SB Himalayas 2016: Part 2

The next instalment of Anthony Co-Built/DTRA Brown's reports from the Sideburn x Helmet Stories Himalaya trip from earlier in September.
The 2016 trip sold out in under three weeks. If you are interested in the September 2017 trip, get in touch via dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com  See Part 1 of the 2016 tale.

  Positive encouragement to use your horn on the back of every truck

Riding and camping in the Himalaya’s was epic. The Royal Enfield’s keep things right. 450 enduro bikes would have been fun but I am sure some of the riders would not have returned if we had faster bikes. The Enfield’s are asthmatic especially as you climb, stops are regular not for fuel but to re attach parts that fall off. Geoff (my Co-Built partner in crime) had packed a ton of cable ties. Geoff took his exhaust skills to new levels attaching pipes to frames with cable ties on an almost hourly basis. Those who have driven or ridden in India will know the horn is a major part of driving over there. It's constant and all the riders in the group picked up the hang of the horn pretty quickly, a couple of short beeps to approach anything and a kind of thank you bip once you have passed whatever it was. 

Riding in a large group is not for everyone and I was pleased that as the ride took shape people set their own pace. Our mate Nick the plumber was always at the front grinding through the brake pedal on every tarmac corner and going through parts quicker than underpants. Positions in the mid pack changed as people stopped to take photographs or a leak. It was nice a feel you could set off ride with a friend for a while stop and then ride with someone else.

Temple on top of tarmac high pass on day 1 of riding

Truck descending the dirt side of the same pass on day 1 of riding

I am not going to write lots about the route, one of my favourite things about the trip was that Vir and Harsh didn’t tell you too much about what was coming. It was like a surprise, the scenes unfolded in front of us as we rode. When people asked questions (some more than others) the answers were never rude, but they did a brilliant job of keeping things simple and not building up expectations of what was to come. The ride is unforgettable if you want to know details discover it for yourself. The photos that I took feel flat in comparison to the experience. 

Regular stops were a key part of riding, they enabled people to take a rest but also let the riders get a real slice of mountain village life. 18 riders descending on a small town or village is a big deal but I never felt unwelcome, in fact the opposite everyone was really welcoming.
Anthony Brown