My First 42

My first 42.

I am saying this in 2 ways: First 42, and first 42! No, I am not 42, I am just 33... and considering my current infatuation to cycle, I feel 13 again... Haha, too filmy, but this '42' refers to distance and not age. My first 42 KMs at length, I attempted it last week. Not really during the ride, but now I feel proud of it- not because this distance (in my opinion) is a respectable figure (not really, you know! if you start reading blogs of people who cycle for fun, they travel way more than the subject of this blog, but still- every firsts have their own place!), but because till a few months back, I was a wimp who did nothing in this direction and now could pull this 87 KGs (that's my motivation, not a hard guess) on a cycle on my own, this- again in my opinion- is incredible.

The thought came on a random day- that I should try something unthinkable at this juncture. While looking around for destinations, Pradhikaran was an easy choice. It is my parent's home, I have a fixed destination to reach and the road is known. After fixing where to go, when to go was not a choice at all, Sunday.

Sunday morning, I started at about 6.15 and reached there at about 7.10. It took me little less than an hour to cover about 22 KMs and the experience was enriching. Those are the roads I have traveled through car, bus, train or on my bike, never on a cycle. It is a different feeling, the road, traffic, pits, walkers all are different. It feels as if everyone is conspiring against you. The feeling never faded, even when i reached the destination.. but that's a different story...

Best part of the journey was when I reached the place, my dad was sitting on his bike, supervising the rentees leaving the place and taking away their goods. He looked at me, but did not identify me, looked through me as if I was a lost stranger waiting for some directions from him. When I removed my goggles and cap, then he realized its me, gave a shocked smile and took me in. It is a frightening feeling when your own kin does not recognize you, does not identify with you, refuse to take you in and treat you like a stranger. I am not new to the feeling, I get it day in and day out from my relatives, who prefer to ignore me even in my presence, let alone behind me. But that coming from my dad was a little nudging.

After spending 20-25 minutes there, I learnt a good lesson- the hardest part of the journey is going back. Even if you are heading back to a place you want to get, still the toughest part is to start off for that return journey. I took me similar amount of time for the return travel, but the efforts were heavier than the 'to' travel. Isn't it always?

Now a days, it has become very easy to appreciate yourself. Selfies, facebook, blogs, whatsapp status... things are available around us. Whatever you do, small or huge, you can declare and gather some appreciation. It was a rare case earlier, appreciation was difficult to get as definition of achievement was governed by others, not yourself. Degree of appreciation also varied and so did the forms. Now, likes and 'wow, great, keep it up' and emoticons express on our behalf. I am cribbing but I am also comfortable in it, I don't have to pour my heart out! But I also feel, in the world of emoticons, we also miss out on purest forms of happineesses, sadnesses. We don't get  'jumping with joy' kind of a feeling any more, neither get 'so sad that feel like weeping'. I am living in world where expressing to yourself can also be though emoticons. Lol!

So, I immediately took a selfie, posted it on facebook, got a few friends (!) to like it- comment on it, shared with a few who do not bother to see facebook etc. Weird mindset...



Why am I writing this blog? To (again!) declare that I did this? To gather some more appreciation? No, i guess not. I am writing all this to console myself. To pat my own back and say, 'there there. It is alright. You can do better'. Why? I met a ~50 year old person near a store in Pune the other day, at about 7 o'clock at night, who had rid 400 kms that day and reached the place. I also read a blog of a 19 year old who has done stretches of 600 KMs in 40 hrs and so and now wishes to travel the world by covering 300 kms per day. After all this, I found my 42 futile and the discussions boastful!!

"there there. Its alright! You can do better..."