Wheels On Fire...

Riding a bike in Hyderabad at a speed of 60kmph is not a big deal. But if you are driving after a good 6 months break, then IT IS!!

At 8 in the evening I set out from Kukatpally to reach my uncle’s place at Yousufguda. I sit on my Apache (the basic model, one of the worst bikes on the road) and start the bike. The bike starts with just one flip of the electric start button (quite a wonder for my bike). I rev the engine and it roars. Nice feeling this...however and whatever your bike is!! I change the gear to 1 from neutral and start. Whoa!! Looks like the bike has been serviced recently, the ride is smooth. I test the brakes at the speed of 10. All fine!! At this speed the disc brakes of Apache also work like the disc brakes of any other bike.

The confidence from good braking system and smooth ride got to my min and within 30 paces I change 4 gears to reach the 5th gear (never quite understood why this feature was added to Apache). I reach the main road while evaluating the condition of my bike. No hint of traffic. The empty roads raised my spirits to crazy levels and made me cruise at 60kmph(underline).

Need to cross the road, there is a lorry with yellow colored front whereas an auto-rickshaw was crossing the road from other side and blocking my way. I took a tentative step to cross the road but fear overtook me and I stopped. The auto-rickshaw moved ahead. The lorry also stopped to let the auto-rickshaw pass by and seized the moment to cross the road, took a deadly 45 degree turn to avoid colliding with the auto-rickshaw. Braked hard at the divider so that I don't bang into the vehicles coming on the other side of the road. Regained my composure and continued the ride. Moving towards the Kukatpally junction, I see some serious traffic there. A red color swift (1498)  is moving ahead of me and there is a light brown color esteem in diagonal left and ahead of it. Time for heroics people, I take a sharp right turn to draw level with the swift and then another sharp left to overtake the swift from the small gap between the two cars. Only to realise that I am running into another bike (Yamaha FZ - 2388). I panicked and braked. Then took a slow right to overtake the bike.

Signal time. Whats wrong with Hyderabad?? Why am I sweating like I am in Chennai??

Smooth ride till Erragadda signal. Just after the signal there is this RTC bus going ahead of me. I just followed it as there wasn't much scope for heroics here. Both the vehicles were moving at a speed of 50kmph may be. In my blind following, I did not notice the deep messy hole in the road which the bus covered as it passed over it. I land right into it and thump!! My bike's shock absorbers need to be replaced. Irritated by this, I honk continuously and overtake the stupid RTC bus.


But whats the point??? Stuck behind two cars..an Alto (9477) and an Octavia (1359). I keep to left and follow the cars as I have to take a right at the next signal. The signal is red so I decide to wait. Hoopla!!! Two bikes from behind just overtake and create a lot of chaos to take the right turn. Welcome to Hyderabad!! The bikers managed to cross the road but I am still stuck here. I wait for few bikes and other heavy vehicles (2304, 3452, 7160 etc...cant recollect which one is which vehicle) to pass by and then take the right turn. By the way signal is green now :)

Now, this road connecting ESI and Borabanda has always been a nightmare for me. One its dark and two there are a lot of holes and speed breakers in the road. Nonetheless, the mood that I am in today, I wouldn't care. I take the holes and breakers head on while my bike made ugly noises after every bump. I successfully cross the road. Now comes this pretty small road, hardly 5 meters wide and carries few of the biggest cars available in Hyderabad.

Moment of the day. I try to overtake this Indica (8371). By the time I actually overtake the vehicle I am in the middle of these cross roads and there is this car coming at a good speed from left. I noticed it just in time and dodge it by taking a nice steep right cut, only two realise that I am running into the signal post two paces away, I take another steep left cut and dodge the signal post. This stunt gave me back the confidence I needed the most. :D. Rest of the journey was smooth.

Thank you for stopping by..

By the way, the numbers in the post are authentic. I was voice recording myself while driving. The recording was too abstract to make this blog a voice blog.