Riding for the sheer fun of it

What started off as a group to find remedies to fix their Bullets (Royal Enfield motorcycles) has become one of India’s largest Bullet clubs today and they are celebrating their 11th anniversary in style on Saturday at Kodaikanal.

What binds them together is their bikes. With more than a lakh kilometres of riding per person, Rolling Thunder Motorcycling Club (RTMC) has proved to be one of India’s most united Bullet rider’s clubs today.

Like all great things, RTMC began as a whim when a few likeminded people decided to discuss how they could sort their bike issues as they all were facing similar problems.

“Sometime in 2001, when focus of biking was all in Mumbai, a person named Vybhav Sharma started a Yahoo Group to unite bikers in Bangalore. Some interested members then started chatting on this forum about bikes. We would mostly talk about issues our bikes were having and how it could be sorted out,” said Vijaya Raghavan, a senior member of RTMC. “After the first meeting at Johnson Market in 2001, our ride plans began. We are a club with members who are interested in riding for the sheer fun of it,” Raghavan said.

With just a handful of members, the club took shape and within a year added about 30 people. “Today we are a club with 132 members. Prashanth Kumar, Ranjith AV, Sandeep Menon, Adrian Johnson, Joy Dutta and Vijaya Raghavan (that’s me) were the first few people who started the club,” he recalled.

“We are a non-profit, non-political, non-affiliated, ride for fun group. We ride therefore we are. We command enjoyment in riding,” said Prashanth Kumar, another member of the club. So what is the criterion for becoming a member of RTMC? “All you need to do is to ride and ride constantly. We all have work to do, we all have lives to lead. But, we always find time for our bikes and for our rides.,” Raghavan said.

Riding solo can be boring and having someone along can be comforting. “It reduces the risk of being on a highway alone if the bike breaks down or if something unforeseen happens. Along with this, it helps in networking and bonding and increases your social circles,” Prashanth said. So what have these hard core bikers achieved in the eleven years of biking? “We have covered the lengths and breaths of the country,” Raghavan said. On Saturday the group will be travelling to Kodaikanal to celebrate their anniversary. “We will have events for hard core bikers. The best maintained bike and such things.” Prashanth said.