They are bonded by the love for the beast they ride - the Royal Enfield. Creed Bulls, a fledgling club started in December 2015, has made a mark through its rides across Odisha and beyond in a
short period.
Formation of the club was not a conscious decision but a chance encounter of the 'Bulleteers'. From just two riders, Rickey Rath and Raghunandan Ray to 18 members now, the club has been growing.
Sanoob Kumar, who owns a Continental GT, says he was looking for a bikers' club and
learnt about Rath and Ray from an Enfield store in the city. "I got in touch with them and joined them in their rides," he adds.
The bulleteers' first ride was a short one through the busy streets of the Capital City to Bagan Cafe near
Nandankanan. The ride from Ram Mandir on Janpath to the cafe had attracted many more to join them. The Creed Bulls meet mostly on weekends at a place behind Ram Mandir, their starting point, to talk
bikes or plan upcoming rides or maybe just for chat over chai. The bunch includes students, entrepreneurs and job holders and a pilot, N Ramkumar.
Talking about their trips, Sanoob, an entrepreneur says, "13 of us had taken a ride to Similipal forest from March 11 to 13 and the longest distance we have travelled so far is 442 km to Visakhapatnam.
Both the rides offered a unique learning experience in their own way knowing the terrains and climate and how to prepare for such rides in the future."
Speaking about their journey so far, Sanoob says, the beginning wasn’t easy. They had to go through ups and downs, the reasons being understanding among the riders, mockery from society and parents and
absence of sponsors. "The phase was difficult as we had self-finance our rides and there used to be financial issues too. Things have changed now and we have people approaching us from outside the State to join our group or start a franchise at their place," says Sanoob, adding that this is a big encouragement for the team.
About other bulleteers wishing to join the club, Sanoob says anyone who rides an Enfield and is passionate about touring is open to the join the Creed Bulls and can get the details on the Facebook
page. There is no prequisite riding experience to join, he says adding that even a new owner of the bullet is welcome to club that is filled with passionate riders, who believe in freedom of adventure and safety while feeling the breeze zip past the face.
The Simlipal ride was unique for the team. On their way back, they were dressed in local traditional attire, a dhoti and Creed Bulls tees. "During one of our halts, we experienced a mass gathering of
people, who appreciated us for wearing dhoti and riding a bike, a rare combination," he says.
The club consists of members in the age group of 20 to 48, Badri Narayan Bhuyan being the youngest and Kalachand Majhi, a government employee, the senior most. The club's next plan is to ride to Siliguri around May end and then there are Pan Odisha and Pan India trips besides, exclusive rides to explore the major valleys in North India and to Leh (Deep into Himalayas), by mid 2018. At the end of the day, it is sponsorship which matters and the club is looking for organisations to fund their long distance rides.
They have contributing to the society in a small way by donating blood or spreading awareness on the importance of obeying traffic rules. The members of the club include two civil engineers Soumya Ranjan Das and Raghunandan Ray, students Badrinarayan Bhuyan, Gagandeep Singh and Anil Kumar Singh; mechanical engineers Sanjeeb Kumar Jena, Gyana Mohanty and Manas Mohapatra; entrepreneur Chiman Chowdhary and Suryakant Samantray, Pintu Lenka; government employees Kalachand, Sushant
Routra besides, private job holders like Chandrasekhar Pati and Prakash Ranjan Ojha.