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Shell Advance 7 Riding Wonders gives us this opportunity to tell the world!
There was the massive 7 wonders of the New World campaign which garnered enough momentum in India to motivate us Indians to get Taj Mahal into the list. How much credibility did that list have or no, was a subject of much controversy.
However, here is another initiative, which is much more in connect with us bikers and doesn’t have an old list to update or dislodge. Shell Advance Motorcycle Oil has initiated this one and it seems they have hit the right string by selecting the correct theme. After all who wouldn’t like to ride on some outstanding roads, and who wouldn’t like to have a list of roads offering varied riding experience to strike off as a parallel project to what we call Life!
Back in 2002, when I started biking it was a huge undertaking for me to ride my Pulsar 180, my first bike, to a hill town in India, Mussoorie a couple hundred odd kilometers North of New Delhi. That was one ride, which still ranks high on my list of best ones till date, unforgettable.
Any ride has many ingredients to make it unforgettable – the bike, the weather, your company, how much time you have and of course most importantly – the road itself. And Shell wants us to focus on that only!
Anything that has ‘Best’ in it is quite subjective; same is the case with this. However things like these have an agenda that is far reaching than just present a list. For example it made me make my own list of roads that I would like to do, and the roads that I have already done.
Therefore look at the Shell Advance 7 Riding Wonders of the World initiative as a medium to inspire yourself to make your own list and go out and ride!
More importantly there is a road from India in the list, although I would have loved to have one from Ladakh, but I guess that would have just blown away the competition into smithereens off the start itself!
Jokes apart here is the list of the roads featured in the list
Like I said it is so subjective and you may not agree to some inclusions and may fret about some exclusions, but make no mistake, I have voted for the Coorg to Ooty road in India and that’s the one you should also vote for!
This is our chance, be it a small one in the scheme of things, to show international media as well as bikers as large that India is a country whose natural beauty as well as roads infrastructure can match up with the world’s best. And indeed, if I could take a Fireblade in 2006 through the wonderful tea gardens of Munnar and roads running through dense forests along the way, what’s stopping any other from experiencing the bliss right in our own backyard!
Although the votes for other roads may seem less compared to India for now but remember the voting is on till August 31st 2011 and tables can be turned by then if we are complacent - and also SMS votes are counted but are not shown on the website count. Word is that China is leading right now!
Once again vote for our India - Click here to go for voting!
Some Munnar pictures from The Great Indian Roadtrip 2011
There was the massive 7 wonders of the New World campaign which garnered enough momentum in India to motivate us Indians to get Taj Mahal into the list. How much credibility did that list have or no, was a subject of much controversy.
However, here is another initiative, which is much more in connect with us bikers and doesn’t have an old list to update or dislodge. Shell Advance Motorcycle Oil has initiated this one and it seems they have hit the right string by selecting the correct theme. After all who wouldn’t like to ride on some outstanding roads, and who wouldn’t like to have a list of roads offering varied riding experience to strike off as a parallel project to what we call Life!
Back in 2002, when I started biking it was a huge undertaking for me to ride my Pulsar 180, my first bike, to a hill town in India, Mussoorie a couple hundred odd kilometers North of New Delhi. That was one ride, which still ranks high on my list of best ones till date, unforgettable.
Any ride has many ingredients to make it unforgettable – the bike, the weather, your company, how much time you have and of course most importantly – the road itself. And Shell wants us to focus on that only!
Anything that has ‘Best’ in it is quite subjective; same is the case with this. However things like these have an agenda that is far reaching than just present a list. For example it made me make my own list of roads that I would like to do, and the roads that I have already done.
Therefore look at the Shell Advance 7 Riding Wonders of the World initiative as a medium to inspire yourself to make your own list and go out and ride!
More importantly there is a road from India in the list, although I would have loved to have one from Ladakh, but I guess that would have just blown away the competition into smithereens off the start itself!
Jokes apart here is the list of the roads featured in the list
- Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia (not ridden but seen a MotoGP in 2010)
- Simpang Pulai to The Cameron Highlands, Malaysia (ridden!)
- Coorg to Munnar via Ooty, India (ridden!) <-Click here to VOTE FOR INDIA!
- Dali to Lijiang, China
- The Great Ocean Road, Australia (ridden!)
- Bali Stretch, Indonesia
- Samui Island, Thailand
- Taroko Gorge Road, Taiwan
- The Amalfi Coast Road: Naples to Salerno, Italy (ridden!)
- The Great Dolomites Road, Italy (ridden!)
- Irohazaka Winding Road, Japan
- The Sierra Madre Mountains to the Pacific Coast, Mexico
- Bergen to Geiranger, Norway
- Karakoram Highway to the Hunza Valley, Pakistan
- The Cape of Africa, South Africa
- Route 66, USA
- San Bernadino Pass, Switzerland (was almost there in the neighbourhood!)
- North Luzon Loop, Philippines
- Isle of Man TT Snaefell Mountain Course, British Isles
- Nordschleife, Germany
- Bilbao to Perpignan Loop, Spain
- Ulu Langat to Titikong to Kuala Kelawang, Malaysia
Like I said it is so subjective and you may not agree to some inclusions and may fret about some exclusions, but make no mistake, I have voted for the Coorg to Ooty road in India and that’s the one you should also vote for!
This is our chance, be it a small one in the scheme of things, to show international media as well as bikers as large that India is a country whose natural beauty as well as roads infrastructure can match up with the world’s best. And indeed, if I could take a Fireblade in 2006 through the wonderful tea gardens of Munnar and roads running through dense forests along the way, what’s stopping any other from experiencing the bliss right in our own backyard!
Although the votes for other roads may seem less compared to India for now but remember the voting is on till August 31st 2011 and tables can be turned by then if we are complacent - and also SMS votes are counted but are not shown on the website count. Word is that China is leading right now!
Once again vote for our India - Click here to go for voting!
Some Munnar pictures from The Great Indian Roadtrip 2011
I only wish the entire 1B population participated & this would be a piece of cake for any Indian 
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