Rider Mania ride, day 3, finis. Goa!

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Latest Performance Mod

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Rider Mania ride, Day 3, morning (2)

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Rider Mania ride, day 3, morning

Thick fog delayed the planned early start. In a strange synchronous kind of way, the hotel we pulled into on a deserted stretch of the NH 17 highway had a familiar face. KY Nachre was a waiter at Cafe City restaurant in Worli Naka, Mumbai where I used to go for kheema pao and over the years got to Nachre quite well. Nachre has moved back to his village and is working at Sidhant Hotel. What are the chances of bumping into him after so many years? This happens only when riding!
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Awzom!

Ouseph's expression sums up the last couple of days...
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Why we ride Enfields

Jamshed's back on the road after some DIY spannering. Ok so what if his rear sprocket is missing a few teeth! Perhaps we'll call it a day as soon as it gets dark. No point pushing our luck too much today!
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Blown Bike

Jamshed's bike got some serious knocking from the engine. The oil feed line is blocked too. Doesn't look good...
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Icon Helmet

My new Icon helmet is quite superb. Ventilation actually works and very quiet at speed. A good buy at closeout price I think
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Rider Mania ride, day 2, afternoon

25 km short of Ratnagiri. Curve upon curve of flowing tarmac from Poladpur to Sangameshwar where the tarmac is broken up.
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Kashedi Ghat top

Ten km of wonderful twisties up got us to the top of Kashedi Ghat the regular pit stop for chai on NH17. The heat is rising, but the riding is excellent. Doesn't look like we'll reach Goa before dark.
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Rider Mania Ride, day 2, morning

Woke up to this view in the morning. Almost didn't ride today as Jeh mama's place is just the panacea for urban malaise! Karthik has to meet his crew in Goa so we dragged ourselves on the bikes at 11am!
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Rider Mania Ride, Day1, Part 2

Just short of Mahabaleshwar. Stopped to pick up Karthik's silencer!
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Dirt Track from Kas to Mahabaleshwar

It does get better
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Rider Mania Ride: Day 1

Can it get better than this?
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The thing that lies ahead and beyond what you can see

Tomorrow morning, before first light, I hope to hit the road on Bumblebee along with a couple of buddies, riding-wise and otherwise, friends whose lines I trust and whose company I am at ease with off the bike too. A slow churn of excitement has already begun in the pit of my stomach as I contemplate the ride ahead. Our destination is Goa to attend the Royal Enfield Rider Mania and escape the real world for a few days.

There is something special about just hitting the road on an unarranged adventure, a couple of days worth of clothes in the saddlebags, a handful of spares and nothing more than a vague direction of where you’re headed. The plan is to head south on NH4 from Mumbai till Satara and then cut across to Mahabaleshwar via the Kas plateau, where hopefully the unseasonal rain is still nourishing the wildflowers. Google Earth shows a promising route winding up and down the bluffs of the Western Ghats, the road a faint promise of the potential for fun. 

Hopefully, we'll be grinning as idiotically as Debu at Kas

Top Gearhead and friend Debu, who was in the vicinity a month ago has given typically vague directions like: ‘take a right on the dirt road on the plateau after the last dhaba,’ so we know it’s going to be a memorable ride, one way or the other. It feels good to not be worrying about where you’re going, just that you’re getting there.

Where's the road?

It’s illogical and yet it’s trips like this that makes the motorcycling life so much fun. More than the sum of their parts, these rides are built on a collection of random roads and off-the-beaten path routes, which expand your personal geography transcending the ride, road and machine.

Enough introspection. It’s time to ride.

Great Quote had to share it...

"Dont tell me how educated you are, Tell me how much have you traveled ?- Prophet Muhammad"

Why we ride...

We remember times when the weather was right, the road just so with curves one after the other and we fell into a flow where everything just became quiet. It doesn't happen often, but those moments are precious and you know they're out there waiting, maybe today, maybe next week, maybe not until next year and you can't force it, you just keep riding, you'll find them again. (these are borrowed words but we couldn't have said it better)

For the not so lucky ones

For the Leh deprived.. Get on your bikes and do a ride over the weekend. I found Murud.. Its a great ride out of Mumbai cant wait to go in the rain.