I don’t remember when I actually did start cycling, but my vague memory says it must have been when I was in 3rd or 4th standard in my primary school. We were staying as a joint family which included me, my parents, my unlcle(dad’s younger brother) and his family including two sons and his wife, my grandmother.
My uncle was the one who took the initiative to teach us cycling. He used to rent cycles for days and make us ride. I always had higher number of falls among us and you can just imagine all the wounds we used to carry all around the year.
My dad had a Raleigh roadster and he never used any motorized vehicle then, and he never owned one even now. He bought his roadster from a nearby city in Tamil Nadu (we were in Kerala, closer to Tamil Nadu border) and he and his friend who runs a cycle shop rode their cycles all the way to our village which is about 55km away. 55km straight from the shop, pretty cool eh?
It was a single speed roadster with rack and a heavy stand (not the side stand, but a full stand), with headlight connected to a dynamo. My vague memory says it even had Brooks saddle (I never thought they will still be remembered as the most ergonomic saddles built for long ries).
My dad never allowed me to ride the Raleigh roadster till I grew taller and was in a position to ride a roadster of that size, so I had a losing fight till then to get hold of that. From then I have ridden it till I relocated to Bangalore after my studies and in search of my job and the life ahead.
My dad’s good old roadster is not with him anymore, he had stopped using it for some time after I moved it Bangalore and some user requested my dad to sell it to him and he did sell without much thoughts. It had changed hands by the time I actually thought of getting it back.
During my initial days in Bangalore, I happened to use a Hero Jet roadster which belonged to a relative with whom I was staying that time. I used to commute to my workplace and used to return back for lunch and then again return post the afternoon session, thus making some 8km every day in commute. In the evenings, I used to make casual rides in Bangalore outskirts (trust me, the weather was perfect in those days , I am referring to a period 10 years back).
I changed jobs and never rode a cycle for the next 8 years or so, and never thought I would ever.
The idea of buying a cycle came after my marriage and when me and my wife actually realized that I really need to think about my fitness levels. My weight was around 85Kg at least 12Kg above what it should have been and it was increasing week after weeks. Some health issues also started creeping up, and it resulted in me buying a bike. In fact it was the first bike I ever owned and of course not the very best.
I played around my first bike ever before connecting with some other bikers in Bangalore. I didn’t realize that Bangalore has a very good community of cyclists and all of a sudden I started to like the idea of cycles and cycling and I could feel that I am about to re-invent my passion.
So, it all started there and through this blog I would like put my moments in cycling, for me to remember and for others to read feel what I was going through.
More to be read!