ABOUT THE CONTEST - Hero Karizma ZMR Wanderers is an ongoing monthly online contest hosted on Autocar India and Hero MotoCorp’s facebook page. All participants are asked to answer some very simple questions, and at the end of the contest every month, three winners are chosen.
These lucky bike enthusiasts win an all-expenses-paid two nights, three days ride on three Hero Karizma ZMRs. The rides are planned well in advance and cover several beautiful locations across the country. Those interested in participating can enter the contest on Autocar India or Hero MotoCorp’s facebook page. The contest and rides are organised and conducted by Autocar India.
The sun was setting and the day was coming to an end. The Hero Karizma ZMR Wanderers were standing at a crossroad with no signs and nobody who could help with directions. Their map said both routes would end at the same place. One would go over the mountain and the other around it. But which one was better? After spending a whole day riding down broken and sometimes non-existent routes, the Wanderers wanted to make sure that they took the better option. And right on cue, some locals appeared from around a corner. “Take the road over the mountain. It’s better.” And the Wanderers were off. In the middle of a 200km stretch of bad roads, they had found 45km of the smoothest tarmac that wound its way through nameless villages. They were in perfect biking territory.
What are we going on about? The third Hero Karizma ZMR Wanderers ride. Our three winners, Jay, Nitin and Krishanu with ride leader Vir Nakai, were on a ride that left all of them spellbound at the beauty of the lower Himalayas. And of course, they were riding three shiny new Hero Karizma ZMRs.
The ride began when the Wanderers headed out from Delhi on NH1 towards Shahabad Markanda. The highway, all the way to Shahabad, is a brilliant four-lane stretch of road. And because they left early in the morning, they were rewarded with a superb sunrise and an empty highway. Soon, they turned off the highway and crossed into Himachal Pradesh near Kala Amb. The road then began to climb. Thanks to light traffic, they reached Writer’s Hill — their destination for the night — just in time to catch the sunset. And then commenced the usual sitting around a campfire, swapping stories and planning the next day’s ride.
