Ride Report: The India Ride Expedition

Hello fellow riders,

I just wanted to introduce my new motorcycle production to this online community. As you may remember, my brother Colin Pyle and I set a Guinness World Record for our 65 day - 18,000km - motorcycle expedition and television production in China back in 2010, it's name was The Middle Kingdom Ride. The television show and book from that project are due out later this year.

As our follow, up I would like to introduce you to The India Ride. Colin and I are just now preparing for our 60 day - 14,000km - complete circumnavigation of India. We are going to begin our journey in New Delhi, India on Sunday August 26th 2012. We hope you'll follow our journey and share our adventure with your friends, family and local riding clubs. Wish us luck, India will be a real adventure and through some unique challenges at us. It should make for fantastic riding and some brilliant television making.

Throughout our 60 day journey I'll be posting daily ride reports on this thread. You can also follow our journey at the links below. If you are planning your own adventure journey this summer, I wish you the best of luck; keep the rubber down.

You can follow the India Ride at:
Our Dedicated WEBSITE
Our Facebook PAGE
Our Vimeo PAGE

Ryan Pyle
TV Presenter / Film Maker
G219 Productions Limited
www.G219productions.com

Hello friends and fellow riders,

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are one month away from beginning our 60 day - 14,000km - motorcycle adventure and television production in India. This is our most recent Press Release on that adventure. Please check it out and also view the links below.

LINK: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9728447.htm

You can follow the India Ride at:
Our Dedicated WEBSITE
Our Facebook PAGE
Our Vimeo PAGE

Ryan Pyle
TV Presenter / Film Maker
G219 Productions Limited
www.G219productions.com

Attachment 8243

Hello friends and fellow riders,
We've had a few people ask us recently what our route was going to look like for our upcoming The India Ride television production and expedition. We'll, it's going to be as challenging and as exciting a route as possible. Our goal is to understand and learn as much as possible about India's diversity. And naturally, that requires us to visit the most remote corners of the country, and that is exactly what we are setting out to do. I've attached our map and route to this post. I hope you enjoy.

Also, don't be shy, be sure to connect with us on our dedicated website and our Facebook page. Our links are below:

You can follow the India Ride at:
Our Dedicated WEBSITE
Our Facebook PAGE
Our Vimeo PAGE

Ryan Pyle
TV Presenter / Film Maker
G219 Productions Limited
www.G219productions.com

Hi Ryan ,

Wish you good luck with your India trip.
I did the first stretch of your trip a few years ago with some friends on royal enfield bikes.
It is a fantastic ride. I am sure you will be prepared well. But prepare yourself for the altitude.
I attach you my Vimeo link for reference maybe you enjoy it.

https://vimeo.com/6454600

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7622057332121/

Will be following your travels with interest, have a good ride.

Axel

Alex,

Thank you very much for all your good wishes and we'll pass along your links to Colin and Ryan. Thanks for reaching out and continue to ride safe.

You can follow the India Ride at:
Our Dedicated WEBSITE
Our Facebook PAGE
Our Vimeo PAGE

Mark Jackson
Production Manager
G219 Productions Limited
www.G219productions.com

Check out Colin and Ryan picking up their new Mahindra Bolero at Koncept Automobiles in New Delhi. The flowers and chocolates were all part of a ceremony to celebrate the wonderful event of getting a new car. Colin and Ryan couldn't be happier.


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Check out our awesome Mahindra Bolero, painted in Adventure colors, in our hotel parking lot in New Delhi. We are nearly ready to go. We pick up the bikes soon!!


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It was like Christmas morning - got some amazing stuff and getting ready to hit the road.


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Check out the traffic in central New Delhi. Insanity!


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Ryan tries to perfect his tea drinking as the brothers visit their friend Puneet Gaur at Manzil Motors in Gurgaon, New Delhi. Puneet has helped Colin and Ryan prepare their motorcycles for this epic journey. Manzil Motors is the best destination for anyone interested in Royal Enfields in Delhi.

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in 60 days?

60 days seem not enough, looking at the route your planning.

Anyway, enjoy it as much as you can

We're actually hoping to finish in around 55 days. We'll see - the roads are very bad - at the end of the day the roads will determine the days not us :)

appreciate your interest

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ryanjpyle

We're actually hoping to finish in around 55 days. We'll see - the roads are very bad - at the end of the day the roads will determine the days not us :)

appreciate your interest

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Hey guys, if you got some time in delhi go and visit the motorcycle market at karol bagh and stroll around there, besides the new bikes, you can find some fantastic places that sell old timer motor bikes. Have a look on my Flickr page if you want to get an idea what it's like

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7619636829689/

And here some pics what'll lies in front of you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7600764338618/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7622057332121/

:clap:

Colin and Ryan share a laugh with their friend Puneet Gaur at Manzil Motors in Gurgaon, New Delhi. Puneet has helped Colin and Ryan prepare their motorcycles for this epic journey. Manzil Motors is the best destination for anyone interested in Royal Enfields in Delhi. Does anyone know what everyone in this picture might be laughing about?


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Colin and Ryan watch a mechanic work on their bikes at Manzil Motors in Gurgaon, New Delhi. Manzil Motors has helped Colin and Ryan prepare their motorcycles for this epic journey. Manzil Motors is the best destination for anyone interested in Royal Enfields in Delhi.


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This looks amazing!! thanks for sharing - I wish we had some more time in Delhi to visit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Axelinchina

Hey guys, if you got some time in delhi go and visit the motorcycle market at karol bagh and stroll around there, besides the new bikes, you can find some fantastic places that sell old timer motor bikes. Have a look on my Flickr page if you want to get an idea what it's like

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7619636829689/

And here some pics what'll lies in front of you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7600764338618/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiane...7622057332121/

:clap:

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Ryan and Colin found an Indian school bus today in the old town of Delhi.

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This beard is absolutely something to admire. Ryan and Colin got a fresh shave today, will 60 days be enough to match this man?

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Sorry guys for all this pre riding stuff - We're off Saturday and we'll start updating with some real adventure riding :) We appreciate everyone who is following us and hope you enjoy our journey.

A mechanic works on a motorcycle at Manzil Motors in Gurgaon, New Delhi. Puneet has helped Colin and Ryan prepare their motorcycles for this epic journey. Manzil Motors is the best destination for anyone interested in Royal Enfields in Delhi.


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Ryan cleans up in Delhi. Let's see what he looks like in 60 days.

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Colin also getting cleaned up in Delhi. Who will have the bigger beard at the end?

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Day 01: Colin and Ryan in front of the India Gate at 630am on Saturday September 1st 2012. The India Ride has begun. On Day 01 the team road 405km from New Delhi to Shimla. It was an intense day of riding and the roads were very challenging. But at least now we are up in the mountains and enjoying some much cooler air.

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Day 02: Today it started at 930am in misty (almost raining) Shimla. The 267km journey from Shimla to Manali took us a staggering ten hours to complete (Highway 88 and Highway 21). After weeks of rain, the mountain roads around Manali were luckily dry but debris of previous landslides did pose some challenges. The highlights of the day were the exceptional weather we've been receiving and the great time we made on the twisty narrow roads from Mandi to Manli. The photo caption: "Colin Pyle (gray + blue jacket) hangs back while Ryan Pyle (gray + red jacket) gets a face full of exhaust from a bus on Highway 21 near Manali"


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Day 03: Today was the first day that we enjoyed an "off the bike" filming day where we were scheduled to learn a little more about Manali. Today was also the first day we witnessed northern India's torrential rains, which are very intense but short in length. And lastly, today was the first that all members of the India Ride team enjoyed the adventure sport of Paragliding. Manali is considered the adventure sport capital of India. You can go helicopter skiing, white water rafting, mountain climbing, hiking and paragliding. While all the other activities are very time consuming, and we have a television show to produce, we thought we would opt-in for a quick 10 minutes of sheer adrenaline by running off a mountain and gliding down to the valley below.


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We are very excited to offer you this new "Live Tracking" feature for our friends. This new live tracking feature offers anyone to track Colin Pyle and Ryan Pyle online and in real time. This service and technology has been brought to the India Ride by our motorcycle helmet partners HALO. Check it out, assuming the time zones differences are not too great, this should provide you with a fantastic tool to keep track of the distances and the various locations that Colin and Ryan will be covering on a daily basis.


LINK: http://eventeagle.com/Map.aspx?EventName=theindiaride

As you can imagine, due to the lack of updates, we’ve had an intense few days in the remote Northwestern Himachal Pradesh. We’ve gone 48 hours without mobile phone service and internet access and we’ve fully succeed in going “off the grid” in search of unexplored regions and some truly challenging adventure motorcycle riding.

Today we started our day riding in light rain heading North from Manali, eventually climbing in heavy rain up the Rohtang Pass, at around 4,000m above sea level. The Rohtang Pass, has a name that translates in to “pile of dead bodies”, a name given to the pass in memory of all the travelers who had frozen to death while attempting to make the cross. Our adventure was not that extreme, but the roads were slick, in the early stages which eventually gave way to thick and heavy mud, road construction and some of the most challenging motorcycle riding conditions our team has ever faced.

From the Rohtang Pass we dropped down in the valley and finally left National Highway 21, by heading west on National Highway 26 into the remote and visually stunning Pattan Valley. As cattle grazed and families worked their fields our team cruised along dirt roads covering 50km in about 3 hours and eventually making it to Udaipur at dusk.

The team covered a very very challenging 165km in about 10 hours of riding and were left physically and mentally exhausted, and yet spirits were very high as we thoroughly enjoyed the riding through the Pattan Valley.

Day 05: We’ve just gone our second day without internet access and mobile phone reception as we head deeper in to the Pattan Valley and further Northwest into the diverse and exceptionally beautiful province of Himachal Pradesh. After a restful night in Udaipur we were up early and on the road at 7am as we head Northwest on National Highway 26 towards Killar. The plan today was to reach Killar before noon and then make our attempt at the Sach Pass (4,500m above sea level) and then cruise in to Chamba for dinner. Sadly, nothing like that happened. Coming out of Udaipur the road deteriorated rapidly and entire roads were either washed out by rivers or perched so high on the mountainside that the blind corners left our entire team with the chills. With the roads in rough condition our schedule for the day was quickly unattainable, and we were lucky to reach Killar (only 86km away from Udaipur) after an entire day of riding. The average speed of our team today was little over 10km per hour, and we never saw a paved road. With our bodies bruised and battered our spirits have remained high as tomorrow we are looking to be rested in our attempt to climb over the Sach Pass and down in the culturally vibrant Chamba Valley. From there, we should be back in the land of mobile phone reception and internet access and we hope to begin making regular updates again.

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Day 06: Today was a most remarkable day. After utter disappointment yesterday, with such a short distance covered on nearly impossible terrain, the India Ride Team managed to successfully cross the Saach Pass (4,500m above sea level) in remote northwest Himachal Pradesh. We were up early and attacked the pass with vigor. Starting in Killar we climbed narrow unpaved switch backs for over four hours coving roughly 45km before finally summited the Saach Pass in freezing rain and completely clouded in. Some days just don't work out like you think they well, but yet we must persevere and carry on; and that's exactly what the India Ride team did. Once we crossed the pass we descended quickly down narrow, mud covered, switch backs until we exited the clouds and arrived in the stunning Chamba Valley.With it's warm weather, it's lush green hillsides, and it's PAVED ROADS, our team had their spirits lifted as we finally felt like we were on the move again. We rested in Chamba, the regional capital of the Chamba Valley. Nearly out of the mountains and nearly back with in mobile phone reception range.

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Day 07: We are back! That's right, we've made it out of the mountains and covered 268km today and we are currently in Amritsar, Punjab province. Our incredibly challenging days of riding through remote H.P. province are past us and we are back on good roads as we pass though the farming communities of western Punjab. It's been an incredible adventure up until now as today we mark our 7th day on the motorcycles and what a week it has been. In the last 7 days we've covered Delhi - Shimla - Manali - Rohtang Pass - Udaipur - Killar - Saach Pass - Chamba - Amritsar. Tomorrow we are heading out to visit the Golden Temple and then we delve deep in the Rajasthan next week. Wish us luck, and we hope you are enjoying these updates.


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