THE INTERVIEW
BC: What made you want to ride a bike ? Have you done any long distance
rides yet ?
VR: When I was a kid, in my area where I used to live, there was a cop, who
used to ride a bike which I came to know later that it was RE, but I didn't
know then, but I always used to admire the sound of that bike
"Dug..Dug..Dug.." and I always used to get fascinated by that. In my dreams I
used to ride that bike, so since childhood the dream of riding bike was
always there. And when I got my artificial limb and my father came with the
leaflet of Hero Honda bike and expressed his dream of me riding bike, that
thing stuck in my mind and I decided then, that I would learn bike and ride
and in my dreams I always imagined myself, I am riding that bike, that deep
desire of me to ride a bike made me to commit to the world of biking.
The longest ride I did was always solo, because that time I wasn't aware of
any riding clubs or groups so to name the few rides...
Mumbai - Shillong in the year 2000
Mumbai - Bengaluru in 2007 & 2008
Mumbai - Rajamachi in 2009
Mumbai - Leh Ladakh in 2011
Mumbai - Mysore in 2014
Mumabi - Musoorie - U.P - Uttara Khand in 2016
Mumbai - Leh Ladakh in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Mumbai - Chhattisgarh in 2016
Mumbai - Nagpur - Gadhchiroli - Amravati in 2016 & 2017
Mumbai to Goa from 2010 to 2018 (every year) for Riders Mania
And there are few short rides too...
RIDE HARD
RIDE SAFE
- VINOD RAWAT
BC: Currently how many bikes you own ? And
Which is your favourite bike & Why ?
VR: I have two bike
Hero Impulse and RE 1980 standard 350 cc. And of
course RE is my favourite bike, I feel Royal on that
bike, bcoz the RE which I have is the old model
where gears or on the right side and break is on
the left.
BC: Any particular bike you dislike ? And Why ?
VR: As a biker I always tell people that it's not the
bike who rides the biker but it's the biker who rides
the bike, I like any damn two wheeler, and I
don't differentiate between bikes, to me bike is bike
no matter which brand what's the engine capacity.
BC: How do you plan a new ride? What are the basic things you keep in your
mind before a new ride? And how do you select your routes?
VR: It all depends how much capital I have and how many days I have ?
accordingly I design my rides. I am bit bad with technologies and gadgets, I
write write it down on the paper, whichever destination I choose, then I do
have lot of riders community in touch with me so before I start my ride, I ask
my other rider friends and thats how I gather my information related to rides.
Many a times I ask that particular rider club who are locals in that particular
state in which I am going, so thats easiest and best way for me to plan my any
ride, since it's been 20 years I have been riding, so all the major riding clubs
knows me in every state of India.
BC: Any new Long Distance Ride (LDR) are you planning currently ?
VR: Currently I am planning a ride for my second home which is Leh-Ladakh, I
have been riding every year to Leh-Ladakh since 2011. But this time it will be
quite different, I will be hiring a bike from Manali instead of riding from
Mumbai, because I am lack of money and time this time (He laughs..)
BC: What do you prefer SOLO or a GROUP ride and why?
VR: I prefer SOLO, it's not that GROUP ride is bad, in fact group ride has it's
own pros and cons but I prefer freedom in riding, whereas in groups you
have to ride according to other riders, so sometimes it becomes frustrating.
So usually for LDR, I prefer SOLO riding.