We take it easy after breakfast and have enough time to stow the bikes, catch up with Sam's friend, find our taxi and make our way to the airport well in time for the flight. I can't wait to hold Amaaya again and it shows on my face.
Lunch is on the way to Rupnagar, which is playing host to the RM, and is about 80km away. Shub and I are worried about the cold and how Amaaya will take it, but the little one seems far more comfortable than either of us.
We get to the venue soon enough and check in. A few hours later the rest of the contingent from Bangalore arrives. There are about 4 groups who have come on different routes. I call it a night while they are still partying. It will be 3 days before we get back on our bikes for the journey back home. Until then we enjoy what Rupnagar and Amritsar has in store for us.