Rides

Hopped in a cab at 04:30 am and head to Animeshs’ to catch-up over a shortish bike ride. Some great off-road mountain biking through the Mrigavani WIldlife Park led us to a lesser known beautiful spot overlooking the Osman Sagar lake. Been a while that I’ve done some good mountain biking and looks like I badly needed this get-away! 2021-10-10 06:20:03 - Hyderabad Cycling 🚴 Biked 16.25 miles in 02:58:15 Pace : 10.97 min/mile. Elevation Gain : 627 ft. Elevation Loss : 611 ft. Calories : 1721 Location : Hyderabad 💓 : 163 ...

Procured our third bike and our first ever mountain bike this weekend. Should be a brilliant add-on to my GMC road bike and Miss Me’s hybrid rovr. A cousin was heading back to India and we’d mentioned we’d love to purchase it from him if he was interested in selling it. Late yesterday evening I rode from Shrewsbury to Southborough. Google maps got me through some very interesting roads for about 15 miles. Roads I wouldn’t have thought of taking had I hit the much shorter and more straight forward route. ...

Day One 27th January, 2012 Dharamshala – Shahpur – Lunj – Masroor Rock Temples – Nagrota suriyan (Distance 85 kms) Day Two 28th January, 2012 Nagrota suriyan – Ranital – Baroh – Nangni – Jaisinghpur – Andretta – Baijnath – Bir (103 kms) Day Three 29th January, 2012 Bir – Baijnath – Palampur – Dharamshala (73 kms)

The road ahead seems to penetrate into infinity as the sky gets overcast. Sounds from the innumerable streams cascading from the towering ranges abutting the road on the left side, seem to be magically muted by the strong gusts of wind. There’s not a soul on the road kilometres ahead and kilometres behind. I stand upright on the pedals letting the rules of physics govern my motion. As I dissolve myself in the encapsulating ambience capturing every frame with my closed eyes, the stark phenomenon of passage of time becomes evident. One year back I was right here on this road in a cab. Today nothing has changed - Just that I’m on a two wheeled machine powered by just the mind and the legs. ...

The atlas cycle in front of me squeaks as the rider careens into one of the construction sites of the Aliens group. As I follow in tandem, I’m swept over by the cheers of the construction workers standing by the gates to welcome us into the rest station. Thumping music pulsates the 100+ crowd and the support they were profusely displaying for the cause was quite evidently portrayed in their charismatic faces. Each one ebulliently clapping and swaying as if they’re inviting the unbeatable winner of the Tour de France in regal honors! I’m at a loss of words to portray those emotions. These people just made my day and not to mention, that of the 150+ other riders. ...

The milestone reads - Sojha 1Km. The three of us are literally panting for breath. The altimeter on Bala’s digital watch states 400 more meters is yet to be covered. Far ahead we see a state transport bus inching its way up the curves of the road. A gust of wind gets the thin air moving and suddenly from somewhere I get this sudden urge and energy to pedal the last km of upslope. I bluntly retort to Bala that his altimeter was wrong for some self motivation and crave for my calf muscles to stand with me. Every revolution on the crank seems to sap the almost drained out energy. I just didn’t want to push my bike up the slope in the last one Km! I close my eyes and pedal almost oblivious of the steep valley to the left, give it all I have and in that seemingly endless five minutes and finally reach the next milestone which hazily reads - Jalori 5km. ...

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! ...

03-Jan-08 04:30hrs - After a quick jog, as I stand at the APSRTC bus stand in Tarnaka, I’m reminded of the two years I effectively wasted preparing for the IITs. This was the place where my brother and I used to board the bus to reach Vidyanagar for the morning classes. Every day spent trying to learn concepts with no real implication on my life. Losing sleep over Irodov, Resnick and Halliday, Sarin and Sarin just to win that extra mark in an examination given by the so called ‘Cream academia’ of India. I was running a race, a marathon in fact and suddenly somewhere at the fag end, I realise I was blindfolded and was only following the bandwagon. A honk of the 3k gets me back to my senses and I hop into the bus. Waking up early and getting things on the string is no more an issue. That’s the only thing I guess I’ve learned from two years of IIT preparation. And I’ve no regrets! ...

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. ...