I am not much of a biking guy. So when my bike-mad colleagues get into a frenzy discussing their cornering antics on their motorcycles, I smile indulgently and go my way.
I understand their excitement in talking about hanging off a bike or using the body to corner better, but frankly, I'm not too involved. Until recently...
The roads on the outskirts of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, are of the sort you would see in advertisements or video clips for exotic cars.
You know the type I am talking about... a rugged, stark background, smooth blacktop, blue skies, S-curves by the hundreds and a dude in sunglasses looking smug in his good-looking sports car. This time around, the dude was me and the car in question was the spanking new Porsche Cayman S.
I had just dismissed an empty straight stretch in what seemed to be just a minute, using most of the Cayman's 295 horses to split the hot desert wind at 220 kph.
All Porsches are fast. And they are happiest, and absolutely in their element, when they are being given the stick.
The newest machine to wear the legendary shield was also true to form. With the horizontally- opposed six-cylinder engine singing at just over 6000 rpm behind my neck - yes, its power plant nestles amidships the Porsche was polite enough to behave itself.
The Omani scenery passed by in a blur, but the car stayed planted and confident at illegal speeds, even though it wants to ask in Oliver Twist fashion, "Please sir, can I have some more?" And if you do give it some more, the Cayman S can touch 274 kph.
Very soon, the straight gave way to twisties carved around the hills beyond a place called Quriyat. Because of the balance allowed by the mid-engined layout -- a front/rear weight distribution of 45:55 -- the Cayman thrives on such roads.
Though I had shaved off speed while entering the hilly terrain, soon I was back in the high-rev range, ebbing and flowing along with the road.
Now this is where the biking bit comes in. Every time a corner came into sight, I was adjusting my body, readying for the best position to handle it.
Photo courtesy:www.porsche.com
