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Spreading Bikism
Biking is not only about you or your machine alone. It’s about spreading bikism as well. The below narration is an attempt towards the same.
Sometimes the best of ideas come, when you least expect it. Same thing happened to me, I was commuting to my office for my routine work, thought of how to spread bikism hit me. In the lunch break, discussed the idea with colleagues who ride regularly with me in biking trips. Feedback received was positive. People said lets take stock again next day, post some confirmations.
We needed confirmations, because it not about us, the bikers. We anyway pull out a plan and ride. Even if there is no plan, we just start the bike, head wherever heart stays and surrender ourselves to the ultimate joy of biking. We know how it feels. How much happiness it gives. How much satisfaction we get. How much we feel rejuvenated post the ride. What stopping to take a photo means. How it feels when your bike reverbs through the silent mountains. When zipping fast through a free highway means. Sitting on a hill view and gazing at them for hours mean. Every time finding a new place and realizing there is still lot to be explored.
The idea was to give this feel to our beloved ones. The idea was to open the gate for them, so that they could also explore the biking world. Instead of us, bikers, starting our bikes, riding and returning in couple of days. We said, this time, we ride with females, whom normally stay back and take care of home while we are gone aka Wife, Sister, Friends, female colleagues. Taking them as a pillion, won’t give them the first hand experience. We wanted them to ride.
No matter how best you describe a delicious food with all the possible adjectives in dictionary, the listener won’t get the taste of it. Feed him a spoon or share the food with him, he/she will understand it instantly. They would be able to express it in words better than the words you thought of.
Females whom we wanted to ride are regular Activa commuters in the city and are pretty clever drivers in beating the traffic and riding through the twisted gullies. I do remember the break-in period with my Ninja, when the girls on Activa/Pleasure used to over take me. I used to put a smile on the outside and murmured my frustration on the inside. So, I don’t doubt their riding capabilities. Commuting is different and bike touring is different. We wanted them to have a feel of bike touring.
Riding a few km, won’t give them the feel. So, we made it a bit tough and also added other ingredients. Distance to travel was set to 300+ Kms, longish ride. Ride was planned to start at very early morning, 4AM. To feel the rising sun and the spirit rise within you along with it. Ride through a planned and good scenic route. Have fun at the place where we reach. So the destination was set as a beautiful lake. Also, could have a boat ride to enjoy at the destination. As in biking, it’s not about reaching a destination; it’s about the whole journey.
Route Plan
Ride from Delhi to Siliserh Lake, Alwar. Route was Delhi – Gurgaon – Sohna –Nuh – Naugaon – Ramgarh – Alwar. Plan was to start at 4 AM , have breakfast enroute and reach Siliserh Lake by around 10:30 AM. Take a boat ride between 10:30 to 12:30. Head back to Alwar, have lunch. Leave Alwar by 2PM and reach Delhi back by 7:30 PM.
Siliserh Lake
Riders and rides
Radha, Divya, Anu, Meenakshi, Priyanka to share 3 Activas between them. As it was first long ride for the females, we kept the option of switching riders open to them, if they feel tired.
Ankur on Unicorn, Kuldeep on Enfield, Sarvesh on FZ-16, Venki on Ninja 250R.
Females who rode
Anu – My wife. Homemaker, business owner. Mother of 2 children. When I started explaining, what the plan is and before I could finish. Her question was , when are we riding? She loves adventure, always up for the game, if you tell her we are going to places and have some adventure.
Meenakshi – My colleague Ankur’s wife. Homemaker, IT professional, Mother of 1 child. Initially reluctant, but then said ok for the trip.
Priyanka – My colleague, IT Professional. The boys in our office group are whom I normally plan with and ride. Due to our group’s lunch/tea conversations, she was aware whenever we plan or complete biking trips. Post one of the trips, mentioned to her jokingly that you are joining us in the next biking trip. She was bit puzzled at that time, but when told about this ride, she was ready to make that word true.
Divya – My sister-in-law, College student. As it was her summer break , had come up to Delhi from South India. Told her that as soon as you land in Delhi, we are heading for a bike trip. She was more than delighted.
Radha - My sister, college student. Being in university, she has that typical youth thoughts. Feels there are no boundaries, no limits, nothing impossible. So, when asked to join, her nod was yes.
About the ride
Woke up early morning around 3 AM, so that we could have an early start of 4 AM. As it was June 19, middle of summer, we want to beat the heat by starting early. To our luck, found that it was raining heavily. Hoping that it would stop, we started to brush teeth, take bath, pack bags and get ready. All of us were ready by 4 AM, but it was still raining. Postponed the start by 30 min, in fact we had to keep postponing for the next 90 minutes. I had a feeling that this ride is going to be a wash-out. But, others were very positive and raring to start the ride. Finally, the rain god gave his nod for us to go out at 5:45 AM. We all got merry and started the ride. Five of us started from Delhi met with four others who joined from Gurgaon and continued the ride. Due to rain, the climate was pleasant. All of us were riding as a group and were able to maintain decent speed of 50 to 60 kmph. Stopping by to take snaps on opportunity and also filming some videos as we rode. We enjoyed the photo session at a closed rail crossing as we waited for the train. Reached Alwar by around 11:30 AM. As there are no decent dhabas on this route, we stopped at a restaurant once we reached Alwar outskirts. Ordered paranthas, omlettes, shakes to fill up ourselves. As instead of breakfast stop, this turned out to be breakfast + lunch stop. Piyush, Meenakshi’s brother working on internship at Alwar, dropped in to spend time with us. Left the hotel by 1PM to reach Siliserh lake by 1:30 PM. Took a boat ride, to enjoy the lake. As soon as we embarked on bank post the ride, it started to rain. So, enjoyed the lake view with the rain. Once rain stopped, we started our way back. The route back is in fact more scenic than the way to Alwar, as the view of Aravallis is better on way back. Also, it seemed the rain was travelling ahead of us. So, we had a cool breeze through out the way back, without us getting wet. We stopped at Sohna, at around 7 PM. We had a tea break with light snacks. Then continued our ride back to our homes in Gurgaon and Delhi. All were back in home by 8:30 PM.
No emergencies/incidents during the trip, except for 1 puncture in Unicorn. Fortunately, a puncture shop was nearby, who fixed it in 10 minutes. The road condition on this route is good, no pot holes, smooth road and with proper marking on road. In Nov 2010, construction on this route was going on, but now it’s all completed. The only problem, I found though was the height of speed brakers. Could be renamed to bike breakers. As they had used red-bricks at the base and then laid tar to increase the height, so was scrapping the belly of bikes like Ninja and FZ-16.
Closing comments
Post the ride, we all felt happier and had a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Normally, people go out in a car or tempo traveler, if they plan any group outings. Doing it the biker way, made it more enjoyable and memorable. Some of them are all already asking, when is the next ride? Finally, thanks to parents. As some of us have kids and they took care of them, while we were out to enjoy the ride.
Sometimes the best of ideas come, when you least expect it. Same thing happened to me, I was commuting to my office for my routine work, thought of how to spread bikism hit me. In the lunch break, discussed the idea with colleagues who ride regularly with me in biking trips. Feedback received was positive. People said lets take stock again next day, post some confirmations.
We needed confirmations, because it not about us, the bikers. We anyway pull out a plan and ride. Even if there is no plan, we just start the bike, head wherever heart stays and surrender ourselves to the ultimate joy of biking. We know how it feels. How much happiness it gives. How much satisfaction we get. How much we feel rejuvenated post the ride. What stopping to take a photo means. How it feels when your bike reverbs through the silent mountains. When zipping fast through a free highway means. Sitting on a hill view and gazing at them for hours mean. Every time finding a new place and realizing there is still lot to be explored.
The idea was to give this feel to our beloved ones. The idea was to open the gate for them, so that they could also explore the biking world. Instead of us, bikers, starting our bikes, riding and returning in couple of days. We said, this time, we ride with females, whom normally stay back and take care of home while we are gone aka Wife, Sister, Friends, female colleagues. Taking them as a pillion, won’t give them the first hand experience. We wanted them to ride.
No matter how best you describe a delicious food with all the possible adjectives in dictionary, the listener won’t get the taste of it. Feed him a spoon or share the food with him, he/she will understand it instantly. They would be able to express it in words better than the words you thought of.
Females whom we wanted to ride are regular Activa commuters in the city and are pretty clever drivers in beating the traffic and riding through the twisted gullies. I do remember the break-in period with my Ninja, when the girls on Activa/Pleasure used to over take me. I used to put a smile on the outside and murmured my frustration on the inside. So, I don’t doubt their riding capabilities. Commuting is different and bike touring is different. We wanted them to have a feel of bike touring.
Riding a few km, won’t give them the feel. So, we made it a bit tough and also added other ingredients. Distance to travel was set to 300+ Kms, longish ride. Ride was planned to start at very early morning, 4AM. To feel the rising sun and the spirit rise within you along with it. Ride through a planned and good scenic route. Have fun at the place where we reach. So the destination was set as a beautiful lake. Also, could have a boat ride to enjoy at the destination. As in biking, it’s not about reaching a destination; it’s about the whole journey.
Route Plan
Ride from Delhi to Siliserh Lake, Alwar. Route was Delhi – Gurgaon – Sohna –Nuh – Naugaon – Ramgarh – Alwar. Plan was to start at 4 AM , have breakfast enroute and reach Siliserh Lake by around 10:30 AM. Take a boat ride between 10:30 to 12:30. Head back to Alwar, have lunch. Leave Alwar by 2PM and reach Delhi back by 7:30 PM.
Siliserh Lake
Riders and rides
Radha, Divya, Anu, Meenakshi, Priyanka to share 3 Activas between them. As it was first long ride for the females, we kept the option of switching riders open to them, if they feel tired.
Ankur on Unicorn, Kuldeep on Enfield, Sarvesh on FZ-16, Venki on Ninja 250R.
Females who rode
Anu – My wife. Homemaker, business owner. Mother of 2 children. When I started explaining, what the plan is and before I could finish. Her question was , when are we riding? She loves adventure, always up for the game, if you tell her we are going to places and have some adventure.
Meenakshi – My colleague Ankur’s wife. Homemaker, IT professional, Mother of 1 child. Initially reluctant, but then said ok for the trip.
Priyanka – My colleague, IT Professional. The boys in our office group are whom I normally plan with and ride. Due to our group’s lunch/tea conversations, she was aware whenever we plan or complete biking trips. Post one of the trips, mentioned to her jokingly that you are joining us in the next biking trip. She was bit puzzled at that time, but when told about this ride, she was ready to make that word true.
Divya – My sister-in-law, College student. As it was her summer break , had come up to Delhi from South India. Told her that as soon as you land in Delhi, we are heading for a bike trip. She was more than delighted.
Radha - My sister, college student. Being in university, she has that typical youth thoughts. Feels there are no boundaries, no limits, nothing impossible. So, when asked to join, her nod was yes.
About the ride
Woke up early morning around 3 AM, so that we could have an early start of 4 AM. As it was June 19, middle of summer, we want to beat the heat by starting early. To our luck, found that it was raining heavily. Hoping that it would stop, we started to brush teeth, take bath, pack bags and get ready. All of us were ready by 4 AM, but it was still raining. Postponed the start by 30 min, in fact we had to keep postponing for the next 90 minutes. I had a feeling that this ride is going to be a wash-out. But, others were very positive and raring to start the ride. Finally, the rain god gave his nod for us to go out at 5:45 AM. We all got merry and started the ride. Five of us started from Delhi met with four others who joined from Gurgaon and continued the ride. Due to rain, the climate was pleasant. All of us were riding as a group and were able to maintain decent speed of 50 to 60 kmph. Stopping by to take snaps on opportunity and also filming some videos as we rode. We enjoyed the photo session at a closed rail crossing as we waited for the train. Reached Alwar by around 11:30 AM. As there are no decent dhabas on this route, we stopped at a restaurant once we reached Alwar outskirts. Ordered paranthas, omlettes, shakes to fill up ourselves. As instead of breakfast stop, this turned out to be breakfast + lunch stop. Piyush, Meenakshi’s brother working on internship at Alwar, dropped in to spend time with us. Left the hotel by 1PM to reach Siliserh lake by 1:30 PM. Took a boat ride, to enjoy the lake. As soon as we embarked on bank post the ride, it started to rain. So, enjoyed the lake view with the rain. Once rain stopped, we started our way back. The route back is in fact more scenic than the way to Alwar, as the view of Aravallis is better on way back. Also, it seemed the rain was travelling ahead of us. So, we had a cool breeze through out the way back, without us getting wet. We stopped at Sohna, at around 7 PM. We had a tea break with light snacks. Then continued our ride back to our homes in Gurgaon and Delhi. All were back in home by 8:30 PM.
No emergencies/incidents during the trip, except for 1 puncture in Unicorn. Fortunately, a puncture shop was nearby, who fixed it in 10 minutes. The road condition on this route is good, no pot holes, smooth road and with proper marking on road. In Nov 2010, construction on this route was going on, but now it’s all completed. The only problem, I found though was the height of speed brakers. Could be renamed to bike breakers. As they had used red-bricks at the base and then laid tar to increase the height, so was scrapping the belly of bikes like Ninja and FZ-16.
Closing comments
Post the ride, we all felt happier and had a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Normally, people go out in a car or tempo traveler, if they plan any group outings. Doing it the biker way, made it more enjoyable and memorable. Some of them are all already asking, when is the next ride? Finally, thanks to parents. As some of us have kids and they took care of them, while we were out to enjoy the ride.
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