Vrooming at Rider Mania in goa

Sachin Chandrakant Ghorpade was in tears as he de-boarded his bike. He had clinched the top honour, Champion of Champions, at Royal Enfield Rider Mania 2018, despite being a first timer at the biking festival.

The 42-year-old Kolhapur resident, member of a local group named ‘Royal Ryders’, received a grand welcome into the stands on his way back from the dirt track. “I have been racing for 15 years now. However, it was my first time at Rider Mania and I didn’t expect I’d come this far,” said Ghorpade after winning the final race.

Similar stories, riding experiences and passion for two wheelers were common among the Enfield riders from across the country, and from abroad, who gathered at the 2018 edtition of the event, held from November 16-18 at Hilltop in Vagator, Goa.

Decked with a series of activities and competitions, the largest gathering of Royal Enfield riders anywhere in the world also witnessed the launch of the custom 650 twins in India, months after its global launch in California.

Apart from riding events such as dirt track racing, slow race and Motoball, there were non-riding events too at Rider Mania, like beer drinking competition and arm wrestling. Workshops on off-roading and vlogging were also held at the Royal Enfield Garage Cafe in Arpora, besides art and shopping arenas at the venue.

The most exciting thing for all present at Rider Mania were trained riders putting up a fabulous ‘Maut ka kuan’ show, which literally stands up to its translation, the well of death. Also, a custom motorcycle show was organised at the venue.

All the three days were packed with indie-rock and fusion band performances like Ritviz, Maati Baani and Madboy Mink. Indian Ocean closed the three-day mega event with Bande.

Rider Mania witnessed a crowd of bikers, who braved tough terrains and harsh weathers to gather at Vagator, riding several thousand kilometres from different parts of the country. Among them, the Coimbatore boys, who had clocked 900 kms from Kovai till Panaji, described their journey as exciting and memorable.

Coimbatore Bullet Riders Association, aka COBRA, was founded in 2014 and has around 25 members. “The ride was exciting and the weather was pleasant. It was the first time I encountered two elephants on our way to Panaji,” said member Prince D Antonio Danial, a businessman, who had completed a Kashmir-Kanniyakumari trip last year and was a first timer at Rider Mania.

Travelling through the coastline, riding on the beach, getting stuck in the sand and having a lot of fun — this is how Royal Enfield ambassador from Australia, Jessica ‘Jess’ Zahra, described her journey across the continent. Starting from Melbourne, Jess covered Tasmania in far south, touched the northern tip and back.

“Riding across Australia was difficult. Service stations and food stops are 300 to 400 kms apart, unlike in India,” said Jess. She is yet to ride across India and is looking forward to the trip.

Further, on women riding bikes, Jess highlighted how women are often told to ‘play safe’. “It’s definitely doable. You need to push yourself. Else, you will never know what you’re capable of,” she said. Jess is also writing a book on her ride across Australia.

India too has its brave women bikers who undertake rides across the country, through some of the hardest terrains.

Bikerni, a pan India all-women riders’ group, has been together since 2010. With over 500 riders from across the country, the group has made trips to Leh, Spiti and Goa.

“We have different chapters in different cities. At present, the Bengaluru, Mumbai and Goa chapters are representing Bikerni at Rider Mania 2018,” said member Tulika Srivastava, an educator by profession and a biker since 2014. Bikerni is looking forward to a Myanmar-Thailand trip soon. Also present at Rider Mania 2018 were Navy officers who shared their experience of riding along the Indian coastline with an aim to spread awareness on coastal security.

A team of riders from the Goa Naval Area rode on 10 Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycles and clocked a distance of 6,000 kms. The 22-day ride started from Jamnagar and ended in Kolkata in May. The officers interacted with the fishermen and learnt about the challenges they face every day. They also educated them about how they can contribute to enhance coastal security.

Aaron Cain from the UK, Steve Smith from Ireland and Jason Leonard from the US met in Pune a few years ago, and since 2016, they have been visiting Rider Mania. Everything Expats, a forum founded by Jason (45) helps foreigners in Pune unite and take upon trips like this one.

The rider group, named Goodfellas, comprises of 12 members from across the world, who wore year badges on their custom jackets, showing the years they participated in Rider Mania.

Ravi Verma, an agriculturist from Jaipur, collected ‘thank you’ notes from schools and colleges and delivered them to the soldiers deployed at the border. Speaking at Rider Mania 2018, the 33-year-old, who has clocked over 32,000 kms, shared his story — how he landed up with the idea of his ride and the experience. He started his journey on his Royal Enfield Himalayan on August 15, 2016 and finished four months later on December 28.

“I spent 15 days with the Army and had a tearful moment with them. They realised that there are people who think about them and their difficulties,” he said.

A similar story about following one’s passion and not letting obstacles kill one’s dreams was that of Sharat Sharma, a retired journalist who travelled across the country, covering 29 states, four union territories and Bhutan. Sharma achieved the feat in 234 days clocking 30,850 kms.

“This was my first long ride. I wanted to travel the entire country at one go,” said Sharma, who pointed out that in the second innings of lives people often get busy with work and family and stop dreaming. “But I did not stop dreaming. I was planning the entire time. I was waiting to turn 60, get the ‘senior citizen’ tag and go for this road trip,” he added.

Speaking about overcoming obstacles, Sharma said, “Life is all about flexibility. Travelling should never be rigid. Flexibility means you’re constantly listening to mother nature and is in sync with her. Change your plans accordingly. Rigidity and inflexibility will cause you problems.”

Royal Enfield, known for their 350 cc and 500 cc motorcycles, launched the powerful machines, Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650, at RM 2018 amid an excited crowd of motorcycle enthusiasts and riders. Capable of producing 47 bhp, the 648 cc engine is mated to 6-speed gearbox. Both the bikes are available in three versions — standard, custom and chrome. The Interceptor retains the authentic look of a roadster and sports a teardrop fuel tank, diamond-quilt-patterned twin seat and wide braced handlebars. The Continental GT draws inspiration from the cafe racer culture of the 50s and 60s. The weight-forward stance and rearset footrests provides the sporty riding position essential for cafe racers.

Parked at the custom motorcycles arena, ‘Sholay’ paid tribute to one of the biggest Bollywood hits and also carried a message. The 1989 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 was customised by Raju of R&G Customs (Mumbai) to give it the vintage look of the bike featured in the 1975 movie. According to the makers, it personifies the bond between the characters Jay and Veeru in Sholay. The sidecar of the bike displayed the message ‘say no to drugs’. Besides, other bikes on display included Shivaya, a customised Thunderbird 350, described as a two-wheeled ode to Lord Shiva by its makers.