Tweet
Picture this:
Your favourite MotoGP rider is approaching turn number 4 on the qualifying run.
He rolls off the throttle, slams on the brakes, leans in with robot-like precision; the kind of precision you get from riding on the track 12 hours a day.
Following his invisible line, he emerges from an 80 degree lean which most dads deem impossible...
This happens again and again for almost 200kms in a race! Imagine the kind of stamina and practice required!
Forms a bloody good picture doesn't it?
Now lets get back to reality where most corners are concentrated on ghat roads:
Your visibility into the corner is limited to half the turn in most cases.
A dog might have decided to take its evening stroll in the middle of the road.
A group of stones might be partying with some gravel and oil.
A pothole, feeling invincible, might be in the mood to break a few rims and bones.
The very fact the you're a human and not a robot is reason enough to know that at anytime, it could be your bike riding you!!
Personally for me, risk is good. It makes you challenge yourself. Keeps upping your threshold. And that is reason enough for me to ride to Lavasa at night while it rains while negotiating the suicidal-when-wet curves with my Nylogrip Zappers (which aren't too well known for their wet grip) at obscene speeds (for me at least). My guide for the day (night rather!): Eshan.
Disclaimer: Cornering is for the track and not for the open road. You should exhibit caution while trying these 'stunts' on roads open to the public. I've never been to a track and for me the definition of cornering is limited to attacking ghat roads at good speeds and using your body weight, brakes, throttle effectively.
The plan had hung in the air for quite some time but we decided the date just a couple of days before the trip. I'd been to Lavasa just once and that too during the day so I wasn't too familiar with the roads. Eshan's 6 night runs to Lavasa certainly pumped my confidence both in him as well as myself.
So timings were finalised, cameras, bike papers, etc. were packed, riding gear was put on and the mind was prepared. I must stress the importance of proper riding gear here. I'm not a very experienced rider and don't have more than a few decent rides under my belt. My inexperience threatens my life and limb that much more and I make it a point to wear proper riding gear whether its the twisties or the plains... Picturing waking up in a hospital with my legs amputated is scary enough for me to not want to witness it in real life.
Enough of serious topics now! Time for some fun!
Meeting Up
So I reach the pre-decided location, Chandani Chowk, and as usual, get awkward stares from pretty much everyone who sees me standing at the side of the road because of the bulky knee guards and jacket and gloves. I'm not one to enjoy too much attention and after a point actually wish for some privacy. This guy on a gixxer must have sensed my discomfort because he came out of nowhere, revving his engine, overtaking traffic, going around two traffic cops like they were nothing more than light poles! And all this 'tashan' was displayed in minimal safety gear - goggles to protect his delicate head and floaters to save his precious feet. It was entertaining I must say.
So this gixxer guy who obviously needs to travel into oncoming traffic to overtake vehicles stops just short of banging into my guide for the day. Un-perturbed, he goes around Eshan and continues his displays of what I can only term as masochism because of the way he is riding. I, meanwhile, get into the required mindset. One of the most important things while riding. A wandering mind equals a rider (or more) on the road.
Eshan pulled over beside me and we went over the plan for the evening (ride to Lavasa, photography, ride back, dinner, sleep). This being my first group ride, he told me a few important things like not to follow him too close and to honk if I need to stop for some reason. Group riding brings with it new responsibilities as each rider has to look out for another. You have to be acutely aware of what is going on with the rider behind you while concentrating on your own riding and following the rider in front. Not too difficult if you can use peripheral vision effectively.
The Ride is On
With everything deemed necessary talked about, we turned the keys, thumbed the starter switch, shifted into 1st and the ride was on!
We left Chandani Chowk by 7pm and though it wasn't peak traffic time, the traffic was pretty abundant as it always is... Riding through the first toll booth, we switch on our pilot lamps since we'd aimed at reaching Lavasa before dark which gave us about an hour and covering about 30-35kms on the twisties meant we were going to have to gobble up the straights fairly quickly. The pilot lamps served as a warning to oncoming motorists. We weren't riding rash in the traffic. That never serves its purpose and is more dangerous than useful but at the same time we didn't miss an opportunity to overtake.
We rode through a market and ignored what little looks we got. Eshan's experience paid off rather early in the trip when he took a left turn and we emerged onto a smooth and lonely road. I assumed its a shortcut and a good one at that with none of the traffic we normally would have encountered on the main road. This shortcut had its share of sharp turns which I devoured happily, asking for more. Eshan, who obviously knows the road well, accelerated and braked at the right places and on the whole was doing some good work setting the pace. Somewhere on this shortcut, a group of about 5 bikes was trying to overtake a car and on this already narrow road there wasn't enough space for us to swerve had those bikes started overtaking the car. We flashed our headlights and the guys must have understood the speeds we were travelling at since they went back behind the car. But only just in time...
I was a little apprehensive and was gripping the controls rather tightly but after a few smile inducing turns I was all settled and relaxed and gripped the controls lightly but surely. After a while the turns gave way to straight ways where we managed to touch 80 or so. Being India, surprises are not really surprises. You're just waiting for the next 'surprise' to spring up. The fact that these are back roads didn't help - A huge pothole spanning the entire width of the one-laned (yes) road appeared out of nowhere. Eshan hardly had a warning and noticed it at the last moment. I guess he hit the hole at about 60. I was travelling 20 meters or so behind him and did manage to slow down but not enough. We didn't stop to inspect the rims as the hit didn't seem to be that bad and continued on the road.
Not long after, a dog walking on the side of the road suddenly decided to pounce onto the middle of the road as we were approaching. There was a sharp counter-steer from Eshan and he avoided hitting the dog and by the time I reached it, the dog had jumped back to the side of the road and started walking as if nothing had happened!
Entering the Ghat
After a couple of minutes we hit the main road but by this time most of the traffic was behind us and we only had a few idiots crossing the roads blindly. It had started to drizzle now and a chill was creeping in. The road was two laned now but without a divider but that wasn't a problem since we hardly had any oncoming traffic. We were mostly on straights interspersed with a few curves which we must have negotiated somewhere in the 60s. We passed through some ghat roads, nothing too serious, just had to keep our eyes open. Once this ghat ended, every now and then a we would pass through a village and would roll over sensibly built speed breakers. Not the rim breakers you encounter in the city. Needless to say, we slowed down while passing through these villages.
At this one turn which we were negotiating, we encountered the stone and gravel party I talked about earlier... A few fist sized stoned were scattered on our side of the road. Eshan managed to avoid them but it took me a while to find a negotiable gap between the stones. I did find one and steered towards the gap but just missed rolling over a stone. An inch or so in either direction and it'd have been game over for the ride... Writing this log it occurred to me that I should've had the sense to pull over and move the obstacles. Next time...
After about five or so villages we reached the base of Mulshi dam. With a slight drizzle and chill in the air, it looked all the more beautiful but the admiration was left for another ride. Now started the real ride!
From memory, I could recall bits of the road ahead and with that smile on my face again, shifted into third gear and started climbing the gradient at 5k rpm...
Now Starts the Real Ride
Now we were attacking curves which can only be described as heaven to cornering enthusiasts like Eshan and I. I've only recently started with taking curves aggressively and have a lot to learn but the few words of advice I got from vishwas sir at the G2G were useful. We were constantly on the attack. Smooth turns, sharp corners, U-turns, we had a healthy dosage of the lot.
It was getting pretty dark now and the headlights were playing a good role. Being India, the probability of finding idiots on the roads was still pretty high as we realized... We were attacking a sharp curve and were at edge of our side of the road when two guys on a Splendor appeared out of nowhere. They had no headlights and were travelling in the same lane as us since they were going too fast to stick to their own lane on this sharp curve. There was nothing we could have done and they, thankfully, still had their wits about them and swerved at the last moment. When you're negotiating ghats at those speeds for the first time, dwelling on these incidents while riding can be pretty dangerous as you lose concentration. I, however, was absorbed by the road and felt rather relaxed.
A little while later we spotted non-Indian headlights in the distance. Both of us instinctively slowed down and as those headlights came close, we recognized the unmistakable front of the Busa!
The bike was a pleasure too see but the biker less so. Same old story - no helmet, no riding gear. But he didn't seem to be going over 20 and that too while going downhill! Brushing aside this incident as well, we continued up the ghat. Its mysterious curves held something new at almost every turn.
Lavasa
The curves relaxed after a while and gave way to more relaxed turns with greater radii... We were zooming again and it wasn't long before we reached the main gates for Lavasa where they usually have security checks.
It was 750pm now and not unreasonably dark. We'd made it to Lavasa in good time considering I was the only factor slowing us down along with the fading lights and rain. We still had a few more kms of twisties and Eshan asked me to take the lead.
I happily obliged and put every gram of my 1.4 kg brain into attacking the curves at night with decent amounts of rain and my zappers and still stay on both wheels. If the speeds until the point I took over the lead were anything to judge by, I wasn't too bad at this 'cornering' business myself. Of course true cornering should be left for the track and nothing that I will ever do on the road OR track will even come close to a perfect line or perfect lean. Having said that, I sure was enjoying what little 'cornering' I was doing and this routine of braking, leaning, looking for the exit, steering and accelerating was executed a few more times before we reached Lavasa city.
The bikes were parked and exclamations were exchanged. We'd reached Lavasa in an hours time. It felt good to have made such good time in wet conditions. We moved to a 'dhaba' and settled down for a little break.
We'd ordered misal pav which is a Marathi dish which I can only describe as spicy and gravy-licious. We were merrily chewing along when all of a sudden this sound filled the dhaba! The loudest of farts was farted by an elderly man sitting behind us and he was most indifferent! Thankfully it was audible and I didn't think too much about it. Take it from me: the silent ones are the killers
Some Photography and We're Off
Done with the chewing and swallowing, we started walking around. Eshan, armed with his D(abba)SLR
, started shooting away. All sorts of angles of all sorts of subjects. We spent a good half an hour this way and once it started drizzling, decided to make a move. Throughout the ride it was either drizzling or raining. This marred our plan of taking some beautiful photographs. The few photos that we did take will be uploaded by Eshan (who had the camera) later.
Having validated the ride with photographs we saddled up again and were off in no time. Eshan took the lead and this time we relied heavily upon our headlights. Night runs have never been a problem for the 220 but when your run includes ghat roads, the forward pointing headlight are not too useful on the curves. Keeping our eyes peeled for the white lines, which were well marked out, we kept a steady pace going and without much incident were back at the main gates in no time.
After a km or so, Eshan indicated for me to stop at the side of the road and we did so at convenient place in a curve so as to be visible to traffic coming from both sides. I initially didn't realize why we'd stopped. But when Eshan explained the reason, I was awestruck!
Serene Silence
Looking around, I realized that we were in the middle of a cloud!!
The fog was really dense and light was being scattered in the most beautiful manner! It was a really beautiful sight and very calming too. The serene silence was pressing down upon us in the gentlest manner. Of course, this called for some photography! And just as we started snapping, the weather turned on us. It started as a slight drizzle but by the time we'd packed up and started riding again, it was pretty much pouring down.
Ghats and Heavy Rains
Tough as it was contending with the twisties at night, we now had to fight rain too. But we both were enjoying this challenge and Eshan's confidence helped me keep up with him. He did not falter or panic in his braking even when a turn suddenly reduced in radius and that I believe is the single most important thing one can do to ride safe. No matter what happens, you should not panic since panicking will only lead to rash decisions and in the course of a half a second you'll be one with the road.
Keeping ones wits about oneself even in a panic situation can mean the difference between completing the curve or ending in a low-side. Always be light on the controls and never panic or freeze up when something unexpected comes up.
Negotiating the curves and U-turns in the rain, we were making good progress and soon caught up with a couple of cars which had overtaken us when we'd stopped for the photography break. Following the car was a safe bet and we did so until it pulled over for some reason. By this time we'd made it to the base of the dam and from now on the roads only got straighter. The rain relented too after a while and we were enjoying gobbling up kms touching 80 on the straights and maintaining decent speeds through the few curves.
Back on Straights
We passed through the series of villages, negotiated another ghat and took the shortcut we'd taken earlier in the evening. This time we were careful to ride around the huge pothole and thankfully there were no dogs eager to jump into oncoming vehicles.
A few more turns were negotiated at good speeds and by now my confidence was pretty much at its brim. I was able to avoid the few holes in the road that arbitrarily came up on this shortcut and that only helped me surge ahead. At one point an oncoming vehicle was coming in on high beams and this time we slowed down to 20 or so since the road was just wide enough to accommodate a bike and a car. Cursing the idiot for blinding us, we managed to pass by him and continued riding.
As we exited the shortcut and carefully got onto the main road, we were greeted by the usual high beams from the opposite side and I, being in no grateful mood, was quick to switch to my murderous high beams whenever we encountered these idiots.
Relaxing Over Dinner
After a few more minutes of riding we stopped at a restaurant on the side of the road. It was around 945 by the time we got out of our riding gear and by then shrinath had joined us for dinner. Food came in the form of spring rolls and butter chicken and butter naan. All in all a good meal accentuated by our ride which though not strenuous, certainly required a healthy level of concentration.
Finished with dinner, we rode towards Chandani Chowk and after a few minutes of light hearted talks, each left for home. Some were more eager than others
Writing this log, I can form a picture of myself riding on a track someday. Attacking corners with utmost confidence and finding solace in the fact that if I fall, I'll just get up to ride another day. Lavasa is a tiny speck compared to the many twisties out there but Lavasa is what got me started with cornering.
Hope all you corner junkies post some stuff here so I can learn from experience and bypass the necessary fall or two if possible...
Cheers!
Your favourite MotoGP rider is approaching turn number 4 on the qualifying run.
He rolls off the throttle, slams on the brakes, leans in with robot-like precision; the kind of precision you get from riding on the track 12 hours a day.
Following his invisible line, he emerges from an 80 degree lean which most dads deem impossible...
This happens again and again for almost 200kms in a race! Imagine the kind of stamina and practice required!
Forms a bloody good picture doesn't it?
Now lets get back to reality where most corners are concentrated on ghat roads:
Your visibility into the corner is limited to half the turn in most cases.
A dog might have decided to take its evening stroll in the middle of the road.
A group of stones might be partying with some gravel and oil.
A pothole, feeling invincible, might be in the mood to break a few rims and bones.
The very fact the you're a human and not a robot is reason enough to know that at anytime, it could be your bike riding you!!
Personally for me, risk is good. It makes you challenge yourself. Keeps upping your threshold. And that is reason enough for me to ride to Lavasa at night while it rains while negotiating the suicidal-when-wet curves with my Nylogrip Zappers (which aren't too well known for their wet grip) at obscene speeds (for me at least). My guide for the day (night rather!): Eshan.
Disclaimer: Cornering is for the track and not for the open road. You should exhibit caution while trying these 'stunts' on roads open to the public. I've never been to a track and for me the definition of cornering is limited to attacking ghat roads at good speeds and using your body weight, brakes, throttle effectively.
The plan had hung in the air for quite some time but we decided the date just a couple of days before the trip. I'd been to Lavasa just once and that too during the day so I wasn't too familiar with the roads. Eshan's 6 night runs to Lavasa certainly pumped my confidence both in him as well as myself.
So timings were finalised, cameras, bike papers, etc. were packed, riding gear was put on and the mind was prepared. I must stress the importance of proper riding gear here. I'm not a very experienced rider and don't have more than a few decent rides under my belt. My inexperience threatens my life and limb that much more and I make it a point to wear proper riding gear whether its the twisties or the plains... Picturing waking up in a hospital with my legs amputated is scary enough for me to not want to witness it in real life.
Enough of serious topics now! Time for some fun!
Meeting Up
So I reach the pre-decided location, Chandani Chowk, and as usual, get awkward stares from pretty much everyone who sees me standing at the side of the road because of the bulky knee guards and jacket and gloves. I'm not one to enjoy too much attention and after a point actually wish for some privacy. This guy on a gixxer must have sensed my discomfort because he came out of nowhere, revving his engine, overtaking traffic, going around two traffic cops like they were nothing more than light poles! And all this 'tashan' was displayed in minimal safety gear - goggles to protect his delicate head and floaters to save his precious feet. It was entertaining I must say.
So this gixxer guy who obviously needs to travel into oncoming traffic to overtake vehicles stops just short of banging into my guide for the day. Un-perturbed, he goes around Eshan and continues his displays of what I can only term as masochism because of the way he is riding. I, meanwhile, get into the required mindset. One of the most important things while riding. A wandering mind equals a rider (or more) on the road.
Eshan pulled over beside me and we went over the plan for the evening (ride to Lavasa, photography, ride back, dinner, sleep). This being my first group ride, he told me a few important things like not to follow him too close and to honk if I need to stop for some reason. Group riding brings with it new responsibilities as each rider has to look out for another. You have to be acutely aware of what is going on with the rider behind you while concentrating on your own riding and following the rider in front. Not too difficult if you can use peripheral vision effectively.
The Ride is On
With everything deemed necessary talked about, we turned the keys, thumbed the starter switch, shifted into 1st and the ride was on!
We left Chandani Chowk by 7pm and though it wasn't peak traffic time, the traffic was pretty abundant as it always is... Riding through the first toll booth, we switch on our pilot lamps since we'd aimed at reaching Lavasa before dark which gave us about an hour and covering about 30-35kms on the twisties meant we were going to have to gobble up the straights fairly quickly. The pilot lamps served as a warning to oncoming motorists. We weren't riding rash in the traffic. That never serves its purpose and is more dangerous than useful but at the same time we didn't miss an opportunity to overtake.
We rode through a market and ignored what little looks we got. Eshan's experience paid off rather early in the trip when he took a left turn and we emerged onto a smooth and lonely road. I assumed its a shortcut and a good one at that with none of the traffic we normally would have encountered on the main road. This shortcut had its share of sharp turns which I devoured happily, asking for more. Eshan, who obviously knows the road well, accelerated and braked at the right places and on the whole was doing some good work setting the pace. Somewhere on this shortcut, a group of about 5 bikes was trying to overtake a car and on this already narrow road there wasn't enough space for us to swerve had those bikes started overtaking the car. We flashed our headlights and the guys must have understood the speeds we were travelling at since they went back behind the car. But only just in time...
I was a little apprehensive and was gripping the controls rather tightly but after a few smile inducing turns I was all settled and relaxed and gripped the controls lightly but surely. After a while the turns gave way to straight ways where we managed to touch 80 or so. Being India, surprises are not really surprises. You're just waiting for the next 'surprise' to spring up. The fact that these are back roads didn't help - A huge pothole spanning the entire width of the one-laned (yes) road appeared out of nowhere. Eshan hardly had a warning and noticed it at the last moment. I guess he hit the hole at about 60. I was travelling 20 meters or so behind him and did manage to slow down but not enough. We didn't stop to inspect the rims as the hit didn't seem to be that bad and continued on the road.
Not long after, a dog walking on the side of the road suddenly decided to pounce onto the middle of the road as we were approaching. There was a sharp counter-steer from Eshan and he avoided hitting the dog and by the time I reached it, the dog had jumped back to the side of the road and started walking as if nothing had happened!
Entering the Ghat
After a couple of minutes we hit the main road but by this time most of the traffic was behind us and we only had a few idiots crossing the roads blindly. It had started to drizzle now and a chill was creeping in. The road was two laned now but without a divider but that wasn't a problem since we hardly had any oncoming traffic. We were mostly on straights interspersed with a few curves which we must have negotiated somewhere in the 60s. We passed through some ghat roads, nothing too serious, just had to keep our eyes open. Once this ghat ended, every now and then a we would pass through a village and would roll over sensibly built speed breakers. Not the rim breakers you encounter in the city. Needless to say, we slowed down while passing through these villages.
At this one turn which we were negotiating, we encountered the stone and gravel party I talked about earlier... A few fist sized stoned were scattered on our side of the road. Eshan managed to avoid them but it took me a while to find a negotiable gap between the stones. I did find one and steered towards the gap but just missed rolling over a stone. An inch or so in either direction and it'd have been game over for the ride... Writing this log it occurred to me that I should've had the sense to pull over and move the obstacles. Next time...
After about five or so villages we reached the base of Mulshi dam. With a slight drizzle and chill in the air, it looked all the more beautiful but the admiration was left for another ride. Now started the real ride!
From memory, I could recall bits of the road ahead and with that smile on my face again, shifted into third gear and started climbing the gradient at 5k rpm...
Now Starts the Real Ride
Now we were attacking curves which can only be described as heaven to cornering enthusiasts like Eshan and I. I've only recently started with taking curves aggressively and have a lot to learn but the few words of advice I got from vishwas sir at the G2G were useful. We were constantly on the attack. Smooth turns, sharp corners, U-turns, we had a healthy dosage of the lot.
It was getting pretty dark now and the headlights were playing a good role. Being India, the probability of finding idiots on the roads was still pretty high as we realized... We were attacking a sharp curve and were at edge of our side of the road when two guys on a Splendor appeared out of nowhere. They had no headlights and were travelling in the same lane as us since they were going too fast to stick to their own lane on this sharp curve. There was nothing we could have done and they, thankfully, still had their wits about them and swerved at the last moment. When you're negotiating ghats at those speeds for the first time, dwelling on these incidents while riding can be pretty dangerous as you lose concentration. I, however, was absorbed by the road and felt rather relaxed.
A little while later we spotted non-Indian headlights in the distance. Both of us instinctively slowed down and as those headlights came close, we recognized the unmistakable front of the Busa!
The bike was a pleasure too see but the biker less so. Same old story - no helmet, no riding gear. But he didn't seem to be going over 20 and that too while going downhill! Brushing aside this incident as well, we continued up the ghat. Its mysterious curves held something new at almost every turn.
Lavasa
The curves relaxed after a while and gave way to more relaxed turns with greater radii... We were zooming again and it wasn't long before we reached the main gates for Lavasa where they usually have security checks.
It was 750pm now and not unreasonably dark. We'd made it to Lavasa in good time considering I was the only factor slowing us down along with the fading lights and rain. We still had a few more kms of twisties and Eshan asked me to take the lead.
I happily obliged and put every gram of my 1.4 kg brain into attacking the curves at night with decent amounts of rain and my zappers and still stay on both wheels. If the speeds until the point I took over the lead were anything to judge by, I wasn't too bad at this 'cornering' business myself. Of course true cornering should be left for the track and nothing that I will ever do on the road OR track will even come close to a perfect line or perfect lean. Having said that, I sure was enjoying what little 'cornering' I was doing and this routine of braking, leaning, looking for the exit, steering and accelerating was executed a few more times before we reached Lavasa city.
The bikes were parked and exclamations were exchanged. We'd reached Lavasa in an hours time. It felt good to have made such good time in wet conditions. We moved to a 'dhaba' and settled down for a little break.
We'd ordered misal pav which is a Marathi dish which I can only describe as spicy and gravy-licious. We were merrily chewing along when all of a sudden this sound filled the dhaba! The loudest of farts was farted by an elderly man sitting behind us and he was most indifferent! Thankfully it was audible and I didn't think too much about it. Take it from me: the silent ones are the killers
Some Photography and We're Off
Done with the chewing and swallowing, we started walking around. Eshan, armed with his D(abba)SLR
, started shooting away. All sorts of angles of all sorts of subjects. We spent a good half an hour this way and once it started drizzling, decided to make a move. Throughout the ride it was either drizzling or raining. This marred our plan of taking some beautiful photographs. The few photos that we did take will be uploaded by Eshan (who had the camera) later.Having validated the ride with photographs we saddled up again and were off in no time. Eshan took the lead and this time we relied heavily upon our headlights. Night runs have never been a problem for the 220 but when your run includes ghat roads, the forward pointing headlight are not too useful on the curves. Keeping our eyes peeled for the white lines, which were well marked out, we kept a steady pace going and without much incident were back at the main gates in no time.
After a km or so, Eshan indicated for me to stop at the side of the road and we did so at convenient place in a curve so as to be visible to traffic coming from both sides. I initially didn't realize why we'd stopped. But when Eshan explained the reason, I was awestruck!
Serene Silence
Looking around, I realized that we were in the middle of a cloud!!
The fog was really dense and light was being scattered in the most beautiful manner! It was a really beautiful sight and very calming too. The serene silence was pressing down upon us in the gentlest manner. Of course, this called for some photography! And just as we started snapping, the weather turned on us. It started as a slight drizzle but by the time we'd packed up and started riding again, it was pretty much pouring down.
Ghats and Heavy Rains
Tough as it was contending with the twisties at night, we now had to fight rain too. But we both were enjoying this challenge and Eshan's confidence helped me keep up with him. He did not falter or panic in his braking even when a turn suddenly reduced in radius and that I believe is the single most important thing one can do to ride safe. No matter what happens, you should not panic since panicking will only lead to rash decisions and in the course of a half a second you'll be one with the road.
Keeping ones wits about oneself even in a panic situation can mean the difference between completing the curve or ending in a low-side. Always be light on the controls and never panic or freeze up when something unexpected comes up.
Negotiating the curves and U-turns in the rain, we were making good progress and soon caught up with a couple of cars which had overtaken us when we'd stopped for the photography break. Following the car was a safe bet and we did so until it pulled over for some reason. By this time we'd made it to the base of the dam and from now on the roads only got straighter. The rain relented too after a while and we were enjoying gobbling up kms touching 80 on the straights and maintaining decent speeds through the few curves.
Back on Straights
We passed through the series of villages, negotiated another ghat and took the shortcut we'd taken earlier in the evening. This time we were careful to ride around the huge pothole and thankfully there were no dogs eager to jump into oncoming vehicles
.A few more turns were negotiated at good speeds and by now my confidence was pretty much at its brim. I was able to avoid the few holes in the road that arbitrarily came up on this shortcut and that only helped me surge ahead. At one point an oncoming vehicle was coming in on high beams and this time we slowed down to 20 or so since the road was just wide enough to accommodate a bike and a car. Cursing the idiot for blinding us, we managed to pass by him and continued riding.
As we exited the shortcut and carefully got onto the main road, we were greeted by the usual high beams from the opposite side and I, being in no grateful mood, was quick to switch to my murderous high beams whenever we encountered these idiots.
Relaxing Over Dinner
After a few more minutes of riding we stopped at a restaurant on the side of the road. It was around 945 by the time we got out of our riding gear and by then shrinath had joined us for dinner. Food came in the form of spring rolls and butter chicken and butter naan. All in all a good meal accentuated by our ride which though not strenuous, certainly required a healthy level of concentration.
Finished with dinner, we rode towards Chandani Chowk and after a few minutes of light hearted talks, each left for home. Some were more eager than others
Writing this log, I can form a picture of myself riding on a track someday. Attacking corners with utmost confidence and finding solace in the fact that if I fall, I'll just get up to ride another day. Lavasa is a tiny speck compared to the many twisties out there but Lavasa is what got me started with cornering.
Hope all you corner junkies post some stuff here so I can learn from experience and bypass the necessary fall or two if possible...
Cheers!
Comment