Cycling

The moment I signal and move to the right towards the English and Foreign languages university , I realise I’m in for trouble. In moments, a speed breaker comes in my vision scope and the mud guard rattles on the front tires. The Lumala pivots instantaneously on the front tire and even before I make amends, I’m on the ground - Chest first, arms spread out. I quickly look back to get a picture of the vehicles behind me and pull off the road on to the pavement. Thankfully, I’d signalled the Radio cab that was following me to move ahead! Thanks to the protective gear I’d bought a week back. but for a minor bruise on my left arm there’s not much that this freak incident has caused.I take a glance at the bike.The handle bar and the brakes have taken the impact. Five minutes of quick repair and tightening and I’m all set to ride. Just another example when things are just not in your control when biking! ...

Thursday at about 10:30hrs, I get a call from Varun informing apologetically that he would have to break from the team. He was warming up for the terse activity that was to happen in the next few days by playing football and happened to sprain his ankle pretty bad. Bed rest for a couple of days was mandated by the doc. and there went our plans to be a part of Enduro3 ‘08 into thin air. ...

Jan 11th ‘09 04:45 hrs. My cell hoots in the other room. Days of getting back under the rug and sleeping cozy are gone. I’m on my toes and in less than five seconds I silence the phone. Dad’s on the comp. checking out some stuff. He’s up early these days [well before me at times!]. Guess age gets the better of you when you age. I quickly get ready, service my bike and by 05:50am I’m all set to leave. The plan was to head towards Qutub shahi tombs - Towlichowki, touching Necklace road en-route. Adi was to join me at Fever hospital. I place him a call before I kick off and then head towards Vidyanagar. By 06:05am I reach Adi’s residence.A brief stop over at his place and we leave at about 06:30am from his house. As we slowly pick up pace, the consistently rising whizzing sound of the spokes cutting across thin breeze as we speed up-slope acts as just another motivating factor. Pedalling through Fever hospital, Himayatnagar, lower tank bund, Prasad’s we reach Necklace road at about 06:50am. ...

Ah! and for those of you who haven’t had a glimpse of the LUMALA! Here you go.. .The lady in red ;) ! Features: 21 Gears Disc Brakes [ front and rear ] ~18kgs Accessories: CycloComputer Pros: Cool gear shifting mechanism Brakes are real powerful Cons: Heavy weight Front shock absorbers aren’t that powerful Disk brakes make maintenance a bit difficult

It’s a tremendous sensation when you roll down a steep slope with literally no control on the bike. All you know is you have the disc brakes to protect you and that there’s no traffic coming head on. But for the whizzing sound of the wind cutting across your helmet and the wheels slicing through the mist you have just nothing for company. And then…THUD!!!! The next moment, I realise I’m on my way down to hug the ground. The handle swirls across and as my 65kg body floats up in the air. I instinctively stretch my hands reaching out for my head, as I see the ground close approaching. Just moments before, it was the wheels that was rolling down the slope. Now its me! My gloves protect my palms from getting scraped and the helmet my head. ...