Rider Mania 2009

22nd Jan 2009 9:30PM – I pack my bags and leave my house to Metro View Inn, Mysore Road, Bangalore to mark the start of my bike-ride after getting close to half an hour’s advice from my Mom and Dad.

22nd Jan 2009 10PM – Still searching for the hotel, I meet a group of riders from Indie Thumpers, Pune who too were searching for the same hotel. I decide to ride along with them in pursuit of finding the hotel and I get my first experience of riding with bulleteers with our engines making a lot of noise (music rather, to any bullet lover). It was truly amazing to hear our engines roar at close to midnight and to see a few passers-by wave at you.

22nd Jan 2009 11PM – We find the hotel finally. We park our bikes in formation. It was then time for the Indie Thumpers to party after their long ride from Mumbai. Their party began. But I was alone waiting from my club Highway Nawabs and my pillion-rider Ravi to turn up. I buy a bottle of beer for myself and wait for them to arrive.

22nd Jan 2009 11:30PM – Ravi calls me up. I go pick him up and return back to the hotel.

22nd Jan 2009 12AM – Armaan from Highway Nawabs calls me up to guide them to the hotel. Ravi and I go to get them along. We get our next experience of riding with bulleteers. This time, it was even better!

23rd Jan 2009 12:30AM – We reach the hotel. Armaan and I go in search of a wine-shop to get some booze. We get very less of it and we decide to get the green naughty boy within us to life. Party begins!

23rd Jan 2009 2AM – We decide to sleep anticipating a good long ride to the Nilgiris the next morning.

23rd Jan 2009 8:30AM – I get up only to see the rest still in deep sleep. Armaan gets up after 10mins and we both decide to get ready for the Morning Sunshine (term used by Armaan to get naughty in the morning). The others start to get up slowly.

23rd Jan 2009 10:30AM – All of us finish having our breakfast and see the other clubs already leaving and anxiously waiting for our turn.

23rd Jan 2009 12PM – We (around 20 bikes and 25 people) are ready for the ride with a few of them still making final adjustments on their bikes. I start a photo session.

23rd Jan 2009 12:30PM – We get our petrol tanks filled and start off! We get our engines running and they begin to roar in unison. Surprisingly, Armaan appoints me as the Lead and he decides to ride last. The rest obliged to him and decide to follow me. Wow, didn’t I live up to Armaan’s trust in me.

23rd Jan 2009 3PM – We reach Mysore after suffering a few break-downs. By the time, we reached Mysore we had split into 3 groups. Some of us re-group and start riding to Ooty.

23rd Jan 2009 4PM – We are still cruising without taking a break. We reach Gundlupet and then the Pug Marks Hotel at 5:30/6PM.

23rd Jan 2009 6PM - The first group arrives at the Pug Marks Hotel. Then, our long wait starts as we wait for the others to arrive. We have our late lunch.

23rd Jan 2009 7:30PM – The second group which included Armaan arrives. Manish and Diana who were also a part of the second group missed us at the hotel and decide to ride to Ooty. Others have their lunch/dinner. It was then time for us to get naughty again.

23rd Jan 2009 9PM – We are waiting…………….. waiting…………….. and still waiting……………… Some of them start commenting on whether we should be riding to Ooty that same night or the next morning. The decision hasn’t been taken yet as we wait to see the condition of the other group and then make the final decision to leave or not.

23rd Jan 2009 10:30PM – The third group finally arrives. We ask them whether they were in a condition to ride to Ooty. They give the Thumbs-up!

23rd Jan 2009 11:30PM – All of us get ready for the night ride. The local people promised that it would be a scary ride and asked us to be careful. Scary, as the route included the Bandipur forest, 36 hair-pin bends and we were riding at midnight with zero visibility. Wow, wasn’t it scary!

24th Jan 2009 1AM – It gets super cold as the temperature suddenly dropped to 4-5 degree celsius as we approach Ooty. I stop to exchange my less-covering gloves with Ravi’s fully-covering ones. We start again!

24th Jan 2009 1:30AM – We reach our room in Ooty after my best ride till date. What a ride! Armaan, a few others and I decide to get naughty again while the others get ready for a well-deserved sleep after a long and tiring ride.

24th Jan 2009 2:30AM – We decide to sleep anticipating a kick-ass party/event in Rider Mania (RM) for the next two days.

24th – 25th Jan 2009 – Caman The Enjaiment!
I met a lot of interesting and weird people during the entire course of the event. Some so weird that one had the ‘Washing Powder Nirma’ ad as his ring-tone. Let me throw more light on this.. We, a group of 10 people were having a long-chat after getting drunk. Suddenly, we hear someone’s phone ringing. The ring-tone sounded very familiar to us but we couldn’t realize that it was the ‘Washing Powder Nirma’ ring-tone initially as the song started from the middle. And that guy picked his phone just before we heard the ‘Washing Powder Nirma’ lyric. All of us there starting humming that song in our minds till we came to know the true/weird fact. The whole group then burst into laughter.
The party wasn’t over yet!

26th Jan 2009 11AM – The party/event was over and we decide to ride back to Bangalore while some decide to go to Kodaikanal and some to Bandipur.

26th Jan 2009 11:30AM – We start riding to Bangalore. During my ride in the steep curves, I suddenly realize that my brakes aren’t working. I decide not to inform Ravi about this and handle it myself. I manage to ride only with my front disc brakes working till we reached a workshop.

26th Jan 2009 12PM – I stop at a workshop to get my brakes fixed. Ravi, then asks me the problem. He was shocked when I told him that the brakes weren’t working!

26th Jan 2009 12:30PM – I get my brakes fixed and start off again. We then decide to Bagao (the term frequently used by Highway Nawabs to speed up).

26th Jan 2009 3:30PM – We reach a dhaba just after Mysore to have our lunch. The food was damn good!

26th Jan 2009 4PM – We start riding to Bangalore and I decide to Bagao-Bagao this time around leaving the rest behind.

26th Jan 2009 6PM – We reach Bangalore after an awesome one and half an hour long cruise. I drop Ravi in his room and decide to leave home.

26th Jan 2009 7:30PM – I reach home safely after a wonderful ride. My parents are shocked seeing my face as the ride had taken its toll on me.

P.S: I have now become a part of the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club (a.k.a RTMC). I would now be going on rides almost every week (you can call it a date with my girl-friend rather!) starting this week with a ride to Kaiwara zoo. Wish me Happy Riding!

@Armaan: I still miss the Morning Sunshine mate.
@Highway Nawabs: I had a great time with you all. Please count me in for all your future rides that I can be a part of. Wish you Happy riding!

Regards,

Kishan