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Rookie on the race track
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Here's a rookie's first experience at a bike race
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PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN
TO THE FINISH: Sitting through a bike race can be a thrilling experience
I land on the track wearing a cotton salwar-kameez despite my own caution that a singlet which reads, `I am not opinionated, I am just darned right!', paired with boot-cut jeans would do well to suit the occasion.
But then, once you hear the ear-splitting clamour of bikes, the last thing on your mind is the forgotten ready-to-fix tattoo on the right arm, much less the boot-cut jeans!
After the polite welcome that press mandatorily receives, I can't wait to get to a gallery to park myself at a strategic point for a view of the track. The sight of tyres dotting the sides of the spruced up track arouses a faint flicker of familiarity. And then the penny drops! Just how many times have I seen those on ESPN-Star Sports - conspicuous even as the likes of Schumacher, Raikkonen and Coulthard ruthlessly attack the tracks on Formula-1 cars.
With a sports reporter and a senior journalist next to me, I just can't stop those posers on the sport. There are different categories in the race depending on the engine size. There were 10 races in all, including two each in four categories. The number of laps differs with each category. A lap — 2.2 km on this track — is a complete circuit of the course. A track comprises straight sections, which allow a rider to build speed, and curves that test his braking and manoeuvring skills.
All this theory apart, actually watching a race flagged off is something else. At the wave of a flag, riders — covered head to foot in protective gear — set off like bullets off a gun and disappear around the corner even before you say `hoot'. Words can hardly do justice to the experience. Even before you realise it, you've picked your favourite and vociferously root for him in an uncanny frenzy.
There's so much to relish as a first timer. For one, you get to know a lot of racers' names. Every time I see the name Ganesh Prasad, I'll fondly remember the profusely sweating lad, who said hello with that shy smile. Man, he really lapped it up! In one race, he had left the other riders so far behind that he could actually have stopped by for coffee before passing the chequered flag.
This exceptional show, despite an injured wrist, which a fan shook gingerly with deliberate thoughtfulness.
Of course, there are names such as Rajini K., Vishwanath T.K. and Preetham Dev Moses, totally unheard of by my friends, but those I would instantly recognise in the newspaper, with a certain inexplicable pride. And when you discover that two of the participants are actually women, you just can't help going, `Wow'.
Another fascinating aspect is the flags. All most know are those chequered, red and green. But there are more. Just like the circular signal light that stops a hundred automobiles, these flags control a whole lot of bikes with just a single wave.
Then there are the dismal moments. Such as the one where one of the women falls off the bike and when an imported bike spins off the track. It is not particularly pleasant watching men scurrying about and ambulances speeding to the rider who is miles away from where you are.
You are on tenterhooks till they tell you the chap's fine.
But then, I ask, "Hey! What is sport without adrenalin and gall?"
W. SREELALITHA
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