The popularity of weekend rides away from the city has sky rocketed of late. With more and more people joining the trend of weekend rides, questions arise of whether these young groups actually know the basics of riding on the highway. Highway riding is very different from everyday riding and there are a lot of factors that need to be considered. Let’s take a look at the most important things that you need to remember and note before venturing out on a weekend ride!

Safety comes first

First thing: gear up. People usually dress to impress while going out but in this case, you have to dress to be safe! While going on rides, it is best if you keep yourself covered from head to toe in protective gear. Remember that even if you are extremely careful while riding, someone else can make a mistake and take you down with them. As much as you trust your riding abilities, it is better to be safe than sorry. If you take a look at professionals from the Moto GP, they have been training and racing their entire lives and yet they still make mistakes and crash. But the amazing thing is that even after such high speed crashes they mostly come out of it unharmed. This is the magic of safety gear.

Inspect your bike

The last thing you want is your bike to break down in the middle of the highway with the nearest workshop miles away. So, before heading out separate some time to take your bike for a thorough check-up to make sure everything is working properly. This is really important; I can give you a real life example. I always made sure I inspected my bike before going on rides, one day I ran late so I couldn’t check my bike. I headed out in a hurry, everything was going fine then to my surprise my clutch cable snapped while I was trying to change gears. Luckily we were going down a sloping road and a workshop was nearby.

Know the roads

If you are going on a ride to a new place, make sure that you do your homework about it, especially the condition of the road ahead. You might see a long swooping turn and the urge to hit the apex gets the best of you, the next thing you know there is a pot hole in the middle of the turn that you can’t avoid. What do you do? If you suddenly jam the brakes while leaning on a turn there are high chances of you crashing. If you go over the pot hole there is a high chance that you will lose control of the bike and end up on the ground. I usually ride every weekend and it’s mostly to Dhulikhel, but I have been there so many times that I can visualise the road in my mind. I remember the turns and the bumps on the roads which makes it easier to avoid them. But remember knowing the roads doesn’t mean that you can go haywire on the road or pay less attention! Always keep your eyes on the road.

Hand signals

If you are riding with your friends, make sure all of you learn hand signals to inform your friend that there is something coming up ahead. Learning hand signals can make you ride a lot more safe and fun!