Sunday Ride - Renuka Lake

Sunday's, lately have held different meaning to me. Instead of a day of blackout and total lazying, I have become partly active on Sunday's. 

So this Sunday, after my morning jog, I was on my way to do little office thing that was pending, that I realized that the bike ride to Renuka Lake was long pending and should be done today. No objections were there in me towards the ongoing heat wave and I planned to leave as soon as the work was completed, which should'nt have taken half an hour. It was 0830 hrs and work as work is, relieved me no earlier than 1000hrs. I knew that heat would increase as the day progressed ,and that I had to have food in my belly and plenty of water to go along with it. So after having 4 paranthas and 2 glasses of lassi, me and my bull were on our way; it was 1100 hrs.

Lassi showed its dizzying effect for like half an hour or so, until being wiped out of the system. It was hot and I had'nt done something like this before, which gave me all the more reason to do it. The bike performed perfect, the traffic was usual Indian style and road conditions and dirt are safely assumed. The climb to the hills started after having reached Kala Amb (70 kms) and was a welcome change in the terrain; but the heat was unabated. I stopped at the junction of Nahan and Paonta Sahib for a worthy break after 1.5 hrs of ride. The half helmet had all the signs of carnage dust and dirt had played on the way. One Cola down, nothing; another down, I needed more; finally a 1 litre of water bottle could quench my thirst for the while. Renuka was 38 kms from the junction. Back on the saddle, no sooner I reached Nahan, I crossed it. Again, spare the weather, the ride was beautiful. At times, seeing burnt out shrubs along roadside, I would imagine what forest fires in west would be like. 

I carried on, the traffic was minimal and me and bull, were by ourselves. Another 2 hours, and we made it to Renuka ji; it was 1400 hrs. By initial looks, I was disappointed to see a pond considering what I went through (although by choice). Anyways, I started taking off my gear and sat under a tree. The air was heavy with moisture, but it was blowing. I had some of the water from my last stop, which by now was near boiling. I took it little by little on my hand and wiped my face, neck and ears with it. That was some heat exchange right there and I had instant cooling. I carried the exercise, till I ran out of water.

I could feel I was tired, but I made my way to the Renuka Mandir and beyond, where I found the actual Renuka lake. Its a size able lake, with greenery all around and mountains overlooking from every direction. The water was less, for apparent reasons and there were quite a few tourists (including firangs) despite the weather. I made my way to the HP tourism restaurant and repeated the drink sequence of my last stop, with the exception of having added lime this time. My scope of observation during this duration was a Sardar family having lunch (me had no appetite whatsoever) with their 3 tiny sardars. One of them, Nishaan Singh (as his pop called him) was a troublesome lot. The mom was worried that he wasnt eating, and there was typical bickering over the table with she calling out threats that he eat and father countering her, that she quit giving attention to him. Things went further with Nishaan Singh running around the restaurant with his mother behind him, carrying his plateful of lunch. I registered a few things about the man and the woman, the kids; and having paid my dues made my way back to the bike. It was an hour's break before I kicked engine back to life and another 2.5 hrs before it was made to rest, back at my place.

I was tired and I was thirsty. I drank a bottle of water, dropped my gear where it fell and crashed on bed. It took me another hour to come back to my senses and feel normal again. My drinking spree continued late into the night till I finally slept. The noticeable point here is, my thirst was unquenched and after having drunk litres of liquid I never peed once. I can only imagine the level of de-hydration I went through.

It was this morning's paper that tells, last day's temperature was 42.6 degree celsius. Having said that, it is safe to say that riding in an oven can be done with necessary precautions and should be tried for the experience of it. Largely I feel, one should know one's body and its limitations, and never try fiddle with it.