Like the Saying goes.. There is always a first time for everything... Yes, that was my first ride and I couldn't sleep well on the previous night being excited about my first ride, and that’s a mistake we do!! Anyway I'll explain about that later.. For a guy who always had a dream of going on a ride from his childhood- It's a dream come true.. From my school days, whenever I saw bike riders in their complete attire of jackets and jeans, I kept watering thoughts in my mind that one day I would definitely be on the road with the wheels... !!
I would want to warn you that this blog is a little bigger. Its my first ride after all.. No matter how much I tried to make it short, I would remember every bit of it.. I request you to have little patience to read all the way..
It was republic Day 26th Jan 2016... And this date did haunt me for a couple of years.. !! Because, right on my first Ride itself I met an accident..!! Apun tho sakth launda hey.. Pigalthe nahin hai..!!.😉
It was to a place called Shettyhalli, a popular place near Hassan, about 150kms from Bengaluru.
Before I go well in depth of my first Ride experience, let me consolidate the lessons learnt from my first Ride. Then you might find it easy to relate while reading in detail..
** Get a nice sleep before the ride.. Many of the riders will agree with me that they couldn’t sleep well a night before the ride.. Either, one would be doing our last minute preparation or just thinking about the ride. Well, It's been 5 years since I have started riding and I must say, I haven't mastered this skill yet. But I have realised that it’s important to have a good sleep so that you enjoy the way and feel fresh.. But better be late than never..
** Wear proper riding gear and don't ever . I mean .. Never ever wear a night/track pants. This is the simplest and silliest mistake someone would do..
** Know your bike well.. Learn about your bike.. Like... if you are on 60 speed and apply a break, how far your bike would move to stop.. You must know about your bike, only then you will have control on it..
**Most important of all.. Never ever over take a vehicle on a turn and never overtake a vehicle just because your co-rider has done it.. I have made a mistake.. It's not necessary that you always learn from your own mistake.. A few you can learn from others too. .Aapne theka thodi le rakhe hein ki sab galthiyaan kud hi karlo..! Dusron ko bhi thoda bhugathne do.. It’s easy to say this.. Unfortunately I also miss learning from the other’s mistake but I strive to inculcate the same...
Coming back to the Ride..
A day before or couple of days before Ride Pramod called me and informed about the ride being arranged.. It was organized by some other group.. I hardly knew Pramod and Akhil at that point of time. We weren't close as much as we are today... Like many other riders this is how the bonding between brothers gets stronger...
We were around 9-10 members with 7 bikes, left early morning from Bangalore and reached Hassan around 7:00am. By the time we had our breakfast other riding partners had reached us from Mangalore. It was around 15 bikes and around 23 members altogether.
We left to Shettyhalli from Hassan and I was riding in the last but second place. As soon as we left Hassan City, one of the biker's chain broke or something happened to his battery/fuse/clutch plate🤦♂️ anyways we had to stop to get it repaired with a local mechanic. Therefore it’s important to keep your bike well maintained. We wasted an hour over there. Once that was fixed we all started to our destination.
As most of the riders were new for group riding, our lead was making sure that we follow the lane and rules properly. I was enjoying in the curves.. Then there was one turn where I was right behind the lead, he started to overtake a truck in the turn, and he gave the signal to follow him and overtake the truck. As I was new I was strictly following the instructions which our lead was passing and had asked us to follow it during the ride. But he did mention to use our brains which I forgot to use at that time.. !!😬😬
He Saw the bus coming from opposite side and he applied the brake.. He was on Duke Bike which has disc brake on front and back as well.. His bike stopped.. I was on 50~60 speed I guess.. I also tried to apply brake, But my bike made me realize that it's not the one with disc brakes to stop it right there!!.😱 I went and brushed the lead’s bike and fell to the right side… My bike didn’t slide much but I was sliding towards the bus which was coming from the opposite side and I went and brushed the bus gently which was stopped way before by looking at me falling. Lucky Me.. !!
Bus Driver started scolding!! Which was not at all going inside my head as I was in shock, I could only see scratches and few blood spills on my palm, knee and elbow… my night/track pant was torn a bit along with my casual jacket at my elbow region.. I managed to get up and lead came to check on me. My bike’s ignition was still on and I requested him to turn it off. He did that and made my bike rest on center stand..
He checked on me, there was no serious visible injury other than scratches and little blood on my palm.. But after couple of minutes I had to tell him that I have a pain at my crotch region!!. 🥴😖 Off course I couldn’t show him neither I was in a place to inspect them .. !!😜 He asked me to jump for a while. Not sure if I felt good or comfortable after that. Even if I wasn’t, I had to act like I was.. Sakth launda hoon yaar.!💪
I saw the bike.. I wasn’t sad or embarrassed because I fell, but the minute I saw the scratches on my bike, I was like, "Yaar ye kya ho gaya.."😢 I had tears in my eyes without my knowledge… and the lead was so kind that he came to me and enquired again if everything was okay or if I have pain somewhere.. I just pointed my finger to the scratched area on my bike.. He convinced me and said that “Not to worry, it would get covered in the insurance” it was so nice of him that he was only concerned about me and nothing else.
This incident made me realize that… don’t ever blindly follow your co-rider.. and never over take in turn.. never go for a ride without proper gears.. more importantly know your bike..
Once I felt comfortable, we started riding towards the destination, but Pramod and Akhil were way ahead, and they were waiting for us. When I told them about the accident.. the first word Pramod said was “Jagrathe Marre.. “ and Akhil was silent as always but he also told “Mella bale.. urgent malpodchi...”even at that moment, I was showing them the scratches and damaged Brake levers to them and not the scratches on my palm. But they were like.. "Will you be able to ride with that damaged Brake lever? " And I replied "Of course" Sakth launda jo hoon 💪😜
Then Finally we reached Shettyhalli.. !! My first destination!! 😍😍 That place made me forget that I had fallen from the bike a while back., such a beautiful place it was… I have been there twice until now, and if I get a chance I would love to go there again, and this time I will make it a point to go in the rainy season.. I am very much attracted to that place..
We left from that place and headed towards Lunch… by the time we reached to have lunch, we noticed that Akhil’s bike had a puncture, and his bike was Royal Enfield!!...😂 We had to push it to the mechanic shop.. that’s the first time, I saw frustration on Akhil’s face when he didn’t get food on time.. 😂😂 Even now he has the same expression when he don’t get food on time.
After Lunch…We headed to a nearby temple where we sat for a while. It was peaceful.. We introduced ourselves and then the lead started letting us know the mistakes we did during the ride.. like not wearing proper gears and following the riding rules etc.. It really made sense..
I was thinking that the ride was over and we can head back to Bangalore now.. but they made a sudden plan to visit to “Shravanabelagola”. We went there at around 3pm and we had to climb around ~650+ steps on a solid Rock stone with bare foot.. !! Felt like Stones were on Fire..🥵 lag gayi sab ki .. By the time we reached down my legs started shivering.. and on the bike I was not feeling the existence of my leg for next 15~30 min…
Finally we reached Bangalore late in the evening… and we all departed to our own houses… it was freaking 650+km in a single day where I was expecting it to be around ~400km.. For a beginner.. Like me.. I felt exhausted and this single ride thought me lessons which I never thought I would ever follow in my life…
Next day was Sunday and I couldn’t take my bike to service center.. then took my bike there on Monday. And they did the estimation cost to get my bike repaired.. "Dekho.. vaise apun sakth launda hey.. lekin jab unhone estimation cost dikhaya.. yanhaan par tho apun pigal gaya …!!"😲😰😭 In fact they suggested me not to replace the part just for a scratch, but I wanted to replace all the damaged part no matter what.. I never consulted the doctor to check on me or to get first aid.. But only thing I did was to get my bike repaired… Thab jaake apun ko realize huva ki, jaan pyaaari hey ya nahin.. lekin gaadi tho pyaari hey yaar..
Luckily most of the expenses were covered by insurance and my friends… they also supported me during those days… It was a hell of a ride for me.. I would have enjoyed it more if It wasn’t for an accident…
Regardless of that… this ride made me think, I should travel more, to learn, to gain experience, to feel, to gain confidence.. I still fear at some point.. But these friends of mine and the rides I have shared with them until now, helps me keep going..
Ride… You may fall… Pick yourself up and dust yourself off and back in the saddle… We learn from it… isn’t it ? Like Lance Armstrong says.. “If you are worried about falling off the Bike you’d never get on.. “
This is R@k$h!th signing off for now… Will be back with my next riding stories soon…