[Md. Ameen Shareeff, a man from Vizag, Andhra Pradesh has recently completed a cross-country bike ride for a cause. he is writing a book titled “My Cross Country Ride” with exclusive stories of his adventure. The Male Factor is proud to be associated with him in his journey as a writer. For the first time ever, you will read snippets of his book as it progresses.

All snippets of the book can be found – here

For more information about the book visit this blog]

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Chapters

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8……

Chapter 3 – Gearing Up

As a bike enthusiast, I have started riding solo and exploring long distance places since 2008. However, after my marriage in 2013, I was forced to stop riding and eventually to sell off my 1975 made Royal Enfield Bullet. My wife used to put up a great fight with me whenever I tried to go for a ride. I was always taunted by her and she made it a point not to sit on it ever. That had eventually made me sell that bike and suppress my greatest passion ever. After she left my home, I wanted to resume my passion and at the same time, wanted to start a nationwide campaign on the atrocities Indian men face in their homes.

My siblings had been a great support throughout my journey. My eldest brother Zaffer Hussian (Hussian Hyderabadi) was an avid rider himself. He has lent me his 2008 Electra 5s Royal Enfield Cast Iron for this cross-country mission covering 29 Indian states, 3 Union Territories, and neighboring countries Nepal and Bhutan. My elder brother Ansari has helped me buy an adventure camera and other utility gadgets like Go Pro Adventure Camera, Night Reflector Jacket, Camera Tripod, Memory cards, Digital camera, Bluetooth Headset etc which are essentials for such a long and adventurous ride.

I have started my preparations one month in advance for this life-changing adventurous ride. This ride of 30-35 thousand kilometers could even kill me. On my way, there were Naxal infected areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and West Bengal. It was a do-or-die mission for me. Going back was not an option.

I started my plan in a very simple way. As soon as I could garner the support of my brothers, I knew I needed to try something that no one else has tried earlier.

My first challenge was to give my ride a suitable name so that common people could understand the cause easily. My brothers and I did a thorough brainstorming in this matter and we came up with several names, out of which we had selected “Speak Out Mard”. We understood from our research that in-spite of heavy misuse of women-centric laws, Indian men did not speak out and that was the main social issue I needed to address.

Next challenge was to find out a tentative day-wise Itinerary. I bought one good Tourist Map Booklet of India. I noted down my planned stopover points with respect to distance, road conditions, must visit tourist places etc. My nephew and niece who were only 18 and 17 years then were very excited about this as if it was a Geography exercise for them. My plan was to flag-off my ride from BOBMC Rider Mania 2017, which was scheduled to be held in Goa. Zaffer, my elder brother helped me finalizing the route and direction. It was a blessing for me to have a brother like him. He made my ride much easier.

Our idea was to be close the ride in South India. Ever since the broad plan was finalized, I started discussing my plan with my long-distance rider friends. They guided me with riding discipline and tips and tricks.

[For Tips and Tricks, Best Practices, Do’s and Don’t of a cross-country ride and to understand what experienced riders from different countries have to say about such a ride in different terrains and much more …read his upcoming book]

For night stays, I had to carry a tarpon (a plastic sheet which is used to cover goods or items to protect from rain and dust), sleeping bag, waterproof 6×4 tent, chains, and locks.

….To be continued

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