Still remember the ride on biker Pankaj Trivedi's Yamaha XT 660R from Worli Seaface to Dadar TT at 140Kph on a Monday afternoon in Mumbai way back in 2007. British bike journalist Damon I'Anson and Indian adventure tour leader Pankaj Trivedi had ridden from London to the Himalayas in 2006/7 to set a world altitude record for a motor vehicle. They reached 18,743 feet. We did a photoshoot with Pankaj for TOI's South Bombay supplement, Downtown Plus. Pankaj told me the bike was going to be shipped to UK the next day to be displayed at the Yamaha showroom there. After the photographer left, Pankaj asked me, "Do you want to sit on it?" I thought he meant just sit and so I sat behind him. Then he wore his helmet and said, "Let's go for a ride. I'll show you what she can do." I didn't have a helmet, of course. I put my hand on his shoulder. He wrapped them around his chest and said, "We're going to do 140. Hold me tight." Worli Seaface to Dadar TT... 7 minutes flat. We flew over road dividers. He took me home and we shared a lunch of chhole puri as we finished the interview. That's my bike story.
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