This blog has been written after a really long hiatus. Don't ask me why, how come, I just don't know why I haven't written in a while. I guess boredom, being busy, procrastinating, other things have become important, etc. etc.
Recently I had met with an accident and I just wanted to get my frustration out by writing about it. That's the only way I can find some sort of peace with myself, by writing about it. I don't want to brag about myself, but this is my space and I can do anything I want out here.
I have been riding for almost 10 years now, rode to Goa twice, have ridden to most of the coastal places in Maharashtra. On most of my trips, I've never met with an accident, have had bike issues, punctures, seen my fellow riders skid, slip, etc. but I was very fortunate to come back in one piece.
My office team had organised a workshop in Lonavala, and I had decided I would ride to LDA, Lonavala on my Royal Enfield. My colleagues had hired a bus in which the entire team would travel except for one who would accompany me on my bike. We were to leave in the afternoon around 3PM, so we had to work for half a day in office. I was as usual filled with excitement just like the previous times before a ride. And since this was the advent of monsoons, I wanted my quota of getting wet on a ride every monsoon accomplished.
So with a positive frame of mind, me and my colleague headed towards NH4, Old Bombay-Pune highway on our way to Lonavala. Since it was mid-afternoon we were out of city limits in an hour and reached the start of NH-4, stopped for a bit and looking at the clouds gather in the distance, I was excited to ride into the rain and shower. We reached safe and sound to our destination but fucking DRY.... no rains on our way to Lonavala, not even a drop... damn. I was so disappointing, unfortunately for me all the buildup in the clouds was not that heavy to make it pour. I was looking forward to an awesome ride hoping that it would rain like cats and dogs, and to my dismay, not even a drop.
My stay was pleasant at the LDA. we had a 2-day workshop filled with presentations, ideas, planning concepts, brainstorm sessions, etc. Saturday was time to head back. We winded up at 6.30PM, by the time I packed it was already 7PM and it was getting dark. I was a bit concerned about riding in the dark, although there was little light, I wanted to get off the Bombay-Pune Express way at the earliest.
As soon I got off the expressway, back onto the old Pune highway, I felt a little safer cause I have done many trips up and down the old Pune highway. But the only thing different is that all my trips were in the day time and not in the dark. So there was a lil of hesitation on my part,but I ensured I wasn't riding recklessly. Somewhere on the way I stopped for a smoke and was planning the remainder of the route in my mind. This was the second stupid decision of my trip, the first one being not carrying any of my riding gear except the helmet.
I reached JNPT, NH-17 and the NH-4 junction around 8.30PM and took a left from NH-4 towards Bombay onto JNPT to bypass Panvel. This I did thinking I would bypass all the traffic in Panvel and save at least 30 minutes. The JNPT road, is a major road constructed especially for the Port, therefore this road is all concrete, but the screw up here is the intersections are made of tar. And you know what happens to tar roads... They disintegrate and develop large craters which can be deep enough to drown. This road was like most of the highways, isolated with minimal-moderate traffic and without any streetlights. it was pitch dark, and the only light was that of oncoming vehicles and the one on my bike. Probably in the darkness my headlight was the brightest, but it wasn't bright at all.
I was zipping at a speed of 75-80 kmph on an empty, smooth concrete road when fear struck me like a double edged sword going through my heart and spine. I saw a huge ditch which was at least 10 inches deep, and at that speed there is very little one can do to avoid it. I knew it at that moment I'm going to be in a very bad accident. Knowing that I couldn't avoid the ditch, I had to go over the ditch. In doing so, I lost complete control of the bike, and the bike swerved to the right side of the road. My last moment before the fall was, this shouldn't have happened, shouldn't have happened such a fucking stupid... stupid... stupid... accident.
I was on the road, badly bruised, in complete darkness post the fall. Took me a while to get up. I was scared that a truck would go over me, so I tried to get up as quickly as possible, and warn the trucks to slow down.
I was in extreme pain, the front of the bike damaged, both my rear-view mirrors broken and fallen on the road, the leg guard bent on right side. I tried lifting my 220Kg Enfield, but barely made any progress. Few motorists stopped and helped me lift the bike and move it to the side of the road. The adrenaline pumping into my system was making me numb, although I was conscious, I could not forget the fall. Visions of the fall kept playing in my mind in a loop, just like a video game which gives you replay options from different angles. And the worst thing was that it was on auto, I couldn't get it out of my head. And I was getting a headache because of this. One of the motorists said that he would accompany me to the nearest hospital, but I said I would like to go my home in Mulund, so I did a quick self analysis of my self to determine any serious injuries to my body. I had badly bruised my right Elbow, but I could move it although in pain, my denim jeans were torn above the right knee, and it was paining very badly in the inner thigh. I was in excruciating pain above my knee.I checked my fingers, hands, legs, fortunately I was carrying 2 backpacks, one in the front and another on my back hence I didn't feel any sort of bruises on my chest or back. Next thing I did was check the damage on the bike. There was enough of visible damage on the bike, apart from the broken mirrors, there was a dent on the petrol tank, my front mud guard was bent a little. The headlight frame was bent and the headlight unit was dangling by the handle rain cover. Good thing is, it was in a working condition, so it gave some visibility to me, though I would be handicapped without the mirrors. So I decided I would ride the bike to check if I could ride it for a distance. I sat on the bike with a lot of pain, and kick-started it with one go, Rode a few meters and then took a final call, I will ride back to Mulund and get myself checked into a hospital.
Before I could leave, the good Samaritan who offered to escort me to the nearest hospital tied a handkerchief to my right elbow to stop the flow of blood, since It was bleeding pretty badly. He also said that he would ride behind me up to Vashi, just in case and also offered me a candy which would keep my senses awake while riding back. I'm grateful to this person who took care of me after the accident. May you have all the happiness and joy in your life buddy.
I headed back home, riding ever so cautiously so that I do not put my self through this again. The ride home after the accident wasn't an easy one without both my mirrors, my legs in constant pain and even more when I had to break to slow down further. It was a very difficult ride back home, but as I was riding back, was just thinking about my stupid decisions, how it all led to what had just happened, and it was all my doing, my wrong decisions. Had I taken the regular route, had I worn my Rider gear, I would have still been in one piece. Like they say sometimes you have to learn the hard way, and no other way. This was a life lesson for me, especially when I have this riding keeda(worms) in my system, an accident can also be your fault, and precaution and appropriate safety will reduce the damage that you would sustain to yourself, and if you didn't, then pray that you would come out of it ALIVE. Cause riding on the road can be very unpredictable.
If you are a rider, please wear your HELMET at all times, local riding, city or highway. Wear your RIDING GEAR to protect yourself against any unforeseen accidents.
And most importantly enjoy the ride. Ride safe guys & girls.
Recently I had met with an accident and I just wanted to get my frustration out by writing about it. That's the only way I can find some sort of peace with myself, by writing about it. I don't want to brag about myself, but this is my space and I can do anything I want out here.
I have been riding for almost 10 years now, rode to Goa twice, have ridden to most of the coastal places in Maharashtra. On most of my trips, I've never met with an accident, have had bike issues, punctures, seen my fellow riders skid, slip, etc. but I was very fortunate to come back in one piece.
My office team had organised a workshop in Lonavala, and I had decided I would ride to LDA, Lonavala on my Royal Enfield. My colleagues had hired a bus in which the entire team would travel except for one who would accompany me on my bike. We were to leave in the afternoon around 3PM, so we had to work for half a day in office. I was as usual filled with excitement just like the previous times before a ride. And since this was the advent of monsoons, I wanted my quota of getting wet on a ride every monsoon accomplished.
So with a positive frame of mind, me and my colleague headed towards NH4, Old Bombay-Pune highway on our way to Lonavala. Since it was mid-afternoon we were out of city limits in an hour and reached the start of NH-4, stopped for a bit and looking at the clouds gather in the distance, I was excited to ride into the rain and shower. We reached safe and sound to our destination but fucking DRY.... no rains on our way to Lonavala, not even a drop... damn. I was so disappointing, unfortunately for me all the buildup in the clouds was not that heavy to make it pour. I was looking forward to an awesome ride hoping that it would rain like cats and dogs, and to my dismay, not even a drop.
My stay was pleasant at the LDA. we had a 2-day workshop filled with presentations, ideas, planning concepts, brainstorm sessions, etc. Saturday was time to head back. We winded up at 6.30PM, by the time I packed it was already 7PM and it was getting dark. I was a bit concerned about riding in the dark, although there was little light, I wanted to get off the Bombay-Pune Express way at the earliest.
As soon I got off the expressway, back onto the old Pune highway, I felt a little safer cause I have done many trips up and down the old Pune highway. But the only thing different is that all my trips were in the day time and not in the dark. So there was a lil of hesitation on my part,but I ensured I wasn't riding recklessly. Somewhere on the way I stopped for a smoke and was planning the remainder of the route in my mind. This was the second stupid decision of my trip, the first one being not carrying any of my riding gear except the helmet.
I reached JNPT, NH-17 and the NH-4 junction around 8.30PM and took a left from NH-4 towards Bombay onto JNPT to bypass Panvel. This I did thinking I would bypass all the traffic in Panvel and save at least 30 minutes. The JNPT road, is a major road constructed especially for the Port, therefore this road is all concrete, but the screw up here is the intersections are made of tar. And you know what happens to tar roads... They disintegrate and develop large craters which can be deep enough to drown. This road was like most of the highways, isolated with minimal-moderate traffic and without any streetlights. it was pitch dark, and the only light was that of oncoming vehicles and the one on my bike. Probably in the darkness my headlight was the brightest, but it wasn't bright at all.
I was zipping at a speed of 75-80 kmph on an empty, smooth concrete road when fear struck me like a double edged sword going through my heart and spine. I saw a huge ditch which was at least 10 inches deep, and at that speed there is very little one can do to avoid it. I knew it at that moment I'm going to be in a very bad accident. Knowing that I couldn't avoid the ditch, I had to go over the ditch. In doing so, I lost complete control of the bike, and the bike swerved to the right side of the road. My last moment before the fall was, this shouldn't have happened, shouldn't have happened such a fucking stupid... stupid... stupid... accident.
I was on the road, badly bruised, in complete darkness post the fall. Took me a while to get up. I was scared that a truck would go over me, so I tried to get up as quickly as possible, and warn the trucks to slow down.
I was in extreme pain, the front of the bike damaged, both my rear-view mirrors broken and fallen on the road, the leg guard bent on right side. I tried lifting my 220Kg Enfield, but barely made any progress. Few motorists stopped and helped me lift the bike and move it to the side of the road. The adrenaline pumping into my system was making me numb, although I was conscious, I could not forget the fall. Visions of the fall kept playing in my mind in a loop, just like a video game which gives you replay options from different angles. And the worst thing was that it was on auto, I couldn't get it out of my head. And I was getting a headache because of this. One of the motorists said that he would accompany me to the nearest hospital, but I said I would like to go my home in Mulund, so I did a quick self analysis of my self to determine any serious injuries to my body. I had badly bruised my right Elbow, but I could move it although in pain, my denim jeans were torn above the right knee, and it was paining very badly in the inner thigh. I was in excruciating pain above my knee.I checked my fingers, hands, legs, fortunately I was carrying 2 backpacks, one in the front and another on my back hence I didn't feel any sort of bruises on my chest or back. Next thing I did was check the damage on the bike. There was enough of visible damage on the bike, apart from the broken mirrors, there was a dent on the petrol tank, my front mud guard was bent a little. The headlight frame was bent and the headlight unit was dangling by the handle rain cover. Good thing is, it was in a working condition, so it gave some visibility to me, though I would be handicapped without the mirrors. So I decided I would ride the bike to check if I could ride it for a distance. I sat on the bike with a lot of pain, and kick-started it with one go, Rode a few meters and then took a final call, I will ride back to Mulund and get myself checked into a hospital.
Before I could leave, the good Samaritan who offered to escort me to the nearest hospital tied a handkerchief to my right elbow to stop the flow of blood, since It was bleeding pretty badly. He also said that he would ride behind me up to Vashi, just in case and also offered me a candy which would keep my senses awake while riding back. I'm grateful to this person who took care of me after the accident. May you have all the happiness and joy in your life buddy.
I headed back home, riding ever so cautiously so that I do not put my self through this again. The ride home after the accident wasn't an easy one without both my mirrors, my legs in constant pain and even more when I had to break to slow down further. It was a very difficult ride back home, but as I was riding back, was just thinking about my stupid decisions, how it all led to what had just happened, and it was all my doing, my wrong decisions. Had I taken the regular route, had I worn my Rider gear, I would have still been in one piece. Like they say sometimes you have to learn the hard way, and no other way. This was a life lesson for me, especially when I have this riding keeda(worms) in my system, an accident can also be your fault, and precaution and appropriate safety will reduce the damage that you would sustain to yourself, and if you didn't, then pray that you would come out of it ALIVE. Cause riding on the road can be very unpredictable.
If you are a rider, please wear your HELMET at all times, local riding, city or highway. Wear your RIDING GEAR to protect yourself against any unforeseen accidents.
And most importantly enjoy the ride. Ride safe guys & girls.
