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In what he says has been resident
tourer Muntaser Mirkar's toughest ride yet, he takes a Yamaha R15
through 2000km in three days...
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Am I crazy? Maybe what they say is true - I've lost it. I'm somewhere
between Shimoga and Honnavar on NH 206, bearing westward trying
to get to NH 17 that will take me up North towards Karwar and finally
on to Ratnagiri through Goa - my final destination for the day.
It's pitch dark, and this particular National Highway isn't the
best stretch of tarmac in the world - in fact, it's far from it.
It's raining and I can't keep my visor down, but I can't ride with
it up either 'cause even at 50km/h, the falling droplets from the
sky sting like a million bees. I haven't seen a single human for
the past hour and a half and the tree cover around has grown so
thick it's almost like I'm riding through a tropical rainforest
- then again, maybe I am. I've never been so tired on a motorcycle
in my life - my wrists want to jump out of their sockets, my back
wants to crumble and my spirits are as damp as the twisting roads
I'm riding on. Smooth roads seem like they existed only in my deepest
fantasies - there are more potholes and slush puddles here than
there is tarmac. I just want this to end.
Flashback 24 hours and I was in Bangalore - having ridden fast
and hard down NH4 from Pune. I had started off early, way before
day break. My plan was simple - load the Yamaha R15 with a few changes
of clothes, camera, chocolate bars, Gatorade, Redbull, duct tape
and a few other handy stuff and set out. The route was simple too
- start off from Pune, ride on to Bangalore. Halt. Leave Bangalore
and ride over to Karwar through Tumkur, Shimoga, Sagar and Honnavar.
Continue on to Ratnagiri and avoid the temptation of stopping over
in Goa. Halt. Ride back to Pune. I had three days on my hands and
a perfect plan - or so I thought. After all, how hard could it be?
I was so wrong.
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The first day went exactly as planned. I was out of Pune by 4am and gunning
it down NH4 at break neck speeds - making the most of the calm silence
of early morning - not a soul in site, arrow straight roads and the brilliant
R15's throttle twisted and pinned to the stop, cruising at 120km/h. The
only stops I found myself taking were when the R15 needed to be fuelled
up again - generally at intervals of around 300km. Around 10am I found
myself passing Hubli with a smug grin under my Daijya helmet thinking
that I had made great time and would be in Bangalore soon. And then came
Devanagere on NH4 - a small town beyond which the Golden Quadrilateral
is still incomplete, and all hell broke loose. Smooth four lane highway
gave way to broken patches, some lined with concrete, some bare Earth.
Strewn among those was a bunch of railway crossings and to make things
worse the merciless Southern summer sun was beating down harder than ever
before. The ordeal lasted all of 100km or even more - I simply don't remember!
By the time I was back on the completed stretch of NH4 near Tumkur, all
the 'off-roading' had taken its toll on my wrists. Even though I was only
an hour away from Bangalore city, it seemed like an eternity.
My plans to leave early morning on Day 2 were laid to rest thanks to
having overslept, which meant that I could leave Bangalore only by half
past noon - big mistake! Even though the planned riding distance today
would be quite similar to Day 1 as I made my way to Ratnagiri, it was
through NH206 and NH17 - both twisting and winding hilly roads that had
their surface torn open by the lashing rains in the region. I was to cross
Jog Falls on my way too, but the late start meant that I reached there
only after dark and would have to traverse the picturesque NH17 through
the night. So there I was, somewhere on NH206, rains lashing down and
the roads offering unforgiving opposition. This was when I realized that
my mistake was made much before I had even ridden the first kilometer
out of Pune. It was in fact, when I had decided to take our long term
test Yamaha R15 touring through 2000km in three days. The bike itself
is awesome - she handles everything you throw at her with superior ease.
It makes you ride better than you would have ever thought was mortally
possible by yourself - it is actually that good. But it's not a tourer
and especially not in India. Riding long distances non-stop takes a heavy
toll on your wrists and with luggage strapped on the back seat and a tank
bag in the front, there's not much space to shift your weight around in.
The headlight isn't the best in the world either. By the time I finally
got to Ratnagiri, it was 5am early morning and I was dog tired. All I
needed was a shower and a whole lot of sleep.
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