Back from the Forever Riders Meet at Nashik from the 18th to the 21st January and we were not really ready for another ride, both mentally as well as pocket wise. Hey, you try shelling out 15 k approx for a ride and then see - after all we are all pretty decent middle class guys :-)
But then Malnad Diaries ch 5 beckoned.
As a background on this, the Malnad Diaries was the brainchild of the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club, back in 2014, when they thought that, wouldn't it be great to have an all-Karnataka meet just for the Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles? A place and a time to smoke the entire area, enjoy the smell of 2T oil and just talk down and dirty all about these great classic & retro machines?!
And so the idea was born that this annual meet should be always in the Malnad region, where the food is great, the roads are full of twisties and the temperature would be way out cold! Oh and yes around the month of January preferably. 
MD chapter 1 was thus held somewhere in the interior of Coorg and on the last day before we all headed back home, the rag-tag bunch of enthusiasts from Bangalore, Mysore, Madikeri and Mangalore headed out to a Government School where books and stationary were donated to the School children. Just in time for January 26th, India's proud Republic Day.
Following this, the next Chapters were held at Chikmagalur, Bisle and Gonikoppa. All lovely locales!
For the 2018 Chapter, it was all at short notice and many were not ready for a ride so soon after the last. Poor us :-(
However there was a point that touched our nerves. One of our key supporters - Achal Bopanna, a high energy, ever-enthusiastic rider from Madikeri, had passed away in an accident in December 2017. While quite a few of the riders and friends had made it for his funeral the next day, many others could not. And it was decided that there should be ride dedicated to him. What better than the Malnad Diaries, that was his love, which he would religiously attend everytime?
With this in mind, many of the riders who had known him for a long time, made up their minds to be there. The Mangalore boys all confirmed in just 2 days. On the 16th of February, Friday, 1 pm, and I am still running around on office work. The "In memory..." flex was still not done. Rushed home, told my Aunt that I had to leave for the Memorial ride, packed and geared on 'Grease' my ever-faithful 93 Roadking, little to eat and back to office. Rushed to school at 2.45 pm and picked up Kian who was all surprised and eager to see me geared up. Back to office, where we finished off his homework hurriedly, while we waited for the others. I was really happy to see Renold and Bharath who could not make it, turn up to see us off!
Then the cager gang turns up - Girish, Vijay, Arun, Chetan and Birosh. The only other bike, riding out today with me is yet to come. We wait and talk. 10 minutes later, Dr. Suraj turns up on his 1974 B type, with Trailer attached. All our eyes are like saucers and the good dr. is grinning from ear to ear. 
We are late already and need to cover 140 kms. Leaving Mangalore, around 5.30 pm our first halt is at Ujire for a tea break and following this, we take a quick pit stop once we climb the Charmadi ghats for the customary pictures. Difficult for me to get off everytime, as I have the harness for little Kian on, but hey what good is a back up car if the guys there don't take your pics? 
The entire climb is awesome, roads are beautiful and challenging with occasional traffic rushing head on at the corners. The view with the setting sun at the peak makes up for it all. Now as the night starts to set in, we need to make up for it as we rush to Mudigere. Right towards Hanbal and 10 kms on at the junction as we take the deviation towards the Valley Stone Road, we are pleasantly surprised to catch up with PC, who has just rode down from Mysore, via Hassan and Sakleshpur. Together we ride and make it to the Resort, where we are cheered on by the rest of the teams, who had reached there earlier in the day. 
The campfire was on, the chatting and the bashing was going strong, it was good to be among friends again. Along with us, another team of 3 riders including a girl had just landed up from Coorg. A quick round of introductions for everybody was done and then Chetan Kumar spoke up, giving a touching heart-felt tribute to Bopanna. It was almost everybody who have met him, was there and his absence was deeply felt.
Following this, it was time for a little sing-song followed by Dinner. The next day, after a nice hot morning cuppa, everybody rode out deep into the interior around 10 kms away, as the shattered tarmac gave way to steep concrete turns and stone strewn muddy roads, some bikes struggled but still climbed, while the car had to halt. And when the path came to an end with a dug channel, the 1-km trek up a real steep hill began. After reaching the summit, while everyone sat and sprawled themselves like lifeless mattresses, flat out, surprise of surprises, the guide smilingly motioned towards the adjoining hill. Of course everyone wanted to jump on him and throttle him 2-stroke style. But they politely declined and gracefully parked their butts on the cool grass in the morning sun rays. Prateek and Joel said what the hell, let's do it and started climbing up. I looked for permission at Kian, and he just laughed in my face. Still he was ready to go on but with his kiddish banter "oh dada, it is so high, how to climb? I will fall, hold me tight, etc etc"
Slowly but surely, one foot at a time, we climbed and made it all the way up. Others slowly followed. At the top, it was a breaktaking view of the valleys down far below. Just green and enchanting. To the right, on the next peaks, smoke drifted lazily away, from the burnt grassy areas, which started the debate on which lunatic in his right mind could climb all the way up there just to set fire to the grass, or was it just a natural occurence?
Well, we had to now climb back down as we could faintly hear the hungry tummys grumbling through the distance. Kian of course continued his tirade, but patiently kept up all the way till we were safely on the ground. And then our eager guide whisked us away to watch and feed the fish that guard the sacred pond of a temple close by. The hyper Catla (Indian carp) were all to ready to jump out with their open mouths, yes quite a sight to watch, especially the size that made many a mouths water.
Time to ride back and claim our breakfast, this time Birosh took 'Grease' with Kian, while I rode shotgun with Suraj, keeping a watchful eye on the hulking trailer that followed our every move with the requisite bumps. And yet another surprise when I saw the 2 ladies on the Classic. And they were doing well too!
At the resort, we caught up with Anil, Vivek, Rayan and Adithya who had ridden out at first light from Mangalore to meet us here. Once again our Team was almost complete. Another few boys from Mysore and Coorg with Dhyan Devaiah, had also made it.
After breakfast, everyone grouped up in the parking area, where the "In Memory..." flex was put up. 
Brian, Harish, Chetan, Reuben and a few others spoke up about those who have fallen - Dr. Sumanth, AB Muddasar and Achal Bopanna. Quite a solemn moment, with everybody fondly remembering these guys who were the life of the party, anywhere! And then it was the tee shirt and goodies distribution, followed by lunch. This time, the BJYMC boys had quite outdone themselves, with the lovely coffee mug in the MD 5 colours, as well as the tee shirts that carried a great message for Bopanna! 
Around 5 pm, a couple of events helped lighten up the mood - the Backward Throwing Tyre competition as well as the Slow Race, brought out the kids in everyone, together with peels of laughter, that accompanied the gallis and the banter. 
This went well into the evening and before we knew it, the campfire was on again.
After Brian had given a brief on what Malnad Diaries was all about, I was asked to give the Vote of Thanks. With emphasis
on thanking the individual riders from the clubs of Kodagu (Coorg), Mysore, Udupi, Bangalore and Mangalore, it was agreed unanimously, that the MD Chapters should grow bigger and better with more influx from riders across other cities and more involvement from new clubs. Also point to focus on Charity and helping out those schools or institutions where possible, during the event.
To bring this to a close before the dinner, suggestions, criticisms, ideas were all invited from everybody to help nurture the event for future benefits. Apart from all the praises for individuals / clubs / cities and the numerous thank yous, below are a few points that were to be noted -
- Chetan requested that all riders use good quality helmets as well as riding gears, while on the road.
- Anil Shet requested that the next Chapter should be planned keeping in mind that it should not clash with other rides, dates of which could clash with each other.
- Bryan said that while all the 5 chapters have been planned and executed by the BJYMC, it is a request now that other cities, should plan to take up the initiative to organise the event too on a cyclic basis.
- Richard gave a few pointers on Safe driving / riding as well as Defensive driving / riding
- Joel spoke about the Endurance rides and the top priority to focus on keeping oneself hydrated
- Shawn spoke about safety aspects and understanding one's limits while on the roads for long distances, as well as understanding how our machines perform and the importance of listening to what the engines tell us.
Time for dinner and then to call it a night. For the following day, 6 am was our time to ride out back to our homes.
Another successful chapter completed. New friends met, old friends reunite and part that is what this brotherhood is all about.
And let us not forget the sisters this time!