Thinking of taglines for Pedal Yatri
Photo by Ajay Jaiman
We really like our window-seats
Wheels, wanderlust & chai
Sweat, dirt and wind
PEDALYTRIS Streaks of sweat and exhilaration
Gurgaon Cycle Service
Here is some important information I got from Sanjit, Rajesh, Manish, Anand, Ganesh and Ashok. Thought it might be of use to someone, so putting it up.
My Q: Can you please tell me where in Gurgaon can I get my cycle serviced. It’s a Trek 3700. How much will it cost?
The whole story
Bong asked me how I started cycling. The answer to that is I didn’t suddenly start cycling. It was always there. In Lucknow I used to cycle a lot. Everybody did. It was better than being dependent on parents or the non-existent public transport. And when it was a good cool-dusty day I would just go further than usual. On one side of the campus that I lived in lay the centre of the town. On the other side was the tree-canopied highway. With my friends there were many many awesome routes to explore in the mornings through woods, fields, orchards, villages finding rough tracks and snake skins and ponds. Enid Blyton books with Mr.Twiggs and Mistletoe farm and the Find-outers on random rock islands did their bit. Mom was also the kind who pushed us out in the evenings for sport. My sister and I were practically No TV kids.
In Delhi for college, I hated autorickshaw-bickering. One day, I took my friend's old cobwebby cycle. Wasn’t sure if I’d use it. But dude.. it got overused totally! So much easier to just get out and go! And cars didn’t charm me since they were always stuck in jams.
In Toronto I was suddenly not the odd one out. Everyone was cycling in crisp corporate wear to work. I cycled over ice in winter and used the gears all wrong on the undulating roads. Went to late night pubs and returned on bike. The safety on the roads rocked.. 1am.. 2am. Explored alley graffiti; popped the cycle into streetcars when it was too late and home too far. Saw amazing bike stores with all sorts of maddening-gladdening gear.
Got my first job. Then the Ladakh trip happened. I bought my own Trek 3700. More trips followed. Off-road rides. Now I know other MTB enthusiasts and things are happening on their own. Now I know a lot is possible. There is no limit.
And of course, in schooldays I read a book about a woman who cycled from Ireland to India through rocky n snowy Afghanistan. She spent the nights sleeping on the benches of dhabas (cheap eating-joints); cycled till her clothes were threadbare with the sun and the wind. She did this when she was 21 in 1963. The book is called 'Full Tilt' by Dervla Murphy.
And 6ft 6in Roald Dahl doubled in his RAF plane cockpit fits in somewhere too. And the night ride with Ajay behind me on a motorbike with flickering headlights on the Himalayas. An experience to return to again and again. On cycle maybe.
Gurgaon-Faridabad Off-road Ride 4/4/09
4:00 pm - Crashed in bed. And slept like an army.
4 am the same morning felt like another day. 7 am when we were manoeuvering through a snaky smooth dirt-track; 8 am when the hermit-sadhu abused us in richly unholy language; 9 am when we were hurtling down the rocky terrain of Samalkhan district; 10 am when we had to repair flats in nearly all the bikes; 11 am when we stopped for the much needed Nimbooz lemonade break; it all seemed ages ago.
It had been a gravely day. Good vibes swum in the Pedal Yatri team of 13 bikers. I figured that breaks are not just for stopping the bike but to lift and reposition it on bends. I learnt that biking downhill means hopping. And always rear brakes. Also deduced that if life's going downhill... it's great for a cyclist!.
ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........................
Total Time (h:m:s) 6:09:17 6:51 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:59:31 3:20 pace
Distance (km) 53.83
Moving Speed (kph) 18.0 avg. 47.7 max.
Elevation Gain (m) +671 / -469
Temperature (°C) 25.7°C avg. 31°C high
Wind Speed ( kph) W 13.3 avg. W 22.2 max.
View route map. Click here.
Videos:
Rocky downhill ride in our very own Grand Canyon.
Smooth steep concrete slope that goes to the forbidden temple.
(all info n vids by Baba Blackberry)
Rhythm of life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Crash landing
Here I am, trying to keep blood off my elbows and my parents absolutely insist that I use sunscreen. A moment ago, this guy suddenly decided to cross the road, without a backward glance. And I banged into him, squeezing my forward brakes instead of the rear ones, like a moron. Remember what they told you in Ladakh “Back brakes, Back brakes” I tell myself as my bike somersaults and I leapfrog over the handle bar. And wham.. I land on my chest and elbows, bottom up. Chin up and out so that my face remained clear. Wham in the dust. And the imbecile who decided to take a casual stroll across the road looks at me, a little scared and quickly preparing his defense in his head. I think how stupid he is; just as stupid as so many others taking wrong turns on the roads of Delhi. How dangerous stupidity can be. Stupid views too.. like the Ram Sena’s. “Kill the cynicism” I tell myself. Anyway, the fall was a masterly one. Enjoyable even. I am left with smarting elbows and slightly injured pride. The junta is confused and wondering who to blame – the hands-free cyclist or the artistically absent-minded pedestrian. Back brakes, back brakes, remember. Off I go to buy sunscreen.
Cycling trip to Neemrana
Did a cycling trip to Neemrana from
Day 1 – 55 km,
Day 2 – 140 km, Manesar to Neemrana to Manesar.
(We hitched a ride 20 of the 140 km after sun-down)
Day 3 - 55 km, Manesar to
Cycling Expeditions in India and beyond
Delhi MTB trails
Ladakh expedition in Aug-Sept. Call them up if the site isn’t useful.
Himachal MTB rally
MTB routes over Ladakh, Kumaon, Garhwal,
International Bike tours here
Everything about cycling
People are doing it!
Alaska to Panama by Michal Brichacek http://www.cyclingforacause.com/
Circumnavigation of the globe by Irish guys - Simon Evans and Fearghal O'Nuallai. http://revolutioncycle.ie/
And my first influence – Dervla Murphy who traveled from Ireland to India on Roz in 1963. Lhasa to Kathmandu - http://www.lhasa-2-kathmandu.co.uk/start%20.htm
Mountain biking in Ladakh
Appreciating the beauty of rugged mountains, silent deserts and powerful rivers is no fun until you conquer it all; or at least get the feeling you have. Miniscule and armed with Target Firefox cycles, we did a 250 km cycling ride in Ladakh, stopping at vantage points to look back and feel good about the distance we had covered. Except that one time, cycling the steep slope towards Lamayuru, when we would look back after 15 minutes of sweating effort to see doll-like Ladakhi women right behind us on foot; after EVERY 15 minutes.
The trip was organized in Aug-Sep 2008 by YHAI (yhaindia.org).