Well it was just a normal day when I was going through internet when I came through IBW2015 videos and vlogs. A thought came in my mind that where was I at that time? This thought was eating me continuously for 3hrs which then made me search for the event. All I got was that the event was after 3-4days. Next 2 days went in thoughts. You see the first thought strike my mind was about parents, next was how should I get there. Well actually there wasn’t any other option in my mind than my Bajaj Avenger 200. But that bike needed serious repairs before going for this kind of journey. It was 17th February's night and the thought of reaching Goa wasn’t letting me sleep. Well I slept for 3 hrs only that night and from morning I was thinking about it. Went to work and from there to Make in India (hope everyone knows :P ).
A thought struck my mind and I called the mechanic to keep my bike ready. Well he knew everything about my bike, so he started working on it. Oil change, handle bearings changed, brake wire and brake pads changed, gear shifter, Relay, Headlight, goshh..!! lot of work on it. Meanwhile I called home and made things clear about the coming journey and also informed the office Management. Came back home at 4pm and was waiting for the bike to be ready. I was continuously checking updates the vloggers were posting. Some guys already reached Goa while some were on their way.
Finally the bike got ready at 7:30pm. Still I was having second thoughts of going Goa as I was completely tired due to work and lack of sleep from past two days. In the confusion I had dinner and was going through the IBW site where I realized that the ticket bookings was closed and received a note that further tickets will be available at the event like that. I was scared with lot of thoughts that what if I don’t get the passes, or what if I find no one on the way? After all it was a solo journey. Till now I was only thinking about things I will do after reaching. Very soon while packing my bags I realized that I was going to Ride alone in night. But the thought of riding till Goa was so much exciting and tempting that the thought of not going was feeling more dangerous and killing. Meanwhile when I was packing stuffs my friend told me that tickets are still available on bookmyshow . After checking out the tickets I finally booked ONE (ya just one) at 11:30pm on 18th of Feb 2016. (Yes at night, before leaving). Well I don’t know what the ticket booking had an effect on me, all the laziness in me disappeared and I was ready to ride.
Gave a little thought about leaving time and finally decided to leave at 1:00am in the morning. Ticket booking was a great push to get away from fatigue. Finally got out of the house at 12:59am. First time earlier than time (a great thing ,like dreams :P). Hushhhh. Left from Mumbai finally for Goa. Each passing kilometer and the joy of riding was hitting me like the cool breeze in summers. I thought the journey was going to be the same way. But you never know what’s coming next, right? I guess every rider here knows what effects ‘lack of sleep’ cause on riding. The moment Pune city crossed, the fatigue started showing up. When I took a halt after Pune I was feeling that I should take some sleep somewhere around, but the moment I get this thought IBW 2016 flashed in my mind which made my previous thought disappear. Time was passing by 3am-4am-5am and I reached Satara. A break for chai was the other thing keeping me refreshed all over the night.
Till now my eyes almost gave up. I can remember I was having so much fatigue and pain in eyes to keep them open. I was washing my face continuously to keep me fresh. I left Satara at 6am, Sun was coming up. There while going from Satara to Kolhapur on the way I saw the beautiful sunrise with almost foggy road and sudden cold breezes. That was one another beautiful moment.
Each town/village I was crossing I was getting the feeling of achieving something different. This feeling I never got in my normal life. Welcome to life of a biker. The happiness I was getting from the journey, the vibrations from the bike were making me more alive and awake than any other thing.
After Kolhapur my eyes were very sleepy and my body was paining. Again I thought of getting some sleep somewhere, but I knew once I slept I won’t be waking up for at least 4-6hrs. Instead I requested a hotel to rent me a room for 1hr.surprisingly the hotel owner was kind enough to let me use his room for a hour in 200 bucks only. I took a bath there with hot water and all the fatigue and body pain went away somewhere.. May be I overtook them by a fresh bath.
Finally at 11am around I left the hotel with spending exactly 1hr there. The Kolhapur-Nipani road was one beautiful road. Well I crossed Nipani and went ahead. When I stopped for refueling, I came to know I was 3 kms ahead of ‘the famous always newcomer missed’ Goa turn. Well that thought of missing the turn is always frustrating when you are on a tight schedule. And I was behind my schedule. Well that doesn’t matter. Finally after taking 3more breaks I reached Goa at around 2pm which is way behind my schedule. Well I was helpless at sometimes so had to stop, later calculated there were 10-12 stops for 600kms, way too much. The urge to reach the destination was so strong that even sleep fatigue pain can’t withstand.
The feeling I was having when I reached the venue is simply unexplainable. The feeling that this was the thing I choose my journey for, I was like on top of the world. I was hell tired no doubt, but something was dragging me to the event and not letting my energy down. Maybe I can call it the love for riding.
On the way to Goa there lies Amboli ghat. Nice road with curves and hilly roads. Scenery is amazing. I hope to ride there in monsoon too. All the way I was controlling myself not to click pics in between so that I won’t get late to reach and was fooling myself of click the pics on return journey. Haha.
The venue was amazing. So were the events. I was so tired and on the top of it I was having headache, body-pain, fatigue, and lot of things. Well I spent time there and then went out to search a place to stay. After getting it I got fresh and went back to the event. Had dinner there and visited almost every counters, a nice talk with everyone was relaxing thing and also very informative about their bikes and brands as well as products. Sorry I don’t remember everyone’s name, my condition was that I can barely keep my eyes open and talk with people. Some people suggested me to have some sleep.
Finally I had dinner there along with some music and went in hotel and slept for 9 good hours. Woke-up with the warm sunrays on my face. There was a big smile on my face of accomplishing something. Woke-up with many thoughts in my mind and plans to do and was very excited. Had tea and went for early morning ride. Everything was quiet and wasn’t feeling Goa. Just when I had my tea, I got a call from a friend with very shocking news. I left in the next hour and started my return journey. I don’t remember any pain I was having. Only thing in my mind was to reach to Pune and from there to home. I wish I have done the return journey with much more concentration and fun, but all I was thinking was how to get back.
Anyways .. That was one hell of a ride with all the mixed feelings. Pictures I hardly took any as I was not in the mood to click on the return journey. Still manages to click some of them.
The thought of riding to Goa was the main thing which inspired me to go with it. Everything else was like it doesn’t matter. Nothing was feeling great compared to that thing. The feeling after reaching there was again unexplainable. IBW was an inspiration to explore myself. And the ride to IBW made me aware of the things I was missing. This ride made me explore myself and opened a doorway to step up for new challenges.
