A new city and a new set of responsibilities were beckoning me and I was desperately looking to reinstate my lost biking spirit, when a post for a motorcycle group ride in a leading biking community website caught my eyes.

It was a tri state meet up, which meant I could meet some of my old riding pals as well as connect to, new faces.

When the D-Day finally arrived, I got up early and took a nice shower after a sleepless night full of excitement and got ready to join the first mammoth group ride of my life. One hell of a group ride this was supposed to be with 80+ bikers planned to arrive! After putting on my armor (newly bought riding jackets) and packing small necessities for the two day ride, I turned on the ignition and pat came her reply…she was ready to take me to my first group ride of the year!

[START] : Bangalore (NH 7) – Krishnagiri (NH 7) – Salem (NH -7) – Yercaud

After leaving home at around 5:15 AM, I cruised to the nearby toll plaza to take on the newly constructed elevated expressway to Silkboard junction from Electronics City. The moment I took the expressway I felt the chill wind gushing inside my helmet and jacket, making my adrenaline pump up! So badly I needed this rejuvenation, I thought! As a part of the habit, I started with a 50-60 k’s per hour, even though the roads were ultra smooth and traffic free. This is only to make the oil reach all parts of the engine properly, before I start ripping!

The gang from Bangalore was scheduled to leave from Silkboard at around 6 AM. There was a havoc turnout and the count was 42 from Bangalore and hardly any last minute drop outs. I was glad to meet Praful and John, the gang leaders from Bangalore and after we were done with the intros, the briefing came into surface!

Praful briefed us about the etiquettes of group riding and trust me they were invaluable! I never cared about formations or hand signals, being mostly a solo rider. All this was so-so new to me! A single finger pointed upwards meant a single formation and a horizontal sweep meant going back to a staggered one. A staggered one is where the riders are supposed to ride in two parallel lanes diagonally behind their predecessors. The signals for slow down, stopping and hazard indication were also shown and I was extremely excited to see them in practice.

The groups were divided with respect to speed, the fast group consisted of the speedy chaps deciding to make over 80+ k’s per hour and the slower would mean anything slower than 80. Each group had a lead and a sweep and the rules were pretty simple:

I decided to join the fast group and enjoy the thrills of speeding; Santa (Santosh) was leading our group on a Comet and John sweeping us on his Pulsar 220. After tank up and air check we decided to cruise along the silky smooth NH -7 towards Krishnagiri, planning to stop at the A2B restaurant just 20 kms ahead of Krishnagiri town. I was thrilled to the core and could see butterflies in my tummy!

This being a Tri State get together, people from all parts of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were planned to arrive in order to make this a grand event of the biking fraternity. The Trivandrum guys had moved to Cochin on the night before, they along with the Cochin guys would regroup with the Coimbatore folks late in the afternoon and the Chennai riders would join us from Krishnagiri, the plan was laid out in front only to be executed.

We being the nearest from Yercaud in distance were the laziest of the lot, starting at 7:30 AM and scheduled to meet the Chennai guys at around 10:30 AM with 3 hours in hand and only 100 kms to go!

After leaving the city limits and cruising at the 4^th -5^th position of the fast group, I decided to tail a bit and take a look at the surroundings and also see how the whole formation looked. I was mesmerized by the sight of the mean machines maneuvering the traffic and taking the curves in a staggered formation. I can never forget that sight! Felt like being a part of a parade on bikes! No wonder, every passerby and bystander en route, would stop and watch us go! I am sure they had never seen such a sight in their life! The truck drivers had even gone crazy seeing us and started waving, I was really scared, to see them taking out their hands from the wheels!

We reached the A2B restaurant before 9, had a lot of time to meet the Chennai guys in Krishnagiri, which meant we could take an easy breakfast. The South Indian breakfast, with mouth watering Idlis/Vadas/Pongals/Dhosas made all the hungry raiders go berserk! They pounced on the delicacies with all vigor and ordered the same dishes twice and thrice making the life of Ravi (The CFO for the ride) and Ram (The Bank for the ride) miserable. I loved the way everyone chipped into volunteering and carried the plates to others and believed this is what brotherhood is all about.

After the tummy full breakfast and some free stunting sessions from Subbu, we zipped off to Krishnagiri and waited for the Chennai Kings, not to forget the hilarious hazard indicating signals by some, to the extent of stretching their legs inducing almost a fall! Overall, we were on the verge of accomplishing the first leg of our journey, all unharmed and in perfect harmony, just as the doctor ordered.

The cruise through the dark complexioned hills and coconut trees on the sides and butter smooth twisties on the way soon came to a halt after our lead decided to stop at the roadside and wait for the Kings to arrive. Everything was well coordinated and after 10 mins of our stop I could see a Green Ninja flying out from the horizon! No marks for guessing, it was Praveen from Chennai and following him was the troupe we were eagerly waiting for.

A brief round of introduction followed and the old mates from the two cities exchanged vibes. The group size had increased to a huge 60! It was decided that either of Santa or Praveen would lead the fast group and the next stop would be another A2B, which is about 45 kms from Salem. After we started, the speed Gods pitched in and what followed could be compared to an unruly soccer match! The disciplined riders, who were maintaining all the rules, suddenly went crazy after the new entrants started overtaking indiscriminately! There was a run for speed and position capturing, no formations, no rules, no signals…it was a group of crazy motorheads showing off the capacity of their engines and profanity of the head on their shoulders!

I decided to leave the game and stayed back, because my subserviced machine could only do a maximum 100-110 kmph. Soon I was pleased to see Santa staying back and leading the “not so fast” group again. I quietly followed him with a group of losers whose bikes couldn’t do a 130-140! Whether, the winners here is considered to be legal or safe is definitely out of the question!

We reached the A2B before Salem in no time, thanks to the ripping! The formal intro again happened, now with the Chennai Super Kings joined in. It was a pleasure, seeing the folks in person, whose posts we read on a daily basis in the website forum. The plan was to meet the Coimbatore folks in Salem before riding uphill to Yercaud. We had our lunch in the restaurant and again regrouped. This time there were three groups, the slow, the fast and the hyper fast and Praful did his best to make the new folks understand the etiquettes of group riding.

I chose the second group and wished not to see the crazy riding again, well didn’t see it again in our group! After about 20 mins from our start, the cruise again came to a halt. This time it was Nisarg from the hyper fast group hitting a dog with his R15 and getting his fairing shattered into pieces! Ashok from behind made sure that the dog did not bleed to death, he finished him outright.

This incident passed a high alert among the insane riders and soon everybody started lowering down the arm in their speedometers! I was happy to see the speed getting reduced even though it was at the cost of the dog’s life!

We reached the hustle bustle of Salem City and I was disgusted to leave the silken tracks for some time now. We waited at the juncture before the Ghat roads start and allowed some of the shutterbugs to go ahead. The wait was getting irritating and so was the unbearable heat of Salem in the afternoon. All of us , were eagerly waiting to twist and turn our babes and gallop uphill to the coolness and serenity of Yercaud. We were just 27 kms from our destination.

The writing on the wall was loud and clear: “Stay in a single line and no overtaking during the hill ride”. After a patient wait of 15 mins, we gradually started to make a move and once again Santa was leading us on his Comet. I was extremely excited to twist and turn again after 9 months, that’s last when I rode in the mountains of Bhutan.But this was a different ball game altogether. Almost 50 bikes lined up behind you, madding traffic coming across including tempos and trucks and also 20 hair pin bends to negotiate in the next 27 kms!

The Servarayan range of hills (anglicized as Shevaroys) in the Eastern Ghats hosts the cool hill station of Yercaud. The wonderful views of the green Ghats in the setting sun provided the perfect frame a photographer desires, but there was no scope to stop and sneak a frame out of the panoramas, as I was riding with the group. “You can always come back and shoot pictures, but will never get this fun of riding with 60 bikes” I consoled myself.

After negotiating the first hair pin bend I waited and waited for the 2^nd, but it seemed far far away, giving me an impression that I have a longer distance of fun still in store. After the 2^nd, the others started following in quick succession. I had a feeling that we were going too slowly at 30 k’s and unfortunately Santa also went invisible! Realizing that we have lost our lead, I tried to figure out what was happening, found out  that a guy ahead of me on his R15 was stopping(literally stopped) at every hair pin bend and was holding the whole herd. No wonder, people lost their cool soon and the rules were thrown out of the thin air! Overtaking started and with it a dangerous riding profile where people were getting into the other lane infested by unstoppable trucks coming downhill! Sooner than later we crossed the shutterbugs who had left early and I tried my best to give them a good cornering pose! The air was getting cooler as we were riding uphill and the forests around made it all the more pleasant. We reached the top soon and the gorges made way to the greener pastures on the side announcing our entry to the much awaited destination: “Yercaud”.

We gradually started rolling towards the manmade lake at the centre of the town. I saw some lovely couples taking a stroll around the lake and also enjoying their time on the boats floating on the lake. Yercaud promises cheap travel, accommodation and food, only to leave you happy after a pleasant weekend stay. No wonder, it is called the “Poor Man’s Ooty”. But if Ooty is the Queen of hills, Yercaud can qualify to become the princess of Tamil Nadu for sure!

After munching some Valaka bajis(that’s bananas fried in gram flour) and a nice tea we decided to go to Pagoda point. That’s one of the viewpoints on the eastern side of the Shevaroy hills. Santa took us to another point; it was the Lady’s Seat, which got its name from a rock which overlooks the snaky roads uphill and gives a panoramic view of Salem town. The sight was breathtaking in the night and all the shutterbugs got hooked onto their gears to capture the moment.

We reached our resort which was completely booked by us and started chatting in front of the bonfire. This was the place for dinner and group activities. Discussions of all kinds flowed around and I made many new friends in those conversations. This was one night, when a biker can talk his heart out about biking and motoring and no one would stop him.

After a heavy dinner, I went out of the resort and took a walk in the wilderness. Fireflies all around were showing me the way and the noisy insects broke the silence of the night every time. I walked further ahead and the fireflies followed me. It felt as if they were inviting me to their world to get lost in the deep forests with the mighty hills in the backdrop. I stood still and listened to their whispers, it was so intense as if it was the only sound on earth. It was gradually transcending into my senses and gripping my reasoning. I was in a trance for a moment! I decided to take a walk back, but only after capturing the moments forever in my mind. Suddenly, the noise and grumping of some engines took my attention. Our brothers from Kerala were arriving finally after all the drama surrounding their arrival.

The Kerala folks had some real bad times riding today, one of their bikes crashed in the ghats of Pollachi and the Coimbatore folks also went back after waiting for them for a long time, but it was relieving to see their arrival. After a few introductions and some story sharing, I came back to my room and laid down for a great sleep. The cool air and buzz of the insects were still running through my mind, intoxicating me all over again!