To be or not to be

Hmmm, so I get up this morning, and surprisingly I still remember the dream I had had. Of all the things in the world, it was about this blog of mine. I dreamt about how awful my rhymes were and was embarrassed, when I was linked to this blog. Now it's not that many people follow me here, but I think there are a coupla kooks who silently follow my blog post's titles :P The reason I blog, is to let off some steam, and deleting the blog is not an option, at least not at the moment. However, I could stop rhyming in public, at least for a while. I wonder if I should add 'will not rhyme' to my new year resolution list. Oh yeah, I've already started with it. Numero uno on the list is to lead a healthier life style, followed closely by being slower on the road. Although I've been trying to get a head-start on the first one and I haven't been successful at it, things have been brighter with the second to-be-resolution. I've certainly become a more mature driver, interrupted by spurts of rash maneuvers. I'm disappointed by the fact that Blur's Song 2, still makes my revs go up. But I still have hope for my self. The end of the year is almost here, I have high hopes for the coming year. Filled with uncertainties, it is definitely going to be an exciting one. Anyway, there is still a little time left before the year ends, but not much for the day to end. I must retire now. Gotta at least try to get up early tomorrow, and may be, just may be, I might even flex a few muscles, ie, if I manage to get up on time without setting an alarm :P

The longest skid

I just love riding my bike, and I do occasionally like to screech my tyres, but I respect the rubber. The other day, I was a little wound up, n there is nothing like riding to loosen yourself. Riding down an empty road, all of a sudden, this car comes out of a side lane, spots me, n brakes right in the middle of the road. 80... 70... crap... I'm gonna crash... screeeeeeeech... I don't wanna crash... 60... 50... move lady... move outta my way... screeeeeech... 40... 30... okay, I am gonna survive if I crash at this speed... screeeeeeeech... 20... 10... I'm gonna make it... sreeeech... 0 KM/Hr Ah I finally stopped. And guess what, I had a smile on my face when my bike finally came to a stop. The lady in the car who had turned white, must have thought I was crazy, but I had always wanted to do a 100 to 0 with the rear wheel locked, but my respect for the rubber intervened. This entire episode lasted for atleast 4-5 seconds, since my tyre started screeching. All this lady did was stare at me. I am not trying to be a chauvinist, but I hate lady drivers (at least all the confused ones). (To prove that I am no chauvinist I would also like to add - apart from them, there are cab drivers, and bus drivers too on my hate on the road list. And if I am driving (rather than riding) guys like me (when I'm on a bike) also fall into my hate-list.) Luckily my tyres were set up for the rains (low on air pressure=more grip), and I stopped a meter from her car. I wonder why people freeze, like deer caught in a pair of headlights, and I don't mean just on the road. I for one have this thing where I freeze during orals, interviews, and whenever I am in the limelight. In fact I choke quite a lot. Each time I need to think up something, my brain freezes, my face turn red, and I can't recollect even the most basic of things. Reminds me of Marshall Mathers (Eminem) from 8 Mile, where he is referred to as a Choke artist. Coming back to bikes, I also did my first wheelie the other day. Actually it was a handful of hops. This friend of mine (actually the kid brother of a friend of mine, lets call him The Chimp) clung to me when I was on my friend's bike, insisting on getting on a ride. But my friend (whom the bike belonged to) n I were leaving, so in order to get the chimp off I threatened him with a wheelie, n when he still didn't get off, I gave the bike a little gas n popped the clutch, hoping that the sudden acceleration followed by intense breaking would scare him off. Turned out I had underestimated the bike (which was a pulsar 200) n up went the front wheel. I asked the chimp if he wanted to get off the bike, n he refused. That is when I did a series of hops, kinda like Dr Dre's souped up low rider (hopping on hydraulics of course) from that video of him n Snoop Dogg, Still Dre. Man, I used to love hip hop, but now my choice of music has changed a lot. I am more into the blues these days. The blues do me good, especially while riding, keeps me slow. I am seriously considering putting a throttle limiter on my bike. I can easily do 80kmph without opening more than 25% of the throttle. Opening it any more and it's just guzzling fuel. Though in my case I keep it at either full or no throttle.

Up up and away!!!

Okay... Riding update... As I had planned earlier on, I couldn't stick to the 40 km/hr limit, and am upto 60, that too if i am in a mood for it. The bike's pretty rattled up right now, although i am still pushing it. I think I'll have to taker her to the doc soon. There have been a lot more accidental foot-peg scrapings (banking so hard that they touch the road ie, banking till almost 30 degrees to the horizontal) and I am loving it. Though today I did have a near miss when I banked with a pillion n my bike pivoted about something that scraped the road (I think it was my main-stand, cause that's what usually scrapes first when I'm with a pillion) The rear tyre lost traction, but instinctively I kicked the road n we straightened out again. Man that was close.
Slow speeds doesn't mean I can't have fun. The other day I was coming back home with a friend of mine... The Kid... and I tried taking off from a speed breaker. I have tried this a million time, but my landings were never smooth. My front end would always come down really hard. But when I had an audience (The Kid) I put on my best show n did not let go of the throttle till the very end. This along with the way I balanced my weight threw me up (according to The Kid) at least 2 feet high. I was up there so long that for the first time my bike revved up (and red lined) when I was in the air. In case you are wondering what's the big deal with 2 feet, I'd like you to know that 300 Kgs of man n machine hurled up 2 feet, on the softest suspension settings the bike can have, is a big deal, for me atleast. And did I mention I was still within my new speed limit.
With all the banking and jumping, I should probably set up my suspension harder... but I still prefer the softer setting because the roads in this city give me a back ache... What's more, the (little bit) off-roading that I do would no longer be that fun.

Day 2 at 40 km/hr

Today, again I managed to keep my speeds under check. I practice self-control only on my way back from college as I have the time to do so then. I maintained a constant speed of 40 km/hr (unlike yesterday's 50) and didn't exceed it till at one turn (barely 2 kms from my place) I banked so hard (still at 40) that I scraped my foot-pegs... Adrenaline pumping combined with a faster music track from my earplugs, put me in a strange trance n I was off ripping the road agin, just like in the good ol' days. What is it about speed that gets me going??? Why don't others have the same needs???

Life at 40 km/hr

Today I decided that it is finally time that I altered my riding style and slowed down, hence reducing my need for braking. I am telling you, riding at 40 km/hr sure is strenuous. I limited myself to a max. speed of 50 km/hr and only once accidentally exceeded this speed limit I set, because of a downward slope. I rode on the left-most side of the road and kept behind other two-wheelers, and apart from exactly four places, I did not rev up my engine more than what people normally do. There were no skids today, and I am proud of that. I did feel a little sleepy at first, but the music kept me awake. Then towards the end, my muscles started cramping. Apart from one place where I jumped a divider, I rode like I imagined a 40 yr old would. Today I did not ride, I commuted.