Ghat Training Session… by Rahul Majumdar a.k.a. The Bacon Baba

29th November marked the start of a series of much awaited training sessions organized by the Knight Riderz Riding Club (KRRC). The first session was the Ghat Riding training session.

With the seniors in the club having clocked several thousands of kilometers riding in some of the toughest terrains in India (and abroad too), this was one session not to be missed!

We met at 6AM at the kick off point, where the pre-ride briefing was given. The groups were split up very logically into 7 groups, based on the type of bike and the power / weight dynamics of the bike. This categorization made a lot of sense since though the basic theory / techniques remain the same, the weight and power of the bike play a huge part in the way it would behave while riding.

Each group had a ride leader assigned who would be mentoring the members in that group. The riders left the morning assembly point under the same ride leaders that they were assigned to.

As we reached the spot where the training was planned to start, we were baffled by how beautiful the location was. A small plateau in the middle of the Bopdev ghats surrounded by clouds – this was the perfect setting to kick off the training session. School aisi jagah pe hota toh aur bohot sare bacche padne aate!

We started off with an interactive session by Shohrat Shankar and Surinder Singh – two founders of the group. This covered cornering, overtaking, tilts and several other critical factors related to riding in the ghats. They also shared some interesting anecdotes from their own rides in various parts of the world.

The theory session was followed by introduction of new riders as well as felicitations of riders who had completed some important milestones. Congratulations to all the riders for achieving their riding milestones:
Karan – 75 Rides
Puneet – 50 Rides
Arko – 10 rides
Pinakin, Vikas, Saurabh, Sandeep, Imran, Jayanth & Prashant – 5 rides

A quick snack break later, everyone geared up, waiting to put all the theory into practice. What followed was an intensive ride session. Each ride leader took each member on a ride on their own bike through a selected ghat section with some crazy twisties and mad angles so the rider could understand the gear shifts, breaking, and acceleration techniques. Immediately after, the rider took over with the leader sitting behind.

I personally felt an increase in confidence in both myself as well as my bike, and was able to maneuver the bike in a much safer, yet marginally faster way through the turns. We also took a few laps ourselves post our “guided” ride, to practice the techniques taught. It did take a bit of unlearning, to lose the habit of hitting the brakes in a curve, and let the gear shift / engine braking do its magic. But the feeling of accelerating perfectly out of a sharp turn is absolutely brilliant!

All in all, this was an absolutely brilliant session! I don’t know how many ‘riding clubs’ out there take out time to teach their brothers, but the patience and dedication of the seniors and leaders of the club was par excellence.

A big thank you to all the ride leaders for taking out time today:
Shohrat, Suri, Karan, Puneet, Mayur, Aniket, Amey, Sid, Prashant, Umesh & Abhinay. These guys are awesome! Cannot thank them enough for sharing their valuable experience and expertise by guiding the riders.

Next session is the off-roading session – that one is going to be something else!