FULL POWER!!! #BOBMCRM #MYTRAVELOGUE #MOTORCYCLEJOURNEY

It was decided by everyone the we all are going to attend our first BOBMC Rider Mania. The BOBMC (Brotherhood of Bulleteers Motorcycling Consortium) started in 2003 is an annual 2 days event hosted in different parts of country each year and many bikers across the country and even from neighbouring countries attend this event.

Bookings are crucial part for any event which is same for this event too as people just jumps as soon as the site opens and within no time the most sought after options like BYOT (Being Your Own Tent), Dorm Rooms are full. The bookings opens 3 months prior to the event and there are limited seats for the same as the Organising club organises for stay and food facility accordingly making it a gated community event and also it is a responsible move as no one would go out and get lost, be it drunk or sober as the event is organised in various cities every year. The 2016 Rider Mania was hosted in Maharashtra’s Nagpur City. It was hosted by Wanderlust MC and it was biggest Rider Mania event till date having attendance of many bikers and the motorcycle count being over 1700. The Orange City, harsh cold at night and harsh sun in the morning, it was an epic experience for a novice like me. The bookings were done in the month of October 2015, getting it somehow in the early bird registration process. Then a meeting was held to discuss and decide the plan and road map. It was almost 1000kms ride one way. It was decided that we shall leave on 20th January 2016 at early hours and first reach Lonar in Buldhana district to visit famous Lonar crater lake created thousands of years ago. After that we shall move towards Nagpur city where the motorcycle club Wanderlust MC had organised stay for all bikers along with food and booze, coming a day prior to event and then move to the event along with everyone the next day.

The excitement of going for such a long ride couldn’t let me sleep at night of 19th. It was already decides that we shall meet at 5AM at Powai Lake and then move further forming bikers’ chain along the road. The day finally arrives. i had packed everything prior and it was just a matter of time that I put all my luggage on bike and tie it properly. At 3.30AM in the morning, Bike was laden with all necessary stuffs like my Saddle Bag, Tank Bag, Tent, Mattress for sleeping, Sleeping bag. Everything tied properly along with extra bungee cords. Now ridi gs gears on and I am on my way to Powai lake to meet others as it was a common gathering point for all. One by one, all riders reached at meeting point and we started from there at 6AM. The first stop was at Kasara for breakfast. A quick breakfast of Misal paav and we are on our way ahead. It was very cold. Being from mumbai anything below 25C is too cold for us. There were couple of breakdowns on other bikes which did put us behind our schedule. We continued riding having a very fast lunch and skipping other unnecessary stops. By the time it was 6-7PM, my bike started giving issues, all of a sudden, headlight stopped working, making it difficult to ride at evening time as it was winter season, aun would set earlier than normal, moreso, on rural side it gets darker as there are no street lights. My fog lamps were also already broken from the clamps because of bad roads. Somehow we found a mechanic, who repaired it temporarily but also asked us to get it checked thoroughly. I had no option but to be okay with it. Went a little further about 50-60kms and the headlights gave up again so it was decided that I shall ride in between two bikes which had strong extra pair of lights to illuminate the road further making me easy to ride as it was pitch dark. It was very cold and more so because of multiple breakdowns, our enthusiasm had already gone down but we kept moving and finally at about 11PM we reached our first stop Lonar, which was about 500kms from mumbai. Fortunately hotel was booked already but it was too light that we reached there and there was no hotels open for food. We were about 15 riders hence the hotel manager made a couple of calls and placed order for 2kgs of Chicken Biryani which was delivered by 1AM at night. We all were tired and sleepy more so cold winters, many of us slept without food. Few along with me who were awake had Biryani which was not good at all but bearing the time and the place in mind, glad we got atleast this. After dinner, it was also birthday of one of our friend Francis it was already past 12, we celebrated it a little and went to sleep. Next day we were visiting Lonar Lake.

We woke up little late in the morning as we were already tired and it was too cold too. We moved out for breakfast and sightseeing. First we went for breakfast at MTDC resort. MTDC has beautiful properties across Maharashtra for stay options but they are only for families. We had breakfast in the MTDC hotel, great view and hot and tasty breakfast made our cold and sad day happy. Tea and Poha along with Kanda bhajiya was like finding water in the middle of the desert. It wasa heavy breakfast on repeated orders from all. After breakfast we moved to visit Lonar Lake which is about 2kms from MTDC Resort. The Lonar lake is a major tourist attraction in Maharashtra famous for its more than 52000 years old lake, the Lonar Lake or Lonar Crater in the Deccan Plateau is a meteoric crater, created by a major meteoric impact. Its a saline water lake unlike other fresh water lakes.

After spending more than an hour at the lakeside and in photosession, we moved back to the hotel to put luggage back on the bike and we are ready to go to Nagpur. The road is through rural area and cities but after Amravati, the newly made highway is a delight. Just keep the wrist twisted. Its a straight highway. A day before we experienced harsh cold of this region and the next day as we reach Marathwada and move towards Vidharbha, the mornings are hot and dry with unbearable sun. In mumbai, climate is humid, even though its hot, its bearable but here its like piercing through the body. We had lunch in Amravati and started to go further but because of city traffic couple of us got lost in city because they missed a turn as they were far behind. We spent about an hour there for them to reach to us and then we could move in group as always. Sun is still harsh, blowing hot unbearable wind. as the time passes, it starts getting low. We had removed thermal lining from the riding jacket and kept in the bag because of heat and now its shivering cold. As the time passes the climate is getting very cold and unbearable. By 8PM we are near Nagpur, may ne 50-60kms more but by this time, the breaks increased to every half and hour for hot tea. As we are on the outskirts of Nagpur, tempature is about 10C now. It was really difficult to ride in these conditions, the joints were frozen. Making it difficult to ride even at the speed of 60kmph. Even super hot tea in the hand was feeling like holding a cold drink. We even touched bike engine, silencer to get some heat, which is otherwise so hot that it would burn your skin but now its just a heater for us. At about 10PM we reached Nagpur city. The host club had made arrangements for all riders. They had booked a multi- level marriage hall, big enough to accomodate more than 1000 people. They had made really good arrangements, providing bedding and blankets for all. Unlimited veg and non veg dinner for all and also unlimited Booze for all which included Whiskey and Rum which are very essential for such harsh cold weather.

There were many bikers who already reached and having a fun time around. Our other friends who couldn’t get leaves had also reached Nagpur station by the time as they came by train for this weekend event. Some of us went to pick them up from the station and here again we celebrated Francis’ birthday. One of our friend Ninad made a flex banner of his to wish him on birthday which was actually a surprise for all.

Before having the sumptuous lunch along with rum and chilling in the cold chilly winter night, we decided to visit the famous Zero Mile Stone in Nagpur. The Zero Mile Stone was built by British in about 1907 to mark geographical center of Colonial India.

After a short photo session, we moved by to our staying place, indulging in famous Nagpuri Saoji chicken and rum. After such a heavy dinner, we just sat down for couple of hours for digesting the food we ate like mad. We are now just sitting in the lobby chilling and gossiping. At about 2AM we all went to sleep.

Next day we woke up at about 8AM. There was nothing to do except to go to the venue for which the host Wanderlust MC would escort all. We were to leave by 11AM for the venue, the host had arranged for breakfast as well, hot tea and Poha for cold mornings in Nagpur. Weather in Nagpur is actually crazy, nights are too cold and mornings are too hot and dry. It was just 9AM, so we decided to visit Diamond crossing. Diamond crossing is a level junction where more than 2 railway lines meet. Its rare in India especially.

We also had the world famous Tarri Poha at the Nagpur station. You visit Nagpur and not have Tarri Poha is a crime. We are back to the den and now all are getting ready packing their stuff, wearing riding gears. Now the time has come finally that we go to the venue. The host escorts all to the event which is going to be held at Dwarka River Farms resort near waki which is about 30kms on the outskirts of the city. It took more than 2 hours to reach there as escorting so many bikers is not easy. The Nagpur Police had also helped for traffic management as the host had already made all necessary arrangements.

We finally arrived at the venue and after checking in showing our booking ids etc. We went for setting up the tent which was to be set up in garden area of the resort.

We are now out of our riding mode and into partying mode. Everything’s crazy here. Its too cold as well. Being on the outskirts temperature was about 4C at night. It was a crazy event I attended. Let me tell you that this was the first and last time I was knocked out after drinking almost entire bottle of old monk neat. It was so cold that rum was needed for the soul.

The sleep was really good after much needed rum. I could bear the cold now.

Day 4, 5 & 6

Now we are here for next 3 days for crazy rollercoaster. The events happening all around like dirt race, figure 8, beer guzzling and many more.

The event concluded with the announcement of next year event being hosted in Kundapur, Karnataka and the DJ party began. It went on for very long till midnight and everyone wen to sleep in their tents tired and with full of memories of this event. We are now leaving for home on 25th January Morning. First stop being Aurangabad. We thought of exploring Aurangabad a bit. The journey was of about 500kms but it would ease our journey next day which was about 350kms to reach home. It was cold in the morning but now we have acclimatized with the weather conditions of Vidharbha. While one our way back we also picked up world famous Orange Barfi from Nagpur. No matter you can get everything in Mumbai and other major metro cities but having particular delicacy in its own region of origin is a holy way of having it. We hit the highways and going at a good speed covering up lots of miles in less time. Because of last night partying, everyone was tired and we left a bit late than usual it was already 8AM in the morning, had breakfast arranged by the host and moved by 9AM. Later on, as the afternoon approached, it started getting hot. Typical Vidharbha heat, making it difficult to ride. We had multiple stops to have cold drinks, sugar cane juice etc to keep ourselves cool.

In the evening time, many of us were tired. We were already very late to reach Aurangabad. One rider started feeling dizzy and were shutting eyes constantly because of sleep. It was very hard for him like he was sedated and was about to hit a divider. Hence, we stopped and one of the pillion rode his bike and he sat behind as pillion. We covered up about 50kms and the the guy who is now riding his bike asked us to stop for a while as this guy who’s now a pillion is super sleepy and losing balance, hence we had to tied him tightly to bike. He was still asleep and felt nothing at all.

After this tying ceremony, we moved further it was almost 10PM at night and we were still 90kms behind Aurangabad. We started gaining speed to cover up remaining distance. We were more sleepy than hungry so just wanted to reach to the hotel room but it also slowed down as because of uncontrollable sleep, we had to again take multiple stops to keep ourselves up.

By 12.30AM we were just 10-15kms behind Aurangabad and bam, my bike’s fuse gave up. There was actually some wiring issue which persisted from the begining of ride which also resulted in my headlight giving up on day 1. We tried with new fuse but the fuse would give up instantly and the bike wont start at all. More so it was midnight now and no mechanic to repair rectify electrical problems.

Already being late and tired more so sleep and now this frustrating breakdown, we all were pissed. It was mutually decided that others would head to the hotel as only few kms had remained and I along with Roshan Pravin and Sachin Mayuresh would come slowly by towing my bike with Roshan’s bike. It was hardly 10kms to the city but it took more than an hour as towing the bike was a tiresome affair. Moreso, couldn’t ride above 20kmph speed. Now we all who stayed behind with me, were dead tired. Legs were shouting in pain because of constantly pushing bike by feet over inclines. Somehow we reached hotel. By this time almost all were asleep. We were now hungry as well because of heavy physical exercise so we started searching for food options. The hotel manager told us that we would get food at the Aurangabad Railway station. I with sachin decided to go to station and pick something to eat. We found only Omlet paav to eat which we took for 6 of us. Got back to the hotel and ate it. Now finally we could sleep properly as the stomach was full. We slept at around 3AM.

It was Republic Day but we still being tired got up little late at about 7AM. Others were still asleep. I along with Mayuresh went out at 8AM to get some breakfast and also to find out mechanic to rectify and resolve my Bullet’s problem. We found the mechanic near station only and he came and picked up my bike, towing it till his garage. He rectified the problem, it was with wiring as the wiring was broken in multiple places resulting in fuse system going crazy. He did desi jugad as full nee wiring was needed to be done and we had not much time for it. He repaired everything and told me not to use high beam.

After we got back to hotel with Vadapaavs, other were awake and getting ready and packing all their stuffs. We were finally ready at about 12PM and clicked a quick picture with our Indian Flag on the occassion on Republic Day. This eas the last picture clicked as we were already late and behind our schedule and all had to reach mumbai and get atleast little bit of rest because all have to join office the next day.

With minimal halts and munching miles as fast as we could, we reached Nashik city by evening and were stuck in city traffic badly for sometime. After getting out of Nashik, we were cruising on the highway and reached Kasara Ghat by night. Took a quick halt at foots of Kasara ghat for dinner and later a final halt was at petrol pump at Asangaon. After that we all moved quickly as fast as we could to reach home and just crash on our beds. Finally about 2AM, I finally crashed into the bed and dozed off, Now only riding in my dream.