Royal Enfield Ride to Mandarmani

 -Arkapravo Ghosh & Jyoti Mukherjee

With this pandemic hitting, the whole world has gone under complete lockdown which means no travel, no fun. We are finally trying coming back to normal by taking all the safety measures and following the few restrictions given. With the unlocking starting in West Bengal and lockdown continuing on particular dates, we thought of taking a break from the pause and bring out our companions for a quick and safe ride to the beach. Keeping every possible consequence in mind we "The Enfield Riders Community", started our journey early in the morning for a One-Day-Ride.

We started our bikes at 5 Am and the Sun was barely visible due to the clouds. We all met at our decided meeting point - Santragachi Bus Stand, and we were thrilled to see all the Enfield’s lined up while some purring their 350s and 650s to hit the roads. We felt thunder raging in our veins when 25 Royal Enfield machines started altogether. It seemed that we were the ones in charge of The Weather. The roads were welcoming us while our destination was calling us. All this set our mood as we started and finally felt freedom! After sorting out the routes we reached- Kolaghat for breakfast, where our destination was 75-80kms more to go. Sher-e-Punjab being the most famous joint for travellers going through the Bombay highway served as brilliantly as they used to. In spite of the lockdown, we dint have to compromise with the menu. The food was delicious as always without putting a lot of strain to our pocket. After a bit of over-eating, we finally focused on our destination which was- Mandarmani, Sea-side Village in West Bengal. Since it was Independence Day, we met a lot of other solo and group riders on their way of celebrating the 73rd Indian Independence and became our travel companion.

On this day, India witnesses a huge celebration of independence with tricolour flag hoisting, parades and cultural functions across the country. Our idea of celebrating this day was freedom and what better way to find freedom other than being a rider! The roads were colourful with our Indian flag and it spread the Indian Spirit through the thumping of our beasts. A bit of traffic, the rain, the bumpy road didn’t matter because it was all a part of the thrilling riding experience. Roads were a little wet because of the humid weather conditions and rains. But we powered through safely. We all were geared up with riding jackets, bottom, gloved and full-face helmets. It helped us to evade the tiring and humid-air hitting us. It was a 4.5hrs ride after multiple halts including few for photo-shoots. We finally reached our destination, Mandarmani which is near about 180km from our respective homes. We had lunch at The Viceroy Beach and Spa Resort which is a bit on the expensive side but not so much. Some peaceful hours at the beach, good food and mainly taking a break from the city life was all we needed for refreshment. Though we were not willing to, we had to come back since it was a One-Day-Ride. We had to get up & start our journey which was very quick and took around 2.5hours to come back to the city.

There is not much to talk about the destination though, but the journey, which was fulfilling and thrilling. The roads and the speedometer were so much in sync. And being a rider there is so much I can ask for. Mask, Sanitizers, Gloves and Social Distancing are mandatory if you are planning for such a ride.