Martin Alva
The underlying formula of a true motorcyclist is simple. Combine the passion to explore new worlds with an attitude to face come what may, and what you have is a bond with a machine that sings the song of eternity. As easy as it may be to put in words, the same heed a difficult task in the real world.
To rewrite the same, a few petrolheads from the Middle East have achieved something rather spectacular. Exactly 51 out of these riders recently completed the UAE’s largest motorcycle endurance ride ever. The idea for such a ride, as we were told, comes from previous challenges such as ‘Full Throttle’ and ‘Saddle Sore’.
Not only are the badges of these challenges an honour, but it also takes utmost dedication and passion to complete one. These two badges can only be earned after an audit conducted by two separate certification agencies: Long Distance Riders and Iron Butt Association. To earn the badge, a rider has to ride 1610 km in 24 hours.
Vicky M, an Indian biker, who has been living in Dubai for over 20 years laid the foundation for the ride. The planning and preparations started months before the ride that was flagged off on March 15. Apart from his peers and other enthusiasts, riders from Saudi Arabia and Oman came to the UAE to participate in the event.
“I designed this event as a celebration of diversity and as charity to show tolerance. We had over 15 different nationalities participating in the Motorcycle endurance event. We will donate water coolers to labour camps across the UAE. This event was the largest motorcycle endurance event in the Middle East. UAE is unique in that it has amongst the best roads in the world, very supportive governmental departments and such a large, tolerant and diverse population. It was a very difficult ride because 15th March had sandstorms, thunderstorms, and even hail storms. The various riders could only achieve success by communicating and supporting each other. This event taught them more about diversity, tolerance and team effort. One of the special, memorable moments at the end of the endurance ride was when the bikers began congratulating each other using the words from the other biker’s language,” said Vicky M.
The ride witnessed a rocky start with unfavourable weather conditions on the day of the ride. Defeating the same, about 70 riders were all fuelled up to start the ride. A group of 19 bikers that completed the 1610km ride in a record-setting 20 hours was led by Captain Subin. This group have now become the largest single tribe to do the ‘EXTREME 1500’ endurance ride (completing 1500 km under 20 hours) in the Middle East. In the allotted 24 hours, more than 50 riders completed the ride.
“Ar first our objective was to complete the challenge in 24 hours, but I had an excellent team of bikers who were equally pushing me to achieve the impossible. The fact that we had to break our way through the rainstorms, hailstorms and sandstorms made the feat even more commendable. In the end, 20 bikers in my tribe completed 1610 km in less than 20 hours, making us the largest 1610 km endurance tribe in the Middle East and also the first tribe to achieve ‘EXTREME 1500’ which is covering 1500 km under 20 hours,” said Captain Subin.
After concluding the ride, the bikers have donated through an official charity to buy water coolers for labour camps. Riders who could not be a part of the ride need not be saddened as a similar ride is in the pipeline. The Biker Buddies Brotherhood MEGA2500 ride held later this year will cover 2500km in 36 hours with riders from multiple nations and various types of motorcycles.