The Highway

I am back with my second blog! I took a really long break after the first blog because I was preoccupied with a lot of other things (read college, canteen,robotics, gaming, facebook and other sources of "timepass") so I couldn't take time out to write about something worthwhile.

For the past year or so (2008-09) I have been riding around my bike a lot more than I usually do. There is something different about riding bikes. You get a sense of freedom like never before (not that I had no freedom before I got my bike) and it is one amazing experience to to hit the road at 4 in the morning just going along with no real destination. You feel closer to the road you are going on and the journey becomes more enjoyable than the destination. Of course, as with most bikers, the best place to go would be the highway. Smooth straight roads, the occasional bend and if you are lucky enough to live in the ghat area then the long tunnels...any biker would relish the thought of riding on such a road. I have had the opportunity to use the national highway 4 (NH4 Pune-Bangalore) almost every weekend or whenever I just feel like it. Given its close proximity to my hostel and the fact that there are lots of places around NH4 in a radius of 100km we just need a nice weekend, a holiday during the week, a few hours in the evening or for someone to say "Dude...I'm bored. Let's go somewhere....highway?" to get on our bikes and go! I don't go to the highway just to go fast or for drag races or to pull off some crazy stunts. Let me make that clear before someone creates a stereotype image of a nutcase who only wants to ride fast and ride rash. I ride responsibly, carefully, take very meticulously calculated risks and most importantly I follow lane discipline. (I think that driving/riding should be a privilege and not a right as most people in India think) I ride there because the highway gives me sense of peace, calm, thrill, joy, sadness, all at the same time. You need not be flying at a 100kmph to feel the adrenaline rush. Even if I go for a relaxed ride averaging about 40kmph it still makes my day. What makes it more fun to go riding is if you have the right kind of friends to share the journey with. Mostly I go riding with Avi, Abhishek and Rajul and we have a gala time on our way!