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Welcome to chapter twelve of our ‘Ready To Ride’ short stories series.

These are five quick snapshots of what we do, where we ride, the laughs had, and the general shenanigans and goings on, while riding together over the Himalayas & through South India.

I’m posting these every Friday, and they’re an easy read, a few minutes are all you need.

Enjoy!

Alex Pirie
Founder & Lead Rider

“Having ridden the Roof of India with Alex previously, I thought I’d seen the Himalayas…

How wrong I was!

Glimpsing the snow-covered peaks from the warmth of Kathmandu was surreal. Once in Tibet, the roads are amazing with twisty smooth tarmac taking you over high pass after high pass with the views growing in majesty with each summit.

Lhasa is an amazing city and the visit to Potala Palace left us feeling very honoured to have seen such an important part of Tibetan history.

The day of the ride to Base Camp afforded us incredible views of Everest and its neighbouring peaks as we made our way closer to our goal.

To see the world’s tallest mountain at the end of the valley from where we would camp for the night was a truly unforgettable experience.

I couldn’t stop looking at it and have many photos of the incredible sunset and sunrise. I am still absolutely buzzing from the ride.

It’s an experience that I’ll never forget” – Steve.

What a write-up!

Thank you, Steve, and to all our riders who have shared their honest experiences over the years.

Many might think that no ride can surprise them after all the years of adventures under their belt.

But the Rode To Everest is different.

As Steve put it, it’s an unforgettable experience and one that leaves you tingling with excitement for years to come.

The Cobra Effect…

During British colonial rule, the British government devised what seemed like a plan to tackle the surge of venomous cobras in Delhi, offering cash rewards for every dead snake.

At first, it worked like a charm, with bounty hunters raking in money and cobras disappearing left, right, and centre.

But soon, some real masterminds saw an opportunity: why hunt cobras when you can farm them for endless profits… You’ve got to admire the ingenuity, right?

There are far fewer cobras in Delhi these days, but the problem-solving mindset is alive and well in India.

This is just one of the many fascinating anecdotes shared on our recent Grand Canyon India ride – you will always come away learning something new, that’s for sure.

This is a normal warm-up ride, in the fact that we usually have one on the second day, after all the riders have arrived.

This one’s also a ‘very warm’ up ride temperature-wise. I wear a thin netted type jacket with built-in body armour, and it cools down pretty quickly as soon as we start riding.

At least there’s no need to heat up the tyres.

All the bikes have been washed, polished, fully serviced, new brake pads & tyres, filled with fuel, air & oil filters fitted, etc, etc.

They’re fully prepared.

I own all the bikes, and the team are instructed not to cut any corners when it comes to maintenance and replacing parts. We really pride ourselves on the condition of our fleet.

Due to all the work, I always mention during the first rider briefing to take it easy for the first few kms to let all the residue wear off the discs and let everything bed in.

Way back in the day, we used to rent motorcycles, and they were absolute death traps.

We always ended up getting bikes that someone had thrashed into the ground.

No thanks! I bought brand new ever since.

I know this area really well and we’re staying local for this one, around 60 kms. Everyone’s excited and is keen to get going.

Maybe they’re already thinking about the chilled beer at the bar.

Last one back buys the first round.

Adventure isn’t something we only find outside, it starts within…

But to turn the adventures inside of us into reality, we must put the dreaming to one side and do.

Yes, dreams inspire and motivate, but they can often mean little without action.

We see it all the time, people kicking their dreams down the road, getting stuck in the planning or waiting for the “right moment” that never comes.

The truth is, the perfect time to start is now.

So, stop imagining yourself on a ride like this and turn it into a reality.

When posting this on Facebook, I’m asked by FB, ‘What’s on your mind?’

The truth is that when we ride the Roof Of India together in July this year, 2025, we’ll actually stop at the very point where we took this photograph last year.

It’s Spiti Valley, and it was our very first ride on our brand new 450 Himalayans.

I bought 30 of them and they’d just been delivered.

They’re fully kitted out with full engine bars, soft panniers, tank bags, hand guards, sump guards, radiator guards, etc, etc.

They’re fully loaded for adventure riding.

You’ll really enjoy riding yours.

You can replace this image with one of your own.

See you soon.

Enjoy the ride.

I’ll see you on the next one.