TRAVERSE 115
The road north from Rishikesh followed the Ganges upstream, and within an hour the riding became everything I had hoped for.
The mountains closed around the valley. The river surged below. The road twisted endlessly ahead.
Every rider knows the sensation of finding a road that feels perfectly suited to motorcycling. Corners arrive at exactly the right rhythm. The surface is good. The scenery encourages frequent stops yet somehow also tempts you to keep riding. Uttarakhand seemed full of such roads.
The route climbed steadily through forests of pine, oak and deodar cedar. In places the trees formed green tunnels above the road. Elsewhere the landscape opened dramatically, revealing terraced farms carved into mountainsides so steep they appeared impossible. I found myself stopping constantly. Sometimes it was for photographs. Sometimes it was simply to absorb the view.
Across the valleys I could see villages perched on ridgelines, their houses painted in bright colours that contrasted sharply with the surrounding forests. Rivers glinted far below. Beyond them, mountain after mountain faded into the distance. The scale was difficult to comprehend.
TRAVERSE 115