Prem Joseph the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Marriott hotels located in Hyderabad, was amongst those lucky few who was able to find an occasion to do so.

Long before Prem joined the Marriott Hotels he was a part of the BOBMC brotherhood and has ridden along with clubs like the Inddiethumpers and the Madras Bull to his current club the RTMC in Bangalore. In fact Prem was amongst the fortunate few to attend the first Rider Mania in Goa.

Prem always kept his passion alive for biking despite his growing professional commitments. However, time was becoming scarce and between career with increasing responsibilities and a family with two dotting daughters dreams of doing an all India ride for Prem was fast dying.

It was then that everything fell in place to create the ride of lifetime for Prem. BOBMC approached Prem for sponsorship of a few vouchers from Marriott for Rider Mania in Chennai 2014. To ensure all Marriott’s participated and to create a long term relationship with BOBMC the idea evolved to support Marriott’s Spirit to Serve concept which is basically Marriott’s CSR initiative.

About Marriott Home & Rising Star Outreach

Rising Star Outreach fondly called as Marriott Home shelters the children of people who have been affected with Leprosy. Their mission is to help the Leprosy colonies become thriving, self-sufficient communities. They accomplish this through three major initiatives: Economic rehabilitation through micro-grants; providing medical care through mobile medical clinics; educating children by providing opportunities to become productive citizens of India.

The children there have a school, a community centre, library and playing ground where they spend time with each other studying, playing and growing in a spirit of peace and harmony. The joy they share among themselves is spread over to the associates at Courtyard Chennai who wait for their chance to go and spend time with the children.

Through their association with Marriott Home, the hotel team helps deliver vital services to people affected by leprosy in the nearby Bharathapuram colony. The team works to raise funds for the colony; provide educational opportunities for adults and children, focusing on English instruction and computer literacy; and introduce business training and concepts like micro-credit, which have helped turn the poverty-stricken hamlet into a thriving colony.

For more details log into – http://risingstaroutreach.org/

Prem and the BOBMC team came up with the win- win proposal. Every Marriott Hotel in India would sponsor a voucher for two nights stay inclusive of breakfast. 7 of these vouchers would be put up for auction to the BOBMC community and the remaining would be given away as gifts and prizes. The money collected from the auctions would be given to the Marriott Home which coincidentally is in Chennai as well.

With this plan in mind, Prem with the help of BOBMC members set out on  6700 Km solo ride (Delhi- Chandigarh- Gurgaon – Jaipur- Bhopal- Ahmedabad- Mumbai- Pune- Goa- Bangalore- Cochin- Trivandrum- Chennai – Hyderabad) with mission to not only collect the vouchers from each hotel but to also spread the word of the BOBMC community across India.  Prem started his journey on the 6^th of Dec and completed his ride on the 22^nd of Dec. Majority of the breaks were to interact with the Press and media.

Leveraging Marriott’s PR network, Prem was able to not only spread the word on Marriott’s Spirit to Serve ethos and the Marriott Home, but was also able to create impressive press coverage for BOBMC and Rider Mania.

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When asked about this best experience during the ride that was over 15 days, Prem’s pat reply was “ I started out thinking that this was a solo ride and obviously had my apprehensions about the same. Not long into the journey I realized that I wasn’t alone on this ride. The brotherhood was always with me. I had an electrical problem with the bike in Jaipur and really thought I was stuck. It was then that I realized the strength of the brotherhood. Help came pouring in from various sources, people I never knew nor did they know me. All we had in common was the bond of the brotherhood. Believe me when I say I finally had to switch off my phone at 2am that night because of the phone calls coming in to ask whether I received the help in wanted. And this was not just in Jaipur every city I went there was the presence of the Brotherhood willing to help and support you at any cost”

Would he consider this ride a success. “ Absolutely. At each hotel we were able to generate the desired publicity apart from the donations. I do hope the auctions work well and we would be able to forge a long term relationship with the Marriott. Equally encouraging , every hotel I went had Bulleteers who were keen and willing to do the ride the coming year. This could turn out to be a joint annual event between Marriott and BOBMC coinciding with Rider Mania.”

The post Highway to Marriott – A Solo Ride appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

Every good thing in life has to come to an end, but the good thing about that is we know that its not the end of the road and we’ll have these days again. Rider Mania 2004 was one of those experiences. After a lot of hue and cry the Chief was finally declared Road worthy for the Goa trip and that too at 2300 hrs on the 7th.

DAY One 08/01/04
All set to leave at 0545 hrs on the 8th from the Leela’s and then from Chembur at 0620hrs. The group had been given strict instructions that those who were not on time would have to catch up later on as there would be no waiting business this time. So at sharp 0445 hrs on the 8th I’m up to check my kit one final time. Never had prepared so much for a trip before. New leather jacket, new bungi chords and net, spark plug, chain lock, new camera and not to mention the new retro silencer I had put on the Tbird (Chief). Man I was so excited that my room mate even commented that I was behaving like a teenager going on his first date. Hah what does he know what RM is all about and above that what the InddieThumpers are. Anyways with a full tank I’m at Leela’s at 0530 hrs 15 min before schedule to meet Sunny at 0545 he doesn’t turn up and at 0550 I decide to move on. Reach Chembur along with Rasik and the customary yelling and hugging goes on while a few irritated crows decided to leave their nesting trees, guess they never thought they would be disturbed like this before sunrise. Leave the place at 0645, late but none the less a marked improvement from the usual IST. Picked up a couple of guys from Vashi though there was no stop and then proceeded to Panvel where Gautam, Dino, Rose and Calvin joined us. The grp (21 bikes) decided to stop next only at Mahad. And so we thumped ahead. 50 odd kms down the line where the turn for Alibagh and Pajim comes Rasik who was leading the packdecided to stop for a cig I guess but waves on those behind him which was me and Vijay. So we both rode on oblivious that there was no one behind us. The roads at 8 in the morning with a thin fog and the slightly chilly weather was paradise. The new thump of the Chief with the retros were music to my ears. Vijay and I ripped at an avg of 100 to 110 till 0900 hrs. When we decided to stop 4 the others. The first bike to arrive at the spot was Rasik at 0945 hrs and we waved him along. By 1000 hrs majority of the grp had passed us and we decided to move again, after a light breakfast.

Ripped again to our hearts content again. Anthon and Hemal had decided to ride along with us by then with Anthon in the lead. It was pure pleasure driving with these guys especially Anthon in the Ghats. I just had to follow his path and I we were clocking an avg of 90 km/hr even on the Ghats. Have never done such speeds on the Ghats before. Vijay and Hemal had a few close escapes with Hemal nearly racing off the road on the Ghats. Anyways by 1200 hrs we touch Chiplun and decide to wait 4 the others and have lunch. Sunny, Pritam, Anil and a guy whose name I believe was Ameen turn ! up by around 1230 hrs. We get the bad news that Gautam had a fall just b4 Chiplun and his bike has been taken to a workshop close by for repairs. Me and Vijay get there relieved to find that Gautam ok though the shocks of Whispering Thunder would have to be changed which would take a couple of hrs. Anthon, Vijay, Hemal, Pritam, Ameen and I decide to move on at 1400 hrs as there’s no point in all of us waiting. With Anthon at the lead again we go ahead ripping to glory. Man! Anthon made the group do something like 200 odd kms before we stopped. Mid way Ameen’s bike stalled and we find theres no engine oil. I stopped along with Vijay and Pritam but couldn’t wave down Anthon and Hemal. Vijay went ahead and picked up oil and rode back. Its a pity I must say some people aren’t grateful enough coz after that we never heard of this character. Apparently he decided to stay else where and never decided to meet us again.

Anyways we reached the Goa Check point at 1930 hrs and catch up with Hemal and Anthon who had reached half and hour back. By 2030 hrs we reach Calangute to be greeted by Bruce and the gang ( Bilal, Yash, Dilip, Zenosh, Amith and his fiance) They were supposed to reach on the 7th but stayed overnite coz a couple of the guys found it too tiring. The 8th nite was pretty relaxing. Spent sometime at a shack on the Calangute beach. While on the beach got news of the others on their way. Abhishek, Menon, Vishy, Bozi decided to stop some 100 kms before Goa as Vishy was nearly falling asleep on his bike. Sir DJ had a fall and had to keep his bike at a hospital at Ratnagar and carry on in a car. The flat was pretty congested with just 3 rooms and 30 odd people. Hemal, Bruce and I pile into a double bed and call it a day.Bilal did try his luck to pile in but was thrown out of the bed by the three of us.

DAY Two 09/01/04
Got up lazily to find Gautam and Rasik in the room too. Apparently they reached pretty late and were chilling out at Tito’s from till the wee hours in the morning. By around noonish we move to Brittos at Baga. After the customary beers and oogling at the scantly dressed firangs we decide to test the waters of Baga. By now Saxena had also joined us and we ( Bruce, Saxena, Vishy, Vijay, Rasik, Subbu and I) have a gala time in the water. Dipesh decided to do show off his muscles in the Bhaga water after some time only to be attacked by Bruce, Vijay, Saxens and myelf. The poor guy was first immersed in water and then subjected to a sandstorm. Was great fun to see Dipesh in his white Jockeys run for his life. After some lite shopping we move to a fav joint of mine on Calangute beach for lunch. Ok guys heres the menu – Prawn Vindaloo, Chicken Cafreal, Stuffed Crabs, Roast Pork, beef chops, Grilled Kingfish, Crab Curry, Port Wine, Beer, Irish Cofee and banana split. Man those who weren’t there what can I say……. there are some things in life that u just cant miss.With such a heavy lunch we decided a couple of us decided to crash out for sometime. Spent the evening arranging Sir DJ’s air ticket back to Mumbai on the 10th and a drop. Plus we got the patches made from Mumbai stitched on to our brand new leather jackets. Man they really looked cool. Rasik and a couple of guys took the initiative of arranging a booze party in the evening. Goa and booze……. take a wild guess guys on how it must have been. The party went on in its usual flow with booze and the laughter all around. That when Goli (Sameer) and I for some reason had a discussion. Before u know it Goli and I cleared the centre table and decided to end an argument with an arm wrestling match. Man that created the whole atmosphere. Soon there was an official InddieThumpers arm wrestling match. Who was the winner? Well overall Zico defeated me once and in a rematch I defeated him. Otherwise we lost to none other. Zenosh was definetely one of the hot favourites and when I had a match with him the guy proved to be stronger than I thought.

With all the Daru over and arms aching we moved on to Calangute beach for Dinner. Had a huge table set on the beach and placed the orders for everyone. Bilal I guess had a few too many drinks and lets say was feeling a bit too generous, throwing his wallet all over the beach. But hey, then these are the things that make a party complete. Way to go Bilal! On the way back Dilip uncle met with a small accident with a Kinetic and broke the bikes headlight. Nothing major but it hurts when its on a new bike. The rest of the nite was pretty peaceful except for Subbu’s Snoring.

Day Three 10/01/03 – RIDER MANIA
The reason why we are here has come. Everyone was visibly excited. Helmets and bikes were being cleaned, jackets were being donned, guys were actually going to a near by saloon for a shave!!! Bruce and I put up the two flags that were made the previous nite on sticks and had them put on the bikes. It was decided that Bruce and I would lead the pack and there would be no overtaking and the speed would be 50 odd. Guys the feeling is one Im sure anyone who has ridden with us would know about. And I was feeling xtra proud coz I was leading the pack. Thanx to all the senior members who let me do so. Tony and his friend met us mid way and lead the pack with their Honda City in front. It was a sight to see. 34 bullets and the honking mania. A couple of passerbys even started to honk the Thumper honk. And the entry we made was amazing imagine all the honking with the bikes riding down the slope to Riva resort.

Once in the resort we did what we did the best. The moment we heard free Beer the waiters had a tough time. Saw a couple of cool looking bikes modified, new and old ones. The best part was the ideas we got for future changes we may want to put on our bikes.Couple of bottles down and majority of us moved to the beach with our bottles to check out the firangs and the rate the stock. The best part was when Goli man decided to use Calvin (3 yr old) as a pretext to get close to the dames on the beach. By evening Sachin (REM) called us for a beach football match. From the Inddie Thumpers Bruce, Vijay, Abhishek and I decided to play with me and Abhishek on one team and the other two with others on the other. Sidhartha Lal joined us after sometime and made the mistake of joining the other team. Poor fellow came in front of me and got the kick of his life that kept him on the sand for a few mins and finally retired hurt. Hehehe..No guys it wasn’t intentional.

The rest of the evening was as usual with beer and guys rocking the dance floor. Must admit the Rolling Thunder made the loudest noise but the Inddies horn was also playing on the floor courtesy Zico, who had bought one of those hand horns. By around 2330 hrs we decided to ride back as it was a good 30 km ride and quite a few of the guys were pretty high. The ride back was ok till at some place we got stuck in a major jam of some Sat nite market and were stuck there for a good 30 mins. The only good thing about that was the dames we got to check out there. Looked like the doors of Dame Land had opened up and they too were staring at the leather clad bull hoisted guys. Once we reached the flat found out that Bozi had blown up a tyre and had to leave the bike back. Decided to pick up the bike the next day.

Day Four 11/01/03
Guys got a bit grogy and it was unanimously decided not to go to RM for the proposed ride. We were planning to go to Paloleim beach which was some 80 odd kms from Calangute, when Zen, Bruce, Vijay and Abhishek decided thay were moving on to Jog Falls Shimoga some 180 kms from Goa, and return to Mumbai on the 13th nite. Dilip, Yash and Kumar decided to move and stop mid way for the nite and reach Mumbai on the 13th. So after the usual hugging, farewells and promises to meet at Carter took place and at 1330 hrs the rest of us decided to move to Porvorim circle to another fav joint of mine called O’Coquiero. Here goes the menu again-Pork Chops, Roast Piglet, Grilled Pomfret, Kingfish Curry, Chicken Cafreal, Pork Chops, Beef Steak, Grilled Crabs, Butter chicken, Beer, Wine, Margaritas, Tequilla shots et al. Only poor Hemal looked lost with his veg curry and rice. Well as to how good the food was?……….. I guess it’s evident that all the guys went back and crashed for a good two hours. Allwyn’s sister joined us later on with her friend. Man she must’ve been frightened with the way we were hogging away to glory.

The evening was spent quietly on the Baga beach with a few drinks and a very lite dinner. It was planned that Gautam, Anil, Subbu and Myself would be the first batch to leave at 0430 hrs and the next batch would Anthon at 0500 hrs and Rasik would bring along whoever was left by 0600 hrs.

Day Five 12/01/03 – Bye, Bye, Goa
Up at sharp 0400 hrs and was all set to go by 0430. The other guys were also ready and we left by 0445. Before leaving Subbu asked me if it would be very cold. Little did I know what lay ahead of us when I said it would be slightly chilly. After and hour or so of riding my fingers were so numb that I could’nt feel my fingers. Thats when I decided to change my half gloves for the full ones. I waved the guys ahead and stopped to take out the gloves from the bag. Guys Im not exaggerating. my fingers had become so numb that I was struggling to open the bag for 20 mins and I couldnt even open my jackets zipper. Luckily a local came along and helped me out. Caught up with the gang after 45 mins. We stopped at this place called Ratnaghar or Rajaghar where Yash and the guys had stopped for the nite. Kumars bike’s battery was giving him some problems and they had a mech working on it. There were 4 firangs on bull who were on their way from Mumbai to Goa! Well guess what they had heard about The Thumpers and knew what we were all about. They couldnt believe their luck when we told them Anthon was on his way behind us, coz as per someone recommendation they had gone to his garage only to be told he had gone to Goa. Anthon arrived half an hour earlier with Hemal but the firangs were luckless coz Anthon true to his nature zoomed by and failed to notice us standing there. Rasik joined us by 0930 hrs with Dipesh and Bilal. At 0945 hrs Rasik and I with Gautam decided to carry on. The ride was pretty much eventless but it was nature at it best and Ghats were simply superb, except for the fact that there was a trail of oil on the highway for a good 30 kms. Rrasik and I actually skidded a couple of times over it. We finally caught up with the culprit, a truck as expected with a Transformer on it whose oil was spilling. We stopped the guy and forced him off the highway. After giving him a piece of our mind the guy took the truck to a nearby pertrol pump and started to fix the problem. From there on the speed became full throttle with no stops except once when me and Amith had to stop to remove a pup from middle of the highway. reached Chiplun at 1200 hrs and had a lite lunch we moved on. Lost the group midway coz my clutch cable broke. Was feeling a bit sleepy durin the day with the heavy lunch and early morning but managed to do speed of 80 to 90 . At 1700hrs reached Panvel to find Rasik arguing with a cop coz he didnt have his papers. The Dick actually convinced the guy to let him go by saying he’d arrange a loan for him the UTI branch of Panvel hahahha!! Anyways, bid him good bye at Belapur and reached home at 1815 hrs.

When I look back at this trip………guys I dont know how to say. Was it faultless….. definately not, could it have been organised better….. probably, Was it worth it…………. anyday, would I do it again……………. WHEN DO WE LEAVE. Signing out with memories that would last for a long time and with hopes the next trip is round the corner.

Written by Prem Joseph of Inddiethumpers

The post Rider Mania 2004: Of Sun and sands appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

The group had fun riding, but after a long, hard day on the road with the destination nowhere in sight, patience started wearing thin. Some members wanted to stay the night in Hyderabad and leave in the morning, but finally, after a lot of deliberation, we decided to ride on. When we finally reached, it was the Cinderella story in reverse! – it was close to midnight, the party was just starting, there was a lot of activity and hot food. So much better than being cooked up in some hotel and cold sandwiches for dinner!!

I was staying in the dorm inside Filmcity. When the organizers were escorting me to my room, I was too tired to notice the roads or landmarks leading up to the dorm … which made for a rather interesting next day! I decided to get an early start the next day to catch up with the other folks over coffee and breakfast. I had grossly underestimated the vastness of the film city, and became Alice in the Film City Wonderland. I kept going round in circles and had practically toured the entire city on my purple and white bike. I got some very interesting directions from security guards that led me to the airport, railway station, a nearby film set…. Everywhere except where I had to go! I finally managed to reach the actual venue with the help of one of the organizers, just in time for breakfast. Everyone who was present at the previous RM kept pulling my leg about my ‘missing’ laptop bag. I played along saying I just finished shooting for a song on a bike at the film city!

I had a wonderful time at RM – partying and dancing on the lawns on both days with the nights being surprisingly cool and pleasant. I also made sure that I took the complete tour of the film city, much to the amusement of the security guards who saw me riding around the previous day.

The ride back from Hyderabad to Bangalore was quite eventful – one of the couples fell on the badly lit highway and we had to make sure they were taken care of. We reached Bangalore late at night. Inside the comfort of my warm home, I started to wonder about the fact that the same route was done a year back in about 10 hours and in complete daylight. This time, it took almost 16 hours, and we rode well into the night. Was it because we were such a large group? Maybe, I had just become older and my weary bones were beginning to feel the pain of being on a bike and riding for that long!!!

The ride to the second RM was a lot easier because I had done the route before and we were riding in a big group. RM was happening in Ramoji film city, and I really wanted to partake in the entire experience, so I consciously decided not to carry work. Thankfully, because of my past record, I got a colleague to act as back up for the two days that I was away.

The group had fun riding, but after a long, hard day on the road with the destination nowhere in sight, patience started wearing thin. Some members wanted to stay the night in Hyderabad and leave in the morning, but finally, after a lot of deliberation, we decided to ride on. When we finally reached, it was the Cinderella story in reverse! – it was close to midnight, the party was just starting, there was a lot of activity and hot food. So much better than being cooked up in some hotel and cold sandwiches for dinner!!

I was staying in the dorm inside Filmcity. When the organizers were escorting me to my room, I was too tired to notice the roads or landmarks leading up to the dorm … which made for a rather interesting next day! I decided to get an early start the next day to catch up with the other folks over coffee and breakfast. I had grossly underestimated the vastness of the film city, and became Alice in the Film City Wonderland. I kept going round in circles and had practically toured the entire city on my purple and white bike. I got some very interesting directions from security guards that led me to the airport, railway station, a nearby film set…. Everywhere except where I had to go! I finally managed to reach the actual venue with the help of one of the organizers, just in time for breakfast. Everyone who was present at the previous RM kept pulling my leg about my ‘missing’ laptop bag. I played along saying I just finished shooting for a song on a bike at the film city!

I had a wonderful time at RM – partying and dancing on the lawns on both days with the nights being surprisingly cool and pleasant. I also made sure that I took the complete tour of the film city, much to the amusement of the security guards who saw me riding around the previous day.

The ride back from Hyderabad to Bangalore was quite eventful – one of the couples fell on the badly lit highway and we had to make sure they were taken care of. We reached Bangalore late at night. Inside the comfort of my warm home, I started to wonder about the fact that the same route was done a year back in about 10 hours and in complete daylight. This time, it took almost 16 hours, and we rode well into the night. Was it because we were such a large group? Maybe, I had just become older and my weary bones were beginning to feel the pain of being on a bike and riding for that long!!!

The post Rider Mania 08: A biker movie in a filmcity appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

It’s another thing when you are riding in a small pack, early in the morning, bugs entering your mouth, your nose, your eyes and you take your bike up through the gears, till the sound of the engine fills up more than your ears, till it fills up your very soul.

Man, was I happy!!

The stretch till Kollekal is heavenly, four-laned almost all the way, and it sure was bliss, overtaking the trucks, seeing the others all lit up in the my rear-view mirror and slowly but surely – as one familiar landmark after the other fell by – letting the magic of the road fill my being. And then, with the skies lightening into dawn, we reach Kollekal and I turn left and pull into the A-1 Plaza.

First thing GR says when his helmet comes off is “Why did you turn and stop man, the ride was heavenly”. But then, this is where he wanted to turn back from, so that is what he did and we also rode ahead in no time as there was no Tea available at the place.

After Kollekal, it was Deepa who was leading; I take off after her and note that Prashant is talking to the Reliance Bunk attendant. There’s no sign of Prashant as Deepa flies in front of me. By now the light is getting brighter and I note that the quaint water-logged quarry before Toopran where I have stopped on a number of times to watch the water-birds is getting filled up.

Maybe the right place to put up another A-1 Plaza or some swanky resort, eh??

We ride on, me happy to tail and maintain a safe riding distance, doing a nice 80-90 and drinking my fill of the green Turmeric and the just awakened Sunflowers, even as trucks get overtaken and Sumos and Cars on the wrong side get the middle finger. Then I see a blazing headlight on my right and yes, Nomad is here. Prashant also seems content on riding herd and we do exactly that for something like 20kms or so and then he suddenly high-tails it.

I am content being on the highway, happy with my pace and not keen on pushing this bike I love so much, so I see Prashant and Deepa become specks in front of me and then disappear, till we link up again, when I see them parked on the left side of the road at Narsingi. I tell Prashant everything is okay but I am not happy with the way the bike is moving and that I will carry on at my pace.

He wanted to know where the next A-1 Plaza is but it’s a while since I was on this road and 2 years or so back there weren’t that many A-1 Plazas. So we start off again and the bikes in front of me become specks again. A bit after, a blue Thunderbird comes pretty close to me on the right side, the rider gesticulates, I say, Hi, Hello, etc. Evidently he can’t hear over the din of two Enfields, he now comes to the left, tries to pull his Balaclava down to talk, I shout and say “You must be Deep, Prashant is up ahead”, he falls back and then in a burst of heavy truck traffic, I lose sight of him.

If you are lucky enough to be on a road when the light is that of a full-blown golden winter morning, you can’t just ride through, you get touched to the through. I can see the water birds in the ponds, road side ditches and the small stretches of wetlands. I want to stop and put the camera to use, but I am pretty happy just riding along. From Ramayampet to Kamareddi is a lovely wooded stretch where the road dips and snakes nicely and this is where, while I am having fun with the throttle that I see two RE’s parked on the left side of the road and Prashant up-ending a bottle. Before my heel can crash on the neutral finder, Prashant waves me on and I ride on, enjoying the sights and the beginnings of the usual pain in the butt.

At Indalvai, I finally get to have a long delayed Chai! By now, my legs are getting a bit cramped and my back paining a bit and I do need to have a water and Tea break so I pull over to the left at Indalvai, buy some Chotta Gold Flakes from a shop and three RE’s come along, the Blue Thunderbird in the lead. Prashant is all eyes and blazing headlight, but this time I wave him on, I do need that Tea and I do need some time for the bike to cool off.

I managed to have the Tea without having to remove the jacket and once on the road I finally get proof of AP10R8691 not being in the pink of its health. Why? Where the road is straight, perfectly flat and with nary a pothole on it, the bike seems to want to go to the edges, right into the fields. I am bloody pissed and am like, “wtf, the rear tyre is new, the rear sprocket and chain is new, my attitude to life is new, then why isn’t this bike the Don of the old?” I hold back a bit more of the throttle and gentle the bike along at 60kph and realize that this is no wobble from the wheel. And resign myself to riding along. After all there is a road ahead and I have all day to do something like 350 kms.

Riding alone is something that has never worried me and I have always had the bad habit of looking all around me when I ride. So, I do just that, enjoying the views from a motorcycle’s seat, cutting out the frills, holding onto a steady 80kmph, gulping mentally when the bike weaves and still grinning from ear to ear from the thrill of being on the road. The sunflowers are more than what I can count and I also spot small patches of what could only be flowering Onions while the rest of the canvas I am riding through is green, just transplanted, growing rice.

And then, I do not really know when, I am suddenly passing through fields and fields and fields of Millets. Some are green all through, some are green and ripening golden, some are green and ripened red. So, I decide to stop and get a couple of quick snaps for my memoirs. Back on the bike, after a quick smoke in shade (did not remove the leather Jacket) I mosey along, wondering if I should stop for breakfast or try and catch up with the rest of the guys. So I don’t stop at Balkonda (there are a couple of hillocks here that look as if they are a pebble heap made by some supernatural child) I don’t stop at Son Gad (a small and solitary fort on the right side before Nirmal), I don’t stop at Kadthal (there are three statues here, one of Mahatma Gandhi, one of Subhash Chandra Bose and one that looks like that of Lord Rama, but maybe is of Alluri Seetaramaraju), I don’t stop at Nirmal fort (bang opposite is Nirmal tank and man, oh man it was full of ducks and any number of other water birds) and I for once don’t stop in Nirmal either.

Once through Nirmal, I note that there is a A-1 Plaza on the left, just before Mahboob Ghat starts, but I don’t see any RE’s parked there, so I get going and hit the ghats. The fun of riding in the ghats is not for me, I am too intent on ensuring the bike doesn’t go off the road, but somehow manage to ride on, noting that the monkeys are out as usual (this stretch always has monkeys on the road, probably because most truckers throw Roti and other food crumbs at them) and that the stretch isn’t as green and cold as it was last time I rode through here. By now, it’s getting hot in the leather jacket so I don’t take the turnoff to Kuntala (AP’s highest waterfalls) either and ride on wondering if Prashant and the others are behind me or ahead of me. Finally, I stop at Adilabad, its around 11.30 in the afternoon and I see a SMS from Prashant, saying that they had stopped at a hotel Nirmal to my right, at around 9.45. I ask around for Hotel Nirmal (for all I knew that could be the name of a hotel), ask everyone who looks at me if three RE’s have passed by, they say “No”, so I decide to ride on.

While intent on roaming and wandering, I was aware that I needed to stop somewhere and activate the roaming on my cellphone, but somehow I went on avoiding doing that and finally I was already in Maharastra. Now I had another major worry, my bike hit reserve and the two bunks I come across were out of petrol too. But then, I am kind of used to hitting reserve all across the country (the joke is entirely on me) so I hunker down and ride on. Entering Maharastra, the first thing I note is that the roads are no longer the millpond smooth ones behind me, but patchy and broken in a number of places. This means that there is more than a weaving bike to now contend with, every vibration of the bike making me feel as if I am on a rack, driving a million needles into the nerves at my elbows, knees and wrists.

Ouch, but I do deserve all this pain, I have been stupid to not ride for so long, and must say I have got used to the comforts of city living. I finally tank up 30 kms into Maharastra, @ Bori, with probably a spoonful of juice left in the tank and its one more reason to like AP10R8691 even more.

I could do with a bit of a bite but I am still intent on catching up with the guys ahead so I ride on again, weaving bike, hot leather and groggy self, notwithstanding. By the by, it’s around 1.00 in the afternoon, and I get to see the mirages on the road, the sunlight is a blinding glare from the centernut of the handlebar and I am wondering why there is absolutely no shade for me to just park the bike and catch a nap. Then all of a sudden I see a roadside hotel and I stop as I am suddenly overtaken by the urge to gorge on some Vada Paavs. The hotel doesn’t have Vada Paavs, but Samosas will do for me as well, so I tuck into three, enjoy a tumbler of Chhai and send the SMS updates to brother and colleagues, “150 kms from Nagpur and its lovely to be on the road”.

The roads are bad on this stretch and the traffic is a bit heavy and the weather is getting hotter and hotter so I forget everything about stopping for photography, pass lovely bridges with water flowing under them, a couple of canals nicely bending and reach Hinganghat at 2.20. Pull over at a quaintly named place called Kisan Hotel, order the most basic fare – a plate of rice, two dry Rotis, Dal, Brinjal curry, Chaach and a plateful of Radish salad – and get around to SMSing Prashant and calling my brother in Nagpur. Brother is like, I will take two and half hours to reach Nagpur (Hinganghat is 90 kms from Nagpur), I am like are you mad, I will be there in one and half, finally we agree that I will be at Panchsheel Square by 4.30 and I ride on again.

The roads are a bit better now but then I get caught up at a Railway Crossing where everyone seems to be looking at me. Normal behavior from the onlookers, considering that I was in a black leather jacket, my helmet is a catchy Red and my Bullet is growling even at idle.

Prashant’s SMS was that they are somewhere at a A-1 Plaza before Nagpur (on the right) so I ride on, cross Jam and then see a A-1 Plaza to my right, turn and check the parking but there are no bikes. I am riding pretty fast now, I want to get to Nagpur in a hurry, the road is now four laned and superb and yet in passing I see stands of Bamboo all along, glowing an incandescent yellow, reminding me of “yellowtome”, the Nikon competition which I somehow managed to forget all about. And then, finally at around 4.15 I am in Nagpur and use a local phone to call up my brother, berate him and ask him to spare me the pain of going around in traffic on a heavy Enfield and he finally guides me to Ravinagar Square.

Brother comes and I get a warm hug. He has no exclamations of surprise or incredulity, (my family knows me fairly well) but he still wants to know what Rider Mania is. I tell him people from all over India ride over to meet each other and talk Bullets. He wonders if I have ridden down to party and offers me all the booze in Nagpur if I stay back with him. I am like, no you come along, we will party there. While this repartee is happening, we have had two teas each and I have another nice palate experience, having eaten a “Cutlet Paav”, it’s getting late so I take his leave and tell him I will try and catch up with him in the next two days. I am also anxious to get the bike checked ASAP, so brother doesn’t manhandle me and I ride out of Nagpur hunting for Star Key Point Resort. The resort is on the Amravati Road, pretty simple to find really, since its straight all the way from Ravinagar, but I manage to cross the Resort and ride 10 kms beyond. Reason being, I mistook the logo of Star Key to be an arrow pointing the way down towards Amravati :-)))).

I forget to say of course that I also had a sunset to shoot and was looking for a suitable place where I could shoot it through one of the numerous Orange groves. As usual, when in doubt, I managed to stop and ask; got directed by a friendly car driver, took the turnoff this time and 2 kms of riding through a nice interior road lands me up at Star Key Point Resorts.

Prashant and Deepa are already there and I meet Deep too, so I get around to giving the bike to the RE Service guys (thanks to Sachin) and divest myself of the heavy leather jacket and the boots. By the by, I link up again with Deepa and Prashanth, meet Mr. Bose, meet CP of GBC, hear that RoadSurvivors are some 400 kms away and so on and on. The RE guys say the problem is with the Rotor and Stator, they dismantle the Clutch case and then say it’s because the front sprocket (behind the magnet) had developed play. I get around to sending some more SMS updates in between meeting Dino and Anukaran (who did not recognize me since I was as clean shaven as him), registering for the event and meeting Dipesh and some other guys from 60kph.

By now, I am dog-tired but the Wanderlust guys had arranged for drinks for everybody on the eve of Rider Mania, so I have a couple of Beers and then we (me, Mr. Bose, Mr. Naidu, Deep and another guy who had a Tee Shirt saying “Eaashoo” ) have dinner together and man that was some session. We talked of everything under the sky, right from Biryani to cleaning bikes, to a love for the road and so on. Finally, I knew I had to crash, so I got myself an extra mattress and fell into it.

Thus, I arrived at my second Rider Mania. God, be kind

The post Rider Mania 07: A Wanderer’s Chronicles appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

7th January 2004
Lot of last minute work and running around to be done… before we even realized it was past 12 and we were supposed to leave for the much awaited Rider Mania 2004.

8th January 2004
Solo, Saru, Dodo, Hero and myself gathered at Jaf around midnight and the bikes had their final touch up done to hit “the road”[before I continue, Jaf is a very respected Enfield mechanic in Madras and a perfect gentleman to say the least.]

From here we go ahead to a chai shop and decide as to who is doing what and when do we gather again. Finally it was decided that Saru and Solo would go together to get Solo’s insurance papers. To cut a long story short none of us 5 got ANY sleep and we had informed Brijesh at 5 in the morning to leave with the first group and wait a bit before Ranipet.

Finally at 7 Dodo, Hero and I start of from Le Meridian and Solo and Saru head back to Chromepet since Solo’s insurance work was not yet done.
Finally we were on the roads; Dodo was leading while Hero and I followed.
Roads were quite good, nothing to complain about really. We saw Apun coming our way and was wondering what went wrong, after a short gossip we learnt his bike was not pulling hence he had to ride back, really felt bad that he had to go back home after all the mental preparation he had for the Rider Mania. The Mad Bulls and Eastern Bulls regrouped some where before Ranipet.

Dodo’s parents were very kind to bring us some lovely sandwiches and hot coffee at the highway, after about 15 minutes of breakfast break we moved on. Now we were all together, the whole bunch [Dodo, Brijesh, Navaneetha, Hero, Easher, Kaushik, Ajith, and me], Solomon and Saru were behind. We had stopped at a place called Woody’s in Kolar to wash our faces and for some refreshments. We were wondering what had happened to Dodo and Hero as none of them were to be seen for quite some time. Then Brijesh and I got our beasts to life and went the other direction hunting for them, finally we see Dodo towing Hero’s bike which he was doing for the last 20 kms or so!!!.His wiring had got burnt and his bike just would not start. Anyhow we got a mechanic near by and got him to do a job which would at least allow him to ride the bike to Bangalore.

Just before entering Bangalore all of us re-grouped at a mechanics shop, the mechanic said he would not be able to do the wiring hence it had to be done in Bangalore. And then Dodo decided to split the group. Now the groups were – Hero , Dodo , Navaneetha [These three would go into the city – Bangalore and get the work done] and the remaining [Brijesh, Ajith, Kaushik, Easher, and myself] we were told to move on to Hassan and look for a place and crash.

From here we were riding in a pack and we were intact till we reached Hassan, we did some great night riding, and night riding is what I love :), you just have to know how to play with the lights and wala you can have a lovely time. Just as we reached Hassan we had stopped and calls were made here and there to know where the rest of the gang was. We were updated, Navaneetha was running on a new piston, Hero had his wiring done, Dodo got his bike fixed and all of them were ready to roll, these guys halted the night at Kunigal. I called up Ashwin[Swami] and told him
where we were and he told me that we would be getting ghats first thing in the morning and not to get tempted to rip as we would be getting some beautiful roads even better than the ECR next day.

Finally after getting a decent place to stay in, we unpacked and dumped our luggage after which we went to get some food. After a good light meal I went into the hotel room took out my sleeping bag and crashed on the floor.

9th January 2004
Woke up, washed my face and was ready to roll. Rode out of the town and stopped at a place for chai and some tit-bits. Here Easher did not balance his bike properly on main stand and his bike had a fall, the clutch lever and the head light glass broke. Easher went pillion from here with Kaushik’s brother while Kaushik rode Eashers bike. The ghats were simply awesome we were scraping pegs, main stands, side stands
and everything that came on the way. I simply love ghat riding and night riding. Picked up ghat riding tips from Solo in the “All India Ride for Peace and Unity”.
We stopped at the ghats at a joint for breakfast and moved on, after some time Easher had enough of sitting pillion and wanted to get used to the feel of riding without a clutch, and he was soon quite comfortable rolling on the ghats. After the ghats came to an end and we were nearing Mangalore we came across a mechanic and he got the clutch lever fixed along with a head light glass. Over here we enquired about the Mangalore Bypass which Ashwin had told me about and once we got to it, it was great. It heads straight into Udupi and it’s a completely ghat section, very narrow roads and beautiful turns. Brijesh found it a bit bumpy also the nut which holds the silencer to the bend pipe on his bike gave way, but nothing really to worry about.Finally we hit the road which Ashwin was talking about, the road was very beautiful and a straight stretch, everyone was maintaining a steady 80kmph in a close formation. A stop for tanking up, here we were 280 kms away from Panaji. When we hit the coast, the sight was amazing and we had to stop for a couple of snaps. Got the bikes on side stand and parallel to each other and pictures were taken from all different angles.

The road along the coast was unfortunately only 2kms and I enjoyed every bit of it. After about 10 minutes I stopped Brijesh since the jacket he was wearing was not chained and to add to that a string was hanging out which could have proved to be quite a menace. After having him take of his jacket and tying it into the bungees we moved on.

A couple of kilometers ahead the remaining three were waiting and waved us to go ahead and so we did. From now on we were doing a steady 80 and we were doing it or longer durations, we were covering great distances in good time. After about 80 kms of continuous riding we decided to stop and give the beasts some rest. This was one great stretch and we decided to ride on without stopping for a longer duration. Brijesh was
wondering how fast the remaining three were that we  could not yet catch up with them in spite of doing such great speeds, and then I realized that Brijesh had probably missed those three waiving at us. Anyhow it was no use waiting for them now since they would be at least half an hour behind, hence we decided to continue, and since they were three of them they should not face any problems as such. We were about 100 odd kms away from the Goa border so we decided to hit the border in day light. We did exactly that, we crossed the Goa border by 6.45pm and the sun was still up and shining. Once in Goa we were doing some really lazy riding, stopping every 10kms for some Chai, soup etc etc. Once it so happened we saw a Pepsi board and decided to stop for some tea, we then realized we had stopped at a bar and we were turning our bikes to
head back on to the road when the people there asked why we were doing so, on telling him that we wanted chai he readily agreed and made some tea for us. Here Brijesh made some calls to Dodo, Ajith, Karna and all. Ajith and company were way behind due to some problems they faced with the locals but thanks to their sources they did not face much hassles, but were delayed by a quite a good number of hours.

By around 10.30 we found our resort which was near the Vagator Beach where all the arrangements had been made for the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club [Bangalore], Eastern Bulls [Kolkata], Madras Bulls [obviously Madras]. After contacting the rest of the team, and being assured that everyone is safe we dumped our luggage in the room and went to see the neighborhood. After about half an hour we got back to our room and went of to sleep.

10th January 2004
In the morning at around 5 we heard our names being shouted out and I was wondering was it a wild dream or something, but no, it was the three bikes which had delayed finally arrived. We contacted Ranga , who is another Madras Bull member but had come a couple of days earlier into Goa to arrange for accommodation and requested him to come to the resort. Once he arrived we got the accommodation fixed and while the others wanted to take a batch and sleep for some time I decided to head on to the Rider Mania venue with Ranga.
The venue was very well chosen, with lots of parking space for the beasters [There were about a total of 130 bikes which turned out from across the country, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata] Ranga then introduced me to a number of guys; it was great to know like minded people. Day time everyone was basically chilling out, some was still coming in hence it was more or less a very informal day. The ones from the Madras Bulls who were in Goa already came in quite late since they had got no sleep. And the remaining who was riding from Kunigal had arrived by lunch time. Finally all of us were together. Everyone was simply lazing around, some informal introduction here and there and it was sunset before we even realized. Great music was being played, all those good
old Rock, the kind of music which the old guys enjoyed in their college days and which our generation is also enjoying.

The dance floor was packed with guys from all the clubs shaking a leg banging onto each other thereby introducing them selves to. This was the Royal Enfield night where Royal Enfield had organized the dinner. After Dinner we packed of for our hotels as the next day was supposed to be a big day for us.

11th January 2004
By 10.00am we all were ready to leave the resort and head towards the Rider Mania venue. On arriving at the venue Sachin announced the schedule for the day. Firstly all the founder club members/club representatives were awarded with a memento by Siddhartha. And then Siddhartha Lal the CEO of Royal Enfield who was with us through out at the Rider Mania and was interacting with many of us. We were now of for a city ride and Sid was also one of us on his A500 which is to come into production in a couple of month’s time. Try imagining 130 bullets thumping a 40kmph together. Actually it is not possible to imagine such a scene; you have to see it to understand what it actually is. This ride got over in an hour or so. Siddhartha headed of to the airport to take a flight to Delhi for some work while the rest of us headed back to the venue.

Some of us, namely Dodo, Brijesh, Navaneetha and my self wanted to leave today itself so that we can stay the night at Honnavar and head to Jog Falls the next morning. We halted at a hotel 61 kms before Jog Falls. We had lots of company here, Sid, Rocky & Pallavi, KJ, PP from RTMC and the four of us.

12th January 2004
Rocky & Pallavi leave 15 minutes before us. They are steady and safe riders. The four of us left the hotel at about 8.30 in the morning, tanked up and head towards the falls. I am running out of words to describe the ghats. They were simply out of this world. The roads were good, the turns were neatly banked. There were some lose gravel in the centre of the road which could prove to be dangerous if not noticed. Dodo and I were ahead most of the time I preferred staying behind Dodo, though there were times he told me to go ahead and enjoy the curves. Unfortunately his bike was not pulling well and he felt there was something wrong with it hence was a slower than his usual speed. We stopped for a couple of snaps and continued. About 20 odd kms before the falls there was this undisciplined Indica driver who had probably taken his car out of his back yard for the first time and had taken it for a spin to the jog falls, almost put me of the road. As we were about to enter Jog falls Sid overtook us and gave us a nice smile. From here I left Dodo behind and was tailing Sid, we were doing good speeds but since the roads had started to break up in this section suddenly I preferred staying behind him. The turns were beautiful, before we could even straighten our bikes out of a turn the next turn came up☺.And we had a lovely time leaning left and right scraping whatever our bike’s got on the tarmac. Finally we arrive at the so famous jog falls where Rocky and Pallavi were waiting for us , they had arrived about 5 minutes ago. The first thing I did was took my
camera and head for the falls , and what I got to see was a thin stream of water was making its way out of the hills into the falls. Here I said to my self “The journey is the destination”, how true.

After a couple of rounds of coffee, magi, bread n’ eggs we head towards Bangalore. We came across certain bad patches of tarmac, thank god we did, and it worked as hot water being poured on us in the morning to wake us up. The Bangalore guys went ahead while we stuck to each other since Navaneetha was running in and was not exceeding 60-70kmph.We had Lunch at a decent place , over here again we had the whole group together which included Dodo , Navaneetha , Brijesh from Chennai , Rocky, Pallavi , Keerthi , PP , Sid , David , from Bangalore and yours truly from Kolkata.

After Lunch again the Bangalore guys were way ahead with us going steady at 60-65kmph. We stopped quite a few times for pictures, chai and snacks .Quite obvious since we were out to enjoy and not set any time – distance, non stop Destination A-B record. At our last snack stop we decided we would halt at Tumkur for the night and head on to Chennai via Bangalore in the morning, Bangalore being just 70 odd kms from
Tumkur. As we reached Tumkur my speedometer cable snapped. We searched for good accommodation and by 10 we had dumped our luggage and freshened up. By 11 we set out to get something to eat. Returned by mid night and crashed.

13th January 2004
Woke up lazily at 7 in the morning. Tanked up and headed towards Bangalore. It was so chilly and foggy we hardly went over 60.We checked tire pressures and cruised steadily in close formation. On hitting Bangalore we asked our way out of the city. Once we were out of the city I told Dodo I am going ahead and would meet you at Woody’s for brunch. I covered good distance in decent time. No unnecessary stops or speeding. Was
cruising at a steady 70-80. Reached Woody’s freshened up ordered for some food and waited for everyone to arrive. Dodo arrives and then we see Brijesh , Navaneetha come in , Ranga had also caught up with them. Dodo had some of his father’s friends here who had gone to Bangalore for attending a medical conference and was on their way back.

The ride from here onwards was quite good. Had some more ghats greeting us with broader roads and good stopping places. At one such stop Sarangan and Narren had caught up with us. After exchanging experiences/thoughts et all. Sarangan and Narren ripped ahead while we four steadily thumped ahead.
We stopped at a phone booth and informed Dodo’s father not to take the trouble and come to the highway to meet us. We went ahead and Dodo showed us a road and told us go ahead and clip since this is a very isolated road and nothing could possible go wrong, so I readily went ahead after riding for a good time I saw Narren’s bike parked under a tree since I saw no one in my rear view mirror I told my self why not wait for the
rest and then ride together. I parked my bike inside out of everyone‘s sight. Dodo, Navaneetha and Brijesh passed by and did not notice me. Dodo later got worried whether I had got lost or whether I was way ahead and went clipping ahead to look for me. In the mean while I waited for Narren to finish his meal and then we both started riding together. We were doing good speeds and we crossed Navaneetha and Brijesh on asking them about Dodo they said he was further ahead. Narren and I stopped at a diversion which the rest could easily miss out. After about half an hour Ajith comes by and tells us he has been riding non – stop from Bangalore leaving Easher and Kaushik behind since they were very slow. Narren then told him since you have been riding non – stop its better you don’t wait here and waste your time.He revved up and went ahead into Chennai.We waited for the remaining two. Navaneetha had missed the diversion and went ahead, so I shouted my lungs out till he heard me and rode back into the correct road along with Brijesh. We then asked around for Dodo, no one knew where he was. He had to be ahead. So again we rolled ahead, Narren and my self clipped ahead while Brijesh and Navaneetha followed. We stopped at the place where the Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial is and waited for the rest. Finally Dodo arrives and narrates his story. He went clipping ahead looking for me and then was having tea at a stall when he saw all of us go by.

All of us re-grouped here. Narren , Dodo and I went ahead over taking at proper intervals – the traffic was bad. We stopped before entering Chennai for the final photo session. Over here I told Narren to go ahead since I would be riding with the group into the city. We arrive at Chennai and split. Dodo and Navaneetha showed me the way to my house and went ahead.

This was my story of Rider Mania 2004. I am back in Calcutta, this event and the friends I have made during this event would be well remembered through out my life.

Thanks to Bullets, It gets like minded people together.

Written by Brijesh, MadBulls

The post Rider Mania 04: The Ride appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

We were 8 of us, riding on our bulls. We had ridden through 9 states for the past 9 days, travelled 3400 + Kms when we saw our oasis. Just outside Guwahati, at Jorabat, there was a huge sign signaling us towards the pit stop that the organizers of the Rider Mania 2013 had informed us a couple of days ago. This was the pitstop where we would re-energise ourselves with cans of Redbulls thoughtfully provided to the riders riding to the Rider Mania.

Our Rider Mania Started here.

You have heard of Woodstock, of Sunburn or large congregations of like minded individuals pursuing their passion. The Rider Mania is our Woodstock.

11 years ago, a group of friends decided to ride to Goa and have fun for a couple of days. They loved it so much they decided to do this every year. They signed off shouting out same time same place next year….

The next year, more bikers joined in and during their meet , they decided meeting in the same place was not so much fun. Our country is so vast and varied, they wanted to travel to 4 corners of the country and still meet up with like minded souls. It was decided to make the hosting of the event a rolling trophy. All attending clubs would bid for the honour of hosting the Rider Mania the next year. The winning club would decide the venue of the event and plan out the entire Rider Mania.  Thus began the BOBMC Rider Mania.

From 25 bikes in the first year, the 2012 event saw 750 bikes congregating in Gurgaon hosted by the Royal beasts. But to us riders, it’s the ride to rider mania that thrills as much as the event itself.

When it was decided that “The Royal Enfield Riders Association of Meghalaya” or RERAM Storm Bringers as they like to be called , were hosting the 2013 edition, the moderator stood up and said “ guys, brothers, you are welcome to Shillong, I cant promise you 4 star or 5 star facilities there, it will be raw, hardcore living. But I will promise you 5 million stars. “

When we rode into the venue late on 18^th evening, one day prior to the event, we were indeed surprised at the beauty of the place. The 2013 edition of Rider Mania was hosted on the Sohra plateau, overlooking the Bangladesh border on one side and cradled next to the erstwhile wettest place on earth – Cherapunji.

The Boys at RERAM had worked hard and set up dormitories and tents on the plateau for the participants to stay. We quickly set up our tents and set about mingling with our buddies from various other clubs.

Day 1.

The first day of the event saw most of the clubs riding in from various parts of the country. There were clubs from Punjab, chandigarh, jammu, lucknow, Jamshedpur, kolkatta, assam, Nagaland , Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur etc etc etc.. almost every state had a representation. We even had a club come down from Nepal to attend the festivities.

Traditionally, the first day is dedicated to just meeting up with friends and catching up with each other and swapping bike stories over a hot meal. Some of us who needed to solve a few bike related problems, worked our way to the workshop set up on the site for this purpose.  There were stalls set up to sell biker goodies and these were a big hit.

The organisers had planned a small ride to a nearby cave for us to experience and the entire horde of bikes rode to the venue for an afternoon of fun and frolic. We were thrilled to climb down to some beautiful caves and see nature at its absolute best in virgin , untouched pristine beauty.

As the evening set in, it was time for some music. Right in the centre of the venue was a huge stage with state of the art acoustics setup for a night of music and mayhem. The north east is famous for its rock culture and its music and it showed. Band after band kept performing and we kept dancing and loving every moment of it.  Needless to say, no one slept that night. Through the cold night, we had bonfires lit up and music blaring to keep us nice toasty and warm.

Day 2

On Day 2 , the biking games began. We started off with a slow race. Keen competitive spirit and good natured backslapping saw 8 heats and a keenly competed finals capturing our attention for a good 3 hours. The lady riders were not to be left behind and they had their own slow race event also.

We then moved on to what was the signature event of the day- The Dirt track event.  There were more than 30 riders participating in the event. Each rider was given a Red bull and it seemed that it indeed gave them wings. The event was a thrilling one and a grand success, measured by the loud cheers when each rider passed by the huge crowds that had gathered to watch.

After a few serious events, it was time to let the hair down. Fun games like grab a banana while riding (no hands only mouth to be used) brought many a smile to the onlookers face.  And then it was time for music once again…

As we prepared to leave the venue on day 3, we realized how much we had enjoyed the company of fellow bikers, whom we meet once a year, we interact maybe a couple of times during the year on the phone or via social networking sites, but a friendship is forged.  Promises were made to each other to keep in touch more often, but we know whatever happens, we will definitely meet once again in one year – at the next Rider Mania.

Written by Deepak Ananth, Bisons Ride Hard (Mumbai)

The post Rider Mania 13: In a land far far away appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

The post RM06: Rockin’ Hard, Ridin’ High, Livin’ Free appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

The post RM05: A Long, Strange Trip appeared first on BOBMC Rider Mania.

Part 1:The most eagerly awaited event of the year was fast approaching. The excitement shooting up manifold each day. I’d gotten my bike done up again.. just needed a change in the way it looked.The plan was for the first batch of riders from Wanderlust MC to start on the morning of Jan 25th. But family being in Dubai and me all alone here to take care of the house, two studios and most importantly the two kids Buddy and Puffy, I did make an alternate plan to start with the 2nd batch on the morning of the 26th. But on the night of the 23rd I heard that my family’s stay in Dubai would get extended till the 27th, which left me no time to ride out and make it on time for the Rider Mania. Incidentally, Thomas found himself without a bike, and so I offered him mine for the ride to Delhi. This way my bike reaches Delhi in the hands of a seasoned rider, and saves me the trouble of haggling with the railway station authorities if I had chosen to pack it off to Delhi. Also, Thomas wouldn’t miss his ride either.

I saw the first batch off on the 25th morning from my home, some of whom had stayed the night over. The next day I met and saw off Sheetal, Manish and Purnima, after having had a party with Armaan, Pammi, Pupu and gang from the Nawabs, Hyderabad as well. And for the first time missing out on a ride to RM in 9 years did make me feel weird.

Nisarg, Hyena, Ashish and I were on the same flight to Delhi on the night of the 27th. We had a taxi take us to Gurgaon to our hotel where the rest of the pack, the riders from botch batches, and Sutta also joined us within minutes of our landing there.

That night was the usual madness and hellraising that Wanderlust is all so [in]famous for, coming to a point when the room service staff was too scared to enter our party zone and just handed us our orders through a slightly opened door. Oh well.

The morning of the 28th, it was time to ride to the biggest RM yet. All of us assembled outside the hotel in Gurgaon and started loading up the machines, and getting into gear when it dawned upon me that I’d forgotten my helmet back home. Not like Im big on helmets anyway, but for the city authorities it seemed like a big deal. So I picked up one cheap ass helmet for 250 bucks from a roadside seller just for the ride to the venue, thinking there’d be better helmets being sold there, and I can pick myself a good one later.

The venue was massive, and Wanderlust MC made the entry in our usual style.. engines roaring and resounding in tandem to our war cry and into the parking lot. That reminded me of my first RM, back in 2004, when I’d ridden solo to Goa. Wanderlust MC was still an idea in my head back then. But I do remember entering that parking lot in Mandrem at Riva Beach resort and finding myself amidst 150 enfields.. rock and roll.. the beach.. the beers and the [now] usual regalia and saying to myself: “Im finally home.” And 9 RM’s later, I still get that same feeling each year as I ride into that parking lot which now has close to 900 majestic motorcycles, the chrome gleaming in the sun, finding it’s way out through the layers of oil stains, dust and mud from the road.. each one with a story to tell. It is home.

The next two days of the RM.. as they say, if you remember any of it, you were never there:) Super amazing time meeting with new friends and old and brothers from the road that swear by the bond and the code of the open road. This was the 10th year celebration of that bond. This was the celebration of the first 10 years of an event like no other in India, a community and brotherhood like no other in the world, and perhaps the first counter culture movement of this ancient land. In a long long time at least. We have arrived. And we’re here to stay.

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