The thrill of being on the road doubles up with time and experience. With every passing road, you get to know just how huge the world is and just how wonderful humanity is! The soul of a biker resides in the fernweh in their eyes and the desire to take on challenging routes to get to obscure locations. Why would anyone love to be on the road? Here are my views on it –
- The Ride: A good bike and the open road is a luring sight. As a child if you ever practiced on your Kazam balance bike for hours together, you are sure to love your bike and an open road to ride it on. It is the wind in the hair, the sunset and sunrise, the people we meet, the food you find, the tobacco you smoke, the voice of the rain on your raincoats, the sight of green pastures – all in quick succession. There is too much to absorb.
- Nature: You ride for the beautiful sights, the lakes, the mountains, the pastures and the raw beauty of nature. Right from camping in the wild to drinking water from a nearby river and to find insects and animals that you’ve never seen before – all of these form a very refreshing experience – one that rejuvenates you to the very core.
- The adventure: There are problems that you would confront with when the road is your home. Sans a fire place to warm your bones at the end of the day and without a cozy bed to sleep in – riding is all about meeting the extreme oddities in nature and dealing with them in the best possible way. Little adventures have taken bikers to do some tasks that they never knew they were capable of. Adventures like these happen on the road and by the end of it, you come out a much confident person.
- The People: Meeting the curious eyes of people in towns and villages brings a new sense of zest. The minute difference in cultures is something very fascinating. To teach children practicing on their balance bikes a trick or two about biking and to talk to people about their past and to listen to different stories, each as beautiful as the other – it is all an experience you would crave for time and again.
If you’re riding, you do not look for a reason, you simply enjoy the ride. Your choice of road and friends and food and clothes – nothing will matter once you hit the road and stick to it.