Daman and Vapi - Time to ride, Lucifer... - By Waseem Anis

Waseem… no answer
Waseem… no answer
Time to ride, Lucifer... said Daman, and I was up in a flash.

Saturday morning and the Inddiethumpers were on for another field day, the destination this time - Daman. No not my friend Damanvir (Blitzkrieg), but Daman the town. Me, Mandy and Daman got ready in a flash and soon Sunny came in with his heavy bass thumping the neighbors up. At 6:00 in the morning all of us were readying up to hit the road. Bruce came in shortly and we all moved to the meeting place.

Once there, people started pouring in and pretty soon twelve of us we all were there, Rasik (tattoo), Hemal (CrapMan), Zenosh, Oais, Apoorva with Gaurav, Bruce with Mandy, Sunny with Sandeep, Daman and me, all but Metalhead aka Bilal. While we waited, we got a surprise visitor in Gaurav Jani, the loner. He was on his way back from his trip to the northeast. He was gone for over two months and the loner had served him well in the time. We all wanted him to come to Daman with us but I guess he did need to catch up on the lost sleep and straighten out his back a little. We had been waiting for almost 40 minutes for the Metalhead and everybody was getting restless. We decided we would start slowly and Bilal would catch up on his fast and furious 500cc.

It was seven when we started off from Vile Parle on the western express highway and stopped at Dahisar for fuel. That’s when Bilal joined us and quickly we were back on the road. The day was getting hot and dry. We rode for about an hour and by then everybody was thirsty as hell. Pit stop for water and back on the road. After another hour of riding we all stopped for breakfast at Highway Glory, an MTDC highway hotel. People ate like we had been starved all life. The poor caretaker could manage the paani la…chai la…omlette, dosa, bread and what not. We finished a very heavy breakfast and a huge bill and were back on the road.

The western express highway is a decent stretch of road, the kind you would enjoy in a Honda City or Lancer, but we were no less a match for any of them. Daman, Rasik and Bilal on their 500s an me on my beloved AVL ripped and ripped. At one particular turn we went took at full throttle and I could feel rush inside. Daman and Rasik were probably at 110 or more at that turn. I myself felt my left foot peg scrape the road. But soon we came back to sanity and rode steady with the pack. Closing in on the town of Daman, we had to take a narrow lane for about 10 odd kilometers and the entire group rode close taking synchronous turns and overtaking in a single file.

We reached Daman at around 12:20 in and Daman scouted around for a nice hotel. It was grueling hot and the idea of an AC room was welcome to everybody. We all checked into the hotel and after freshening up and resting for a hour, left for Jamporee Beach. There we had our lunch and the usual round of chicken, fish and tissue throwing exercise. A hearty meal was all we needed to get us in shape to brace the sea. Oais and Crapman decided to stay guard for clothes and other stuff while the rest of us drifted into the water. The tide was very low and we had to walkin almost half 300 meters into the water to get to shoulder level. There again our slinging battle continued, only this time it was mud from the bottom instead of the usual tissues. We were in the water for over an hour and didn’t realize the tide rising. Finally we decided it was time to get back and get some rest.

Back at the hotel, most of us crashed in. We woke up around 7 in the evening and after the usual delays and what-to-do session headed out into the town and roamed around. At times it seemed the town was almost frightened of the thumpers roaring around in the quiet neighborhood. Later in the night the group had a party on the beach and food at a dhaba outside town. Back from the late dinner, me and a couple of others returned to the hotel while the rest of the gang went to check out the Lighthouse and the Fort in the night. From what I heard I think I missed something fantastic. Well, I guess that gives me another reason for another ride, some other time!!

Next was Sunday and lazy as usual, we took our own sweet time and by the time we got out of the hotel, it was almost 11:00. We had a good breakfast and then we headed for Silvassa. This place has a lion safari and some how everybody was very keen on doing it. The day was very hot and we had to take a lot of stops for water, otherwise, we would have surely dehydrated. Silvassa was a nice and quite place and we all went in the Safari Van and got to see three beasts, two females and a male lazing in shade. Once out of the perimeter, me Bilal and Zen went up ahead to check out the place and found a beautiful dam and where we rode all the way to the top and could see the reservoir on one side and the steep fall of the dam on the other.

We spent some time there and then rejoined with the group lazing in the shacks nearby. Soon we all mounted up and the sound of ten roaring Bullets was enough to beat the lions in the safari. We all started slowly through the winding roads of the country, Daman in the lead and the rest following close. Once on the highway, the throttles opened up again and with the evening beginning to set in, it seemed like bliss. The temper of the day was cooling down and that of the bikes rising. Me, Rasik and Bilal ripped for sometime after which Rasik decided to fall back and Bilal and me took the lead. At some points the road was forced in to a single lane diversion and there Bilal and me had some excellent riding requiring a lot of concentration and speed. We both had taken a considerable lead over the others and so decided to stop at a highway motel for some tea. The others joined us after a while and we realized Bruce had a narrow escape with a speeding Santro trying to overtake him. Unfortunately for the Santro he also go to the hotel at the time that we did and the guys gave him some peace of mind.

Another long meal and a few tissue-slinging sessions we all decided to hit the road. It was past eight and the roads were getting pitch dark. We all rode at good speeds and occasionally a couple of us would rip ahead to break the monotony. We got the Bombay at around 10 in the night and were welcomed by a massive traffic hold up around the Kandivli area. It was a mess and took some time to go through. Finally we met at the Andheri Flyover and after the Goodbyes and hugs, pushed off to our homes.

Looking back at it, forty hours and 440 kilometers later, the trip was a worth every moment of it. Bravo to all the riders for riding together and being a part of something that will live in us for years to come - Inddiethumpers rule, today and forever.