Death ride and indifference to whether I live or die!
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Words by - Johnny Bang
May Nowpara to Amristar Death Ride |
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We woke up early in the dark and I fumbled for the light switches. A sharp knock on the door started me and the hotelier who looked unhappy to be awake was asking me 'what?' it took a little bit of time for me to realise that there was a managers buzzer that I had mistaken for a light switch. A few apologies and the standard bike pack and prep and we were on the road by 6am.
The roads were enjoyable for the first hour, but as the traffic increased it became a terrifying 4 hour fight for life. I mean, this is a mountain pass and these are Indian roads so I know what I am in for, but today was another level altogether. The amount of close calls and times I came around a blind bend to be confronted by a car or bus passing blindly on the outside and pushing me into the gravel/guardrail/cliff...
The worst part was the drivers don’t stop when they see you; they just beep their horns and flash their lights and gesture to get outta the way.
We would latter find out there is an informal arrangement where traffic flow alternates each day, and we were riding the wrong way on the wrong day, which was allowed because we were bikes. I had a few moments and so did Dan. It’s a shame most of the beautiful scenery was wasted, because we couldn’t afford to take our eyes off the road for a single second today. We are making a list of close calls and ‘involuntary bike dismounts’ to share after the trip. The list got longer today.
There is another kind of dangerous driver here - the people so stoked to see us they drive really close and take photos, or blast past within 10cm of our paniers and then slow down in front to get a better look. I am trying hard but so far on the roads every country has kind of had its own flow, but I just can’t get into the rhythm here. The drivers are very aggressive and everyone is fighting for every inch, there is no teamwork like there was in Indonesia or Thailand. That said, I have at least come the position that the drivers here aren’t actively trying to kill me, it’s just an indifference to weather I live or die.
The roads were enjoyable for the first hour, but as the traffic increased it became a terrifying 4 hour fight for life. I mean, this is a mountain pass and these are Indian roads so I know what I am in for, but today was another level altogether. The amount of close calls and times I came around a blind bend to be confronted by a car or bus passing blindly on the outside and pushing me into the gravel/guardrail/cliff...
The worst part was the drivers don’t stop when they see you; they just beep their horns and flash their lights and gesture to get outta the way.
We would latter find out there is an informal arrangement where traffic flow alternates each day, and we were riding the wrong way on the wrong day, which was allowed because we were bikes. I had a few moments and so did Dan. It’s a shame most of the beautiful scenery was wasted, because we couldn’t afford to take our eyes off the road for a single second today. We are making a list of close calls and ‘involuntary bike dismounts’ to share after the trip. The list got longer today.
There is another kind of dangerous driver here - the people so stoked to see us they drive really close and take photos, or blast past within 10cm of our paniers and then slow down in front to get a better look. I am trying hard but so far on the roads every country has kind of had its own flow, but I just can’t get into the rhythm here. The drivers are very aggressive and everyone is fighting for every inch, there is no teamwork like there was in Indonesia or Thailand. That said, I have at least come the position that the drivers here aren’t actively trying to kill me, it’s just an indifference to weather I live or die.
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