Two Bengaluru-based businessmen, who started their Bike journey to London on April 16 from Town Hall.
King Richard’s story in his words
I’m King Richard of White Dragon Adventures, a businessman from Bangalore. It was always a dream to achieve something in life and as everything has a time, 5 years back I had started to ride with a club called Thumpers United. After doing short rides and long rides together, we thought of exploring how cross country travel feels and hence along with 2 of my friends we drove to Singapore by my car. On the way we met a Spanish rider who was doing a World ride. At first we were filled with awe but as it sank into our minds I started wondering why can’t I do it too? Then started the planning which went on for about a year and a half and I was ready.
We had started our World ride in April 2018. I had done Bangalore to London, UK along with my friend C Manjunath, covering 21 countries across 23,500 Km and 2 Continents Asia and Europe. About my experiences from Bangalore to London.
In continuation to this ride, I had started to ride again from New York with my friend Vijay Narayan.
We rode across San Francisco, Central America, Mexico and further down to Panama, then South America. We rode in Colombia, Equador and reached Peru, but unfortunately in Peru, Vijay had a fall and I had to bring him back to India for treatment. Once I ensured that he was better I started my Solo ride again from Peru and reached Chile. I found some European riders at Santiago with whom I’ve joined and we’re riding till Ushuaia. To reach Ushuaia, I’ve covered US, Mexico, Belize, Gautemala, Honduras, Nicargua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Equador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Ushuaia is in Argentina. It is a dream destination for any rider. It is known as the ‘End of the World’ as it is in the tip of South America. There are no towns further down in the world. We’ve thus covered 36 countries and 53,000 Km and 2 more continents. The World Ride continues into Australia and then I’ll be returning to India.
About the Americas….there is so much to share. Just to share a few We started from New York with a small issue in retrieving our Motorcycles from the customs and no one knew the procedures involved in getting them for us. However we somehow found the right person and got the job done. Kickstarted our ride and visited Washington DC (couldn’t miss the White House), San Francisco, San Jose, Las Vegas (Ofcourse), Los Angeles, Tiguana, La Paz and then reached Mexico. Our Experience of North America I must say was really cool. We had all the types of American food from Tacos to steaks and salads and fries. Stayed in Vijay’s friends house in Virginia for a couple of days and in my friend’s house in San Jose for a couple of days and really enjoyed their hospitality. So far so good because people spoke in English, however the most adventurous part of our ride was yet to come. After riding from Mexico to Panama, we got our Motorcycles airlifted to Bogota, Colombia and quickly got clearance, but when we rode to Equador we were stopped saying that they had stopped issuing Visa on arrival for Indians.
So we had to ride back to Bogota arrange for our Visas (our friend had some contacts in the embassy and helped) and then we were allowed entry to Equador, only to face the next problem. The whole of Equador was in chaos due to protests going on there and the only language they spoke was Spanish (We didn’t know any Spanish except for Gracias, meaning thank you). Here was the real adventure. We managed to ride a few hundred Kilometres by requesting in every possible way using sign language, but after a certain distance we were not allowed. Even though they allowed it was not easy because everywhere there were burning tyres, closed shops and hotels and roads were blocked with huge trees and rocks. We had to remove these blocks, cross over and put them back in place. We just wanted to reach our friend’s house which was hardly a 100 km but we were stuck.
Then we took a path through the forest and had to clear up the way a number of times lifting huge trees and building stone paths to enable our Motorcycles to cross. After a really tough struggle, we reached our friend’s house and although we were just facebook friends and had just met, the warm welcome Don and his family gave us and their hospitality for 1 week that we stayed there while waiting for the protests to calm, are really cherishable. After that we rode to Peru and it was a land of many deserts with very strong cross winds. It used to look really difficult while starting the ride but once we started, it used to get very interesting. Things went on smoothly until Vijay had a fall at a curvy turn and injured his ankle.
The nearest good hospital was in Lima. So we loaded our Motorcycles in a lorry and took a drive to Lima. In Lima, I got his X-ray and test done, repaired his Motorcycle and shipped it to India. After parking my Motorcycle in a garage in Lima, we took the next flight and returned to India. I took a small break and got back to Lima to ride solo after getting the consent from my family. I rode solo and travelled across various states till I reached Puno where I got a hotel from the window of which I could view the beautiful Titicaca lake, the largest navigable lake of the world. Chile is a land of many lakes and I was amazed with the breathtaking views of the lakes. Another unforgettable site in Chile was that of the Hand of the desert, a sand sculpture in the Atacama Desert, Antofagusta. Most of the time I was riding along the Pacific Ocean and thus I reached Santiago in Chile, where I joined a group of European riders who were riding to Argentina. I had a wonderful experience riding with them. Finally I reached Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra Del Feugo. It has been aptly nicknamed as the ‘End of the World’ as it lies in the southern most tip of South America. It is the dream destination of most riders. This lovely city, lies between the Martial mountains, the bay and the Beagle Channel. It is well renouned for its beauty and its marine wildlife. It’s been an amazing experience of a lifetime.
I have now completed my ride in 5 continents- Asia, Europe, North America,South America and Australia.
Thanking my beautiful family, friends and all my well wishers who’ve been enormously encouraging and supportive in my ride.
What I’ve learnt from this ride? The World is full of wonderful, empathetic, helpful and kind people. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve been received cordially and treated very well. It was amazing to have various delicacies of different countries and understand their culture. Having an adventurous ride around the World and I’m enjoying every bit of it.
