Passing Thoughts

Rave up the engines to enjoy the new year !!

It was mid last week when we in office were trying to make some big plans. There were discussions over going to Goa and partying on the beach. But unfortunately, nothing was materializing. Just when I thought I may have to do the regular stuff this new year eve as well, I though of checking what my friends from IITK were doing on 31^st evening ? I messaged Saurabh (Saur), my best pal from college days, asking him his plans. But it was only 30^th Dec, 2005, Friday evening 11:00pm when we could talk.

Now he tells me that they have already planned to go to Mangalore, some 365 Kms from Bangalore in Udai’s (UD) car. And as there are already 5 people, he couldn’t call and ask me. But after talking to him for some time, we decided that I shall take my bike and would be riding with them. I was for sure ready to take the pains to make my next evening colorful. So I rushed out and got my bike’s tank full, withdrew some cash, got my prepaid mobile connection charged, had some food and after setting up an alarm for morning 4:30am, finally slept at around 1:00am !

31^st December, 2005

4:30am. I woke up with something like a shock and put the alarm off. Still in my bed, I was thinking if I should be doing this. After all 365 Kms isn’t nearby !! I slept again. Around 5:00am Saur called and all I could say was, gimme half an hour and I shall be at your place.

5:30am. Trip Meter 0.0 Kms. I was all ready and all set to go. Finally buckling up helmet. Just then UD called to reconfirm if I am really ready to ride all the way up to Mangalore. He was really concerned. I had to give him instances of my long rides (The longest till now was up to Mysoor, which is hardly 120 Kms !! ) to convince him that I would be able to do it and still would be enjoying it.

6:00am. I was in Indira Nagar at Saur and else’s place. UD’s Hundai Getz was all set with Prabhat (Prane) already napping on the rear seat. Soon Saur and UD also came down and hardly in 10 mins, we started from there.

6:30am. Trip Meter 12.0 Kms. We had already picked up Puneet (Punni) and Kamal (KT) and started on the long journey that lay ahead of us. I didn’t know the way so was just following the car. I could see Saur and UD discussing something over some huge map. This was just the beginning of the trip and still cold and slight dark. As we headed outside the city, the sky was cloudy. I prayed to the GOD, please, no rains during this ride. After all I am biking for fun and don’t want any thing to spoil the ride !! I was still getting used to the ride and slowly picking up the average speed. We were soon on the National Highway Number 48, the straight road which would take us to Mangalore. As we started pretty early in the morning, initial phase of the travel was frequently halted by natural calls. But soon, after doing some 50-60 Kms, every one eased off. I was now already doing over 100Kmph consistently. There were instants when my speedometer would go just over 135 Kmph !! Speed gives me great thrill and kick. It was like me on my bike and UD in his car racing. The weather was awesome and just perfect for a long ride, little clouds on the sky, enough of light for good visibility but not sunny. The whole road was patched with trees on both sides which also added to our comfort.

Trip Meter 162.0 Kms. We had our first proper stop at some road side inn sort of a place. We thought of taking some breakfast but seems like it was too early in the morning for most of people around that area for starting kitchen. They had just opened and could offer us nothing more than some tea and coffee. Still, it was a nice break and gave us a chance to click some photographs. UD being our official photographer of the trip, took out his Digital SLR camera and started clicking. It felt so great to be there with all those friends some where far away from the daily life of work and office. After stopping for some half an hour, we decided to push off and do as much distance as possible during this phase. We were all looking forward to reach Mangalore at the earliest and have some fun on the beach.

This break proved out to be the first and last break. We passed via Haasan by-pass and kept on zipping up the roads. This was the best stretch of the road. We had some really long straight stretches with almost no traffic. This also proved out to be the fastest part for us.

Trip meter 280.0 Kms. After driving hard on the exhausting Ghaat section for almost an hour, I was just wondering where my friends are. It was long back when I overtook them and equally long since I saw the car in my rear view mirror !! There was a stream flowing on the left hand side deep below and the road had U pin turn with slopes of almost say 50 degrees ! I decided to take a break and wait for others to join me. It was getting kinda lonely. Not that I was talking to them when we were driving alongside, just that now it seemed that I am really driving all alone on some very remote part of country. After a nice break of some 15 minutes, the car came and stopped alongside me. We decided to carry on without wasting any more time. Mangalore was now hardly 80 Kms from here.

Trip Meter 334.0 Kms. Well, for sure this is the longest ride I ever had on a two wheeler and I was riding for myself. By now, my body had started to ache a bit. The long ride, continuous and excessive use of clutch and break on the Ghaat section and hunger were all taking a toll on me. We stopped for a little break and Punni offered to ride the bike for remaining part. Till now, I have never offered my bike to any one else for a ride, I prefer to keep it single handed. But probably, right now, all I wanted was to have a seat in the car and have something to eat and drink. Saur also decided to sit behind Punni and enjoy some fresh air. It took some time before they could start driving fast and could catch the rest of in the car. Probably they had a close escape from an accident and when they caught us, it Saur who was riding ;o)

Trip Meter 360.0 Kms. We stopped at some hotel which Saur had checked on net as a decent place to live in. Though everyone else wanted to head directly to the sea and then try to find out place near that, we decided to book this place and then go ahead. Another 15 Kms and we were all on the beach. The view was breathtaking. We all felt so refreshed even after some 380Kms of drive. The only sad part was we weren’t dressed to go in the water and it was too sunny. And for sure, every one was and the dying to eat something. We found a small ‘Thela” around the place and had some Omelets before heading back to our hotel . I took a quick change and was all ready to head back to the sea. This time we decided to go to the Polum beach. This time we decided to drop the bike and go head in the car. UD was driving and soon we were at the sea. In no time, we decided on a small part on the shore to have the base. Punni, Prane, KT and Saur decided to play some cricket before plunging into the sea. But me and UD headed directly in the water. This was around 4 in the evening and very pleasant. The sea breeze and the cold water were too good for me and in no time I just forgot the pains of riding over 350 Kms since morning. It was great swimming in the sea and looking at the big ships at the dock nearby and few more in the sea. Soon rest of the gang joined us in the waters and soon we were all playing with the lawn tennis ball in the sea. God only would know what to call all those games we tried in the sea :o)

8:00pm. It was already dark and we were all too hungry. Also, till now we had no idea where to party in the night !! We decided to head back to the hotel, take shower and go out in the search of some party place. As we were heading back towards our car, UD was on his guitar and the rest of us were singing. Every one around gave strange looks in the beginning but our careless attitude forced them to a smile.

9:00pm. We are all hungry and driving around in the city for a decent place to party. Gosh, why don’t they allow stag entry just like that !? Why can’t boys party on their own !! After checking out some 6 different places, we finally landed up at a disco called ‘O°’. For just some Rs. 400, we were to get unlimited food, soda and disco floor till 2:00 am. Well, what more could we ask for !? And for sure, as soon as we entered the place, we all directly headed for the dinner. It wasn’t great food, but too good for our empty stomachs :o). Rest was all too good fun. Nice crowd, good music, and we ourselves were too good a company to dance out the night. It was for sure the best new year party I could have ever had !! It was sometime around 3:00am that we were back in our hotel. I directly jumped on to the bed and was asleep.

1^st January, 2006

9:00am. I had to fight my body to finally get up. UD, Prane and KT had already left the hotel for sightseeing. I sure wouldn’t have gone with them. All I needed at that time was proper rest before riding another 375 Kms back to Bangalore. I packed up all my stuff, got things ready for a shower and slept again. Around 11:00am, I finally got up and took a shower. By 11:30am, I was all ready to start back. Just then I realized that I have developed a big blister on my right palm. Man, riding can some times by nasty as well ! I thought of buying biking hand gloves and went out. Hey !! Did I mention that it was Sunday and almost every other shop in the town was closed !! So I just filled up my gas tank up to the brim again and came back to the hotel. Soon the sightseeing group was back in hotel again.

12:30pm. We finally checked out of the hotel and went out for lunch. On the way, I luckily found some shop to buy the gloves at. Riding now had become so much more easy. We had some delicious Mangalorean lunch and at around 2:00pm, started the long voyage back towards Bangalore.

3:00pm. We were cruising just on the outskirts of Mangalore and I was wondering how would we ever make it to Bangalore before it gets dark. I hate riding on the highways in the night. Indian truck drivers are always so nice with others by using high beam that it becomes inevitable for other two wheelers to just stop and step down from the road !! It was this thought that forced me to strive for covering the maximum possible distance during the day time.

5:30pm. It was starting to get a bit dark but was still good. I couldn’t believe at the speed I was averaging. I had already done some 100 Kms!! I stopped for some 10 mins for my friends to catch up. We had a small break for water and without wasting much time, were on road again. I still remember the way I was riding at that time. There was hardly any instance when my speedometer would show anything less than 100 kmph !!

6:00pm. When something can go wrong, it will. The rear right tire of the car got punctured :o( Though it took us hardly 20 mins to replace it, it was for me a loss of some 30 kms in the day light. I stopped with my fellows to help them with the swapping. But I knew I shouldn’t be stopping with them when they get this flat tier repaired at the next available shop. The next thing I know is I was just ripping my bike on that clear broad highways. Slowly it turned dark, and darker, but I kept riding. Around some 9:00pm, and 120 kms from Bangalore, I stopped at some road side shop for some coffee. Believe me, it was a great relief to know that now I just need to do some 100 odd kms. It was already pitch dark and I had been riding continuously for 6 hours and 250 kms !! I called up my friends and they were some 40kms behind me. It was anyway becoming very uncomfortable for me to ride and my average speed had dropped to as low as just 60 kmph. I knew soon they would be able to catch me so I told them to keep looking for me. By the time I started, they would be some 20 kms behind me, so I just drove to the outskirts of that small town and waited for these people at the road side with by bike’s blinkers on. In no time, I saw a car pulling up and it was such a relief to be with all the friends again. Just then, UD came up with the brilliant idea. He will now be driving on the road ahead of me, clearing the way for me just like a pilot car and all I needed to do was to follow him. This was so good. I was soo much more comfortable now riding, all I needed to do was to maintain safe distance between myself and the car, proportional of our speed and look out for his break’s light.

10:00pm. Trip Meter 690kms. With just 50 odd kms more to go, we were all pretty happy. We stopped at this place called ‘Shankar Dhaba’ for a quick dinner. Food was way better than we could have ever expected at a road side Dhaba, and that even in south India !! And I was just wondering, did I really do 310kms till then, without a break on my bike !!

10:45pm. We started the last and a very short phase of the trip. Even before I could realize, we were riding within the city. We stopped briefly near MG road and I took my beg from the car. After biding bye to all my other friends in the car heading towards Indira Nagar, I flied towards home. When I finally parked bike back home that night at some 11:30pm, my trip meter was reading a proud 744.6 kms.

In my bed that night, I was recollecting all those great moments I had witnessed that weekend. Ride was awesome, so was the disco, and the beach, and the fun we all friends had. I am actually falling short of words to describe my feeling that night. But for sure I would be looking forward for yet another such long trip, may be cross-country some day ! Well, let’s wait and watch.

posted by Rajendu Choubisa @ 3:05 AM 0 comments