Motorsports is me.

A recent incident put the possibility of me quitting motorsports right in front of my face for the first time in my life. The incident itself is not important, what it probably implied is. Or at least was. For the first time, I thought about life without motorsports of the two wheeled kind. (Four wheels are for girls remember?;-)). And I realized a few things.
I realized what motorsports mean to me. Motorsports to me mean a lot of things that my self stands for. A lot of things that define me. The demand for MORE from life, the hurry to give more back in return, the calculated risk taking thats actually a notch above calculations, the desire to push my limits further, the need for speed and not just in the physical sense, the desire to do my thing whether its fashionable or not, in vogue or not, appreciated or not- or in short call it expression of freedom of my thought and converting it into action. Probably a lot of things more, which I do not have the ability to put in words.
In short, I realized in a very blatant manner that motorsports in not something that I just do, its actually an automatic manifestation of what I am, what I stand for. At the cost of sounding dramatic, I realized that in a way, I am motorsports. And that motorsports in fact is me. I wish I could have said it with less dramatic an effect, but no other words would be able to do justice to what I want to express.

P.S. No, I am not quitting motorsports if you are wondering Mr. Reader! But I cannot bow my head enough to Waheguru for letting me make that statement at the end of it. Thanks are also due to somebody else here but thats a secret that I intend to keep for a little while longer;-)

I am getting my mojo back

Lost it sometime in the last two years, dont exactly know when. Could not try looking for it, given the circumstances (not that I really knew that I had lost it...). Found out a couple of weeks back it was missing from my bag of goodies. Seemed like it was gone for ever, but then I knew that that couldnt be.
And this weekend, I have started getting that itsy bitsy feeling, that flickering hope, that its not gone for ever. its just lurking in the corners (literally;-)) around. Because when I passed through some of those corners this weekend, I could just feel it being around, touching and going, wanting to come back...
Now the big thing is keeping up the search, going at those corners again, and again, and yet again, till I get it. Because I know its there somewhere...
(Hint for the uninitiated: I last raced two years back. Got back to the racetrack about a few weeks back. Mojo in question is....... enough hints;-))

I have faith in faith.

Enough said.

And yes, its related to motorcycles;-)

the machines we ride

a post on motohouston.com by me dated 7-23-2005, with the same title.
........
i hv had an R6 for a week now and I must say I m filled with both respect and fear. Respect for the machine, and fear of myself. I have had heard views, got advise for/against these super machines, but after having ridden it for a while, my initial impression, my first learning is that its not the power in the machine which is dangerous, its the sense of power that the rider believes he/she possesses which could be the nemesis.

Its the feeling of superiority, the feeling of others on the road being lesser mortals that just catches up one day, its not the machine.......
.........
putting here for coming back taking a look sometime.

On Any Sunday

travel 350kms by bus so that u can ride ur motorcycle back, meet up a club of rider buddies at a restaurant by the beach, enjoy the "wtf u r doing here bugger" looks, get offered a ride by one of your buddies becuase your motorcycle is still in the factory, ride in a group of 30 motorcycles, in the distinguished company of a guy whose passion for 2 wheels and racing demands nothing but pure respect, and your in-lead vehicle being a 1971 Jaguar E type with a monstrous V 12 engine, on a road that hugs the coast and is one of the most beautiful in your part of the country, ride 2 hours, have yummy some breakfast, get stuck because the E Type actually locks up its steering wheel, have a buddy drop you back to city becuase you still have 350kms riding to do and its already noon, pick up your motorcycle from the carb factory where it was put on the dyno, and tuned up to deliver some solid punch, now moves like a tiger and roars like a lion(too much?;-)), get on the highway, eat skodas for breakfast, lancers for lunch and civics for dinner, have a 1000 people look at you whey they hear the music from a km, with riders turning back to look what really is coming on them, ride at an average speed of ~100kmph, eat up 300 kms to your home in 3hours flat, with your motorcycle still ready for some more.
This is what a biker loves doing, ON ANY SUNDAY.

(title lifted from Malcolm Smith/Stevie McQueen starrer 'On Any Sunday'. Big thanks and respect to Bose Sir for what he does for all us bikers/racers. He embodies the true racer spirit, something I find totally lacking in most of Indian racers)

MMSC Race Track Chennai

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Back.

On Jan 1,2008, I got back on the motorcycle. After 4.5 months of a forced off. Felt nice to have the wind beat in my face once again.Though I wish the full face helmet were flip face at least on open non city stretches (I lost my baby flip face when I crashed. One pretty helmet!:((((( )
And I talking of back, I am also back to racing. Did my first post crash race a few weeks back at Mysore in a hill climb event. Rode my stock (rather negatively modified) Ugly Centaur. Had a good fun time, though I should go in with preparation next time if I want to win it. Needless to say, I didnt win it this time.
Being back feels awesome. Starting from scratch again is..umm...funky. Not too bad though, but you need the patience. Glad I didnt start from scrtch AFA motorcycles go, patience is something I am not known for, at least when on a motorcycle.

The Bucephalus Chronology - II ( continued from Jan 31, 2007 post)

And the Bucephalus II is here now. Or rather, has been here. For 6+ months now. But it hasnt had the most flying of starts. Pretty slow actually (long distance guys start slow huh?). Buce II has had just 1200kms on the odo in the 6 months, and has seen more garage and mechanic's garage then the roads and dirt. Its ironic, that the strongest of the Bucephalus clan has had the baddest (i know that aint a word) of starts, but then, what do I know! It was all set for the quest for some high goals, but suddenly life came pouring in. And boy, did it pour!lol.
But now, the wait for Buce II ,to go where it belongs, the roads, is finally drawing to an end. Insha Allah, it shall be out soon. Jan 1 2008 is not far, and that is the day, when its supposed to start its new life. Oh, and not just Buce II. Insha Allah again.

P.S. Bucephalus II is currently donning its temp avatar, that of Ugly Centaur. The "avatar" story is an interesting one, and will need some telling !at some point of time. But the world's gotta wait, as is with all good things...