Jack Powis

Hi, my name is Navaseelan Jayarajasingam, hitting the early five series at 50, and currently residing in Qatar. I have been riding different types of somewhat modest motorcycles since my college days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My office colleague, Deepak Poduval, is a big fan of motorcycling in Qatar. Inevitably, with some ‘arm twisting’ he convinced me to purchase a BMW R 1200 GS. He framed the purchase as an investment in my/our well-being and sanity. Needless to say, I couldn’t argue with that because I needed some escapism at 50.

Then, one of the members of the FS group, Rajesh Kongath, informed us regarding ‘endurance rides’ in collaboration with Iron Butt Association ‘IBA’, Long Distance Riders, and Wheel Warriors. A few of us were really excited and keen to participate in this endurance challenge. This is like ‘old dogs learning new tricks’ and we rose to the challenge. Also, we always had the fire in our belly for motorbikes and were only waiting for the passion to be unleashed. This is how we managed to cobble together 14 riders from Flaming Spirits MC. We also had guidance from our mentor Vivek Mehta (President of Biker Buddies Brotherhood), who resides in UAE and had completed endurance rides there. Hence, we had several meetings and conference calls with him and finally selected 28 & 29 Feb 2020 for the Endurance ride.

The group decided they wanted to accomplish the 2,500 km ride within the 36 hours challenge (i.e. 14 legs to complete the endurance challenge in Qatar). Our Road Captains of Biker Buddies Brotherhood – Flaming Spirits team were Mustaq Ahmed, Aneesh Cheriyammal, and Ajeesh Jacob, and the rest of us played our supporting role to make this endurance ride a success.

On 28 Feb 2020, the day of the ride, we all assembled @ 6.15 am, Waqod Petrol Station, F Ring Road. This was the start and end point of our endurance challenge. We received huge morale support from our fellow Flaming Spirits riders, who flagged us off in this 1st leg ride of 150 km to Al Thakira at the northern side of Qatar.

After fueling and resting, we continued on our 2nd leg. Unfortunately, this is where we encountered engine problems with Road Captain Aneesh Cheriyammal’s bike. His bike lost power and we did not have a planned strategy for this setback. We just stood by and watched a few of them repair the bike. Other members just took the time to eat, drink, and smoke cigarettes. At this juncture, we did not realize that we would be running out of time. Nevertheless, once the bike was fixed, we continued our journey for leg 3 and 4.

In leg 5, Qatar – UAE road we encountered another issue – our Road Captain Ajeesh Jacob’s bike went into a pothole and the front rim and tire of the bike were damaged. Ajeesh Jacob – a veteran and hard-core biker – was quick in his speed of thought. He communicated with another Flaming Spirit biker who had a similar bike and got the mechanic to replace the tire and rim. We had wasted about 20 minutes here and, therefore, Ajeesh Jacob encouraged us to continue in the interest of time. To this end, we left our support vehicle and continued the ride. At this time, Ajeesh Jacob continued the ride on his own and we continued our ride for leg 5, 6 & 7.

End of leg 7 @ Al Thakira, Swapnil Mokal decided to quit as his hand was hurting. Therefore, we only had 12 riders continuing as a group for leg 8 & 9. Ajeesh Jacob was doing his solo ride and was hoping that he would be able to achieve the first target milestone of 1,610 km. Indeed, he had wasted a considerable amount time, approximately 2-3 hours.

Our first milestone was at 1,610 km @ Southern part of Qatar, Messaid Waqod Petrol station. We completed it in 23 hours and managed to get some rest while waiting for Ajeesh Jacob to join us.

Finally, with the full 24 hours looming (i.e. 15 minutes more to meet the deadline of 24 hours), we heard the loud thunder of a Harley Davidson Street Glide – Ajeesh Jacob had arrived! All of us completed the first milestone (i.e. 13 rides in total). We owed this success to the good weather and less traffic on the road.

It was approximately 7.30 a.m. now and we had the remaining 900 km to complete our final legs – unfortunately Rown Mathews pulled out due to fatigue at this juncture. Once again, our Road Captain Aneesh Cheriyammal’s bike was in distress – this time his rear tire was worn out and the thread exposed.

We continued our ride without him for the remaining legs 10, 11, 12 & 13. Road Captain Aneesh Cheriyammal was also a very determined lad. He rode his bike to the tire shop, got it replaced and came back to the starting point @ Messaid. He eventually continued his solo ride.

While riding in leg 10, Aagi John Kollannur’s bike started to leak and the oil splashed on my office colleague, Deepak Poduval. Needless to say, ‘not a Kodak moment’ and the fatigue were beginning to take effect. Deepak was pissed off with oil on his bike, jacket, and helmet. Aagi John Kollannur had to pull out too. The endurance race claimed more casualties.

We had the remaining 11 riders – 10 in a group and Aneesh Cheriyammal on his solo ride. We continued the ride and stepped up the pace – we were literally ‘racing against time’ at this point. At this stage, I took the lead, as I was familiar with the routes. We managed to complete leg 11, 12 & 13 in good time.

We completed leg 13 @ Waqod Messaid petrol station at 3.30 pm and all of us were pumped to complete the final leg 14. While we were taking a 15-minute breather, we saw Aneesh Cheriyammal arriving on his Triumph Speed Triple – rounding up the 11 riders again. This was in fitting tribute to Flaming Spirit’s “Nobody gets left behind” motto.

We did the final leg 14 and managed to reach out to our final destination @ Waqod F Ring Road at 6.30 pm. We were ahead by 30 minutes and received a huge reception by our Flaming Spirits group riders and representative from Batabit ‘Ministry of Culture and Sports and other motorcycle groups in Qatar.

The sense of elation among the team was palpable despite the many inevitable challenges along the way. We had achieved our goal by completing 2,500 km with 36 hours and Aagi John bought sandwiches for the riders as a token of his appreciation. It was the best sandwich I had tasted in my life, given that I was very tired, exhausted, and hungry!

I was under no illusions about the challenges ahead when I first embarked on the journey. I am glad we took the challenge and experienced a slice of life at 50 – something I will cherish forever with all my mates. This old dog is certainly ready for more new tricks.

A special thank you and gratitude goes out to “Biker Buddies Brotherhood – Flaming Spirits” and other Flaming Spirits biker brothers who encouraged us to finish the endurance challenge on 28 & 29 February 2020.

Biker Buddies Brotherhood – Flaming Spirits King of the Road team

Mushtaq Ahmed – Road Captain
Aneesh Cheriyammal – Road Captain
Ajeesh Jacob – Road Captain
Rajesh Kongath – Rider
Satish Madhavan Nair – Rider
Nikhil Ravindran – Rider
Rahul T Kishore – Rider
Abhilash Rajan – Rider
Manoj Pillai Rajan – Rider
Deepak Poduval – Rider
Navaseelan Jayarajasingam – Rider

Aagi John Kollannur – Rider completed 1,610 km
Rowan Mathews – Rider completed 1,610 km
Sawpnil Mokal – DNF

Raghu Krishna – Support vehicle

By Ali Alamoodi
Batch Co-Captain “Fist of Freedom”
07th Feb 2020, UAE

On 15th March 2019, I had participated in the 1610Km/ 24hrs Long Distance Ride organised and mentored by Mr. Vivek Mehta, the President of the Biker Buddies Brotherhood.

It was a big challenge for me since I was a new rider with only 6 months experience in motorbiking. Initially, I doubted myself to complete the challenge. Thanks to my peers in the ride, they provided support, advice and encouragement.

The moment we started to gather early morning, the challenge difficulty started to rise due to weather instability. Dark clouds started to accumulate, and the forecasts warned about thunderstorms across the country. The first 200 km was fine until we were reached a remote area in the UAE desert 2 hours into the challenge. Wind started blowing announcing the beginning of the storm. Dust, rain and strong wind made it harsh to keep moving. It rained heavily all day, but we insisted to go forward.

Things went against the plan but with the high spirit among the riders, we managed to eventually reach our goal of 1610 km within 23 hours. I understood that ride, with 91 bikers participating, was the largest full throttle 1610km endurance ride in the Middle East.

This year, I raised the level and participate in a bigger challenge. I decided to participate in the Biker Buddies Brotherhood 2500km Endurance Challenge organised and mentored again by Mr. Vivek Mehta. I volunteered to be the route designer and captain of a batch of riders.

We chose 07th February 2020 for our endurance challenge of 2500 Km/36hours on. In keeping with the objectives of Biker Buddies Brotherhood, we invited many other MC to join our ride as a effort of equal brothers. We posted our invitation for the endurance ride on social media.

Our invitation was warmly welcomed by the different MC because they had heard about the successful 91 bikers participating in the Biker Buddies Brotherhood 1610 km ride in March 2019.

Within a month of our invitation, we grew into a team of 17 confirmed riders from seven motorcycle clubs ready to take the challenge. Brother Vivek organised a meeting where we got to meet other riders who had already accomplished 2500km ride in previous years. They shared ideas, maps and tips with us. This knowledge prepared us for the ride. This system of mentoring , sharing tips and maps, and encouraging each other is the backbone and main feature of Biker Buddies Brotherhood series of rides.

On 7th Feb 2010, the Weather forecast predicted fog and as we woke up, the visibility was down to about 10 metres! We took a safety measure to delay the start, and as visibility improved after the sun arose, we roared on to the roads. A race with time begun while everyone was excited. I knew that we would be delayed in the next morning due to fog forecast the next morning as well. We tried to cover longer distance in the initial part of the ride, aiming to rest during the fog and we succeeded to cover 1800 km in the first 22 hours, then the visibility deteriorated down to about 5 metres. So we decided to have rest in one of our friend’s house along our route for 3 hours until the fog was less.

At this point, 5 of the 17 bikers decided that it had been too strenuous to ride in the fog and they decided to stop. They are eligible for 1610km certificate since they did 1800 km in 22 hours. The other 12 bikers decided to continue with the challenge.

On the morning of 8th February, we again decided to delay the start since there was fog in the morning. The remainder 700 Km was easy to complete since we had rested well. All 12 bikers could complete the 2500 km in approximately 33 hours.

I understand that 17 riders in one batch, 12 of whom successfully completed 2500km ride together is one of the biggest King of the Road batches in the Middle East. I am proud that I was the co-captain of this big batch.

Our route made us visit all the emirates in the United Arab Emirates. We crossed the Tropic of Cancer 3 times on different roads in the country. At one point on the Tropic of Cancer, we asked seven of our riders, each from a different MC, to stand on a line and show us their club colours and patches on their vests. This was the first time in the Middle East that seven MC collaborated for an endurance ride. It was a moment filled with brotherhood and mutual respect for other bikers.

It was really a joyful moment as we stopped on our finish line and started hugging each other congratulating our achievement. I assumed every one would flee to his house seeking rest, but it was a surprise that no one wanted to break the bond we had at that moment. We stayed standing next to our motorbikes talking and celebrating the moment. Truly a brotherhood spirit was felt by all of us. After 2 hours of standing and chatting at finish line, we decided to go to a restaurant to celebrate our success and reward ourselves with big hot meal. I was so charged with energy that I completed all the paperwork proving our ride and forwarded it to Brother Vivek on the same night!

In keeping with the goals of Biker Buddies Brotherhood, I am ready to mentor other bikers in our region on the way to successfully and safely complete long distance endurance rides.

After my experience with two endurance rides, if I am asked to do it again I will go for it with no hesitation. The feeling of intense bonding with fellow bikers and the sense of accomplishment at the end of the ride are very precious feelings that I want many times in my life!

All challenges starts with an acceptance. Accepting the fact that there will be difficulties; accepting the fact that it is allowed to fail, but not to turn back; accepting the fact that you will need to endure pain or stress to complete and accepting the fact that competing is more important than winning. It is with this frame of mind that me along with 13 other bikers including two pillions set out to conquer the challenge of covering 2500 kms in under 36 hours in UAE.

It was a privilege and honor to lead the team along with Balamurali Mohan and support from Hemant Joshi for the second time in an LDR ride in less than a year. We did the Full Throttle 1600 under 20 hours in March 2019 with a team of 21 bikers and this time for King of the Road 2500, most out of the 14 bikers were part of the old team.

Like any challenge, we did our homework and all our preparations and planning were geared towards the date of 10 Jan 2020 to start the ride early in the morning. Few days before the start of the ride, there was a weather announcement of continuous rains over the weekend which then can affect the whole preparations. We collectively made a call to assemble on the day to assess the conditions and then take a call to proceed or not. 3 riders decided to drop out as they did not want to take any chances bringing our initial count from 17 to 14 by start of ride.

Every one made it on time to the assembly point with their expectations, aspirations, and excitement really top level. The rain had stopped and the weather forecast on our mobile apps showed clear skies with light drizzle here and there. We decided to ride and start our journey to 2500 from Dubai. The first stop was to Ras Al Khaimah which is 95kms north and from there we turn south through one of the main highways. Mid way through to the ride, the weather once again proved its smarter than any mobile based apps and started pouring down. By the time we reached our second stop in Alain road and nearly 200kms into the ride, we were all soaking wet right down to our underwears. One of our brother was shivering right down to his spine and he decided not to take it any further before being seriously ill. He will make another attempt in a months’ time with another group. The tribe of now 13 bikers now continued towards Alain and then to Abu Dhabi.

By the time we reached the international highway from Abu Dhabi to Saudi, we were already behind our targeted time to complete in 30 hours. Due to heavy rains we could not keep up the average speed on wet roads and on top visibility was limited through the helmet visors. Even the stops took longer because everyone needed to dry off a bit, change gears and check their vehicles. Nevertheless we kept our focus on to complete in 30 hours.

We were able to catch up a bit along the Abu Dhabi – Saudi border highway with speeds reaching 150-160 kmph. The only consolation during the whole ride came in this stretch and close to the Saudi border where we saw sun coming out of the clouds for the first time after nearly 8 hours of ride. We capitalized on this and the 2 hours of sun allowed us to be warm and dry again. Not everyone had a sunshine moment of riding as one rider saw his mobile fly of his mobile holder at speeds of 140kmph and another rider lost his wallet with cards and money at one of the stops.

Our next destination was to hit Liwa, which is home to the biggest sand dunes in the world. To reach there we need to cover a stretch of around 110 kms through the desert and in pitch darkness with the headlights and tail lamps as the only source of light. All you could do here is to follow the tail lamp of the rider in front and the captain taking the risk with keep up the speed. Balamurali went ahead with me following him by blocking the second lane and others continuing behind me. We reached Liwa a couple of hours after sunset and found that 3 of our riders are missing. After tracking and guiding them to our stop point we rode back to Abu Dhabi on the Hamim highway. Here also we could not increase our speeds due to the presence of speed cameras all along and the absence of any street lights. After riding for nearly two hours, we hit the Abu Dhabi –Saudi highway again.

Entering into midnight and the rains hitting at regular intervals we routed our way around the Saudi border again and came back to Abu Dhabi again. In between we stopped for some snacks as we were losing body heat with the extreme climate and not having proper meals for the last 18 hours. The challenge to keep yourself awake starts after 20 hours and we entered this zone. Sleep deprivation and fatigue kicks in from this point where the mind and body goes into a conflict of who wins. We stopped 200 kms away from Abu Dhabi and called for a break of 40 mins to have a 20 minute power nap.

The power nap worked like recharged mobile phones and everyone found a new release of energy into the last lap and another 1000 kms to go. We headed back to Abu Dhabi – Alain road and from there into Dubai where our destination awaits. The previous night, it rained heavily in Abu Dhabi and we were completely unaware of this fact. As soon as we entered the city, there were big pools in middle of the highway which effectively cut out many lanes and dangerous enough to damage our bikes. We had to regroup after every bike had to steer through these pools and safely start out. Here one biker decided to call it off after 1900 km due to health issues. This was his first attempt at any long distance riding and he has earned his way for a well-deserved Full Throttle qualification.

The Abu Dhabi – Alain stretch was the most challenging and enduring out of all the experience we had on the roads. Heavy rains reduced the visibility down to a few meters and made it really uncomfortable to ride. It was difficult to locate your group and at this point everyone was on to himself. The formation was lost and as information given to all before the last stop, they had to take the Dubai exit after reaching Al-Ain city. The city of Al-ain welcomed us with even more deadly water pools and some of our bikes turned off entering them. The transport authority had to close some of the roads and re-route drivers to other roads that take you out of the city. The tribe now disbanded had to find their own way and luckily everyone managed to navigate their way to the first gas station on the Alain-Dubai highway. We halted for our last lap of 500km.

Tired, exhausted, sleep deprived, drenched and shivering, the group continued towards Dubai and Ras al Khaimah direction to sign of the journey that started 28 hours ago. On the way to Ras al Khaimah, one biker from the tribe lost the way and ended up in Fujeirah. Three riders who lived in a different city, decided to route back from Ras Al Khaimah to end their rides near their places of residence.

The rain clouds accepting their defeat in stopping us to complete our challenge retreated into the mountains and gave way to clear sky during our final 100 km journey back to Dubai. Our mentor Mr. Vivek Mehta was waiting for us in our final stop. With the last bit of energy left in us, we managed to raise our arms thumping the victory sign and an emotional release of achievement.

The whole journey became a learning experience and with every ride, you get something new. And when you’re riding with people, they are going to be your biggest source of strength. You need to inspire and get inspired all along the way. For future challengers of LDR tasks, I have just two words for you – “Persistence and Determination”.

Obviously, the road does not end here. Pushing the limits has always been a man’s never ending endeavor. Hope to back again with yet another challenge, but until then I recover, prepare, plan and push!!!

Thank you Balamurali Mohan, Hemant Joshi and Mathew for the road support
Thank you Andric Schulz, Blessida Schulz, Kenan Dsouza, Sajjad Paradesi, Yogesh Wadke, Sudheer Badar, Siraj Chembayil, Ranjith VKP, Nazim Saleem and Ravinder Singh for being such a wonderful team of bikers.
Thank you Sathesh Gopinath for being a great helpful pillion and assisting with the paperwork and documentations.
And Finally thank you Vivek Mehta for all the organization and efforts you have employed to bring a group of bikers together.

All the best to All,
Subin Mohan

Great News for Kilometer Countries!

For our riders in kilometer countries, we will now offer our 3 designation T-shirts in kilometers as well as miles. If you are already a member and want to order the new kilometer shirts, please send us an email with your request, member number and Pay Pal receipt, and we will send them out to you. Prices will remain the same on all shirts. (Pay Pal will automatically add the $15 shipping fee for international).

Small, Medium, Large and X-Large shirts are still $24.50
2x remains the same at $25.50 and 3x remains the same at $26.50

Coming Soon!

We are now introducing new LDR logo colors. We no longer will be using multi colored images on our designation shirts, and will be going with two-color images. The shirt color will remain the same but the logo now will be in two colors to match the shirt. We will begin sending the new shirts once the original stock is depleted.

One day in the spring of 2019, a friend from Instagram named BDRider70 called me and said, “Hey Tom, are you going to that World Record Harley Parade in Texas?” I replied I would like to go and had the thought in the back of my mind of attempting something I had never done before, long distance MC riding. As if he were reading my mind, he then said to me, “While we are at it, we could do the LDR challenge and see if we can set two records!” I laughed and said, “Let’s GO!”

BDRider70 said that we would have to document the trip and he knew another rider from Instagram named PA BEARDED BIKER who is a professional moto vlogger. Perfect! Video to document the challenge!

Then the butterflies came into my stomach…Wait a minute, I have never driven a MC over 450 miles in a day. Heck, I haven’t driven a car straight for over 12 hours in the last ten years! What am I doing??! I must be crazy!

So, I sat down and fired up my MAC. I started watching all the YOUTUBE videos I could watch, read dozens of articles, wrote down notes and started using Google Maps like I was a NASA engineer…OK …do we go West? or go South West? Or go West and then South…My cell rings, “Hey Tom, can you be the Navigator and map our route out for us ??” What?? Was he reading my mind again!?? This is spooky…

The day arrives…. We have our maps, log sheets, GPS, snacks, water, cell phones, Sena intercoms, etc. While BDRIDER 70 and I are on a late model HD Ultra Limited and a Road Glide, PA BEARDED BIKER decides to up the ante and is going to ride a 2007 HD Sportster with 48,000 miles on the odometer, no cruise, no fairing, but has to have 6 extra quarts of oil for the trip, one way!

We are ready and the adrenaline is pumping through our veins as none of us had previously attempted a challenge like this. This is something we had only read about or seen on YOUTUBE.

After months of planning, Ready, Set, GO! We’re off! 5:05 AM. on October 1st.

PA to Ohio, doing well! A little dark out, so we watch for deer.

Ohio to Indiana, it’s daylight now and we keep a steady pace. We keep our stops under 10 minutes. No extra time to spare.

Indiana to Illinois, The Land of Lincoln.

We make it to St. Louis, MO. I have never seen the Gateway to the West, so we ride towards the Arch…. Bad Idea, traffic jam! Rush hour in the City, Hot out!!! Sweating in full gear in 95-degree heat…. We press forward! The Arch is cool, and I feel like the settlers did in their wagons traveling West to find property back in 1800!

We have a little extra time, but we don’t use it for food. We stop at the Midwest Harley store for a quick purchase of Poker chips. Clock is ticking, shopping is over because the store closes and the employees go home, leaving us in the parking lot…

The sunset is pretty along the Highway, but we are growing weary and it gets dark again.

On our way to Kansas City but no time to stop for world famous steaks.

We head South to Carthage, MO. The end is getting closer! We stop at Casey’s General store. That’s when I hear BDRider70 ask the store clerk, “How far is Kansas? “What ? ? Wait, why would you ask that? We only have an hour or so to go?? “Well, Tom, It’s not that far…” But I’m tired and have been dreaming of my bed at Motel Six. A vote is taken, and I lose. Off to Kansas we go!

We stop at the only store open in Galena, Kansas, another Casey’s General Store. I strike up a conversation with the clerk as I buy my only cold coffee drink for the trip. He asks us what we are doing at midnight in Galena, Kansas. I told him, “Two nuts came with me to get their picture taken by the Coca Cola sign across the street.” He fell over when we told him we were from Pittsburgh, PA.

OK…let’s finish this! Time to go!! I am still not happy about the detour, but it is worth getting our pic at the sign on the building. I plot my revenge for the rest of the ride. I love the intercom on the Sena 20S Evo. I start to sing Spanish songs that I don’t know the words to and add some Freddy Fender in with it. I don’t speak Spanish and I make up songs as I go. My AMIGOS ask me to stop, but I just can’t help myself. I am tired and I am getting punchy… It is for their own good. I continue to sing. I keep us awake for the last 100 miles. I am leading the way and my eyes are burning. I just keep singing louder and going more slowly. We don’t want to hit any deer…

On the horizon is Springfield, MO! The birthplace of Route 66! History in the making. I am so longing to lay my head down on my pillow!

Last stop! Kum & Go gas station! We made it! I feel like Rocky Balboa on the streets of Philadelphia. The theme song is running through my mind. We rode 1,151 miles in 18 plus hours!! We just need that one last witness to sign the form proving we did it! I run inside the store, bloodshot eyes, begging the clerk to sign my paperwork. She says “I don’t think so” …. OK..where are the police? “They just went by the store,” she says.

We wait a little bit and out of nowhere a young man appears wearing only shorts and cowboy boots. He is singing too but is also carrying a gold lamp stand with the lamp shade still attached. He smiles and walks right past us and goes into the store. He then comes out of the store and wanders off into the night with his full-size gold lamp stand. We just stand there! Dumbfounded! Then we realize we didn’t ask him to sign our forms….

Ok, plan B… We make it to Motel Six. We find a nice police officer there collecting evidence from a crime scene two doors down from our room.” Excuse me sir, when you’re done with the meth lab, would you please sign our forms?” “Sure”, he says, “Be glad to! Let me take off my rubber gloves first…”

I must tell you that I wouldn’t trade one minute of this trip for anything. This was our first LDR challenge and we fought hard for it. We received our awards after Thanksgiving. We then went out to celebrate our victory at the local Waffle House. This is one Christmas present I won’t forget! Ride on Brothers and Sisters!

Feliz Navida!

PSP Tommy G, BDRider70 and PA BEARDED BIKER