Penning a motorcycle diary is way tougher than executing the ride. Sitting inside a capsule, sorting out a few trip photographs from a huge pile of them, scratching your head, fiddling with memories, searching for a right word to represent the real-time emotion, unidirectional exchange of silly smile with the cold laptop screen, tireless finger tutting over the keyboard etc might apparently sound like the most enjoyable process to participate in this crazy world. But take it from me, unless you've done all of these at a persistent basis throughout your nomadic life it won't be easy for you to appreciate my point. I am not shy to admit that munching those 6,261 kilometres in a span of 13 days while gliding over the Golden Quadrilateral and ticking off one item from my bucket list was less patience consuming than writing about it.
Once I sit with a wide open mind, kick out all imps of distractions and pamper myself with honey-bunny recollections of #GQRideWithBenu, there is simply so much to scribble! After all it was my first dream great Indian road trip, and that too on a butter smooth inline four engine. Don't worry, I'm not shifting to that free flowing writer mode anytime soon. Having briefed on the conception, planning and itinerary, today I'll share with you the Golden Quadrilateral ride story in a day-wise yet highly summarised form. In case you're not particularly comfortable with numbers, excuse me for starting this narration with a pinch of relevant travel stats. Despite my best efforts this article shall get lengthier and visually richer than its sibling posts. So, if you have poverty of time or a stable internet connection you better take a rain check.
Travel data from #GQRideWithBenu:
* Route taken: The Golden Quadrilateral circuit in a clockwise manner, starting from my hometown, Bardhaman (Click here to view the route map).
* Time of the year: Had started somewhere in the third week of February, 2018. The weather was so pleasant that I can confidently recommend you to plan your GQ road trip during the same time of the year. If I repeat the circuit in future I'll probably choose mid-February for a slightly cooler environment.
* Days spent: 13 days which included 11 days of actual motorcycling and 2 rest days.
* Distance covered ~ 6,261 kilometres.
* Fuel burnt ~ 300 litres of Petrol.
* Maximum distance clocked in a single day ~ 790 kilometres.
* Overall journey time ~ 93 hours (including all brief physiological, recreational and mechanical breaks).
* Took overnight halts at: Gopalpur on Sea, Eluru, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hubli, Mumbai, Udaipur, New Delhi, Agra and Varanasi.
* States traversed: West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
And here comes the slothful story teller...
