| Go,
go Goa! India
by brijesh kumar
I remember reading somewhere that the best way to see a
place is on foot. Our hectic lives rarely allow that. Our
passion for riding and travelling culminated in the ride
to Goa for Rider Mania 2004 - an event organized by the
Royal Enfield clubs in India on 10th and 11th of January,
2004.
From Chennai we had Asher, Ajith, Kaushik and his brother
Kiran, Indra Sen and his brother Hero Sen (from Eastern
Bulls, Calcutta), Dodo, Solo, Saru, Navaneeth, Varun, Ranga,
Naren, Sarangan (Naren's friend) and me.
8/1/04 - Thursday
We were off at 5:00 am. One of the disadvantages I have
seen of group riding is that the best-laid plans go for
a toss at the last moment. Instead of the fourteen people
that were supposed to start, splits happened with six starting
first, followed by others in batches. About 50 km later
the first bike went down - main bearing failure. Dejected,
Apun returned back home. A brave decision considering that
if he had continued he would have slowed down the whole
group. Roads upto Vellore were full of diversions and rough
patches. After breakfast at Vellore (thanks to Daniel's
parents) we hit Moghili Ghats. Nice winding roads along
with a famous road sign - 'Roads Brings Peoples Together"
Kolar saw the next breakdown. Electricals in Hero Sen's
Std 500 failed. A temporary fix was done. We proceeded on
to Hoskote where the group split with the problematic bikes
moving to Bangalore and the remaining heading to Hassan.
I was in the Hassan group and it was a beautiful road all
the way. All the bikes moving in a line with Kaushik leading
and Ajith sweeping. Group riding in its best form all the
way. We covered 514 km on the first day.
9/1/04 - Friday
Roads in Karnataka are relatively better. As we went further
we saw less and less of traffic on the highways, especially
lorry traffic, which is a breather. The other group was
at Kunigal with Hero's bike having a new set of wiring and
Navaneeth's bike a new bore and piston, which meant he could
not exceed 60 kph for 2000 km. A freak accident at the first
stop saw Asher losing his headlight and the clutch lever.
Kaushik rode his bike and after crossing Sakleshpur we hit
the ghats. Riding a bike without a clutch lever is a challenge
on the ghats. Ghats to riders is like food for the hungry
and we did speeds of 70-80 km/hr. And 60 km before Mangalore
we fixed Asher's bike. A short cut to Udipi resulted in
a ride through a narrow, bumpy and winding road, which made
the riding altogether more interesting. My butt felt like
a log after this stretch.
A break for refreshments and a quick inspection of my bike
saw that the welding below the silencer has given away.
The silencer still stayed. We hit Marvanthe beach next after
Udupi, a 2 km stretch with the beach on the left. At one
point the beach on the left and a water body on the right
has the road right through it. We reached Bhatkal where
confusion split the group further. I was riding comparatively
slower. Ajith was doing a good job of sweeping. Indra stopped
me as my jacket was flying around sans the zipper. I tied
it down along with my luggage and we move on. Apparently
the others - Asher, Kaushik and Ajith - had signalled Indra
to go on which I didn't see. I started riding fast continuously
worried that the others were much ahead. The next section
of ride literally made me forget my worries.
Bhatkal - Karwar - Goa. Two bikes moving in tandem, Indra
made it a point to be visible in my rear view mirrors throughout.
Lovely winding roads going up and then descending. At one
point the Indian Naval Shipyard could be seen, a beautiful
sight. The sun going down, the water, boats and we watched
the same from a height. This section of the ride also taught
me one important lesson when riding with others. Make sure
you and most importantly the bike running with you have
enough fuel. We crossed Goa check post at 7:00 pm. From
here we took it easy. Good, narrow, empty roads only illuminated
by our headlights. At times we came across lighted houses.
Otherwise it was dark and empty throughout. The air was
cold and a couple of stretches later we felt warm air currents.
We reached Royal Resorts, Vagator Beach at 11:30 pm after
covering a distance of 561 km for the day. After taking
a midnight walk in Vagator Beach we crashed into our beds
for a good nights sleep. During the whole night I got calls
from other groups. I was so sleepy that I do not know what
I told them.
10/1/04 - Saturday
The D-day. Ranga who had done the booking for us arrived
and Indra left with him to the venue. While Kaushik, Kiran,
Ajith and Asher, who had reached only in the morning, chose
to sleep, I rode to the Riva Resorts, Mandhrem Beach, the
venue of Rider Mania 2004 with the RTMC (Royal Thunder Motorcycling
Club, Bangalore). Riva Resorts was packed with Bullets.
No two bikes looked alike. Apart from Chennai, Calcutta
and Bangalore there were riders from Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad,
Delhi and Chandigarh. Met a lot of faces behind the names
and email addresses. Relaxed on the beach. Evening was for
dance, food and catching up. After that we headed back to
the hotel.
11/1/04 - Sunday
The Vagator beach! Got up early, dressed and headed out.
Had a top view of the beach and it looked serene and beautiful.
Waves gently lashing the shore and the rocks, a gentle breeze,
not too sunny, couple of boats were out and there was a
group already in the water running to and fro between the
water and the shore. We moved to the venue where after a
souvenir distribution function to each club, we had a small
ride around the city. The souvenir for the Madras Bulls
was presented to Daniel and we in turn presented the same
to Ranga for all the work he did. The ride was a sight to
see. Atleast 70 odd bikes (others might have been still
sleeping) moving together even causing traffic jam in some
places. We returned to the venue to be interviewed by Star
TV and Reuters.
My bike fell down at this point. I was trying to ride the
bike up a small ledge when the center stand scraped and
got stuck. I jumped off and the bike fell down. No harm
except for a loose tail light assembly. It's at this point
that a family on three Bullets rode up, yellow, black and
grey bikes, beautifully done up. The styling was neat and
the lines smooth. We had a late breakfast and a couple of
us - Dodo, Navaneeth, Indra and I - decide to leave early.
Reason being that Navaneeth's bike was running in, Daniel
was not able to speed and we wanted to see the Jog Falls.
We headed back to the hotel and left by 5:00 pm. Reached
Honnavar at 12:00 and halted for the night. After spending
some time talking to Pradeep and Keerthi from RTMC we went
to sleep.
12/1/04 - Monday
The ghat section had begun. Up, down, left, right, sweeping
left turns, right turns and above all good roads made a
memorable biking experience. Sharavathi River Valley came
into view. Beautiful! A couple of minutes later we saw the
turning to the Jog Falls. There was a sweeping left turn,
which never seemed to end. Some of these turns take you
off guard as your judgment goes for a toss. Eventually after
completing a certain portion of the turn you end up on the
other side of the road. Happened to me once. After a long
breakfast we were on our way again. I got lost at Sagar,
as Daniel, Navaneeth and Indra had moved on while I tanked
up. There is a right turning and a straight road and asking
locals for directions gave me conflicting answers. Either
of the two things could have happened. Daniel & Co would
come back looking for me or I would have to follow the RTMC
guys who were behind me. The latter happened. I followed
Sid and David. Sagar - Shimoga was more of a route through
a kind of forest with trees on both sides and good roads.
After lunch at Shimoga we halted for the night at Tumkur.
It was freezing cold and the last stretch of the road had
bad patches. It was at Tumkur that the others told me to
change my riding posture as I was sitting too much to the
right. I decided to correct this the next day.
13/1/04 - Tuesday
The initial stretch of the Tumkur highway had heavy fog
reducing visibility. Eventually the same cleared and we
reached Bangalore at 9:30 am. From there it was the outer
ring road that took us on the road to Chennai. What a world
of difference between riding on the highways and the city
roads. While one gives you the feeling of you, your bike
and the road only the other reminds you constantly that
it is not the case. After lunch at Kolar, we once again
crossed the Moghili Ghats and reached home at 7:30 pm.
Sometimes people do ask me whether I am crazy. I quietly
smile. Certain things are best when experienced rather than
explained.
Ride Details
8th - Chennai - Vellore - Kolar - Bangalore - Hassan
9th - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Udipi - Bhatkal - Karwar - Goa
10th, 11th at Goa.
11th - Goa - Kumta - Honnavar
12th - Honnavar - Sagar - Shimoga - Tumkur
13th - Tumkur - Bangalore - Kolar - Vellore - Chennai
Total distance - 2191 km.
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