Jeff McMahan talks about his adventurous journey in an auto from Shillong to Goa.
His family has developed what they and the World Record Academy call the world’s fastest street-legal car — a 1,600 horsepower monster that does zero to 60 in just 2.1 seconds. You’d imagine that someone like him would be, if nothing else, slightly sniffy about his wheels. Far from it. Much as he enjoys the monstrous Maxximus G Force, it’s the humble Indian auto that Jeff McMahan used this April, to traverse the breadth of India, all the way from Shillong to sunny Goa. He participated in the Spring 2009 Rickshaw Run, a race challenging teams to drive thousands of miles across India to raise money for charity. Their journey was eventful to say the least — they sailed through Shillong (on election day), traipsed past Assam (where a helpful policeman locked them into their rooms and stood guard all night for their safety), had repeated engine failures in the badlands of Bihar, almost got robbed in UP and eventually reached Goa, travel-stained and battle-weary, on the 18th day.
McMahan is no stranger to India, or to autorickshaws for that matter. He stood first in last year’s rickshaw run, bumping along from Kathmandu to Pondicherry in just 14 days. What can possibly possess a sane man to get into such bone-jarringly mad capers? It’s not just charity, though of course that’s an important driver, excuse the bad pun — this last rickshaw run has already helped raise over £10,000 for Carolina for Kibera, Frank Water Projects and SOS Children’s Villages.
“I just love the autorickshaw,” says McMahan, “it’s compact, small — essentially a moped with a tin can around it. Get on to its seat, and a sort of magic embraces you — you’re a mouse on the road, licensed to break traffic rules, sidle past larger vehicles… its great!” Autos, McMahan swears, are also the best way to see and truly experience India. “When we passed all those tea estates in Darjeeling, the smells were just so great — there’s too much that you miss when driving an airconditioned car!” says he. The openness of the auto wasn’t always such a great thing though: “Swerved out off the way of a bus passenger with a case of bad curry as he hurled out the window... a few more feet and we would have been VERY unhappy campers,” reads his journal entry written on the first day of their trip. And then of course, when he and teammates Jason Lewis and fellow Dubai residents Helen Ahern and Pippa Daniels hit the plains, the mountain fresh air was replaced by exhaust fumes and dust. “The ladies covered up every inch of themselves to avoid it,” says McMahan.
What interested McMahan during his 18-day road trip were the positive signs of a developing economy — “I was very impressed with the prompt and excellent police support we received along the way. Also, as we sped across the country, I noticed that the infrastructure has also improved considerably…” says he. What amazed him was the fact that they often seemed to rather peacefully coexist with traditional roadblocks (literal as well as figurative). “It’s an eye-opener when you’re whizzing down a beautiful six-lane highway and find a cow blocking half the road!” laughs McMahan.
Organised chaos is how McMahan described the roads and traffic he encountered across the breadth of India. “The sheer variety of traffic — cycles, rickshaws, animals, fast cars, speeding motorcycles, lumbering trucks and overloaded buses — is mind-boggling!” says he, “I saw an 800-pound bull (it looked as big as the one on Wall Street!) sitting placidly across two lanes of a super highway…this can happen only in India!” Driving an auto gave McMahan and his quirkily named team, the Lucknow Be 2 ladies (incidentally a take off on the Sinatra favourite “Luck be a lady tonight”) had tremendous advantage on the road. “Autos are so conveniently maneuverable … I remember this huge lorry jam we encountered near Varanasi. We managed to slip past all those huge trucks, get to the wrong side of the road, and beat the entire jam!” says he grinning, “It was exhilarating! But on the flip side, one hit from a bigger vehicle (and believe me, in an auto, all vehicles you meet are bigger than you!) and you’re probably dead!”
Physically too, the rickshaw run was quite gruelling — McMahan is tall, and virtually had to fold himself into the auto seat. They often had to drive at night, and in one memorable stretch, McMahan ended making a 28-hour solo drive through central India, a distance of over 500 km. “I am not even tired anymore, not awake, not asleep, just focused on driving,” read his journal entry after he finally caught up with his teammates. Another entry from Rewa read — “I hit a dust devil midday. It turned my rickshaw 40 degrees and lifted my bag from the backseat and threw it out… Luckily it was attached to the frame via a bungee cord, so I was able to grab it and pull it back in. I continued forth, not realising that several other items had flown out into the landscape.”
Inconveniences and irritants there were by the dozen, yet for McMahan, his autorickshaw run across India certainly beat a standard vacation by the beach. “The way I see it, when I’m 80 and sitting on the porch in my easy chair, this is the sort of mad adventure I’ll remember and talk about to my grandchildren,” says he. Just when we start winding up, I ask him if there was one safety precaution he’d recommend on a rickshaw run. “There is,” says he, his voice suddenly becoming very serious, “and I know how dangerous it is because I’ve had to do it myself — never, ever drive without your…” At this point there is a pause while I breathlessly await the completion of his sentence. “…windscreen!” he concludes. Wow, I thought, the man recommends driving with a windscreen as a safety precaution? Watch out people, he also has the fastest legal street car in the world!