Unclicked Memories of A Lone Rider ......

Had a ride this weekend too. I rode all alone this time. Not that this was the first time I rode alone, but this was one of those times where inspite of riding alone I didn't feel that loneliness. Mother nature was there to accompany me.

Here are the pics that I took from my cam. Although these pics don't do any justice to the glorious scenes that I witnessed, they would atleast give a fair idea of what was in store for this rider.

The ride was different from others in more than one ways. I was expecting someone would join me for this ride. I did this ride so that I could attend wedding of a fellow biker. I did this ride to see if I can really capture good snaps. To see if  photography is my cup of tea or I shouldn't pursue this new interest.

One thing I learnt the hard way was, always carry an extra film roll. This goes inline with the to-dos of long rides i.e. always carry spares. You never know when you might need one. The very first time and I ran out of film, eventually missed  some real good 10-15 pics.


I missed out clicking the face in mirror at 0530 am, asking "Why?". I smile and say "for Love and Honor".... Love? Lets just say "Love" at this point of time.... Honor? Yes, honor ... To honor the word given to a biker buddy ... To honor our friendship ... Brotherhood...

I missed capturing the early morning chill that went straight thur my leather gloves and the new helmet. Clattering teeth, numb earlobes, cold fingertips, running nose and watering eyes. Luckily my old leather jacket did a superb job.

I missed out taking snaps of a couple of nasty riders who didn't have respect ... respect for bikes ... for fellow riders ...  for roads ... for other people ... who were just having one wild ride at the expense of others ... who laughed at an Old timer ... an Old Timer who worships his bike and biking ... lucky for them this Old Geezer was not in a mood to teach 'em a lesson...

I missed taking pic of two brothers on their way to school. Waving hands for a ride. I stopped. Asked them to hop on but said that only one could come (you know Diablo has space for just one + half). The elder one who had already mounted got down saying he could not leave his younger bro. I couldn't just leave them there, even though this would be an everyday affair for them, it wasn't one for me. I took off my sack and got it on the front ... got myself on the tank and asked them to get comfy ... a short ride mabbe 2-3 kms and they were happy lads off to their classes ... waved them good-bye and back on the road again...

I could not take a snap of villagers crowding a road-side-tea-stall for a hot cutting. Neither could I capture "heat of the cutting" that felt good to my numb fingertips and a colder soul. The tea was so good I ended up having 2 full cups instead of the cutting that I had planned. a guy asks "Rajdoot?" ... Diablo swears "Rajdoot!!! Heck!!! You blo**dy as***** sh** good for nothing dumbo...! @##$$%%^ ... #!$%^#@$"... I say "No, a Yezdi" ... and move on....

I could not take pic of my "face" when I just missed a Sumo around a blind corner at 40 kmph. The old man driving showed no sighs of any contempt or thankfulness. Just a plain blank look without any emotions.

I could not picture the pain and agony of riding alone. No one to share the saddle with. No fellow rider who would give a thumbs-up after doing a long high-speed S-curve and coming out of it without breaking anything. Or just give a smile nodding ... experiencing the same beautiful roads and biking.

I could not capture Mother Nature's way of telling me "Its all right... I'm here for you..."

I missed to frame a small talk I had with a-polaroid-cameraman who offered me an instant photo in 50 bucks... "Do you have a bungalow out here somewhere? Have seen you a couple of times." ... "No. I just ride here quite often. (Wouldn't mind owning a nice bungalow at such a nice place)"...

I could not picture the relief that I felt after splashing a handful of chilled Bisleri on my 80-90 kms old-dry face ...

I missed capturing "Thank you Sir. Have a nice Journey" from a Navy officer/employee who had the guts to ask me for lift and endured the small ride I gave him... Tried to scare him a bit but then he wasn't going to be blogged down by a Civilian...

I missed taking pic of every rider's dream turn into nightmare... the dream ... two hot chicks waiting with their thumbs pointing to the empty road ahead ... the nightmare ... two old typical village ladies in their traditional green-violet saris tucked behind them waving hand at me ... Boy! That is one hell of a nightmare ... I just tried to hide my face behind the rear view mirror, only to see a face of a happy truck driver in it ...

I could not picture the smell of humid-salty Bombay air when I entered the final leg of my 6-7 hour long ride ...

I missed taking a pic of M-800 loaded with a Muslim family, must have been atleast 10-12 of them in that confined 'lil space. And me ... A free soul having the rock solid earth below, which can be felt by just lowering feet by 6 inches and the whole sky just waiting for me to take-off... I hate cages (aka cars unless ofcourse if its a Porsche or a Vette)...

Alas, there are so many things that are left out. Wonder if I can ever get these little beautiful things on a 6"x4" glossy paper....

PS: The pics that I did took from a Kodak Autofocus Cam using the only 400 Kodak roll that I took for the ride are at my  yahoo photos ...... http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/amnaam/album?.dir=62ac&.src=ph (now a dead link i guess)

Rider : Abu 

Steed : 1994 Yeadi Roadking "El Diablo"

Route : Pune-Mulshi-Lonavala-Bombay

Written long back (15th December 2005) and was posted on the Yahoo message boards of a Biker-clan ;-) You can follow the entire thread here

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My entry for the contest at Indiblogger.in
Link to the Bikers' Code FB page