As soon as the ride got announced, I sat
wondering. Was it just a coincidence or did the admins always name the rides
after something edible? If they did, what was it that connected food and riding
in such an inseparable way? The examples were many… the chai pakora run, the strawberry
run and now the ideal ice cream run.
The Mangalore ride (named after the famous
ideal ice cream) was being planned for a long time. It was a little different
as this would be our first long distance foray into the south. We had until now
done similar distances but now the roads would be different, the landscape would
be different and as we would later find out, the traffic would be different
(read crazy and murderous).
As always the anticipation was intense. The
discussions about the ride were animated and plans were grandiose. The admins
always seem to allow a healthy 45 day period between announcement and the ride,
so we usually have adequate time to stew in our excitement till it gets almost
unbearable. So as the day approached we had to supplement our usual diets with
energy drinks just to survive the last week. Only Amey was banned from drinking
any Red Bull, because we all know what happens when he does.
On the day of the ride we met up at our
usual spot outside KTC Margao. We were 12 riders in all, geared up and ready to
roll. We set out from Margao vying for positions with the constant and thick
traffic. The roads opened up a little as we headed out of Navelim and towards Canacona-
Karwar.
We were greeted by the usual “you guys are
either highly driven or crazy or both” looks by the other road users, with most
of them tending towards the latter. The only exceptions to this were the kids-
kids in the backs of cars who had a look of awe when they saw geared up riders
on bikes, kids on scooters tightly holding onto their parents with one arm
while waving out with the other, kids walking on the pavements who craned their
necks and remained so till we were out of sight. All evidence to the fact that
we had, at least one subset of the population firmly in our favour. Most of
them definitely thought we were awesome.
By the time we hit Canacona (~30 kms) we
were well into the ride. Now here is a secret (which we at GEARS know far too
well), if you want to have a ride worth remembering, plan the route such that
you hit your first set of twisties quite early into the ride (and by extension
quite late on your way back). There is nothing like a set of fast bends to get
the adrenalin flowing. A few wrong turn ins, a couple of wide lines, a few
sliding rear wheels and close encounters with oncoming traffic usually wakes up
even the sleepiest rider. So by the time we hit the more hardcore Karwar ghats
we were properly ready for some footpeg scrapping action.
Just before Karwar we had a brief stop and
quite a large breakfast (what did I say about rides and food being connected).
As usual our entry was met by a 5 second pause in conversation and eating
activities of the other patrons. Only after they had decided that we were
relatively harmless did they get back to business.
After Karwar we began to notice a definite
change in the nature of the traffic. It had gone from Indian Standard to Definitely
Hell. There were no rules, human life was considered worthless and bikers
were decidedly the bottom feeders of the traffic hierarchy. Cattle and dogs
were given more respect than people on two wheelers. We did feel quite
downtrodden and without rights. So as usual, like the slaves in Rome and serfs
in England we decided to revolt- by going a little faster. Well as it turns
out, that does not help. The faster we went, the more mortal we felt and at the
next stop we decided collectively that it was not worth it. In case of a
mishap, even if we were right according to the law, it was pointed out, we needed
to be alive to argue our case. And given the meticulous attention to detail the
bus and truck drivers observed while trying to annihilate us, survival was
unlikely. So we just backed off and kept the hell out of their way. We decided
we would get back at them in a more appropriate and less dangerous way sometime
in the future.
Unsurprisingly, I do not remember anybody putting an exact date
on that. But we did agree that we were not scared of them, just for the record.
Soon
we halted at Murdeshwar. Made sure all riders were present. Did a victory dance
for being alive and promptly headed off to find some Nimbu soda. After a couple
of hundred Nimbu sodas we were rehydrated. It was May and the sun was really
shinning down upon us, it was extra strength too. To add to this, I had quite
unintelligently, planned to break in my new leather gloves on this long trip. I
was paying quite dearly for that mistake. Relieved to be finally at rest I had
rid myself of all my riding gear. After the break, we started off and I rode
forward, blissfully unaware of the fact that I had generously donated a pair of
knee and shin protectors to the town of Murdeshwar. I was so absorbed with my
gloves misery that they had completely slipped from my mind. If my fellow riders Kalpesh and Tanmay hadn’t been vigilant, there would
have been at least one well protected Nimbu soda vendor in Murdeshwar. And
given the tendency of their buses to veer off the road, it may have at some
point saved his life… errr legs.
We
did quite a long stint after Murdeshwar with just a small stop at Malpe beach
for it sheer beauty and a photoshoot. The sight of our photoshoot must have
been quite fascinating for most people. Four or five guys with cameras and full
riding gear were in various positions ranging from fully erect to prostrate-in
the middle of the highway- taking pictures of bikes lined up. Yes, our
photographers do put their lives on the line to make sure you see the bike
pictures on our Facebook page. What do the other riders do you ask? We place
bets as to who among the five photographers would have the closest life
threatening encounter with a rogue lorry.
As our ride continued and we approached
Mangalore we were told that Meghan Naik would join us. He would be our biker
host for two days and we were mighty excited. We had heard a lot about his
trips to Leh, his riding and his love for all things two wheeled. At about 120
Kms from Mangalore we met him, and followed him into the city. It was lucky we
did, otherwise I am sure we would either be lost or very lost. This last
stretch had a lot of roadwork going on and had multiple diversions. And the
traffic was horrible and unruly. So we just followed Meghan’s white helmet and
blue Yamaha till we were safely in the parking lot of our hotel.
After a two hour rest and a shower we
headed out for dinner and followed it up with a movie. A rather fitting one
because it was Fast and Furious 6. Our ideal ice cream treat came next. We had
the most amazing ice cream cake ever, every bit was heaven and quite worth the
500 kms ride to Mangalore. There was a proposal for an early morning ride to
Kudremukh- ‘a rider’s paradise’ Meghan insisted. But a sleepy rider does not
listen to reason or to Meghan. So we declined the offer. But the next day we
were made to feel sorry for having made the wrong choice, in full HD. The thing
is, Meghan and a fellow rider Shawn did go to Kudremukh and they came back with
the most stunning pictures and videos. The place where I kicked myself in the
shin for having missed out is still sore.
On our return ride, we headed out of
Mangalore quite a bit behind schedule. And no, we did not forget the chicken
ghee roast as most of you would be thinking. We had plans of having lunch at
the famous Shetty’s lunch home in Kundapur. We followed Meghan and Shawn to the
lunch place and settled down for the legendary Chicken Ghee Roast. And let us
just say, it lived up to all the hype and then some. Every piece was succulent
and filled with flavor. The guy who thought chicken and ghee would go along
brilliantly must have been a genius. A Severus Snape of the food world. Dark
and mysterious and in a foul mood, but with a pan instead of a cauldron,
working his magic with amazing ingredients. As we sat over the remnants of
chicken and argued the relative merits and demerits of a threesome, somebody
announced that we were behind schedule by quite a bit. Cursing the killjoy we
all got back into our sweaty riding gear. And, by a threesome I meant three
guys (and since GEARS is all for gender equality) or gals mounting a single two
wheeler.
We had now started the longest bit of
journey and had decided not to stop anywhere till we got to the Goa border.
Most of the route was beautiful landscape and horrible traffic. In two separate
incidents Kalpesh and I were quite near falling off of our bikes due to the
utter negligence and rashness of our four wheeled road companions. We were
forced to leave the road in the middle of well calculated and legitimate
overtaking maneuvers at speeds that would lock our wheels if we had braked
suddenly. We were quite thoroughly shaken by these incidents as it was almost
bloody attempted murder. We also had a couple of young, high testosterone-low
IQ boys, without helmets and with motorcycles who somehow thought we would race
them on public roads. They were disappointed and contented themselves by
buzzing around us like flies for a while.
When we got to the border we stopped for a
bit to discuss the happenings of the day. We cursed the traffic that was behind
us and thanked God as we were back to the sensible traffic area. We were back
in Goa. At the border we decided it would be the last stop before we headed
home. We said our goodbyes and were slightly depressed as the riding season was
coming to an end. We had plans for rain rides, but didn’t know if they would
materialize. When we headed home we were yet to hit the corners on the ghats
after Canacona.
The very last leg of the return journey was
the best bit, as always. And as always, GEARS had planned an amazing ride. We
had left the best bit for last. We were on a stunning road, late on a Sunday
evening. As Jeremey Clarkson says “…..
Beautiful scenery, swooping roads and no traffic, the holy trinity for anyone
who’s communion wine comes with an octane rating”. Ours most certainly did
come with one.
And I know I have left the important
question form paragraph one unanswered. But I was so busy riding and eating,
that I did not get time to think of an answer.
The participating
riders in random order:
Akshay Tendulkar
Tanmay Kamat
Tilak Murdeshwar
Rohan Sankholkar
Julius Mascheranas
Siddesh Mashelkar
Kalpesh Harmalkar
Anup Raj Damodar
Amey Parkar
Venkatesh
Ashwin Mysore
Words by Dr. Ashwin Mysore
Words by Dr. Ashwin Mysore
