Ghat bang, a name to a ride which was meant to wind through the twisties in the Nilgiris. The plan was to ride to Masinagudi the first day, chill out for the night around a camp fire and then ride through the twisties taking the route through the steep Kalhatti ghat, Ooty, Kotagiri, down and through Sathyamangalam, up Dhimbam, through the forest to Kollegal, Kanakpura and Bangalore.

The idea was good, but then I did not have a street worthy bike. Enter Vodka and a generous offer to ride the RD. A RD 350? Why would I say no? A while back when I’d been on a ride to do a similar route, bad fuel really spoilt it. But, this time, it was almost perfect, but for leaky oil seals of the front fork which made sure my body took most of the impact on the lousy Kollegal-Kanakpura road on the return.

The ride up was quite uneventful, but for having to spend a good part of the first day waiting for PP and Dickso to emerge from the cop station after a futile attempt to get back the only bottle of whisky, that got seized on purchase on a dry day. And a dazed rear viewing Dickso running into a stationary me and the RD and PP running into him. A small pile up, but Vodka did the customary check of my RD that he claims to be his and then checking on the rest of us.

The next day early in the morning we did get to see some wildlife, both 2 legged and the 4 legged variety, before heading out. The Beemers returned to Bangalore, back on Mysore road, while the rest of us, did the true Ghat bang.

It was good being back on an RD on a long ride after a long time, more so because I made PrettyPoo carry my luggage on his bike letting me push the RD.

Pics: Chentil, Abhi

‘, 1, 4, 0, 13, ‘2006-10-16 02:03:56’, 62, ‘Abhi’, ‘2008-06-24 11:36:51’, 62, 0, ‘0000-00-00 00:00:00’, ‘2006-10-16 02:03:56’, ‘0000-00-00 00:00:00’, ‘2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack01-t.jpg|center|Breakfast stop…|2|Breakfast stop…|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack02-t.jpg|center|Coffee day|2|Cafe Coffee Day|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack03-t.jpg|center|Various bikes|2|Different rides, one group.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack04-t.jpg|center|Stalking GS1200|2|Sneaky ostrich behind the bushes.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack05-t.jpg|center|7pm long exposure|2|Taken in almost complete darkness, waiting for PP out side the cop station|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack06-t.jpg|center|Dutta D70|2|Give that fellow something better to shoot!|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack07-t.jpg|center|Leopard on the tree|2|Leopard on the tree: note the spelling, it wasn”t the deaf types|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack08-t.jpg|center|Vodka checking out my RD|2|Vodka did a mid-ride appraisal to see how I fared.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack09-t.jpg|center|Beemers galore.|2|Beemers galore.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack10-t.jpg|center|Line up before we split.|2|Line up before heading our ways.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack11-t.jpg|center|Enfied 500|2|Maggie ghat banging|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack12-t.jpg|center|Fuel stop|2|Fuel stop|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack13-t.jpg|center|Locked throttle and two smoking barrels|2|For me that day it was only: Locked throttle and two smoking barrels|bottom|center|165\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack14-t.jpg|center|Huge thorns|2|With thorns this size, you do not want to go off-roading; even by mistake.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack15-t.jpg|center|Fly by|2|2 stroke fly by.|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack16-t.jpg|center|Butt break|2|Butt break nearing Sathyamangalam|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack17-t.jpg|center|Sunset nearing the Karnataka border|2|Sunset nearing the Karnataka border|bottom|center|160\r\n2006/mab/1016-mab-ghat-attack18-t.jpg|center|Last shot before misery ruled for the rest of the ride!|2|Last shot before the roads wiped the smiles off everyone faces!|bottom|center|160’