This Video Perfectly Captures Why Riding Friends Are Best Friends

If you rode your way through all the stress and strangeness of 2020, you’re definitely not alone. Even if you often rode alone, plenty of other riders were doing the same thing, and maybe even at the same time. Pre-pandemic, dealing with life’s everyday stresses was already one of the reasons that a lot of people choose to ride. No matter where you are in the world, or what language(s) you speak on a regular basis, motorcycling can be extremely beneficial to your mental health.  

Thus, we have this rather epic short film called The Mind. It comes to us from a YouTuber called Strell, and features his riding buddy Emil George. The narration is mostly in Malayalam, but has English subtitles. It perfectly captures the essence of both the strangeness and beauty of riding your way through these pandemic times—and how great it is to have those riding buddies where the ride is how you communicate. 

The two ride a pair of Triumphs: a Street Triple R and a Tiger 900 Rally Pro. The mission: a visit to Sahyadri Hills, a mountain range in India that runs across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. The overwhelming sense is that this was a trip that Strell had long wanted to take, but had continued to put off for whatever reason. However, if there’s one thing that 2020 really drilled into a lot of our heads, it’s that there is truly no time like the present.  

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The video starts with short audio snippets of news reports, where the pandemic is never explicitly mentioned, but you know that’s what’s being discussed. It sets the temporal tone, and gives a special gravity to the video that probably couldn’t exist in any other time since action cameras have been a thing.  

The resulting trip, as edited together for our consumption here, is a breathtaking exploration of the roads that Strell and Emil chose to document here. There’s some quiet exploration time off the bikes, too—as there always is when you venture to visit some of the most beautiful natural wonders our world has to offer. Altogether, it creates a potent mixture of making you admire what you’re seeing, want to experience it yourself, and/or simply itch to get your gear on and go explore the natural wonders in your area.  

In short, it does what a good motorcycle travel video should do. Are you ready to suit up?