Cold, Wet and yet loving it!

I moved from Chennai to Bangalore looking for greener pastures, I did indeed find one and was slowly settling down. As a matter of fact when the discussion came on how to move my Bullet from Chennai to Bangalore everyone was unanimous in asking me to put him no a transport vehicle (Truck or Train) and ship it to Bangalore and of course I did not listen to them and rode him all the way. Nope, that’s not what I am going to write about; coz that was a very accustomed trip started off in the morning and reached Bangalore in 5 hours. All who knew me would know I could do that anytime!

It has been nearly three months since I have really gone on a ride. I have been using Poseidon (My Bullet) for riding within Bangalore. I was raring to go on a long ride. Diwali weekend came and I thought I would take Poseidon to Chennai, having this in mind I did not bother to buy any tickets to Chennai. But the plans changed when my Fiancée wanted me to accompany her and her sister’s family in their car. I have to change my plan but I knew at the back on my mind that a ride was certainly on the cards before long. I came back from Diwali and the following week I took off.

27th October 2006, my plan was to finish my shift and take off. The previous Day I swapped my shift with my good friend Atom (Abhilash Tom) so that I could start off an hour earlier (i.e., 21:30 Hrs) Before going to the office to dropped in at the Cramster (http://www.cramster.in/) to pickup The Turtle (This is a magnetic bag which fits on the fuel tank – I found it quite useful on my trip). I restlessly spent the hours at work and I started to get phone calls from my folks back home that it was raining hard in Chennai. This gave me twofold thoughts about riding to Chennai. I knew my well wishers would be worried about me, riding all the way in the rain. But my mind was very clear about the ride; I didn’t want to have any second thoughts about it. I spoke to Bharath (my Manager) and got his consent to leave office by 19:30 Hrs. I said chao to my friends and pulled out my belongings and was ready to leave.

I started off from Electronic City – Bangalore at 20:00 Hrs, I weaved all the way through the heavy traffic till the check post and after that it was clear open highway. I knew I will be able to beet the traffic if I started before 22:00 Hrs. The road was almost empty after Hosur except for a few two wheelers and trucks. I was cruising at 80 Km/Hr, the journey was uneventful by and large till Krishnagiri except for a duo on a Pulsar tried to showoff, but I showed them what a Bullet is capable of on a highway when I let them go for a distance and then zoom past them at 120 Km/Hr and all they could do was to gasp the air from my Bullet’s exhaust pipe.

The real thrill was after Krishnagiri when it started to drizzle. I immediately slowed down to 60 Km/Hr as I did not want to take any risk. The Turtle – Tank Bag has a rain cover, you could pull it on when it really pours down, I pulled it on so that my stuff were secure within. Soon afterwards the downpour started to lash so hard that it was as though the Rain God had opened the sky and was pouring buckets of water at me. Soon after I found my leather gloves were soaking wet, my jeans was drenched and I could feel water shush within my shoes. My helmet and my jacket were shielding me well. But as we all know all good things come to an end and not so soon my jacket started to give way and I started to feel cold rain water on my chest and my back.

My Bullet’s head light was pretty bad, I have been complaining to my mechanic about that for quite some time. More than the head light the rain made my line of sight worst; a number of times I had to take off my helmet’s visor to find my spot on the road. The most horrible part was the vehicles on the opposite side of the road with bright high beam lights. It was just a matter of time I got used to these surroundings and I started to cruise steadily at 80 Km/Hr. I was soaked to the skin and once in a while I could feel my knees shivering. I was shuddering with cold, feeling wet all over, with heavy rain falling all around and headlights beaming right into my eyes – it was almost zero visibility, yet my Bullet gave me the power and confidence to ride through nearly 350 Kilometers.

About 50 Kms before reaching Chennai I took a break to fill in few liters of fuel as I was running with minimum amount of fuel for this trip. Usually Bangalore – Chennai trip is made non stop. By 01:00 Hrs I was at home. This trip from Bangalore to Chennai took me 5 hours. I have mad the same distance in 4 hours once before but this one was special or I should say made special by the Weather Gods. As some said “Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves” I did learn soothing out of this journey, something that cant be explained by punching on the keyboard, something that needs to be felt, something that can be only felt when you are out there on a dark, cold, wet and alone riding a trusted comrade.

Most of them out there would say I am crazy to make such a risky ride – Its kind of hard to explain WHY? But a fellow rider will understand WHY!

Ride Well My Friends!