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Warning: This is not a travelogue, but a 40 year preparation to one. Plunge at your own risk.
As much ironical as it sounds, this is true!
The childhood desire, fulfilled
As a child, I had always fancied motorcycles, but never got to own one. When I was a kid (70s-80s), my father owned Yezdi 250cc, but had to sell it away after a couple of accidents and my mother's coaxing. He then bought a Lambretta scooter, which was my(?) first geared vehicle. When I was about 12-13 years of age, my elder brother taught me about handling accelerator, clutch and gears in coordination, which is essential to ride any geared vehicle. I believe, brakes come to you automatically! Once I mastered the art of riding Lamby, I saw no limits to my freedom. I would take out the scooter in my father's absence, ride it as hard as it could, zig-zag through the traffic, especially the bullying buses and cars, and feel ecstatic by the time I returned to home.
My lean body structure, with minimal and optimal available muscles, I would switch my right hand to the left handlebar, to push down with all my might of both hands to shift from 1st gear to second! 3rd and 4th were much easier. With non-functional front brakes (they never worked on any two-wheeler during those times), I would literally stand onto the rear brake pad to make the heavy Lamby come to a stop. Phew, those were scary, but exciting moments! But I never had a fall in Lamby!
Image source: http://www.formichino.com/forum/down...le.php?id=3482
Then entered Bajaj Chetak, courtesy my brother's marriage! Let me say this, Chetak stood to its name, and I ensured that it stands on its hindlegs when demanded! The scooter was lovely to ride, very responsive and reliable, except the trademark Bajaj's morning starting style. Yes, even Chetak had to be tilted towards the kick side for few seconds, before cranking to start! As I was now in my 16s-17s teen group, I had some stronger muscles (still a lanky-panky skinny bony guy), and Chetak's controls being softer than those of Lamby's, riding it was a fun! I would do wheelies, cut through traffic, run upto 80 KMPH with the slightest available opportunity and the fullest wringing of the accelerator. That was my childhood with motorised bikes, and what it was! aha...
Image source: http://ic1.maxabout.us/autos/tw_indi...j-chetak-p.jpg
The married-person-dilemma, lived
Went to college, no vehicle. Went for job, no vehicle. Got married, no vehicle. Now, this started hurting me sometimes, as moving around in Noida in public transport alongside a newly married wife, was something beyond my personal liking. So, 3 months into our marriage, me and my dear wife sweeped all our savings in our 3 bank accounts, gathered Rs 46,000 to buy ourselves a Honda Activa. It was year 2003, and Activa was still new in the market, but loads of positive reviews and feedback of the scooter made our choice easy among the gearless scooters. Yes, it had to be a gearless scooter, no motorcycle or no geared scooter. This was my decision, with the thought that in case my wife needs to commute, it should not be a constraint. So, my dream of owning a motorcycle remains.
Image source: http://www.iloveindia.com/bikes/pics/honda-activa.jpg
By Nov-2004, we started looking forward to buying flat, and the affordable ones were in Indirapuram. We liked Mahagun Mansion a lot, 3-BHK for 24 lakhs, with 5% down-payment, which came out to around 1.25 lakhs. Voila, we had 50,000 in all our accounts, what were we thinking! Realty reality was painfully funny! So, we decided, let's buy a car or else we will lose this 50K as well, not a big deal when you are young.
In 2005, bought our first car, Maruti Wagon-R, though the hunt started in Nov-2004 just after our eye-opener house hunting game. Again, this was not our first choice, but later turned out to be a lovely decision for our life. We had narrowed down to Maruti Alto (as if it was tough to do so, ha ha), being the cheapest car with and AC. Also, I wanted to stick to Maruti brand for our first car, keeping low breakdowns and lower maintenance in mind. Again, the exercise was repeated; we gathered our savings of around Rs. 50,000 and headed to the showroom. Surprise of surprises, Alto downpayment was somewhere around Rs. 60,000, as there was no discounts being offered! We were disappointed, but the salesperson came to our rescue (that is why they are salesperson), and suggested us Wagon-R. I almost whispered to him, we don't have downpayment for Alto, how do you expect us to go for a car costing 1 Lakh more? With his magic wand in his hand (read price lists), he explained that the current discount schemes on Wagon-R allows customers to pay lesser downpayments! But I was not convinced (I hate sales people), so we came back home disheartened. Next few days, I scurried all reviews, feedbacks and advertisements on Wagon-R. As it happens, you start finding the same car more and more on the roads, in the adverts, on the signboards, etc. At that very time, Wagon-R was launched in that dreamy Caribbean Blue color, which caught our eyes. On 8-Jan-2005, we went back to the same showroom, met the same sales guy (did not want him to lose his commission), and booked our first car, Carribean Blue Wagon-R, with the previous year-end discount schemes applicable.
To cut the story short, married life demanded some attention and imposed few restrictions, due to which we bought Ford Figo and Tata Safari Dicor later in our life journey, but owning a motorcycle was still a distant dream. By the time we purchased Ford Figo and Tata Safari in the span of 2 years, we were earning handsomely so the fun part of sweeping our accounts was missed!
The infamous midlife crisis, survived
After 14 years of job life, 11 years of married life, and 38 years of all my life, the desire to buy a bike grew. It so happened that I picked up photography as my hobby in 2013. I started feeling restricted in my movement for photoshoot locations. Taking Safari felt like using a sword where needle is required. Figo was primarily my wife's car. I began looking for a pre-owned bike, somewhere in the range of 20-25 thousand. Then my wife said, why don't you fulfill your dream of Bullet? I ignored her keeping my age and bike's weight and maintenance-attention in mind. On age, she had a lovely argument: this is the age when you can atleast ride, when you are healthy and more or less fit. After a decade or two, it will only be in your dream and then you will regret your whole life that you never owned a Bullet. Somewhere in the corner of my heart, it kept on palpitating. We thought to give it a try. We went to Sri Mahadev agency in Sector-10, Noida, took a ride of Classic 350 and Thunderbird 350. Of course, TB350 was more comfortable to ride, Cl350 was more wow factor. Personally, I liked Electra more, but it's weak headlight assembly, no disk at the rear, thinner tyre, and smaller tank size swayed me more towards TB350. Cl350 was my 3rd choice after Electra and TB.
Talked to the salesgirl (yes, Bullet showroom did have a salesgirl), about the availability of TB350 Matt Stone. She said 2-3 months. For Cl350, it was 4-5 months. There was one TB350 Matt Stone on display. The salesgirl said it is for a customer who has already confirmed the booking, but waiting for Pitru Paksh (shraadh) month to get over. I believe, it was 10th or 12th Sep. I am not an atheist, but not a devout as well, so shraadh month meant nothing to me. Back in the mind, I knew that a very auspicious day is just around the corner, when tools and machineries are worshipped. What could be better than that day?! A couple of days later I walked in again, and told her that I am ready to pick the bike in cash right-away. She talked to the agency owner, and they agreed that if I pick up the bike in day, they will sell it to me. I got know later in the conversation that another TB350 was supposed to be coming to their showroom in the next lot within 20 days, which they would make available for the customer. I think, this would be a sort of record, to get TB350 delivered in two days time.
So, on 15-Sep, I paid Rs. 5000 as booking amount, and asked her if I can get a desired number plate of my choice. She said, this has to be done only by me, as UP Transport has this facility online. The same day, I logged into https://vahan.up.nic.in/UP_fancynumberbid/ and started hunting for a number that comprises my daughter's, wife's and my birthday numbers. It was difficult and seemed to be near impossible. Then suddenly, this number caught my attention, and the rate was reasonable at Rs. 3000. It was 0303, or.303, or 3-not-3 caliber bullets used in pistols! I immediately booked this number, paid the amount online and the receipt was delivered to my email id, which I forwarded to the agency.
I could have taken the bike delivery on 16-Sep, but 17-Sep being Vishwakarma pooja, it seemed more appropriate (I had already planned for it, remember?). Lord Vishwakarma is the god of all tools and machineries, including vehicles. So, on 17-Sep, went to a helmet shop, narrowed down to a decent Studds helmet (Ninja was not available), rushed to the showroom and picked the bike. I am not a person who would like to do extensive PDI, whatever the vehicle. In general, I checked for lights, horns, brakes, clutch and that's it. Minor paint issues were ignored by me, did not give a chance to the showroom people to ignore these, ha ha. With my wife following me in her car, we went to the nearest petrol station, filled the tank, got the air pressure checked and headed for home.
When my 6 year old daughter came from school, she was happily delighted, but afraid to sit on the bike. She had always travelled in a car, so I could understand her fear, I did not force her to ride that day. I knew, more days are in the offing. In the evening, we all went to the Noida Kalibari in Sector-10, to get the bike blessed. I rode it alone, family followed in the car. FYI, our Activa, Wagon-R, Figo and Safari, were all blessed in this temple itself.
I brought TB350 into my life on 17-Sep, and on 31-Oct, I resigned from my handsome (sort of) job! Ha! Why?! Midlife crisis I suppose, but till date I do not have clear answer. Only strong point was, my wife continuing with her career. On 1-Nov-2014, I packed a small backpack and left for Pushkar, spent the weekend during the world-renowned Pushkar fair. As, I could not get leaves during my 2-month notice period, waited for the new year to arrive. Starting 1-Jan-2015, I was free of job responsibilities, irrespective of whether I was still a free person or not.
The knock at the door, replied
During sometime in Mar-2015 my wife was offered a promotion, but of all the cities in the country, at Chennai. All our lives, we had been living in northern part of India, Chennai seemed to be a terrifying bliss. It was decided that my wife would go there alone, serve around 2 years and then come back to NCR. In the meantime, she would make monthly trips to NCR from Chennai, so that all of remember each other's faces. Our daughter will remain with me and continue her studies in NCR. But things happen that you do not predict for. My daughter and I visited Chennai when her summer vacation started in May-2015. Nothing surprising, it was hot and humid, always making rainy faces but would hardly downpour and less people to talk to due to language barrier. However, the air was cleaner (at least near DLF IT where we were put up), skies were very clear, no haze, minimal dust, come evening and the nice sea breeze would force you to remain out. We visited a couple of beaches and we started hating Chennai lesser. Then, the non-intrusive people, small town flavour, and proximity to Sahaj Marg ashram made things easier. Manual labour seemed to be on a higher side, be it AC installation, house maids, puncture repair, etc. The common factors between NCR and Chennai were ofcourse, autowallahs, bus drivers, and traffic policemen. It will take some more time to like this place, I thought. During the 4 weeks that we stayed at Chennai, we decided to move there. The ordeal of daughter's school, renting a bigger place (as wife had taken a small flat for herself), getting our two cars, 1 bike and household goods (mammoth collection we had till now) transported, NOCs of vehicles, re-registration, everything came into my mind and I wanted to have a couple of drinks!
After my daughter's admission in Chennai school, I came back to Indirapuram to arrange for transportation and RTO paperworks. At least, I wanted Figo to be shipped immediately so that my wife and daughter are at ease in the new city. So, Figo was shipped. I visited the Noida school, applied for daughter's TC and security refund.
Now, I had my return ticket booked for Chennai, for 31-July-2015.
The Shakesperean question, answered
As days passed by, a wild thought started creeping in and out of my mind. Why don't I ride my TB350 to Chennai? That would be too much, I have not done any long rides except the Pushkar 8 months ago. But I can ride only 200-300 km daily and visit local places on the way. But I don't possess any safety gears, protective apparels, or even bare necessary tools? C'mon, this is India, and I will be limiting myself to national highways only, where I can find any mechanic within 2-3 kms range, plus, I won't be riding at more than 80kmph, so can live with jeans and a windcheater as my protective gear. But my wife will not agree. She knows I am suffering from a slipped disc since 1-Jan-2013. Also, hypertension (god knows since when), dust allergy which turns into sinusitis and severe choking, AVM (angio vascular malformation, affects me at high altitudes though), almost 40 year old man, etc, etc. But this seems to be a good chance, just let me throw it across my wife, remember, she is the one who coerced me into buying bullet rather than any other bike? hmmm...
On 25-July-2015, I mentioned about this solo bike trip to my wife in one of our mobile conversations. She gave a 2 second pause, and then, to my surprise, immediately agreed! Now, the ball was in my court.
The Life, continues...
Later in the day, we again talked, and she dropped her doubt-bombs, "are you sure you want to do this solo? What about protective gears? tools?". I said, I think I will make it through if I start with a positive belief. This is one attitude which pushes me to newer adventures, though it happens very seldom
. I tend to ignore problems and move ahead once I decide, though I know that you must be prepared for the worst. But, what is the worst then?! I don't want to think about it now, or for that sake, never. That is one reason I do not inspect vehicles to the core; I just make sure that it is at-least in the condition that it would be after 2-3 thousand km on the odometer, as vehicles are made to run on roads where unexpected things will happen, paints will wear out, alignment would need attention, switches are bound to malfunction. Rest, with complete faith in my vehicle, I proceed with purchase or drive, and till now, none of my vehicles have failed me on the road (punctures are excluded from my trust list ).
Even till the last moment, I was not sure that I would bite the bug. The day before the trip, 28th July, I got the pending 4th service done, filled the tank, got the air pressure checked. This air pressure thing in rear tyre of TB350 is painful. On a side note, all the modern nozzles are long ones, and it is nearly impossible to fill air pressure in rear tyre due to chain sprocket on one side, and disc brake on the other. The only solution is to trust the local puncture repair shops. That evening, I started to pack my year-old-never-used-new Quechua 70L hiking backback, along with 4-month-old-never-used-new Rynox Optimus-M magnetic tankbag. BY the time it got over, it was midnight, and my so called plan to start by 4 am next morning seemed a distant dream.
So, what did I all pack, apart from my clothes?
While riding, I am pretty much comfortable in a pair of jeans full sleeve shirt/T-shirt, with a windcheater to protect from dirt. From my Pushkar ride experience, I learnt a lesson that you need to choose your undergarments carefully, for long, hot and humid rides. So, keeping aside style factor, I wore and kept trunk undergarments and kept a pair of boxer briefs. Idea is, to avoid hemlines/stitchlines become pressure points. I have heard that cycling shorts work wonders as undergarments, I am yet to hear it from experienced fellows. I have an age old Nike windcheater, Adidas running shoes, a pair of cheap hand-gloves, Fastrack sunglasses and a Studds full face helmet as my riding suit. Till the day before, I was a bit skeptical about not having protective gears, sufficient tool set, puncture kit and GPS navigator, but once I started the ride, I never even thought of these, remember, having trust in your vehicle?!
As much ironical as it sounds, this is true!
The childhood desire, fulfilled
As a child, I had always fancied motorcycles, but never got to own one. When I was a kid (70s-80s), my father owned Yezdi 250cc, but had to sell it away after a couple of accidents and my mother's coaxing. He then bought a Lambretta scooter, which was my(?) first geared vehicle. When I was about 12-13 years of age, my elder brother taught me about handling accelerator, clutch and gears in coordination, which is essential to ride any geared vehicle. I believe, brakes come to you automatically! Once I mastered the art of riding Lamby, I saw no limits to my freedom. I would take out the scooter in my father's absence, ride it as hard as it could, zig-zag through the traffic, especially the bullying buses and cars, and feel ecstatic by the time I returned to home.
My lean body structure, with minimal and optimal available muscles, I would switch my right hand to the left handlebar, to push down with all my might of both hands to shift from 1st gear to second! 3rd and 4th were much easier. With non-functional front brakes (they never worked on any two-wheeler during those times), I would literally stand onto the rear brake pad to make the heavy Lamby come to a stop. Phew, those were scary, but exciting moments! But I never had a fall in Lamby!
Image source: http://www.formichino.com/forum/down...le.php?id=3482
Then entered Bajaj Chetak, courtesy my brother's marriage! Let me say this, Chetak stood to its name, and I ensured that it stands on its hindlegs when demanded! The scooter was lovely to ride, very responsive and reliable, except the trademark Bajaj's morning starting style. Yes, even Chetak had to be tilted towards the kick side for few seconds, before cranking to start! As I was now in my 16s-17s teen group, I had some stronger muscles (still a lanky-panky skinny bony guy), and Chetak's controls being softer than those of Lamby's, riding it was a fun! I would do wheelies, cut through traffic, run upto 80 KMPH with the slightest available opportunity and the fullest wringing of the accelerator. That was my childhood with motorised bikes, and what it was! aha...
Image source: http://ic1.maxabout.us/autos/tw_indi...j-chetak-p.jpg
The married-person-dilemma, lived
Went to college, no vehicle. Went for job, no vehicle. Got married, no vehicle. Now, this started hurting me sometimes, as moving around in Noida in public transport alongside a newly married wife, was something beyond my personal liking. So, 3 months into our marriage, me and my dear wife sweeped all our savings in our 3 bank accounts, gathered Rs 46,000 to buy ourselves a Honda Activa. It was year 2003, and Activa was still new in the market, but loads of positive reviews and feedback of the scooter made our choice easy among the gearless scooters. Yes, it had to be a gearless scooter, no motorcycle or no geared scooter. This was my decision, with the thought that in case my wife needs to commute, it should not be a constraint. So, my dream of owning a motorcycle remains.
Image source: http://www.iloveindia.com/bikes/pics/honda-activa.jpg
By Nov-2004, we started looking forward to buying flat, and the affordable ones were in Indirapuram. We liked Mahagun Mansion a lot, 3-BHK for 24 lakhs, with 5% down-payment, which came out to around 1.25 lakhs. Voila, we had 50,000 in all our accounts, what were we thinking! Realty reality was painfully funny! So, we decided, let's buy a car or else we will lose this 50K as well, not a big deal when you are young.
In 2005, bought our first car, Maruti Wagon-R, though the hunt started in Nov-2004 just after our eye-opener house hunting game. Again, this was not our first choice, but later turned out to be a lovely decision for our life. We had narrowed down to Maruti Alto (as if it was tough to do so, ha ha), being the cheapest car with and AC. Also, I wanted to stick to Maruti brand for our first car, keeping low breakdowns and lower maintenance in mind. Again, the exercise was repeated; we gathered our savings of around Rs. 50,000 and headed to the showroom. Surprise of surprises, Alto downpayment was somewhere around Rs. 60,000, as there was no discounts being offered! We were disappointed, but the salesperson came to our rescue (that is why they are salesperson), and suggested us Wagon-R. I almost whispered to him, we don't have downpayment for Alto, how do you expect us to go for a car costing 1 Lakh more? With his magic wand in his hand (read price lists), he explained that the current discount schemes on Wagon-R allows customers to pay lesser downpayments! But I was not convinced (I hate sales people), so we came back home disheartened. Next few days, I scurried all reviews, feedbacks and advertisements on Wagon-R. As it happens, you start finding the same car more and more on the roads, in the adverts, on the signboards, etc. At that very time, Wagon-R was launched in that dreamy Caribbean Blue color, which caught our eyes. On 8-Jan-2005, we went back to the same showroom, met the same sales guy (did not want him to lose his commission), and booked our first car, Carribean Blue Wagon-R, with the previous year-end discount schemes applicable.
To cut the story short, married life demanded some attention and imposed few restrictions, due to which we bought Ford Figo and Tata Safari Dicor later in our life journey, but owning a motorcycle was still a distant dream. By the time we purchased Ford Figo and Tata Safari in the span of 2 years, we were earning handsomely so the fun part of sweeping our accounts was missed!
The infamous midlife crisis, survived
After 14 years of job life, 11 years of married life, and 38 years of all my life, the desire to buy a bike grew. It so happened that I picked up photography as my hobby in 2013. I started feeling restricted in my movement for photoshoot locations. Taking Safari felt like using a sword where needle is required. Figo was primarily my wife's car. I began looking for a pre-owned bike, somewhere in the range of 20-25 thousand. Then my wife said, why don't you fulfill your dream of Bullet? I ignored her keeping my age and bike's weight and maintenance-attention in mind. On age, she had a lovely argument: this is the age when you can atleast ride, when you are healthy and more or less fit. After a decade or two, it will only be in your dream and then you will regret your whole life that you never owned a Bullet. Somewhere in the corner of my heart, it kept on palpitating. We thought to give it a try. We went to Sri Mahadev agency in Sector-10, Noida, took a ride of Classic 350 and Thunderbird 350. Of course, TB350 was more comfortable to ride, Cl350 was more wow factor. Personally, I liked Electra more, but it's weak headlight assembly, no disk at the rear, thinner tyre, and smaller tank size swayed me more towards TB350. Cl350 was my 3rd choice after Electra and TB.
Talked to the salesgirl (yes, Bullet showroom did have a salesgirl), about the availability of TB350 Matt Stone. She said 2-3 months. For Cl350, it was 4-5 months. There was one TB350 Matt Stone on display. The salesgirl said it is for a customer who has already confirmed the booking, but waiting for Pitru Paksh (shraadh) month to get over. I believe, it was 10th or 12th Sep. I am not an atheist, but not a devout as well, so shraadh month meant nothing to me. Back in the mind, I knew that a very auspicious day is just around the corner, when tools and machineries are worshipped. What could be better than that day?! A couple of days later I walked in again, and told her that I am ready to pick the bike in cash right-away. She talked to the agency owner, and they agreed that if I pick up the bike in day, they will sell it to me. I got know later in the conversation that another TB350 was supposed to be coming to their showroom in the next lot within 20 days, which they would make available for the customer. I think, this would be a sort of record, to get TB350 delivered in two days time.
So, on 15-Sep, I paid Rs. 5000 as booking amount, and asked her if I can get a desired number plate of my choice. She said, this has to be done only by me, as UP Transport has this facility online. The same day, I logged into https://vahan.up.nic.in/UP_fancynumberbid/ and started hunting for a number that comprises my daughter's, wife's and my birthday numbers. It was difficult and seemed to be near impossible. Then suddenly, this number caught my attention, and the rate was reasonable at Rs. 3000. It was 0303, or.303, or 3-not-3 caliber bullets used in pistols! I immediately booked this number, paid the amount online and the receipt was delivered to my email id, which I forwarded to the agency.
I could have taken the bike delivery on 16-Sep, but 17-Sep being Vishwakarma pooja, it seemed more appropriate (I had already planned for it, remember?). Lord Vishwakarma is the god of all tools and machineries, including vehicles. So, on 17-Sep, went to a helmet shop, narrowed down to a decent Studds helmet (Ninja was not available), rushed to the showroom and picked the bike. I am not a person who would like to do extensive PDI, whatever the vehicle. In general, I checked for lights, horns, brakes, clutch and that's it. Minor paint issues were ignored by me, did not give a chance to the showroom people to ignore these, ha ha. With my wife following me in her car, we went to the nearest petrol station, filled the tank, got the air pressure checked and headed for home.
When my 6 year old daughter came from school, she was happily delighted, but afraid to sit on the bike. She had always travelled in a car, so I could understand her fear, I did not force her to ride that day. I knew, more days are in the offing. In the evening, we all went to the Noida Kalibari in Sector-10, to get the bike blessed. I rode it alone, family followed in the car. FYI, our Activa, Wagon-R, Figo and Safari, were all blessed in this temple itself.
I brought TB350 into my life on 17-Sep, and on 31-Oct, I resigned from my handsome (sort of) job! Ha! Why?! Midlife crisis I suppose, but till date I do not have clear answer. Only strong point was, my wife continuing with her career. On 1-Nov-2014, I packed a small backpack and left for Pushkar, spent the weekend during the world-renowned Pushkar fair. As, I could not get leaves during my 2-month notice period, waited for the new year to arrive. Starting 1-Jan-2015, I was free of job responsibilities, irrespective of whether I was still a free person or not.
The knock at the door, replied
During sometime in Mar-2015 my wife was offered a promotion, but of all the cities in the country, at Chennai. All our lives, we had been living in northern part of India, Chennai seemed to be a terrifying bliss. It was decided that my wife would go there alone, serve around 2 years and then come back to NCR. In the meantime, she would make monthly trips to NCR from Chennai, so that all of remember each other's faces. Our daughter will remain with me and continue her studies in NCR. But things happen that you do not predict for. My daughter and I visited Chennai when her summer vacation started in May-2015. Nothing surprising, it was hot and humid, always making rainy faces but would hardly downpour and less people to talk to due to language barrier. However, the air was cleaner (at least near DLF IT where we were put up), skies were very clear, no haze, minimal dust, come evening and the nice sea breeze would force you to remain out. We visited a couple of beaches and we started hating Chennai lesser. Then, the non-intrusive people, small town flavour, and proximity to Sahaj Marg ashram made things easier. Manual labour seemed to be on a higher side, be it AC installation, house maids, puncture repair, etc. The common factors between NCR and Chennai were ofcourse, autowallahs, bus drivers, and traffic policemen. It will take some more time to like this place, I thought. During the 4 weeks that we stayed at Chennai, we decided to move there. The ordeal of daughter's school, renting a bigger place (as wife had taken a small flat for herself), getting our two cars, 1 bike and household goods (mammoth collection we had till now) transported, NOCs of vehicles, re-registration, everything came into my mind and I wanted to have a couple of drinks!
After my daughter's admission in Chennai school, I came back to Indirapuram to arrange for transportation and RTO paperworks. At least, I wanted Figo to be shipped immediately so that my wife and daughter are at ease in the new city. So, Figo was shipped. I visited the Noida school, applied for daughter's TC and security refund.
Now, I had my return ticket booked for Chennai, for 31-July-2015.
The Shakesperean question, answered
As days passed by, a wild thought started creeping in and out of my mind. Why don't I ride my TB350 to Chennai? That would be too much, I have not done any long rides except the Pushkar 8 months ago. But I can ride only 200-300 km daily and visit local places on the way. But I don't possess any safety gears, protective apparels, or even bare necessary tools? C'mon, this is India, and I will be limiting myself to national highways only, where I can find any mechanic within 2-3 kms range, plus, I won't be riding at more than 80kmph, so can live with jeans and a windcheater as my protective gear. But my wife will not agree. She knows I am suffering from a slipped disc since 1-Jan-2013. Also, hypertension (god knows since when), dust allergy which turns into sinusitis and severe choking, AVM (angio vascular malformation, affects me at high altitudes though), almost 40 year old man, etc, etc. But this seems to be a good chance, just let me throw it across my wife, remember, she is the one who coerced me into buying bullet rather than any other bike? hmmm...
On 25-July-2015, I mentioned about this solo bike trip to my wife in one of our mobile conversations. She gave a 2 second pause, and then, to my surprise, immediately agreed! Now, the ball was in my court.
The Life, continues...
Later in the day, we again talked, and she dropped her doubt-bombs, "are you sure you want to do this solo? What about protective gears? tools?". I said, I think I will make it through if I start with a positive belief. This is one attitude which pushes me to newer adventures, though it happens very seldom
. I tend to ignore problems and move ahead once I decide, though I know that you must be prepared for the worst. But, what is the worst then?! I don't want to think about it now, or for that sake, never. That is one reason I do not inspect vehicles to the core; I just make sure that it is at-least in the condition that it would be after 2-3 thousand km on the odometer, as vehicles are made to run on roads where unexpected things will happen, paints will wear out, alignment would need attention, switches are bound to malfunction. Rest, with complete faith in my vehicle, I proceed with purchase or drive, and till now, none of my vehicles have failed me on the road (punctures are excluded from my trust list ).Even till the last moment, I was not sure that I would bite the bug. The day before the trip, 28th July, I got the pending 4th service done, filled the tank, got the air pressure checked. This air pressure thing in rear tyre of TB350 is painful. On a side note, all the modern nozzles are long ones, and it is nearly impossible to fill air pressure in rear tyre due to chain sprocket on one side, and disc brake on the other. The only solution is to trust the local puncture repair shops. That evening, I started to pack my year-old-never-used-new Quechua 70L hiking backback, along with 4-month-old-never-used-new Rynox Optimus-M magnetic tankbag. BY the time it got over, it was midnight, and my so called plan to start by 4 am next morning seemed a distant dream.
So, what did I all pack, apart from my clothes?
- Clutch wire
- Two spark plugs
- Accelerator wire
- Normal Pliers, which was lying in my home
- A screwdriver
- Few energy bars
- Nikon D3200, with the kit lens only
While riding, I am pretty much comfortable in a pair of jeans full sleeve shirt/T-shirt, with a windcheater to protect from dirt. From my Pushkar ride experience, I learnt a lesson that you need to choose your undergarments carefully, for long, hot and humid rides. So, keeping aside style factor, I wore and kept trunk undergarments and kept a pair of boxer briefs. Idea is, to avoid hemlines/stitchlines become pressure points. I have heard that cycling shorts work wonders as undergarments, I am yet to hear it from experienced fellows. I have an age old Nike windcheater, Adidas running shoes, a pair of cheap hand-gloves, Fastrack sunglasses and a Studds full face helmet as my riding suit. Till the day before, I was a bit skeptical about not having protective gears, sufficient tool set, puncture kit and GPS navigator, but once I started the ride, I never even thought of these, remember, having trust in your vehicle?!
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