Statutory Warning : I am not a creative writer, just want to keep a log of moments in text & pics at one place. :-)

What is RM ?

I was very anxious to know about RM. Every time when I ride with WanderLust guys, they discussed about the previous RM, I was keen to know about this so I asked my friends and club members about this event.

Rider Mania .. AN EXCITING GATHERING OF ALL ENTHUSIATIC ROYAL ENFIELD RIDERS FROM ALL OVER INDIA AT AN EXOTIC LOCATION.

Sounds great to hear about such gathering. I remember few Hollywood action movies where people gather with their bikes and cars and do some stunts or competitions in open space. Is it something similar ? For that I explored it on internet, read out the blogs of previous RMs.

Anukaran, Moderator of Wanderlust MC, Orange City, Nagpur and my best friend shared some memories of his previous RMs. He shared some pics and videos. Wow, by watching these videos I was very motivated to visit Kolkata where next RM was scheduled i.e. RM 2011.

Inder, the most enthusiastic champ of Wanderlust, my friend and Neeraj, my colleague, my friend shared experiences with me. And off course during ride's to nearby places at Nagpur, all mates (Sachin Bramhe, Girish, Thomas, Ruchir, Anup, Rajesh) shared their memories. So overall, I was very excited to Rider Mania East 2011. Kub aayega ye RM :)

Registration of RM:

Rider Mania 2011 was organised by Eastern Bulls Club, Kolkata. They had created a cool website for this event. This website was not only having registration form but all information about the events which were going to happen during RM. Wow, the names of events were so cool like Free Style Biking, BULL of Year i.e. most beautiful/modified bike, etc. I registered myself with my club members for this event.

Preparation for RM:

The biggest challenge was my BULLET. Surprise!! yeah, because whenever I had ridden to nearby place, there was always a breakdown in bike. Since I was new to this machine called ROYAL ENFIELD, my ride mates always use to say that this happens always with bullet so nothing to worry about it. But off course I have to get it repaired properly before leaving for RM.

Shanu, expert in repairing and servicing of bullets, helped me and assured me that my bike would be fine throughout the ride. Sagar Joshi, my best friend, from whom I purchased this bike, helped me in this preparation.

Riding gears, most important, because in my last ride to Boar Dam, I met with minor accident. It would be always safer to have such gear for long rides. So, I started purchasing the riding gear. I purchased Riding Jacket of RJAYS Company from renowned PITSTOP store. For protecting hands, I purchased DSG’s Gloves and for protecting head, Helmet of VEGA Company. To store all my belongings, I had taken CRAMSTER, a bag which you can fit on pillion seat. These are some branded stuff which I had to purchase for my safe ride.

Tool kit has to be present while riding. So i gathered required panna, screw drivers, pinches, etc. Some additional wires like gear wire, clutch wire, accelerator wire should be present in kit.

This way the preparation for royal ride was going on. I took out time for this on weekend or within office hours, off course in lunch time :p

Rehearsal

Since I had to travel around 3000 kms for the first time on new bike, I had to take a test ride with putting all gears and cramster bag, etc. So, I took a test ride at night before the main ride. I needed to fill in the fuel so I had taken my bike to Wadi naka, Amravati road. Since I had put in lot of stuff in cramster bag, my bullet was getting unbalanced on turnings. So I removed some stuff from bag. That night we met with all other club members at Futala lake who were supposed to join us in this ride. One was Saurabh Katar, he came from Bangalore, Vikram, from Delhi and Ishwar, from Chennai.

Ride day - Day 1

Finally the day came where the actual excitement, adventure was supposed to begin. Yeah, we had to start in the early morning. The meeting point was decided i.e. Poonam mall, Wardhaman Nagar. The time to start ride : 6am.

Since last night I came late from test ride and had to pack few more things, I hardly got chance to take some rest. I slept around 2am and woke up at 4.30am. I got ready with all riding gears, my machine was also ready, bags were loaded, tank was full, now what are we waiting for. My all family members, including my Bhanja (2 month young only) wished me for safe ride. Me & Neeraj gathered at Khamla square and were waiting for Sagar. But somehow Sagar had some different plans so he proceeded to meeting point. We took another way and reached on meeting point sharply. Inder, Rajesh, Girish, Sachin were already present. Sagar & Ruchir also joined us. We were waiting for Paaji (Anukaran). Till that time everyone was checking the bags. Sachin came with his family. When Paji arrived, everyone got ready with Bullet.

Rumm Rumm .. Rum rum rum … the rhythmic thump sounds crazy. The full excitement and enthusiasm was reflecting in each thump. Romanchit karne wala pal.. People around that area might have thought that some kind of thundering was happening around. Off course, it was sounded like Thunders because ThunderGods were on fire.

Here we go.. Anu and Inder were leading the group while Sagar and Ruchir were sweeper. We were total 18 people when we started our ride to Kolkata. As shown in the map, we chose Bhandara route for this ride. In proper formation, we began our ride. Initially we were bit slow as road condition was little bit poor. But when four track road started, the machines were flying, 120-130km/hr.

After 120-125km from Nagpur, we stopped for breakfast at local Dhaba. Everyone was hungry as no one had anything in morning. We ordered hot POHA and Chai. In between, Rajesh took out something from his bag. What was that ? wow .. Bhabhiji made parathas for all of us. Everyone attacked on that parathas, it was Yummyyy .. quickly we finished with the breakfast.

Jatin & Rishi from Roadshakers, Pune joined us on same place. Rishi, a huge personality with no hair. When Anu introduced me to him, he said .. ideally mera naam SHAKAL hona chahiye tha .. he he..

Now the bikes were also little bit cooled. Till that time, no causalities or breakdown. Touchwood !!.. We started again for next destination. The Raipur highway was too good. My bullet average was not good enough at starting. So I was looking for petrol pump because the bike was on reserve mode. I found one pump nearby as I didn't want to take a risk for next petrol pump. I stopped and re-fueled the bike. Sandeep also joined me on petrol pump. Sagar stopped for us as he was sweeping. I don’t know where was Ruchir as he was also Sweeping with Sagar. :p Now I, Sandeep and Sagar were far behind in the group. Why I remember this was because, after couple of miles, we came across small city called Rajnadgaon and unfortunately Police caught us at signal. They took us to nearby police station, enquired about us and our ride. Very politely Sagar explained them the purpose of ride, etc. We were relived quickly and proceeded to catch our mates. Cell phones were ringing to know about our location but we didn’t answer as it might slowdown us again. After few KMs, all people were waiting for us. We told them about the incidence. Waat lagte lagte bach gayi .. :p After Raipur, Sandeep from our group changed his way to Bilaspur as he was not coming with us to Kolkata, he was having his exam but he accompanied us till Raipur.

We continued our journey. It was noon time, around 2.30pm. We were hungry and were waiting from Anu’s decision to pause the ride for lunch. It was FAUJI Dhabha next to the petrol pump. We were very hungry, pet main chuhe kud rahe the .. and as per our club Parampara we ordered 10-15 plate bhurji, 15 plate mix veg, 10 Dal tadka and 200 Rotis :p. Waiter was shocked with this order but he served quickly. Since it was authentic dhaba, people were relaxing on khatiya. We took out our all riding gears and relaxed.

The road after this point was little bad. We were near to Nawapara Forest Range on NH6. Subsequently this was the shortest route, so we chose this. Suddenly my bike was making weird sound. When I checked the front side of bike, I found that the bolt connecting mud guard was missing. It could fall down due to vibrations. Luckily I got same kind of bolt in small shop in neighbouring village. We took small break in evening hours for tea.

As it was first day, excitement was very high and energy full to ON. So Anu, Inder and other big fellows decided to continue ride after evening. Since the road was little safe, we took that risk. Destination decided – SAMBHALPUR. Only there was one issue, Ishwar’s bike headlight was not working but we managed to fix it.

Finally we reached our first day destination i.e. Sambhalpur, Orissa. Ruchir talked to his clients and managed nice hotel for us, KC Palace. We were tired. Speedily we entered in bathroom and took long showers. Till the time Rajesh, our so called Account Manager :p managed to get some beer and food for us. Now it was party time and we really partied hard in our dormitory. Sagar added true fun in that party with his comments. He asked me to do Pole dance which I did long time back in bison resort. Since there was no pole in room, everyone asked Ruchir to become pole and I supposed to dance around him. Lol… I did it and it was so funny, we were laughing for 10-15 mins. Ha ha. Saurabh Katar was the target on that day. Bakra of the day.. Then the pile-up happened for him. Ahhh .. first time I came to know what is PILE-UP. Everyone in the room came and jumped on me. It happened with me earlier also (in RSS, we called it as KUCHI). As we had covered lot of distance on first day, everyone decided to start little late on 2nd day. We were parting hard till 3am. Ahh.. what a day.

Day 2

As decided, we woke up late and were lazy on 2nd day morning. We checked the bikes, tightened the bolts, added some oil and loaded the bags. Had heavy breakfast in same hotel, Puri/sabji, raita and parathe. Wow, it was too delicious. It cost us 1250 Rs :o .. only breakfast ..

We started our ride at around 11.30am. ya, it was late but nothing to worry as we had decided to reach Karagpur by the evening. But the start was not communicated with each other as Anu and Ruchir were waiting for us in other place of the city which was not discussed. But cell was working, so called them to join on decided track. We didn't know who were leading or who were at first place. I knew that Sagar and Inder were following us. Me, Sachin, Rajesh & Girish created group and rided closely. But then since long time we could not see Sagar & Inder in mirrors, so we stopped and were waiting for them. We came to know that Sagar’s Cramster bag got damaged due to bumpy road. They joined us quickly, till the time we took some snaps.. timepass. :p

The road condition was pathetic. Road mai ghadhe hai ki Gadho main road.. We were not together, one group was now divided in several groups. After riding almost 30 kms, we found our mates mingling on small tapri (stall). Actually due to bad condition of road, Vikram’s bike got punctured. But finally we gathered at one place. We relaxed for couple of minutes, had a sip of tea and some light snacks. Local villagers who were big fan of Bullet invited us in village which was 3 KM off the route but we had tight schedule, so politely refused it. We started together, but again some people were riding too fast and were lost from our vision. We were trying to chasing them hard. We crossed DEOGARH and reached Barakot , 35 kms from Deogarh. Saurabh, Jatin, Rishi, Neeraj, Anu were waiting for us. When I stopped there, Jatin found that one of the bolt which connects to engine was missing. I was surprised, but luckily I got bolt in a workshop. To see us, villagers gathered around us. Just for curiosity, they asked about us and about our ride. We happily narrated the whole story. We were waiting keenly for Ishwar, Ruchir & Sagar. Suddenly Anu’s cell rang and he got news that Sagar met with accident near Deogarh. Sale ka din hi kharab tha .. :( We didn't know how sever it was so only Anu and few fellas went back.

Saurabh was little worried about fuel condition in his bike, so I and he went some KM ahead for fuel. We came back to bridge near Barakot where we took some snaps as sunset was looking beautiful from that bridge which was built up on Rengali Reservoir. I saw that some riders were coming fast towards us, so I casually showed them my greetings. But when I closely saw and shouted Nikhil.. Nikhil .. yeah, we stopped Nikhil, Saikat & Thomas, who started their ride on same day from Nagpur. We told them about Sagar’s accident. We gather back at Barakot, communicated with Inder & Anu and came to know that the accident was severe, so we rode back to Deogarh.

We hardly rode 120-130 kms on 2nd day but the incident was serious, we were tensed. But Sagar was relaxed. He was sure that he would be fine as local doctor said that he was having only muscular issue in his knee. But he was not able to walk. His bike was screwed up. Headlight, front mud guard, leg guard was totally broken. That day we stayed in local hotel, Mamta Palace. We relaxed ourselves and had light dinner.

Ishwar was bit upset on that day as he felt that Sagar accident happened because of him. Sagar put on sudden break to save Ishwar who was riding just in front of him. That day no one was in party mood so I slept early that night to fulfil last 2 nights quota. Ghode bech ke soye .. :p

Day 3

3rd day was crucial for us as we had to take care of Sagar as well as we had to reach Kolkata. So we started early i.e. 7 am. Sagar decided to continue the ride as a Pillion. We chose Sachin’s bike for carrying Sagar. Sagar’s bike was couriered back to Pune (Ruchir managed that properly).

At starting the road was good. It was a forest area as well as twisty one (Ghat). It was the longest ghat I had ever seen. It was truly pleasant and enjoyable. We took small break for tea and light snacks. Sagar needed some rest so we had short breaks. We continued ride till noon. We stopped in a local Dhaba for lunch. But somehow Rajesh, alone continued riding. Pata nahi kya bhoot sawar tha janab pe .. :p We tried to contact him, but we failed. We thought he may come back when he could not see anyone for long time. On that Dhaba, people had Fish Curry, but I had Egg bhurji and Daal. Food was OK as it was cooked in some different oil.

Everyone had heavy food, and were ready to start. We caught Rajesh after 30kms, he was having food in other restaurant in next town. Everyone was angry on him. Bohot Galiya khayi bhai ne .. Now Sagar was feeling tired and he found uncomfortable on bike. So Rajesh initiated and hired car for him for next journey i.e. upto Kolkata.

We reached Karagpur, where we took short break and proceeded directly to Kolkata. My bike got very hot due to excess speed, so I had to take a break which made my bike cooled enough for further ride. Finally we touched Kolkata border. We enquired about the hotels and finally decided to stay at local Motel which was good for stay and food.

Everyone was happy to reach at destination i.e. Kolkata. But this was not the exact destination. The RM venue was different. We relaxed at motel and partied hard. Nandita (Neeraj wife), Anup and Nisarg joined us on this day.

RM – Day 1

It was lovely Saturday morning , the Rider Mania day. We woke up on normal timing i.e. 8am :p. No one was in hurry as we had decided to take entry by 12pm. People were feeling little lazy as we had enough time. I was curious about entry in RM because I heard that taking entry in RM itself is a competition. Every club has to enter with something special and different. We were deciding the same. Anu & Inder were designing the formation of the entry in RM. At 11.45am, everyone was ready with bike. All were excited to take a wild entry in RM.

Again .. Rumm Rumm.. Rum rum rum .. a rhythmic start .. thumps.. thunders.. Lightening...

The venue was exotic Lakeside Country club. We were at the entrance of the resort. Everyone was ready for planned entry. Most of the clubs already reached on the Venue and they were waiting for us.

We entered through the club’s royal entrance gate with loud and rhythmic thump. Other club members who already reached welcome us. Inder & Ruchir came in front of all members and started burnout. Other riders were doing Wiley. The atmosphere was supercool. Everyone in the club was shouting .. Lust Lust WanderLust.. Lust Lust WanderLust.. and thumping in same way .. Rumm Rumm.. Rum rum rum.. it was a great combination .. This way we had a majestic entry in Rider Mania 2011.

After our entry Roadmelters from Jamshedpur entered into resort. We welcome them warmly. I was so flattered to see all these things. There were different types of people around, came from all over India. Everyone was representing their clubs and culture that they were following. Riders were having cool tattoos on different parts of body. Colour, flashy, creative, different types tattoo. My club mates who already attended many RMs, they were meeting and greeted by other club members. Inder, Rajesh, Anu, Neeraj, Sagar they were introducing me with other club members. They were surprised to hear my unique name.. SHAKAL :p

The most exciting part was watching different type of bullets. Yeah, modified bikes, different colours, designs, formats, accessories, etc it was just awesome feeling to see all these bikes. Bikes were raring and beautiful. They were perfectly shaped with all the right curves. It was something like I was watching live Bike Expo on any sports channel. It was so Wild and thrilling.

Events/Competitions

Now the series of competitions started by the organising club i.e. Eastern Bulls. There was a huge parking area of the resort where they conducted events. First competition was the lucky single lady, number 8 i.e. rider have to choose one of the ladies and wheel her figure out with the precision of a plastic surgeon. Well, just make the figure of 8 while you ride your beast. The twisty & short turns need to cover within short span. Inder, Anu, Girish tried their skills in this event but failed to complete the path. Nikhil was almost at the finish line but he could not complete the race. Sagar with broken leg dared to participate in this event. Everyone supported him for his daring.

Since resort was huge, we took our bike's, and went to other side of the resort where we were going to stay. The rooms were luxurious and well maintained. From the window we could see a classic view of resort. Swimming pool, landscapes, garden everything was standard and showcasing the quality. We received a kit from organisers which contained a small bag, t-shirt, water bottle, stickers, etc. Now its was 3pm and we were very hungry. There was a huge banquet hall where we had our lunch. Food quality was too good.

2nd event was Slow & Steady: Wins the race. I don’t think I need to explain anything here. We enjoyed this very much. Inder, Sachin & Rajesh tried their luck but no victory. Though they gave tough fight in competition. Girls were equally participating in these events. It was late evening, around 7pm, and the DJ started at the other side of resort.

Organisers called for next event i.e. Beer competition. The one who quickly finished the big can of Kingfisher blue will win the event. Sabse bada Bewda koun !! So from each club candidates were nominated. From Wanderlust, Anu participated. He missed the title by few seconds. Girls were also invited for this event and they participated enthusiastically which was surprising for me.

We were dancing and boozing on rhythm of DJ. It was a war of DJs. Other club members were equally enjoying the party. Late night we went in room and took a deep sleep.

Day 2 - RM

It was beautiful Sunday morning, Day 2 of Rider Mania. Again new competition and event was waiting for us. Morning we had heavy breakfast. Very few mates from my club woke up in the morning.

1st event was announced by the organisers i.e. Blind race. The rider will ride the bike with keeping black cloth on his eyes and pillion will help him by telling the direction. The race looked easy but it was not. Since there were curves in path which could not be described by pillion, we just have to trust him. Since no one were present from club at that moment. I registered my name with Neeraj in this event. Other participants were trying hard to complete the path but they could not. They fell before the end line and not even covered enough distance. Then I attempted this race. With proper focus and following Neeraj instruction we covered the maximum distance in this race and WON the event. Yuppeee .. this was my first award in first RM. I was so happy that I could not explain in words. When my club members came to know about this victory, they were equally happy and surprised too that how I did it !! :p .. Shakal ne baji mar li yaar .. sahi hai .. :)

It was Subash Chandra Bose jayanti and we were in Kolkata. People were enthusiastic for this day. From a local NGO, kids presented folk dance. They asked for charity for the same organisation. All riders contributed for this noble cause.

2nd event was Bike Towing race. This was also simple race to understand. One rider will tow other bullet. In this race also we, the Wanderlust club were leading. Me and Nikhil attempted for first round. We WON the race i.e. Round1. It was again an achievement for me. Then Rajesh & Sachin used our bikes for second round. Rajesh was riding my bike and Sachin was Inder’s Bike. They also won the race. Then it was Anup and Inder’s turn. Since Anup was not aware about tact, they lost the race which was unfortunate. In final round, Nikhil changed his side to tow me and there we made a mistake. We lost the race and even Rajesh & Sachin were 2nd in the race as they didn't have powerful bike. But appreciated a lot and supported other club members for this race.

3rd event on same day was Tug of War. A well-known game which we play from childhood. Here 5-6 people from each club participated. The huge giant fellows came forward for this event. It was a power game and everyone was showcasing muscle power in this game. Roadmelters won this game as all hatte katte sardar were the participants. :p

We took special bengoli lunch having different Bengali recipes. Roshgulla, sandesh, very special Bengali sweets were in deserts. We thoroughly enjoyed the food.

The next event was Lego; The assembly war. Nikhil and Inder nominated names from Wanderlust. In this game, they had to assemble few parts of bike i.e. front tyre, accelerator cable and Chain lock. Everything was decided that who will do what. Rajesh bike was selected for this event. Inder asked me for my bike, but I refused as I have already spent time in morning for repairing my beast. The game started and within 2.5 mins Roadmetlers ended the game. They dressed up again, and then again rode her till the end. It was mind blowing performance by Roadmelters. Inder and Nikhil spent around 15 mins but they could not start the bike. But participation was important.

In late evening, the event was announced by organisers i.e. Free Style Biking. Inder, Ruchir from our club and Vikram from other club nominated names for this event. They showcased talent of wild biking i.e. burnouts, wheelies, skids and different types of stunts. It was thrilling experience to watch such stunts.

~ Modified beautiful bikes @ Rider Mania 2011

In night we witnessed a stunning rock show accompanied with BIKE show. From different clubs, riders were showcasing their bikes. They explained how they modified their bike and some special features too. Some bikes were very beautiful. Some were antique, I think 1960 model. Yeah, but they were well maintained. People rated on bikes, rider from Royal beast, who attended 9 RMs and travelled 3 times Ladhak, had very special modified bike. He got award for his bike i.e. BULL of the Year.

After bike show, award distribution started. We, me and Neeraj, got award for Blind race. In award we got 1 watch and 1 t-shirt. We were happy because we were the only member from our club who received award in RM 2011. Then with final cracker show, the next RM place was announced.

RM 2012 will be happening in Delhi. It will be organised by ROYAL BEAST club.

This way we enjoyed every moment of Rider Mania. But about return journey, nothing was planned and discussed. We were in Trans of Rider Mania which was the best part.

Kolkata Stay

On Monday morning i.e. next day of RM, people were getting ready for return journey with promising each other that they will surely meet in next RM or GM (Gadha mania, another gathering of Royal Enfield riders at Lonar Lake, Maharashtra). We decided to return Nagpur with same route but on next day. We were planning for Puri route for return journey but it somehow didn’t worked. Few of our club members, Rajesh/Girish/Sachin, continued their journey to East India i.e. till Gangtok. I didn't have that much leaves with me otherwise I could have joined them. Thomas, Anup, Nisarg returned to Nagpur through flight. Saikat met with minor accident last night so he decided to fly back. He couriered his bike via Gati.

Finally me, Sagar, Anup, Inder, Neeraj, Nikhil, Ruchir & Anukaran decided to stay in Kolkata for that day. We checkout from resort and roamed in city on bike. Local club member suggested us some good hotels in city so we were exploring city for the same. We saw huge Howrah Bridge, a great piece of architecture and engineering. With exhaustive search, we found one economy hotel. The hotel name was HOTEL International but not single item was international in that hotel.

We quickly checked-in in hotel and left our bags and bikes in hotel. Hired two taxis and watched some exciting spots in the city. We saw TRAM, a local narrow gauge train, an identity of Kolkata city. We saw Birla memorial, Victoria Memorial, Eden Garden Ground, etc. We did some shopping in local market too. I purchased some t-shirts and some toys for Padmaksh (my son).

We gathered in one Chinese restaurant where we had delicious food. I saw “Kunal Vijaykar” in nearby restaurant, he acted in movie “Ab tuk Chappan”, a comedy actor. We came back to hotel. Sagar had to take flight and Anup had to take train. They catched their conveyance in morning and went to respective places.

Return journey - Day 1

We were 6 people at the end for the return ride to Nagpur. The destination was decided in night itself i.e. Sambhalpur. For that we started early morning, around 6am. We asked local people for the way to get out of Kolkata city. It took us half an hour to leave the city.

The atmosphere outside the city was awesome, How ?? it was totally fogy. Yeah, though it was little tough to ride in such condition but we were enjoying that weather. Our helmet glasses were totally damp when we were riding. This weather continued till Karagpur i.e. till 10am. It was a wonderful experience. We took lot of snaps in between the ride.

We stopped on local dhaba again for breakfast. I still have snap of that dish. Egg bhurji, Paratha, Dal and cucumber. After heavy breakfast, we proceed to Sambhalpur. Nikhil, Ruchir & Inder were too fast and road was good and their bikes too. Me, Neeraj & Paji were following them.

But at one time we lost people from our vision who was leading. So at one square we asked for route for Sambhalpur just to make sure that we were on right track, so local people suggested route. I felt something was wrong. We were not on right track. We asked people again & again, then we realize that they suggested us Sambhalpur of Bihar and not Orissa. We turned back and came to same square from where had asked people. Now we were on right track, till the time we called Inder and asked them to wait for us. Paji was disappointed as we were not riding in group.

We were in Orissa, when we had our lunch. Our stomach was screaming for food. We were at same place from where we had taken taxi for Sagar. Paji asked me to ride little fast but my bike was not speeding up. Post lunch I tried hard and stretched little bit, I touched 110km/hr. Inder/Ruchir asked me go forward so I had given full throttle and reached Deogarh before them. I almost missed them for 30kms. I was very fast that time.

2 riders from Raipur crossed us. We had a quick chat with them at tea stall in Deogarh. In between, Neeraj's bike tyre was punctured. Again luckily we found mechanic to repair it. By late evening, we reached Sambhalpur, as planned and decided.

Same KC palace and same dormitory. We were tired but still we had chit chat, reminding all pranks we did before in same room, after little bit boozing and heavy dinner, we took a deep sleep.

Return journey - Day 2

We decided to start early in the morning and reach Nagpur by evening. So we got up early morning, as usual were doing routine checks of bike. I was checking my bike carefully as previous day ride was little bumpy. I checked tyres for any screw or any kind of damage. Ohh shit.. alloy wheel of rear side was broken. I showed them to Nikhil and Inder. According to them it was a severe damage. I was saved luckily as it didn’t happen during the ride then probably I would have met with major accident. God saved me. Now the question arrives what’s next. Since it was early morning, we had to wait till shops opened. We asked people around and they suggested few mechanics. Neeraj & Nikhil helped me to get it done. I had to throw that alloy wheel and I purchased new wheel with spokes as a replacement. It took around 1pm for getting this done. We were frustrated but no other way or work around for such casualty.

We started at 2pm from Sambhalpur in pretty hot weather. Uff.. everyone was so tensed as our plan was totally screwed up. But anyhow we had to continue our ride. By 7pm we reached Raipur. We took a pause for food at local restaurant. Now we had to take a call, continue the ride or stay at Raipur. My bike was weak and Neeraj bike was also creating tappet noise. But we dared to take a chance and asked Anu to continue ride.

Traffic in Raipur was too much crowdie but we managed to get out of that quickly. A weird incident happened at Toll booth near Raipur. Everyone took lane which was designed for two wheeler but I was lazy so I put my bike in car lane. I don’t know, may be because of helmet I could not see bar in between which is always there in toll booth to stop cars. It hit on mirror of my bike and then on my shoulder. As it was flexible, nothing happened to me. But I did not tell this incidence to my mates in that night. Galiya thodi khani thi :p

We continued our ride. Till Bhandara we were together. It was 12.30am. Everyone was riding together in proper formation. Paji was little worried, I didn’t know the reason, may be as a leader he was worried about me and Neeraj as our bikes were not fit and we were riding in mid night. We took small pause in nearby dhaba and had a sip of tea. It was too cood in night. Just 20kms were remaining. Nikhil was leading us and we lost him as he was in hurry to go home. We were only 5 at the end of ride.

We stopped at Kadbi square, Nagpur. Greeted each other for successful completion of ride and said adieu to each other. Me & neeraj stay in the same area so we took another turn and proceeded towards home.

I was astonished that I had completed my RM ride successfully. Though there were challenges but without challenges how it could be so exciting & thrilling.

At 2.30am, everyone at home was waiting for me. They gave me grand welcome. Gaurai had pooja thali in her hand, Mom/dad/sis were also present. Harshu was ready with foam spray and full-mala :p. Indeed it was a warm welcome. Padmaksh was also happy to see his father after one week.

At the end, it was a wonderful and adventurous journey. I will remember this throughout my life.

ThunderGod.. Ride Hard.. Rock Hard.. Live Free…

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a Ride!'