Rider rewards
Every ride earns a printed certificate. The patches on this page are for the road behind you — the rides added up, the kilometres ridden, the clean-ups run, the litter carried out, the trees dug in. They are embroidered patches for your jacket, issued free by the organisers and checked against the ride and impact logs. Come in two shapes: a 2×2″ square and a 4×1″ bar.
How it works
- Earned, not bought. Every patch is verified against the ride log — the rides you actually rode, the distance, the clean-ups.
- Free. The organisers get them made and hand them out at meetup rides, post them, or you collect one at the next meet. Claim below.
- Yours to wear. Sew them on your riding jacket, your tank bag, wherever they will fit.
- They stack. Bars go on one arm as a ladder, squares wherever there is room. Roles (lead, sweep) sit at the top.
Milestone bars — 4×1 inch
The counters. Rides completed and kilometres ridden, added up from the log. Two thresholds carry a call sign (see below).
Achievement patches — 2×2 inch
Rounded-corner squares. Every one marks a piece of community service — clean-ups run, a school supply drop carried in, trees planted, a camp left with no trace, new riders brought in. Not terrain, not a postcard: the work the ride exists for. Do it, keep the patch.
Role rockers — 4×1 inch
Not milestones — jobs. Gold, so they read across a car park. Earned by doing the role and signed off by an organiser.
Call signs
Hit 100 rides or 25,000 km, or earn any two achievement patches, or take a role — and the organisers give you a call sign: a short handle used on the WhatsApp group and in the ride briefing (“Sweep today is Ridge”). It comes with a name tape for the jacket. You do not pick it; it is given, drawn from a pool of passes, peaks, rivers, birds, trees and the odd job on the ride.
The pool the organisers currently draw from, and roughly who gets each — passes, peaks, rivers, birds, trees and a few riding traits:
- «Ridge»
- Rides the high line and is always first to the viewpoint.
- «Marker»
- Reliable at the drop-off marker every single time — you can trust them at a junction.
- «Sweep»
- Has ridden sweep more than anyone. Nobody left behind on their watch.
- «Warden»
- Runs the clean-up at the service stop — knows which bag goes where and gets everyone sorting.
- «Kalsi»
- Never forgets to top up fuel — named for the last pump before the river road.
- «Nala»
- First to spot the washed-out crossing and signal it back down the line.
- «Deodar»
- Steady and unhurried — sets a calm pace at the front and holds it.
- «Chukar»
- Sure-footed on loose ground; never puts a wheel wrong on gravel.
- «Sela»
- Snow and ice don't faze them — the winter-camp and high-pass rider.
- «Grove»
- Has dug in more trees on plantation rides than anyone else.
- «Bugyal»
- The meadow-camper — earned Leave No Trace twice over.
- «Ferry»
- Always the one who shuttles fuel or a spare wheel up to a stuck rider.
- «Gharial»
- Logged the most litter carried out of a river — earned River-Keeper.
- «Skimmer»
- The birder — sees it on the water before anyone reaches for binoculars.
- «Barasingha»
- The wildlife spotter — sees the animal before the forest guide does.
- «Kikar»
- Thrives in desert heat — the Rajasthan-route regular who never wilts.
- «Kachar»
- The ravine rider — comfortable where the road falls away into the badlands.
- «Baori»
- Drawn to the step-wells and ruins — the history stops are their idea.
- «Sarai»
- Always finds the group a bed — the one who sorts the stay.
- «Lohajung»
- The trailhead fixer — sorts porters, permits and the roadhead.
- «Dhaba»
- Knows the best chai stop on every route in the library.
- «Kanva»
- The storyteller — writes the ride reports that end up in the journal.
- «Sonprayag»
- The pilgrim-route regular — knows the Char Dham highway in their sleep.
- «Chandra»
- The dawn-start rider — up before everyone for the summit walk.
- «Bhabar»
- The plains-eater — racks up the kilometres on the long transit days.
- «Khadar»
- River-country rider — the Ganga and Yamuna floodplain wetland regular.
- «Pangi»
- Went to the hardest, most remote valley on the list and came back grinning.
- «Rohtang»
- Rode a proper high pass in bad weather and kept the group calm.
- «Cairn»
- Builds and reads the trail cairns; never loses the group on open ground.
- «Furlong»
- Calls the distance out loud at every milestone — the group's odometer.
- «Kestrel»
- Reads the weather an hour ahead — calls the rain before it lands.
- «Monal»
- The high-forest birder — spots the pheasant before it breaks cover.
- «Serow»
- Sure on the worst goat-track sections; picks a line nobody else sees.
- «Bharal»
- Blue-sheep steady on shale slopes — never a foot down where it is loose.
- «Buransh»
- First to the rhododendron line every spring — knows the bloom dates by heart.
- «Banj»
- The oak-forest rider — happiest on the mid-hill traverses.
- «Kail»
- Names every pine on the climb; the group's unofficial tree guide.
- «Bhoj»
- Goes as far as the birches — the last-tree-line rider.
- «Doon»
- Knows every back lane out of the Dehradun valley.
- «Rau»
- River-crossing specialist — first to wade it and mark the safe line.
- «Khal»
- The pass-top rider — stops the group for the view, every time.
- «Gaddi»
- Moves with the shepherds' timing — always knows where the flocks and the water are.
- «Anicut»
- Knows every check-dam, weir and causeway on the plains routes.
- «Thach»
- Meadow-camp specialist; picks the flattest, driest pitch in the group.
Claim a patch
Tell us which patch and roughly when you crossed the line. We check it against the log and bring it to the next meetup ride, or post it. One form per patch is fine, or list a few in the message.
Prefer WhatsApp? Message the organisers.
Not started yet?
The First Ride patch is one meetup ride away. Pick a date on the meetup page.