Royal Road Diary: Cheat codes for riding on Bangalore roads.
9:25 AM
You all hate it. Don't you? Riding in the traffic of Bangalore roads. It reminds me of Kumbh Ka Mela. Well, for the vehicles. Bangalore road infrastructure can take traffic upto 2.5 million but now there are nearly 5 million registered plus floating vehicles in Bangalore. Traffic rules exist but are floated by every rider/driver. Bad roads are a catalyst. Result of that is chaos on the road. And you never reach home on time. Always caught up in some jam and texting your dear ones 'I'm late, stuck in traffic', is the most common message sent across the city. May be they should include that as a template on Android messaging.
I love riding. I prefer and suggest you do that on Bangalore roads. That's the only way to travel faster inside the city (Until full fledged Metro becomes operational. I may become grand father by then) . But don't you want to know if you could ride faster, no, smarter on the road? I will say, Yes you can. I follow some tips while riding. These help me to reach home sooner. I would like to share them with you. Employ them and you will see the difference.
1. Before leaving the home, know your roads. You know that you are going to ride on a peak time (Especially a day before any major festival or a long weekend when the traffic halts the city). Avoid main road, avoid the signal. Take the service road or any parallel road to the main road. For Example while coming from BSK to Jayadeva, do not take the Ring Road during peak hour. Take the parallel road to the Ring Road and you will reach 10 minutes faster to Jayadeva.
2. Now you have hit the road and you see a BMTC infront of you. BMTC drivers have one bad habit. They will never change their course towards the bus stop. They will stop the bus in the middle of the road resulting in a short term jam behind it for a minute long. You all have experienced it. Solution for this is, you should know the bus stops along your route and if you see a bus approaching the stop, turn your bike to the extreme right side of the road. You pass through the bus leaving others behind.
I love riding. I prefer and suggest you do that on Bangalore roads. That's the only way to travel faster inside the city (Until full fledged Metro becomes operational. I may become grand father by then) . But don't you want to know if you could ride faster, no, smarter on the road? I will say, Yes you can. I follow some tips while riding. These help me to reach home sooner. I would like to share them with you. Employ them and you will see the difference.
1. Before leaving the home, know your roads. You know that you are going to ride on a peak time (Especially a day before any major festival or a long weekend when the traffic halts the city). Avoid main road, avoid the signal. Take the service road or any parallel road to the main road. For Example while coming from BSK to Jayadeva, do not take the Ring Road during peak hour. Take the parallel road to the Ring Road and you will reach 10 minutes faster to Jayadeva.
2. Now you have hit the road and you see a BMTC infront of you. BMTC drivers have one bad habit. They will never change their course towards the bus stop. They will stop the bus in the middle of the road resulting in a short term jam behind it for a minute long. You all have experienced it. Solution for this is, you should know the bus stops along your route and if you see a bus approaching the stop, turn your bike to the extreme right side of the road. You pass through the bus leaving others behind.
Note: Do not forget to turn on indicators while changing the lanes. Mirrors on two sides are a bliss. Use them always.
3. You are listening to "My humps My humps" on your Ipod and don't realize that you are actually approaching a hump. They are very common in Bangalore. Every km you will find atleast 2-3. There are two vehicles infront of you, one is an rick and the other is a car. Again a very common thing. Which one would you like to follow? I suggest you follow the car. Car has better pick-up and it will shift to third gear by the time rick shifts to second. So you have a gap between car and the rick to swift and make your own way ahead.
4. Now you have approached a traffic signal. You see 200 meters long queue. That's common for you. You are not surprised. Move your bike to the left side of the road. You will always, atleast most of the times find a small empty road between the car and the footpath that will take you right infront of the junction.
3. You are listening to "My humps My humps" on your Ipod and don't realize that you are actually approaching a hump. They are very common in Bangalore. Every km you will find atleast 2-3. There are two vehicles infront of you, one is an rick and the other is a car. Again a very common thing. Which one would you like to follow? I suggest you follow the car. Car has better pick-up and it will shift to third gear by the time rick shifts to second. So you have a gap between car and the rick to swift and make your own way ahead.
4. Now you have approached a traffic signal. You see 200 meters long queue. That's common for you. You are not surprised. Move your bike to the left side of the road. You will always, atleast most of the times find a small empty road between the car and the footpath that will take you right infront of the junction.
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| A common jam |
5. Buy a Royal Enfield. I have tried many bikes in Bangalore. But the most comfortable I have found till now is Royal Enfield. It has good pick up, good suspension for the potholes, seats are comfortable for long rides, and you make others turn their heads on the way.
P.S. Do not break any traffic rules while following above. Especially do not ride on footpath and do not jump the signal.
P.S. Do not break any traffic rules while following above. Especially do not ride on footpath and do not jump the signal.
HAPPY RIDING FOLKS
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