Section 2: The Journey > Chapter 10: The many moods of NH-76

May 31

NH-76 sickens me. For it pampers me and my steed. It produces no hurdles except for the occassional human who's dangerous road antics will lead to headlines that mispronounce stupidity as accident. In my tryst to capture the reality of a dream, I lose sight of the two, visible as mere dots on the horizon. As the camera is wrapped in polythene and fingers slip into tubes of leather, those that rode with me have all but disappeared. I must catch up. Within minutes, my steed will break its former record of 134kmph, climbing to 140kmph on the speedometer; the tarmac, the pirellis and the steed, in that order, engaged in an orgy of cosmic proportions. I catch up.  With so much going for you, its difficult not to.

Facebook update: @chittor. Lunch. NH76 = awesome 4 lane highway.
31 May at 13:51 via Text message

Dhwaj Shah
Are you traveling only so you can write on FB, or you are writing on FB because you are traveling. Full on updates man...!
31 May at 16:44


Facebook update: Broke my speed record on unmodded R15 -140kmph :) with luggage! :)
31 May at 13:53 via Text message
Rohit Upadhyay and Anil Correa like this.

Nitin Manore
great --par dimag shant rakho ;)
I know the roads up north are too good to be true & tempt you :P
31 May at 13:54

Veeral Joshi
control alankar control... :P
31 May at 13:56

-Rajni Taneja-
Ooe Control Joshile!
31 May at 15:30

Alankar Misra
Of course Rajni! Straight empty loooooooooong road with no vehicles so I revved it!
31 May at 15:56

Dinesh Samtani
Awesome man......live and blog every moment of this trip!!
31 May at 17:42

Sujan Shetty
dude u broke ur 134kmph cool !!!!!!!!
31 May at 18:18

Siddhesh Kulkarni
awesome dude.... try 4 smthg more dan 140, but b safe... all d best !!!
31 May at 18:53

Rohit Upadhyay
Shaabash Cheetey... ;)
31 May at 21:02

For the roads will mesmerize you for miles. For you shall forget family and friends and fun and phenomenon as you rip through the embrace of an open highway. Such is the promise of NH-76. At least for the first few miles. In time, an overwhelming optical illusion dulls your senses. For deviations in the quality and levelling of the tarmac beneath, objects - animate and inanimate - in the immediate vicinity, vehicles competing in a race to no-where; all elements giving you the semblance of speed are distinctly lacking. A few sparse trees on the horizon gliding away drowsily are your only frame of reference; a reference that tricks you time and again  and convinces you that your speedometer peddles falsehoods. It reads 110kmph. I could swear 80kmph was closer to the truth. Ripping becomes monotonous. I sink into a dull mechanical riding stance and keep up a constant throttle, awakening from my phantasy only to capture the beauty of monotony.

Even in my deepest reverie about the life I leave behind, I'm not unaware that Spiderweb seems to be moving away from us. He has throttled up significantly and I can barely keep track of him amidst the mirage that turns tarmac into liquid silver and his silhouette as it dives into the horizon - a sight that will become increasingly familiar as the day dreams on. We, Motorbreath and I, on the other hand, seem to be hovering at 100kmph. I doubt we'll do more for it seems unnecessary.

And so begins a cat and mouse game on the highways of Rajasthan. A drill ensues;

1. We find Spiderweb waiting for us at a toll bridge or a dhaba;
2. He explains to us the significance of the said location if there is one, shares stories about previous rides on the same or similar highways, gives us an indication of what to expect next, shares the excitement or lack thereof of the road so far and tries to convince us, that given enough time, he, Razor and Shiva (his favourite biking team apparently) could bike over Mount Everest's tallest peaks with their hands tied behind their backs, blindfolded no less and yeah, they wouldn't need fuel for the mighty Karizma detests fuel. Of course I exaggerate... no wait, I don't. But I do jest;
3. We, Motorbreath and I, nod our heads in agreement for lack of options;
4. He proceeds to accusing Motorbreath of riding slowly - "You were riding at 80kmph the whole time";
5. Motorbreath denies the accusation asking him to ask me how fast he was going - a consistent range of 100 to 110 if you ask me;
6. Spiderweb chooses not to ask me for the facts aren't important; the entire charade is to try and prod Motorbreath to ride harder - a pointless effort for Motorbreath's crippled steed can do no more regardless of Motorbreath's wishes (It's funny how "If wishes were horses" seems appropriate here but I will refrain from going that road). Of course logic has no place in the discussions either;
7. Motorbreath loses his cool, then his breath, lights up a smoke, hurls abuses, smokes some more, refuses to eat, smokes some more;
8. Spiderweb continues to assault him verbally, while asking him to eat like a caring big brother - an amusing and confusing mix of love and hate;
9. Motorbreath eats;
10. More discourses by Spiderweb on how he, Razor and Shiva achieved that which mere mortals could not achieve;
11. A mandatory brief discourse in the superiority of Karizma over Pulsar;
12. Motorbreath promises to quit smoking by the next stop, as a preventive measure against AMS;
13. Motorbreath smokes some more;
14. Bills are paid from the common pool;
15. Gloves are worn;
16. Motorbreath explains to me why his bike won't go any faster and how he has a feeling of animosity towards Spiderweb;
17. While he talks and I listen, Spiderweb roars his engine and darts off;
18. Spiderweb is a dot in the horizon.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

Soon, the sun will set and the friction will rise. But before dark consumes all, let me quickly give you glimpses of NH-76. We will return to the friction in a moment or should I say in another chapter...