India Bike Week (IBW) in association with Wolfepack India organised a Chai Pakoda Breakfast Run in the city on Sunday morning as part of the promotions for the India Bike Week, the largest motorcycle party set to take place in Goa from January 17 to 18 next year.
The event saw over 325 bikers take part in the run, starting at the Necklace road MMTS station and riding for about 60 kilometers to their destination, followed by breakfast and tea. Earlier organised in Mumbai and Pune before coming to Hyderabad on Sunday, the Chai Pakoda Run will next move to Bengaluru.
“What sets this Bike Week apart from the rest of the biking events is that the idea here is to promote the biker and not the bike. We are looking to promote biking brotherhood in India as a whole and that means anyone with a two-wheeler can take part and it is not confined to just a particular brand,” explained Shrijit Patil, an organiser for IBW.
Agreeing, Dilip Anjaria, a 26 year-old participant who rides a Royal Enfield AVL 500 said, “It’s a great experience to bring bikers of many brands together. While a lot of biking clubs in India are restricted to a particular brand, it was really nice to see all kinds of bikes take part -- from Royal Enfield to KTM to Yamaha to Harley Davidson. That is something rare and special.”
Organisers were pleased with the turnout in Hyderabad, which had more than double the turnout from last year’s bike run that took place in October as well. The event was held in Hyderabad last year as well and around 120 bikers took part in it. This time however, the bike run saw over 300 bikers participating -- an indication that there is a growing enthusiasm among the biking community, feels Shrijit.
And what seems to have worked really well for the initiative is the idea of clubbing breakfast with biking. “I don’t think there is any better way to spend a Sunday morning than a long bike ride followed by a hot breakfast. The ride started at seven in the morning followed by breakfast and it was finished by 11 am. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday morning,” he added.
Many seemed to take the effort to turn up as early as 5:30 am for the bike run and were treated to not just hot piping breakfast but a good camaraderie among fellow bikers.
Said Bandhur Bajaj, a biker by passion and an ad man by profession, “It is a great forum to meet other bikers from across the country. One can get to meet different kinds of people and get to learn a lot of things about other bikes as well. There are so many people from all over the country who take part in this run and they have so many stories to tell, it’s a great experience.”
Bandhur, who had also taken part in the event last year shares what biking means to him. “Biking is not just my passion, it is now a part of my personality. When you are driving on the highway, you are just yourself and not working for anyone or anything, you are free and at peace. Biking is like a good high,” exclaimed the 26 year-old who owns a standard 350cc Royal Enfield and hopes to make it to the main event at Goa in 2014.