From Pale Rider
Sub: The 16th Ride To Gangtey & Phobjikha
To: me, Tshering, info, Kelly, Gailly, chimidn, ugyen007, adventure, sthinlaynovu, chrisgillett, gyamtsho, silverdragon, sttsering, davidstiedl, tspenjor, lacaille.fg, dj.dee.12, projects, bfal, wangyal4173, tenzing, numkhorwork, rwing81, knightjigs306, wings
kuzuzangpo fellow dragons both near and afar..................
the eagerly awaited 16th ride is now gone....gone but not forgotten....it was a grand success in every sense of the word.....my thanks to all the riders who rode this new trail into the heart of the beautiful and serene valley of Gantey/Phobjikha...............thanks to all the sponsors (rinzin, sonam deki, leki dorji and B&B)...........thanks to our co-partners help-shoe bhutan (300 pairs of shoes) and condom-man (countless condoms).........thanks to all the kind folks of thimphu and wangdi for all the lovely clothes, toys, bags, etc.....thanks to GR for his car.......thanks to Mr. Phurba and Mangi Ap for their assistance at phobjikha.........thanks to Kuenphen medical for their stock of medicines.....and many thanks to our wonderful support staff (manas, gyem, sanu bhai and kota) !!!!!!
members on ride were - thunder, x, toxic, ttr, gangjung, happy, aggie, parop, dark, +ve, mdr, sato, palehonorary member - shoe riderprospects on ride - dr. john, khandu, sangay yeshiinvitees - jr, rahul
it was good to see dark rider on the ride again after a long break.....all were happy that happy was there:) ...our prospects and invitees made a welcome addition to the ride also.....
day 01 (3rd aug.) - gathered at the clubhouse and were glad that it had stopped raining...........packed our gears, raised our club colors, fueled up, had a small briefing, said a silent prayer for all good things to come and off we happily and noisily rode towards gantey.......the ride had finally begun after much awaiting and anticipation after a rather long delay..........a flat later and we were at hongtso for breakfast......fueled up (if u know what i mean) n the dragons long tail slowly winded towards wangdi where we would stop for lunch....met with some drizzle on the way but it was refreshing as the weather was hot and the leathers were burning:))............took off after lunch towards gantey.....couple of bike breakdowns (toxic's bike in particular was in no hurry to go) and we arrived late at nobding for refreshments......started raining and we got wet wet wet...........not too bad this time because most riders came prepared for rain (last ride's rain was enough)!!!!!!! .....................arrived at dark at gantey and we were happy to be put up at the local village gup's office.....had dinner, lit a bonfire (stopped raining) and entertained ourselves well into the night.............
day 02 (4th aug.) - woke up early and were glad it wasn't raining n the view was just soooooooooo beautiful and reallllllllllly nice!!! had a big breakfast and got ready for the charity...........the good dr. john and his team got the makeshift health clinic ready in the gup's office and the others started off with the charity goods........while the health clinic commenced the dragons started distributing clothes, shoes and condoms to over a hundred folks..........15 select families were identified and distributed rice, oil and blankets.......dr. john was overwhelmed by the number of villagers that turned up from the villages all over the valley.......we were shocked to see the amount of sick people that turned up........there were cases of malnutrition, body ailments of all types, paralyzed folks, blind children, speech and hearing impaired folks and the list goes on............it was very emotional for all of us that witnessed it and we were also glad that some sort of extra comfort and help was extended to them..........our sincere thanks goes out to doctor and jessica for their help and assistance...big guys with even bigger hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!
many thanks to tshering tobgay (ttr) for sponsoring a lovely small blind girl for life!!!!!!!!!!! a million cheers for him in doing so and changing a life.....the gods were indeed smiling down on him as the sun suddenly came out through the clouds on an otherwise cloudy day as soon as he made his announcement and it didn't stop shining till our departure from the valley:))))))))))....we believe...we truly believe that there is a god watching over all of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
had lunch after the charity and the health clinic and then decided to ride to punakha........
was a long ride with many pit-stops, bike breakdowns (one in the truck)...... and shower stops from the rain and bad road conditions....however the dragons were in high spirits and hungover with the charity and all the love they received during the time....nobody complained and nobody cared!!!!!!!!! arrived late at dr.john's beautiful house above the banks of the punakha river...had a nourishing dinner and dropped off to sleep almost instantly........
day 03 (5th aug.) - woke up to a beautiful sunny day....had breakfast....dried our gear and just lazed around...............did some bike maintenance and then rode off towards thimphu.....stopped on the way at thinleygang primary school where the students and staff had collected around 15 sacks of shoes (had called us before the ride) for the shoe vival cause.............picked them up after thanking the teachers and students..........arrived at the clubhouse and then started the club initiation ceremony for Sato Rider.......welcome to the club SR!!!!!!!!!! a great rider, friend and with the heart of a dragon...............
there were too many special moments this time for me to recall and write about and i shall gladly leave it to the riders to write about their own personal experiences!!!!!
i would once again like to thank everyone involved in the success of the 16th charity ride both on and off the ride............special thanks to our sponsors, dr.john, dawa (shoe vival) and condom man..............
lastly and as always, many thanks to the deities for being there with us all through the ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
from the desk of a sooooooooooo happy pale rider
"love to ride - ride to love"
PS: ghost rider send his love and appreciation to all the dragons!! : my apologies if i missed anything out:)
(Pale Rider Thinlay W Dorji))
dear dragons...i knew i forgot someone or something and that something was our very own prospect 'chilip'!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry chilip......i owe u one...ha ha
(Thunder Rider Kelly Dorji)
Dear President Pale,
As usual, that was a fine email and evoked many good memories of the ride! thank you. Of course, it also helped many of us to remember certain moments that we cant remember due to obvious reasons ; )... lol....but the local economyy is at stake so well supported there i say!
Happy great to see you again....Dark Rider....I know we lost you to the Harley life but glad to still have you with the Dragon Bros.
Sato Rider, welcome to the club.
love and great riding,
kelly
(Toxic Rider Jurmi Chhowing)
What Can i Add That Hasn't Already Been Posted, Cut And Copied?
Well Here's Looking Forward To As Many Write-Ups, Scribbles, Dribbles, Skids And Et Al From All Riders So That My Memory Has a Lot of Memories To Bank On In Terms of Writing a Memoir!!!
Aggie Rider- Looking Forward To Your One....
Prez... Well Writ...
Thunder... Well Replied And Responded!
Until We Mail Again--- Cheers & Prayers!!
(^) Love To Ride; Ride To Love - {{{::::::::::::>>>
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