Independance Day 2002

Damn - i tried for chronology but then I found one that was older than most....2002 - wow~
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Independence Day


Aug, 15, 2002, India celebrates its Independence day. It also happened to be the day the Mad Bulls undertook the first of the many long trips to come. The Madbulls were riding to Coorg.

Coorg was a long way off for the Madrasis and yet we were ready to endure the travails of long distance riding, we would go where the roads would lead and beyond. We were prepared to ride beyond the furthest of our imagination, and ‘make our own roads’.

Some of us, Narren, Solo, Roopi and I had started the ‘trip’ early, knowing that we could not sleep easy, we all stayed in Vernon’s place on the 14th. We rode at around 2 AM of the 15th to get Narren's camera, to ensure that we could remember our independence in the days to come.

Aug 15th – 5AM, Solo and I who did not sleep (mad bulls that we were) woke up Vernon and the others and we all left after a quick wash to the Meridien, our meeting point on the outskirts of Madras, to rendezvous with the others. We reached the Meridien, full of excitement and trepidation to see that we were the last of the finest. The others had already reached and were waiting to blast off.

We were joined by Navneeth, Bips on his new rebuilt bike, Brijesh and Madhu who was pillioning along, Swami (Ashwin) and yet another Ashwin who unfortunately could not come and had come to wish us luck.

After a quick check of the bikes, we moved.

We rode out of the city, 8 bullets and all of us raring to go, we had reached the actual highway which we were to take rather fast ands then simultaneously in one motion let 'er rip….we rode along the main NH4 connecting Chennai and Bangalore, in single file, cruising along at a steady 80KPH, one after another in what can be best described as poetry in motion. Any person who has ridden in a group will understand what I mean when I say that we were all part of one body, moving as one unit and not as separate units.

Heads turned and eyes widened in amazement as people – school kids, traffic policemen, drivers and pedestrians alike - all along our journey. There were some looks of fright with a couple of bikes backfiring, it even made us riders turn heads to see whose it was that was backfiring!!

We stopped outside Ranipet for a smoke and to just take a break, and let the bikes cool down. Our next stop was about 6 Km from my house where we were due to stop for breakfast. We moved away from the main highway and took off into some really narrow village roads that were twisting and turning all the way, the city riders learnt that there were things more powerful than bikes and cars, cows, sheep and chickens mooing, bleating and clucking across with a ruffle of feathers as we rode along these roads.

We finally reached Karigiri, the Hospital enroute where I stayed at around 10:30 (1 hr behind schedule!), after a quick ride around the Hospital ground in front of an overawed crowd of students, doctors and patients who had gathered for the Flag Hoisting Ceremony, we went to my place where we had a really sumptuous breakfast.

After breakfast and a couple of photographs, we decided to press on, not before splitting. This was the place where a few of us would head back, Bips, Navneeth and Brijesh with Madhu would be heading back to Madras where other priorities beckoned. The rest of us would still continue on…in our search for freedom.

Roopesh, Vernon, Ashwin on their 500’s Solo on his A350 and me on my Machismo and Narren would proceed to ride as fast as possible to Kolar where we were to meet up for lunch with the Bangalore Bullet Club – aka Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club (RTMC)

The ride was swift and silent, with a few stops for changing riders and pillions and of course the inevitable chai and biskoot. We eventually reached Kolar at around 3:00 PM – (still 1 hr late!!) and had a delightful time, making friends and discussing bikes with the RTMCers. After a solid lunch at a roadside dhaba with some nice cold….um...drinks, we decided to head out to Bangalore and proceed as we had planned.

The next bit of the ride was really great as we had more than 15 bullets and all of us were riding as fast as we could go. All of us respected the bullets and the road and rode safe and quick. On the outskirts of Bangalore, it started to drizzle and due to traffic we found ourselves in different groups. We eventually reached Brigades road at around 7:30 PM (this time not one but 2 hours late!!) and regrouped.

As a few of us needed to buy some gear for the bikes and for the fact that it was raining, after much heated discussion it was decided that we would break Journey ahead of schedule and spend the night in Bangalore as compared to riding another 130 Km in the night traffic on the notorious Bangalore Mysore highway.

We went to Vernon’s office and after a quick dinner we all crashed out to the sound of planes taking off in the distance, a welcome sound not unlike the steady thump thump off our bikes and our hearts.

Next morning, after some confusion on how to get out of the city, we finally got out and headed off to Mysore. The road to Mysore was very crowded and we lost all formation points quite quickly and were demoted (!) to riding individually with a few places where we could regroup. Stopped halfway there took some photos and had fun sitting on a milestone! And trying not to fall off. Some bits of the road were good and we all freaked out on the bikes.

Reached Mysore, where we went to Roopesh’s house, met his family, and had a quick lunch there. The afternoon and evening was spent in Mysore, meeting up people and gathering some of Roopeshs friends for the ride as well.

We left Mysore at around 4 PM and headed towards Madikeri. The road to Madikeri was simply amazing, nice long stretches, with gentle curves and lovely scenery along the way. Some really nice undulating stretches as well, which was good fun, racing to the top and coasting to the bottom of the next hillock. Started drizzling along the way, and we stopped for a while had chai and continued on in the light drizzle.

At the foothills, we somehow all split up and Solo and I found ourselves together, this was the best part for me. It was already getting a bit dark, and so we had to use the lights and this is where Solo and I found and perfected out technique for going up the hills – basically one was on low beam and the other on high beam and bikes were pretty close to each other, this meant that the amount of light available was more for both of us. In addition, whenever we took turns in the ghats, one person would point to the outermost point until the other rider could go and then follow the other rider’s trail.

It was good fun and a great experience, one that we still use whenever we ride together, to say we were in total sync would be an understatement – it was as if we both knew exactly what the other was thinking – a kind of feeling that comes only after riding together for a long time. Thanks Solo. Finally reached the top, and eventually made it to a hotel that someone had booked. Fairly cheap but decent place – hot water and whisky to keep us warm. We were soaking wet, so we made a bonfire and started drying up.

Next morning, we woke up and went over to Tom’s place, Tom was one of Roopesh’s friends, who used to be a Rally car driver and time was spent looking over his estate and chatting about rallying and racing, finally decided to finish up with a good Coorgi Lunch – with the famous pork!!…mmmmm!! can still taste it! And then decided to leave from there.

The ride back to Mysore was uneventful, and we reached pretty late, around 9PM and so Narren and I decided to head on to Bangalore as we both wanted to meet some friends on the way. Narren drove at breakneck speeds and at times, I was really shit scared, so much that I offered to get a bus and he could take my bike on!!!! Anyway, it was a good ride and eventually reached Bangalore in a little over 3 hours from Mysore – in the night!!

Stayed in Bangalore in a hotel and then met up with the guys the next day, at Kolar and continued on from there. The journey was uneventful for a certain distance, but then my bike started giving me problems and the rain was also playing havoc with us. Had many backfiring and missing problems and even though we adjusted the timing, this continued and we could not start the bike by kicking it, we had to push start the bike and finally it gave up its ghost at Kanchipuram.

Solo and Narren took it on them and they both towed the bike from Kanchipuram onwards and we had an amazing journey from there – with Vernon and Roopesh in front, blazing the way with horns and lights, Narren and Solo towing the bike and finally me bringing up the rear!

It was great fun and we reached Chennai at around 10 in the night, I was dropped off and the bike found its way to Southern for the night

All in all a good independence ride – a ride that taught me many things on riding, riding in a group, riding with friends and most of all to respect the machine and the road. A truly mindblowing experience for me – one of my first long rides – ever – and I hope there are many more to come.

Ride Safe all.