Bikes never fascinated me, the reason being all those 16 something guys riding the mean machine under the influence of adrenaline rush and blowing away the most irritating hooters you have ever heard of. So clearly as I never had a reason or compulsion of being a pillion I stayed away from them.
But Bangalore changed it all , most of the new friends here owned a bike and after avoiding the rides for few days I had no option but to finally give up to this Machine. And as my friend dodged the bike in Banaglore's infamous traffic my heart skipped a beat with every dodge, I prayed and hoped for a traffic signal that too a red one so that I can catch my breath!!!
All of them being experienced riders ,over their 16 something phase made sure not to cross speed of 50, gradually with the no. of rides , good rider friends and necessity we both became friends ( the bike and me).
We started liking each others company as she stopped scaring me and I stopped hating her. I wouldn't scream when it was accelerated to 80 or 100 on the highway , my heart got used to all the dodging and I stopped praying for red traffic signals .
The next big step in our friendship was a road trip, 5 of us decided to go to Hoggenakal and back the same day , the day was beautiful with no sun and a well laid highway with minimal traffic, as we sped at 100km/hr my heart craved for more, I could see the tress passing by, trucks being overtaken and feel the wind in my hair, with my favorite songs on the Ipod and a butter smooth ride I fell in love with her( IT).
The no. of bike trips increased followed by one to Nandi hills , many casual trips on NICE road and trip to Mysore, yes we rode to Mysore and what a trip it was , our backs ached but our spirits relished the journey.
And finally it was time to take this friendship to the very next level .
After taking the riders seat few times I backed out every single time. But one fine day or one fine late night when the traffic was minimal I took the plunge and finally started , my friend instructed in this sequence - press the clutch, change the gear to 1 ,release the clutch slowly and accelerate , it was too much information to process while trying to balance that 100 kg something Darling( the Bike) ,as soon I would accelerate it would turn off , finally after few trials it did listen to me and started off and here I was on Bangalore's street driving a Motorcycle for the very first time. For the first time I could feel why people love this Machine, why they worship their bikes.
I was Happy, very happy.
While I was relishing my first ride and making sure there was no heavy vehicle in vicinity of 200 mts I was asked to shift to gear 2 which wasn't tough and I was elated ( So soon I was moving to 2nd gear) but but when I was asked to shift from 2 to 1 it jolted and stopped ,here I was, on the main Road disappointed by the fact that I couldn't shift the gear ( More disappointed then when I got to know my 10th result).
I switched on the engine again with the same enthusiasm I started for the first time, failed again and again but how long Can she not love me back and I completed my very first ride of 10 kms.
After quite a few trips from kormangala to old madras road, few in Indiranagar , kaggdaspura, 1 on inner ring road , 2 on NICE road I stopped embarrassing everyone.
I was declared a Good rider.( It was not easy as it looks like)
In the end it was not about conquering the machine but the experience, the thrill, the art , the ultimate freedom I felt.
A heartfelt thanks to 2 friends of mine who tolerated me with all their hearts +Mayank Tiwari , +jagadish sahu who helped me Do the unthinkable.
And finally it was time to take this friendship to the very next level .
After taking the riders seat few times I backed out every single time. But one fine day or one fine late night when the traffic was minimal I took the plunge and finally started , my friend instructed in this sequence - press the clutch, change the gear to 1 ,release the clutch slowly and accelerate , it was too much information to process while trying to balance that 100 kg something Darling( the Bike) ,as soon I would accelerate it would turn off , finally after few trials it did listen to me and started off and here I was on Bangalore's street driving a Motorcycle for the very first time. For the first time I could feel why people love this Machine, why they worship their bikes.
I was Happy, very happy.
While I was relishing my first ride and making sure there was no heavy vehicle in vicinity of 200 mts I was asked to shift to gear 2 which wasn't tough and I was elated ( So soon I was moving to 2nd gear) but but when I was asked to shift from 2 to 1 it jolted and stopped ,here I was, on the main Road disappointed by the fact that I couldn't shift the gear ( More disappointed then when I got to know my 10th result).
I switched on the engine again with the same enthusiasm I started for the first time, failed again and again but how long Can she not love me back and I completed my very first ride of 10 kms.
After quite a few trips from kormangala to old madras road, few in Indiranagar , kaggdaspura, 1 on inner ring road , 2 on NICE road I stopped embarrassing everyone.
I was declared a Good rider.( It was not easy as it looks like)
In the end it was not about conquering the machine but the experience, the thrill, the art , the ultimate freedom I felt.A heartfelt thanks to 2 friends of mine who tolerated me with all their hearts +Mayank Tiwari , +jagadish sahu who helped me Do the unthinkable.
Splendid you r Rashmi and ur Biking try. Blogs r really good. - Saikat
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Saikat, appreciate the fact that you took out time and read it:)
ReplyDelete