Romancing my Cinderella – by Amandeep Saini

Right from the day I brought home Cinderella, I’ve had an undying urge to take her on long rides. I had done the anniversary ride with the RoyalBeasts, which was a 200 kms ride for me as I stay in one corner of Delhi and the party was on the other end of the metro. Anyways, on the 1st of October, I finally decided to go on a long ride on Bapu’s anniversary the next day. That was the day when the other RoyalBeasts were to head for Kinnaur on a 4-day ride. I had to sacrifice that ride on the alter of family commitments. So I decided on a ride all alone. On the eve of my ride, I checked the bike, topped up the oil and then tried hard to sleep. I couldn’t untill almost midnight, as I was too excited about my first long ride alone. All alone!

I got up at 4:30 in the morning all excited and in about half an hour I was all set to go. A 5:10 a.m. I left home wearing a windcheater as it had become a bit cold in the mornings recently. Till Faridabad I maintained a constant speed of 60-65 and by the time I reached Ballabgarh, the sun was already shining down on me.

I had thought of taking my Discman along but then dropped the idea. I told myself that instead I’d just listen to Cinderella. Believe me, this babe sure has a bewitching voice. And it’s all you want to hear on the road, every note, every tenor thrilling you no end. I recalled the very first ride with Cinderella when I was quite new to the Royal Enfield family and the immense delight that transported me to a world of my own.

NH 2 is beautiful, simple and straight. I maintained a constant speed of 80-85 and in between hit 100 too. There wasn’t much traffic on the highway. I had done this strip a number of times by car before. But believe me, it’s a different story doing it on Cinderella. I was amazed when I hit the highway, the endless stretch of road, the green fields on either side…and the voice of Cinderella cutting through…it was magical.

The last time when I went to Agra in my car, I had to pay a toll at Palwal. Keeping this in mind, I kept money handy in my shirt pocket and stopped at Palwal tollgate only to be told that the toll was for four-wheelers alone. Hurrah!

At the Haryana-U.P. border, there was a long traffic jam with numerous trucks and cars waiting impatiently. I found that I could negotiate through the gaps between cars and trucks. Soon, Cinderella was again ahead of all the traffic after manoeuvring through the jam with ease. From the border till about Kosi, there was nobody on the road thanks to that pileup I’d left behind. Even as I write this, I remember doing that stretch vividly… it was simply amazing.

I reached Vrindavan at 7:35 am and promptly went to ISKCON first and then on to Bihari ji’s mandir. I came back to the ISKCON restaurant for my breakfast and left Vrindavan at 9:00 am. On my way back I did not halt in between at any dhaba. I entered Faridabad by 10:30 am and from there it took me one hour in the usual Delhi traffic to get back home.

That was a real good ride, my first one alone. It revved up my confidence in Cinderella. I’m sure I’ll be doing much longer rides on this babe soon.

Route: Delhi – Vrindavan – Delhi.
Odo reading at start: 7890 kms.
Odo reading at end: 8181 kms.
Total distance covered: 291 kms.
Starting time: 05.10 IST.
End Time: 11.30 IST.
Total riding time: 5 hours.
Time spent off the bike: 1.5 hours.