Episode 126 : Raceday- The one where Mr. Murphy triumphed again!

Plan for Saturday: Leave for Madras at 5.30am. Reach Sriperumbudur by 10am, say hello to the guys who are already there, leave thirty minutes later and reach home by 11.30am. Finish work at Anna Nagar, reach home early and sleep early.

What happened on Saturday: Got only three hours of sleep. Left for Madras at 5.50am. Cold wind left all parts of me frozen. Stopped at Hosur for the usual petrol and tea. Called home much to Papa Hyde's surprise.

'You left Bangalore already? I thought you are coming here next week!'

Reached the track at a little past 11am. Said hi to the guys. Thought of having lunch there. Papa Hyde asked in a message, 'Didn't you say you have some work to do at Anna Nagar?'

Darn! I completely forgot. Submitted my name for the race the next day and promised to 'try and make it for the 5pm practice session'.

Took me another 1.5 hours and 40 kms before I finally reached home, courtesy construction work at the Poonamallee "bypass".

It was 6pm by the time I finished my work at Anna Nagar. Practise session was ruled out. Reached home late because I spent the evening at Archer's place.

Plan for Sunday: Leave at 7am and reach the track before 9am. Get some practise, enter the race and have a nice time. Leave for Bangalore in the evening and reach late in the night.

What happened on Sunday: Got only four hours of sleep. Left home at 7am. Mulled for a while before leaving home.

I (revving the bike a little): There is something I have to say...

Mama Hyde (curious): What?

I (revving a little harder): The track event at Sriperumbudur that is happening today, the one I told you my friends are participating in? Well, I am riding too.

Saying this, I shot off without waiting to hear a word. I heard Mama Hyde say 'Aha!' as I sped away.

Ten minutes later, I returned home. To retrieve my riding gloves that I left behind.

I reached the track at a little before 9am. The others were not to be seen. A call confirmed they just finished breakfast and were on their way. I began "stripping" my bike.

Stripping involves removing parts of the bike that protrude and those that are not required on the track. Parts like mirrors, crash guards, saree guards, side and main stands. Lights are taped to reduce glass splinters on the track. Some go ahead and remove lights, mudguards and indicators as well. All in the name of making the bike lighter.

One mirror removed. The next one? The nut refused to turn as the edges had worn out. Alright, let's work on the crash guard.

Two nuts removed. The third and fourth? Same story, worn out nuts. Darn! Alright, let’s start on the saree guard.

One nut removed. The other two? Stuck and refused to turn. This is getting frustrating.

I turned to ask for help, but the others were running helter-skelter. Apparently, the Enfields were the first to run on the lap and none of the bikes were out.

'What are you doing here? Where is your bike?'

'I am not able to strip it.'

'Ask someone, no?'

He meant a mechanic who would have come with someone else. They don't charge for this, but they were busy with other bikes. Cut a long story short, by afternoon it looked like I wouldn't get help to strip the bike so that I could at least race even though I didn't get any practise.

A promising weekend turned sour. I took out my cameras and started clicking. I felt useful.

As the sun set, I looked back at how things went bad and what I should do to avoid it in the future. That's when I realised.

Murphy always has the last laugh.

My return trip? When we left the track, it was 7.30pm. Another rider and I stopped at Vellore for the night and the two of us reached Bangalore at 10.30am the next day.