- A highly-opinionated delineation of situations encountered in India, USA, China, UK and wherever my life takes me...

Monday, July 25, 2005

my biking exploits and adventures

Please follow my biking hobby and everything that goes with it at http://bikeking.blogspot.com

A story of most of my bike rides, in approximate sequence

A story of most of my bike rides, in approximate sequence

Sub Title: The stepping stone (1)
Approx distance: 50km
Companions: none
Target destination: somewhere on NH47 towards Avinashi
Highlights: First experienced the pains of long distance riding.
Pictures taken: No

Bigger picture: Came back from College library to hit the highway for the longest continuous bike ride of my life then. I had just completed the successful and tough run-in for 2500+km of my first new bike. The one that promised to take me very near to what I like most- forests and mountains. It would give me that freedom that I longed for almost two years. I dreamt of riding to Valparai and Ooty to capture the mountain breeze is its freshest form. I didn't like being cocooned in the creature comforts of a car, which would also shield me away from being one on one with nature and the road.

I just wanted to test the continuous functioning of my bike's engine. I knew that I wont do more than 50km in one go as most of the places I dreamt of touring were within 150km of my home. I also didn’t want to end up far away from home on my first ride. Hence I planned on a 25km one way ride on the smooth NH47 from my home towards Avinashi.

I intended to carry minimum luggage. Just my jeans and full hand T-shirt. This T-shirt eventually becomes one of my most sought after ride wear. It was full-sleeved and had a rugged finish, what more can I ask for? One best thing about all my trips is that I had a helmet on.

I meddled with some meter called tacho and reset it to 0000. I was very eager to put it to use as I had only been doing petty rides to college, grocery shop, railway station and other measly commuting. I was singing all my way and also virtually simulated my future trips and the way I would ride. I didn't cross 50kmph, though slow on the highway, as I didn't want to push too much on my first go. This eventually laid a lot of discipline that I followed in all my lone rides- not more than 60kmph on highway. I did cross 60kmph when I had to hit home early or fight the darkness [and headlights of oncoming vehicles]. I just waited for 0025 to come up on the tacho just to turn back home.

I did a lot of experimentation like keeping my legs on the rear foot pegs and taking up a sports bike position, though I didn't cross 50kmph. I witnessed the dangers of riding near the treacherous inter-city buses as they hurtled past me with inches to spare. I was very particular about adjusting rear-view mirrors to catch good glimpse of the speeding vehicles before they came any close to me. My first tryst with the highway also made me thirsty while riding a bike. My longest ride till then must have been a 15km ride to Roots Horns Division on Mettupalayam Road and back. I also experienced some discomfort in my crotch area as I was wearing a tight jean with a heavy wallet. Thus the signs of pain hinted me of more in the longer and real version of this simulated ride.

I hit home in no time and was silently shouting to everyone that I had done a great feat by touring for about 50km non-stop. But no one seemed to care as they carried about their daily chores of commuting amidst honking and rash overtakings all around. I was happy that my bike is performing with no loss of performance. I got down from my bike to inspect it. It didn't like that coarse noise coming from the engine. I didn’t happen on short rides, but when the engine gets hot, especially after a long ride the noise is definitely disturbing, not to my concentration but to my biker soul that everything isn't right.

After a refreshing Tea, I headed back to the library to carry on with my student activity.
Extra: Readers, please do suggest a title for this series of bike ride articles. Please enter your suggestions in the form of comments.

About Me

My photo
Passionate about whatever I care to spend my time on.