It started back in 2002 when I began watching Motogp. I found it the most thrilling sport in the world. I got addicted to the speed, the sound, the riders & their rides. The way the riders lean the bike into a corner sliding their knees on the ground... tucking behind the screen going flat out down the straights... braking hard into the corners with lighting quick downshifts... The bravery to risk life & limb to go faster than everyone else on the race track enthralled me. Valentino Rossi was & always will be my favorite, my hero, my idol...
I began pestering my dad to get me a new bike for a long time & finally he got fed up & agreed to get me one. So in May 2003, I got a brand new Bajaj Pulsar 150... She looked beautiful with her round headlamps, massive tank, chromed exhaust & metallic blue color. The trouble was I didn't know how to ride the bike. Slowly & steadily I learned to ride... and with more confidence came more speed & inevitably more crashes!!!
The baddest crash I remember was when I was taking an U-turn & a bike coming fast from behind hit my handlebar. I fell hard & my chin hit the road... I was stunned, not knowing what to do next. I didn't feel any pain at that moment... People were yelling at me to lift the bike off the middle of the road... As I got up & bent down to pick the bike up, blood was dripping drop by drop on to the tank... There was a sour taste in my mouth & I felt fragments of teeth lying inside... Then only I realized that I had cut my chin & broke my two teeth... That's the funny thing about crashing... for a couple of minutes you are too numb with shock to feel the pain!!! It required 5 stitches & thanks to my body being allergic to local anesthesia, it was the most painful day of my life....
I can recount about 5 crashes in total... one when I slipped in the sand on a corner, one due to braking in loose gravel, one when I hit a dog in the dark etc... I learned from my mistakes & these crashes made me a better rider...
The thrill is in riding the corners or the 'twisties' in biker slang. That's where you separate the wheat from the chaff. Any fool can wring the throttle & go fast in a straight line, but it needs balls & skill to go fast in a corner. You lean the bike so hard & fast that the footpegs touch down, the sides of your shoes wear out. You can feel the tyres grip... You can feel the rear twitch as the tyre looses grip in a damp patch or dirt...
I love riding in the mountain hairpins... You hang off the bike so much that your knee caresses the grass lining the road, you brake hard into a hairpin with your bike's rear end sliding all over the place as you downshift from 4th to 1st. Its a fine line between staying on the bike & crashing & that's the thrill of it.
Speed is a thrill... an addiction.... You go so fast that the tears from your eyes vaporize before reaching the ears. You feel alive at that moment. Your heart pounds & your forehead sweats... The open roar of the engine fill your ears... The rpm needle hits the redline & the road ahead gets sucked up at a massive rate... The views along the side of the road are a blurry mess of colors. Once you have experienced the thrill of speed, you yearn for more.
I love going touring on a motorcycle... Riding on my bike to new distant places is a 'kick' for me. On a bike, you feel the wind in your hair, you smell the freshness of the air, you feel so much more freedom than in a car which I feel like being enclosed inside an iron box. With like-minded friends I have been able to travel to explore places on my bike. The longest distance I have ridden in a day is 456kms on my Pulsar from Trivandrum to Cochin & back. That will be broken for sure in future :)
We must always consider safety first. The faster you go & the farther you go, the more the risk. Always wear protective gear & helmet. Even a fall at low speeds can cause a fatal head injury... Stay away from liquor & other intoxicants while riding. Never ride when you are not in good health or when you are in a disturbed state of mind.
Ride safe & have fun...
"You live more in five minutes on a bike going flat out than some people live in a lifetime."
- Burt Munro
PS: I dedicate this article to my beloved Pulsar who turns 7 this May :) Thanks for being a trusty companion.
Visakh
I began pestering my dad to get me a new bike for a long time & finally he got fed up & agreed to get me one. So in May 2003, I got a brand new Bajaj Pulsar 150... She looked beautiful with her round headlamps, massive tank, chromed exhaust & metallic blue color. The trouble was I didn't know how to ride the bike. Slowly & steadily I learned to ride... and with more confidence came more speed & inevitably more crashes!!!
The baddest crash I remember was when I was taking an U-turn & a bike coming fast from behind hit my handlebar. I fell hard & my chin hit the road... I was stunned, not knowing what to do next. I didn't feel any pain at that moment... People were yelling at me to lift the bike off the middle of the road... As I got up & bent down to pick the bike up, blood was dripping drop by drop on to the tank... There was a sour taste in my mouth & I felt fragments of teeth lying inside... Then only I realized that I had cut my chin & broke my two teeth... That's the funny thing about crashing... for a couple of minutes you are too numb with shock to feel the pain!!! It required 5 stitches & thanks to my body being allergic to local anesthesia, it was the most painful day of my life....
I can recount about 5 crashes in total... one when I slipped in the sand on a corner, one due to braking in loose gravel, one when I hit a dog in the dark etc... I learned from my mistakes & these crashes made me a better rider...
The thrill is in riding the corners or the 'twisties' in biker slang. That's where you separate the wheat from the chaff. Any fool can wring the throttle & go fast in a straight line, but it needs balls & skill to go fast in a corner. You lean the bike so hard & fast that the footpegs touch down, the sides of your shoes wear out. You can feel the tyres grip... You can feel the rear twitch as the tyre looses grip in a damp patch or dirt...
I love riding in the mountain hairpins... You hang off the bike so much that your knee caresses the grass lining the road, you brake hard into a hairpin with your bike's rear end sliding all over the place as you downshift from 4th to 1st. Its a fine line between staying on the bike & crashing & that's the thrill of it.
Speed is a thrill... an addiction.... You go so fast that the tears from your eyes vaporize before reaching the ears. You feel alive at that moment. Your heart pounds & your forehead sweats... The open roar of the engine fill your ears... The rpm needle hits the redline & the road ahead gets sucked up at a massive rate... The views along the side of the road are a blurry mess of colors. Once you have experienced the thrill of speed, you yearn for more.
I love going touring on a motorcycle... Riding on my bike to new distant places is a 'kick' for me. On a bike, you feel the wind in your hair, you smell the freshness of the air, you feel so much more freedom than in a car which I feel like being enclosed inside an iron box. With like-minded friends I have been able to travel to explore places on my bike. The longest distance I have ridden in a day is 456kms on my Pulsar from Trivandrum to Cochin & back. That will be broken for sure in future :)
We must always consider safety first. The faster you go & the farther you go, the more the risk. Always wear protective gear & helmet. Even a fall at low speeds can cause a fatal head injury... Stay away from liquor & other intoxicants while riding. Never ride when you are not in good health or when you are in a disturbed state of mind.
Ride safe & have fun..."You live more in five minutes on a bike going flat out than some people live in a lifetime."
- Burt Munro
PS: I dedicate this article to my beloved Pulsar who turns 7 this May :) Thanks for being a trusty companion.
Visakh
congrats to your dear pulsar for turning 7-:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sree... she's gonna turn 10 this May! :)
Deletehey it is simply nice to read your blog.I really enjoyed your narration..it may take 'n' number of adjectives to express my admiration..I would like to put it as an ineffable piece.With more experience and reading you will reach greater heights.
ReplyDeleteThank you my good friend :)
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