The last ride

It will be unfair to let go of Snowwhite into oblivion without acknowledging what she was to me. I remember the day she arrived in the train - glittering black, dressed in jute and cardboard. I then only theoretically knew to ride a motorcycle and all the practice was to come in the busy roads of Chennai. I did very well, crashing her only once into a Premier Padmini at a signal in Mount road. I forgot how to work the break!

From then until last November, Snowwhite was through my thick and thin. On bright, sunny and light Saturdays, we ambled around the city in pure joy. The early morning rides were a delight as we pierced through the cool winds and raced monstrous machines. When I have had my lean moments, we pushed ourselves to the limits, sending us into states of ecstasy and indescribable trance. The first 100 and the many 100s will always be memorable.

I knew it would only be fitting if we did one last long ride before I left. So we drove from Chennai to Bangalore.

It took a while to get out of Chennai. However, it was all fun once we were on the highway. The 50s in the outskirts turned to 80s. We broke journey for breakfast and then the speed perched up a notch higher, constantly kicking the 100 marker.

You know the feeling when facing a new and challenging situation? - The not my comfort zone feeling? And then you grill through and have enough of it until that hyper state becomes a normal comfort state. The nervous jitters at the beginning when the speedometer struck 100 was soon gone. The 'will Snowwhite take a puncture' or 'will I skid her off the road' questions were soon forgotten. And soon, we were cruising a little over 110. It was a breeze. But we never got further than that. That was her physical limit.

While we reached Bangalore in a little less than four and half hours, Arun's stupendous directional skills meant that it took over seven hours in total to get to his cousin's place.

It was a very satisfying ride. I rode to my heart's content and now, it was okay to let go of Snowwhite. She had saved her best for the last ride. It was evident when I calculated how much petrol she consumed during the trip. She could only do a 35 kms per litre while she usually does 50.

It is going to be very challenging for her especially with Arun and D together. Their combined m(m=we)ight broke his Yamaha's axle. But she will be alright.