TIME TRAVEL

Negotiating the fourth dimension at the top of the world

- Kartik Ware

They say time moves faster in the mountains. This isn't some esoteric metaphysical statement, but a scientific fact. Time also moves slower in a motorcycle crash, as every unwilling participant will tell you. And unfortunately, it was the latter that I experienced on the very first day of the Royal Enfield Himalayan Adventure on my way Upper Mustang in Nepal. The fall continued a long tradition in the history of my crashes because, like all the others, it happened when I was slow and distracted.

It was my first crash in ten years, but that thought didn't make my mangled fingers feel any better. There were still ten more days of riding, all through terrain that absolutely does not come naturally  me, and my right index finger was roughly the size, shape and colour of a sweet potato. And that was before five other fingers, a swollen right shoulder and a cranky right knee decided to get out their torches and pitchforks. Twenty minutes after patching myself up with the help of fellow riders and tentatively resuming the ride, my Himalayan's rear tyre found itself stabbed by a nail. Shortly after that, it started raining. As far as omens go, I'd gotten the message, loud and clear.

This was only my second Royal Enfield ride after the inaugural Astral Ride in 2019. After that first one, my mind was made up - I'd go for as many of these as possible. And the pandemic arrived almost on cue. Nonetheless, the RE rides team has more or less perfected these journeys, and everything is as easy as it can get, even with a large group of riders. You just have to get on the bike and ride, and I quite like that.