Deepak Kamath is well past the flush of youth but his love for riding bikes and exploring new horizons has taken him to different corners of the world. “It is a passion which eventually turned towards exploration to do something unique,” he says.
Bound by family commitments, Deepak took a long break from biking. From breeding rottweilers to collecting stamps, he engaged himself into many hobbies during the last two decades. But his interest in biking was rekindled last year, when his wife Anitha offered to help him buy a brand new Benelli motorcycle. “I took my wife on a road trip to Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh and back home via Jaipur and Pune. I wanted her to experience the feel of snow, which she did. We completed 9,700 kms in about 12 days,” says the 46 years old, credited with circumnavigating the world on a Yezdi bike in 119 days in 1994. “A total of 42038 Km was covered in 47 riding days,” he adds. “As Guinness doesn’t recognise speed-related record attempts on a two-wheeler because of the risk involved, mine was not ratified,” he says.
As an NCC boy, Deepak traversed different landscapes on a cycle. He was part of the All India Cycling Expedition in 1988 crossing 17 states and Nepal in four months time. Growing in confidence he attempted a World Cycling Expedition next year, but called it off midway after reaching Italy, as his cycle was stolen at the Greece-Bulgaria border. “Travelling with an Indian Passport, I was an uninvited guest in many places. People looked down upon me as another runaway cyclist from India looking for an opportunity to settle down in any country,” he remembers.
That bitter experience changed his attitude and outlook towards adventure. He got less interested in fancy sight seeing and decided to get involved in time capsule travel with specific goals to achieve in a given time. Around the same time his mother gifted him a second hand 1979-model Yezdi Classic. It was done up in Mysore to get ready for the road. Deepak also befriended like-minded mechanic G. H. Basavaraj, who runs automobile workshop in Bangalore and the two became partners in every motorcycling endeavour of his.
Bolstered by a capable Yezdi, super fit Deepak and Basavaraj started off on a trip to Khardung La Pass, the highest motorable road in the world but they could not make it as they could not reach Leh via Jammu-Sri Nagar because of landslides. They had to return but covered 10,280 km in 17 days. Within 100 days, the team embarked on a trip to Khardung La and this time via Manali route. They started from Kanyakumari reached Khardung La and came to Bangalore completing 11,180 km in 18 days covering India and Nepal. This feat was featured in Limca Book of Records.
Around that time Deepak came to know about the record of Salahuddin Choudhury and Neena Choudhury from West Bengal circumnavigating the world in their car in 39 days. “There was no history of Indians attempting the record on a two wheeler. It caught my attention and I wanted to achieve,” says Deepak.
It took him four years to plan his route. The Yezdi-Castrol Continental Raid was an endeavour to cover the length of the equator, 24,901 miles or 40,075 kms across six continents, with a minimum of 1,000 miles in each continent without using the same road twice. Mode of intercontinental transport was optional as long as the start to finish gave the desired miles in the shortest period of time. Log book and photographs would substantiate the claim.
But all his plans came to a stand still when he failed to get his bike on time. “All my visas lapsed by the time I got my bike. My visas to Europe, South America and Australia were re-stamped in Egypt. I even thought of calling off the trip for the year. But I continued after getting the nod from the sponsors. I maintained exhaustive documentation to substantiate my timing and route,” he says.
The two-member team started from Bangalore and reached Delhi. From Delhi then flew to Cairo and then to Rome, Austria, Czech Republic and United Kingdom. From London he flew to New York. Crisscrossed North American provinces and from there he flew to Buenos Aires and Brisbane. He rode from Brisbane to Perth and flew back to Chennai. From Chennai he travelled to Hyderabad, Varanasi, Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and reached Bangalore.
It was no mean achievement then. Now, Deepak is actively involved in encouraging aspiring riders. He is roped into several bike clubs and groups for inspirational talks. He is also associated with Motorcyclists Travellers’ Meet, a niche platform for serious riders. “Once you are a rider, you are a rider for life. Now I go on a ride purely for pleasure, not for records,” says Deepak, who plans to visit the Mystical Mustang in Nepal through the old Silk Route in and around Sikkim and Assam in October.
Unforgettable moments
Once, I and my friend Basavaraj were stranded 300 kms off Cairo en route Aswan. We were stopped by military stating that a Beligum tourist bus was burnt by guerrillas, who had infiltrated from Sudan. To kill the time we listened to some Kishore Kumar songs on headphone. On seeing us wearing headphones, a soldier came to us and I gave him the headphone. After listening he shouted “Yemi Tappachan” and I could not figure out his Arabic accent. Immediately fellow soldiers gathered and one by one listened to the song and same reaction followed. After 30 minutes a military officer drove in. He also heard the song and reacted the same way. Only then I understood they were excited to hear the song of Amitabh Bachchan. The officer offered us a convoy and we were able to continue our trip. For the next 900 km we were under their protection. We safely crossed the section. Long live Amitabh Bachchan.
When we were travelling from London to New York, my motorcycle was put in the passenger cargo at Heathrow Airport. Petrol was drained and tyre was deflated. Bags were stacked to prevent any movement. It was a surprise. It never happened before. People at JFK International Airport were amazed to see my motorcycle on the conveyor belt.
