"Are we ready to go guys?", he screamed with all the energy pumping out by throwing his fist in the air, as the trip was about to begin anytime from now. "Yo! Let's roll. It's getting late, mate!", called another voice from the line up of the rides. He hopped on to his ride and everyone flicked the throttle, instantly vrooming out of sight from the rendezvous point for the trip. They rode, they rode in formations, switched riders, rides, positions and enjoyed the mills sweating it out as they progressed towards their destination.
The target distance was 750kms during day light. They had made stops, quick ones, long ones, yet, managed to cover a great deal of distance during the run time. There were riders who were stopping for a quick smoke, those who were feeling sleepy and hence stopped to take light refreshment but there was also a gang that was so deeply engrossed in the trip that kept the lead run for long, making sure everything was intact throughout.
They were mid-way to their destination. Now, it was time to talk to their loved ones. They stopped equidistant from each other and began talking sitting on their rides. It was a pleasant day, the cloud cover as expected along the highway, perfect for bikers to roll endlessly with their rides comfortably cruising. The phone calls lasted for almost an hour. Though the calls had not ended, the lead group notified others hitting against their wrist watches. Few minutes and they were all riding in formation along their route.
It was dusk. Though it brings a lot of relief from the sun and brings much needed relief for the mills to have a cooler ride, it is a nightmare riding through the twilight zone. The sun was not bright enough as it was fading into the horizon and the rides' headlamps were too early to go on. The riders from the middle of the formation with HID lamps pitched in and took the lead for the time being. The beams were good that they made steady progress although the speeds had come down.
It was getting dark. All vehicles lined up near a town and the final checking for any malfunction or repairs were carried out. Once it was completely dark and with hilly roads to take on, they brought in the pair of rides from the tail section of the formation to take over the ghat section. These rides had customised headlamps that were perfected over the numerous trips made by the gang. For curving, swerving and narrow roads, they had added an additional battery for the rides and the vertical stack projectors were on giving the much needed confidence for the ride into the dark.
The two rides kept the headlamps on alternately giving room for their spare batteries as well as the stock batteries to charge up during the hill climb. After a tedious hill climb, the gang had made it to their destination. Finally, as planned. It was time for a quick huddle and they were discussing, making fun, sharing views, sorting differences, correcting mistakes and getting ready for the next day's miles to clock in the hill station.
This trip never happened. It is in anticipation of my return to biking and this is how my gang would be riding to the destination during our next biking trip. Safe and sane riding to all the bikers. Cheers to all the biker folks! - rPhoenix
No comments:
Post a Comment