I have written about it before as well. Now again, as the liking has grown into a mild form of passion. I had a small city bike, which I proudly took to roads, took to service stations (where I got humiliated for cheap bike. "ही काय कचकड्याची सायकल आहे अरे, तू इथे आणू नकोस, मी हात लावायचे १२०० रुपये घेतो अरे... " anyways). So, I used to ride that small one, with a doubt in mind if it is capable of carrying my current weight. it made noises while passing through pits and speed-breakers (both are synonymous) and made me wonder. Finally, with lot of courage and thoughts, I bought a new bicycle.
One will not believe, the thing that I have, costs as much as my iPhone 6. Yes, 30k. It has 3 ride modes and 8 gears- no doubt, it also has aggressive posture as against upright one with city bike- no questions again. Still, spending 30k on a bicycle was too much to digest for most people around me, except me, Rashmi and Kabir!
I bought this one- Schwinn bike on 28th August 2017. Since then, I am riding it to commute to office and on weekends across city. I intend to use it more often, more like the only option. That is a long term goal, short term would be to ride about 60-70 KMs in a day, to begin with to reach Akurdi and come back. (22 kms one way, so about 44). (I have changed my job recently, shifted from HIV field to education field, thus this language of short term goals and long term goals etc., occupational hazards!)
It takes endurance and patience to ride a bicycle, especially when you are tired and the road ahead is a hill. That is the time when I speak to myself, ask myself that 'this is why I ride a bicycle, this is the moment for which all this is happening.' Such 'self-motivation' is usually futile, as you are the one listening to yourself, so you can always choose to ignore yourself!! Too much of 'you', but that is where it all boils down to!
Riding a bicycle on roads of Pune is a skill. The traffic is non-cognizant to bicycles, I have experienced cars and trucks overtaking me from left and right sides, honking on me. I pity such situations.
One funny thing, whose-ever meet me and talk to me about cycling, they appreciate the efforts, say great things about how everyone should do it etc. Almost everyone has also expressed disbelief on how much expensive a bicycle could be and I must be a fool to invest so much in it.
Am i a fool? Could be, but surely not in this case! :)
One will not believe, the thing that I have, costs as much as my iPhone 6. Yes, 30k. It has 3 ride modes and 8 gears- no doubt, it also has aggressive posture as against upright one with city bike- no questions again. Still, spending 30k on a bicycle was too much to digest for most people around me, except me, Rashmi and Kabir!
I bought this one- Schwinn bike on 28th August 2017. Since then, I am riding it to commute to office and on weekends across city. I intend to use it more often, more like the only option. That is a long term goal, short term would be to ride about 60-70 KMs in a day, to begin with to reach Akurdi and come back. (22 kms one way, so about 44). (I have changed my job recently, shifted from HIV field to education field, thus this language of short term goals and long term goals etc., occupational hazards!)
It takes endurance and patience to ride a bicycle, especially when you are tired and the road ahead is a hill. That is the time when I speak to myself, ask myself that 'this is why I ride a bicycle, this is the moment for which all this is happening.' Such 'self-motivation' is usually futile, as you are the one listening to yourself, so you can always choose to ignore yourself!! Too much of 'you', but that is where it all boils down to!
Riding a bicycle on roads of Pune is a skill. The traffic is non-cognizant to bicycles, I have experienced cars and trucks overtaking me from left and right sides, honking on me. I pity such situations.
One funny thing, whose-ever meet me and talk to me about cycling, they appreciate the efforts, say great things about how everyone should do it etc. Almost everyone has also expressed disbelief on how much expensive a bicycle could be and I must be a fool to invest so much in it.
Am i a fool? Could be, but surely not in this case! :)
