Not wanting to break years of xbhp tradition and invoke the wrath of the biking gods who have taken good care of bikers from Bangalore, the rest of the group arrives almost an hour late at our rendezvous point, which for once I honestly didn't mind. As I stood there waiting at the petrol pump watching bus after bus carry hundreds of IT professionals to yet another monotonous day at the office, it struck me that it was almost like walking past aquariums filled with multi coloured fish for who the entire world unfortunately consisted of 4 glass walls.
Except that in this case the fish were mostly young people dressed in their Friday finest and that it was their aquariums that were moving. Being one of IT brigade, it was a moment of realisation that was bittersweet as I knew that despite all the miles that would be clocked and endless laughs that would be shared, it would be back to the grind come Monday and I too would be swimming around my little tank oblivious to the world out there that was calling. A goldfish I well and truly am.
My mind has this this funny habit of pulling out lyrics of songs according to the situation at hand but occassionally it plays tricks on me & DJ Mynd (keeping with the trend of misspelling your name if you are a DJ) spins the wrong song. I would be seeing a lot of that this weekend.
Said woman take it slow
It'll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience
Said sugar make it slow
And we'll come together fine
All we need is just a little patience
Patience, patience, patience
Ooh, oh, yeah
(Patience, Guns N Roses)
Right title, wrong lyrics. Eventually after the mandatory photoshoots & confusion clearing we manage to get rolling and what better way to start off a road trip than a short blast down the aptly titled NICE road. Deceptively bumpy but mercifully empty tolled roads meant that we were off to a good start and an hour later we stopped for breakfast after having covered nearly 60 kms. The ride seemed to have whetted the appetites of all our riders who wolfed down the dosas and idlis without leaving a morsel for the monkeys who had to resort to stealing a sugar cane from the juice vendor.
The waiter having a tough time finding place to keep more food on the table
Our supposedly short breakfast stop took the better part of three quarters of an hour and soon we were off to Mysore which meant nice winding roads that were blessed with speed breakers that rather annoyingly pop up just as you begin enjoying the roads. The light traffic meant we thought we covered a fair number of kms for the next 100 minutes but our odometers told a different story. We realised everyone's bike couldnt possibly be giving a wrong reading and racked our brains to figure out where we lost time while simultaneously ensuring circulation of blood to our by now numb bottoms.
Hello
Is there anybody in there
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anybody home?
Come on
Now
I hear youre feeling down
I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again
(Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd)
The break certainly did all of us a world of good and we were determined to make it to Wayanad on time but disaster struck a few minutes later as the screw that held the rear view mirror on one of the bikes decided that it had had enough of its dull existence and popped out without any warning. We spent 15 minutes hunting for a make shift replacement by which time the rest of the group had carried on ahead.
While trying to catch up with them, we reached a T Junction and since there were only 2 localites around I asked them the way to Wayanad. One of them confidently pointed to the left and said we needed to carry on straight while the other pointed to the right and said with equal surety that we needed to carry on straight. Blistering barnacles! We followed the advice of Snagglepuss and exited stage left which turned out to be the wrong road after all.
Snagglepuss: "Exit Stage Left"
Soon we regrouped and by the 170 km mark business picked up as the bumpy under construction roads gave way to butter smooth tarmac that was lined with endless coconut trees. Turns out that we were riding past the Mysore Airport which explained the excellent roads and higher density of traffic. The odometer was at the 180 km mark when I realised that I had the sun behind me and gloomy dark grey clouds ahead and were riding right into them. Enough to break out into a grin.
6 kms later, the grin widened as I laid my eyes on the deliciously wet roads and puddles that had formed on the sides. A couple of minutes later our progress was halted as we have to circumvent a bullock cart using tyres from a truck that had a puncture and the bulls were making their displeasure known by leaving generous helpings of dung in the middle of the road. Only in India!
By now the grey skies were tantalisingly close and I slowed down to take in the sight - 5 bikes riding towards the promise of a very wet reception hosted by a sky that was majestically draped in different shades of grey. At the first signs of a drizzle we stopped and bought out our raincoats but rather annoyingly the drizzle slowed down in a few minutes. It also led me to the discovery that the rain proof cover that came with my tank bag was a shocking shade of yellow!
We began crossing picture perfect sunflower fields that predictably have me humming away to glory.
You'll remember me
When the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun
In his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold
(Fields of Gold, Sting)
We halted for what was a very late lunch which was exactly what you expect to get on a long ride like this, nothing fancy but just about good enough to keep your stomach happy. Everyone was a little cheesed off that we hadn't been hit by monsoon showers even after several hours of riding but we were expecting our luck to take a turn for the better pretty soon.
The hills are soon sighted and the hint of a drizzle has us all raincoated up with silly grins plastered on our faces. The artist that is Mother Nature had decided to apply liberal doses of green to the surrounding flora and as we entered the forest area we knew we were in for a royal treat. Lovely but imperfect roads surrounded by an imposing and yet charming forest made every second of our ride memorable.
A wild picture in the forest
One mandatory picture stop later we were back on the roads with the rain gods still tantalizing us with the lure of heavy showers. We got waves from several people driving past us who were happy to see people dumb enough to be riding towards the showers while everyone was driving away from it. 247 kms into the ride I finally heaved a sigh of relief as I began to spot heavy drops of rain pounding the earth but we were, to borrow a basketball term, rejected!
10 kms later we crossed into Kerala and the rain kissed roads were predictably bumpy as hell and by now I was praying for even a couple of minutes of rain as I knew we were nearing our hotel.
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
(Unaswered Prayers, Garth Brooks)
As much as I love Garth Brooks, I had to disagree with him in this case. The man up there should have listened to our desperate pleas to the rain gods and showered his blessings on us. Little did we know what was in store for us the next day. We rode into our hotel by around 6 and after freshening up I met most of the riders from the Kerala contingent over dinner.
Like true men, our guys indulged in a battle of mine is bigger than yours or rather my headlights are brighter than yours which made for a truly enlightening experience (pardon the pun).
No the aliens haven't landed, its just a headlight war at a G2G
A lot of catching up with old buddies & discussions on all things under the biking universe with new friends meant that it was pretty late before I called it a night. The goldfish wasn't happy that he hadn't found water all day but the promise of heavy showers on Day 2 meant that I went to sleep with a smile.
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