A good reason to drive under 60kmph

Thanking my lucky stars - got saved from a gruesome accident.

I was riding my Enfield Bullet at 7 am to go to the gym today. I was crossing the Airoli bridge to get to New Bombay which is where my gym was. Suddenly in the middle of the bridge my bike's rear starts fishtailing violently.......then the whole bike starts shaking violently. I tried to be gentle to control the motorcycle. Then I feared I may crash and started to go to the left corner of the road (in India we drive on the left) and applied the front brakes because I was sure the rear wheel had gone kaput.

I managed to stop without falling and indeed the rear wheel had gone flat. Luckily I was going only 60kmph in the fast empty morning bridge. If it was faster I surely would have crashed. Luckily also the rim of the rear wheel didn't get damaged. There was a thick long nail in the rear tyre.

Another important aspect of such situations is that even if you fall you might be okay but only if some trucker or bus doesn't run over you. The fact that I managed to get it to the left side of the road and slow down gradually was a small miracle. Sundays the hospitals don't have the regular staff and doctors and fewer people on the road early morning. I truly feel blessed rather than saying it was bad luck. Often enough its not the crash that kills but the large vehicle coming behind you which is not able to break suddenly and goes over you to make a gruesome accident.

So drive safe, drive upto 60kmph. The road is full of surprises. Thank God for small mercies.