When people ask Bengaluru-based businessman King Richard and his friend Manjunath Chikkaiah (both aged 43) why they decided to bike to London from Bengaluru, Richard’s answer is that London is familiar to him, as an Indian.
“It also makes for a difficult ride. It comprises the first leg of our world tour. We plan to cover the Americas as well as Australia and New Zealand next year and then ride back to India from Malaysia,” says Richard, who is back in Bengaluru after completing the first leg of the tour.
The duo covered the 23,500-km distance on a Triumph Tiger 800, travelling across 21 countries, including Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Holland.
“What makes the trip challenging is the amount of research involved — we had to nail the specifics of the dates we would spend in some countries, which would only give out visas three months before the trip. Getting the visa and meeting the regulations for such trips is also challenging. Some countries, such as Burma, Thailand and Laos, require bikers to be accompanied by a guide,” explains Richard, who is part of the White Dragon Adventures biker group, along with Chikkaiah.
Weather was also a major challenge; it was cause for one of the only major setbacks on the trip, when they were stuck for five hours on a slippery mountain road in Kyrgyzstan. “I had a fall in the middle of a mountain road. We had to push the bike to a lower point and then take the help of some lorry drivers who brought the bikes to a safer place. Lorries cannot otherwise stop in the middle of the road in those regions because the roads are slippery. The whole sequence unfolded over five hours under freezing temperatures, of -15 degrees.”
Luckily, they were equipped for the extreme weather conditions; they faced a range of climatic zones from high temperatures (China) to rain (Thailand), snow (regions in and around Kyrgyzstan) and spring (parts of Europe). “We had riding gear that could handle temperatures as low as -25 degrees, with layers of lining, as well as vents that could be opened in case of high, summer temperatures. We also had the right shoes and gloves on.” Their Triumph Tiger 800, which the duo bought for this express purpose, was well-suited for the ride. “On such trips, you need a bike with off-roading capabilities for snowy and watery terrains as well as high-speed capabilities that can handle European roads. The Tiger is a multi-purpose bike.”
Learning to handle the 250-kg bike, especially on a 23,500-km ride, naturally, called for targeted preparation. “It is a tall bike, and with our luggage, weighed nearly 300 kgs. We underwent a training programme to handle the bike in different kinds of terrains. We were then trained, by Triumph, to carry out minor repairs. We were also trained to handle tyre punctures.”
The training came in handy only at the end of the trip, when a piece of cloth got stuck in one of the wheel bearings. “We had to remove the back tyre to take the cloth out and then refit the tyre. This happened just 20 miles away from our end point in London. We only approached service centres for routine checks and oil changes, once in China and another time, in Russia.”
It wasn’t too hard for them to cover their daily targets because of the season in the Northern Hemisphere. “Once we crossed China, the days began to get really long. We had nearly 17 hours of sunlight every day. Food was a problem for Manjunath, who eats only vegetarian food and chicken. I didn’t have a problem because I like sampling local food. Manjunath managed by carrying pickles, which he would eat with rice.”
The reason they chose a bike for their road trip is because they felt it is more adventurous. “I had stopped riding bikes and started using cars in 2003, when I was immersed in my career as an entrepreneur. It was only in 2012 that I started riding bikes, as a break from work, making small trips on my Royal Enfield, around the city. Slowly, I started taking bigger road trips to places like Leh ,” he explains.
“Then in 2016, we travelled from Bengaluru to Singapore by car, and I realised that the car is more luxurious than it is adventurous. That’s when I decided to ride around the world on a bike because that way you get a real feel of the countryside and its culture. It is an altogether different experience, from a bike.” What he learnt on his 23,500-km journey was that people everywhere are kind and helpful. “We were worried about how the locals would receive us. However, when they come to know you are travelling from India, they come forward to help you; they are so loving.”
