here we stand

once again we rushed our way through the peak hour traffic to gather at vijay chowk. at around 6:30 PM we kick started our second critical mass ride in delhi. the ride was pleasant, the weather is also i guess great for bike rides. not too hot, not too cold. the total ride was around 13kms. we missed some of the friends who couldn't make to the ride. still i'm sure we will keep on increasing in numbers just that we need to keep our patience.
more importantly what i know is - that this is not the first Critical Mass Ride in delhi nor is this the last one. riders will keep on changing but the ride will keep going on.

a short trip with ups and downs

as a self proclaimed biker the time had come for me to stop doing the talk talk and try do a ride. and specially after last weeks ride with the bikesonroad i realised how slow and unfit i am. my daily rides to office is not sufficient to keep pace with the world. finally this saturday morning i decided to ride on the gurgaon-faridabad highway. i still remember what the road used to be 5-6years back, now we call it a highway it was no more than a village road i would say. anyways now in it's new avtaar it looks tempting to drive or ride and hence i started. the first uphill coming my way shook my spirit a bit but then i decided to make it till teri at any cost. as once you cross teri the road is flat and for me that won't be an issue as going uphill. also i really wanted to have fun on the downhill on my way just after crossing village ghata. all my dreams where shattered once i reached the slope after ghata...

there was a massive traffic jam early in the morning.



people where stuch there i don't know since when some of them where taking u-turns and back to gurgaon. similar thoughts cam in my mind. but yet again the the realisation of being. of being on a bike enlightened me. and i started seeing the gaps betwen the truck & the tavera. between the alto & the indica. between the qualis & baleno. and here was I the smoothly gliding through the unseen passages and in around a minute through with the jam.



by the time i crossed the jam, i started having other plans for the route to be tracked. took a left turn towards aya nagar from teri (instead going straight for faridabad) and pedalled past the village coming my way. though these villages are not more of small rural pockets inbetween the larger cityscape. and very much a part of the texture we see in google earth of delhi and it's neighbourhood. they seamlessly blend into the fabric of our urban landscapes. giving it a nice relief, watch it in google earth looks pretty fine. as i was riding through the narrow lanes of the villages never realised when did i cross the border and enter delhi. nothing to worry it's not one of the problematic borders.



took a short break for a photo session. and again i kept riding via khullar karms to m.g. road.




as about to reach the main road i met bandharv ram the mobile industrialist who goes from place to place on his bike and and repairs those folding beds we get. and once we over use the beds for whatever reason we need bandharv ram to fix it. well thats another story to be touched upon on another occasion.



waving goodbye to bandharv ram i touched the m. g. road and the sensation of maddening traffic could be felt in the air, a deep breath would be filling your lungs with the smoke and dust of the passing traffic. traffic created by the lesser known creatures of the world who work on saturdays (hahaha atleast this weekend i hope i'm not working).

middle of the road one can see the grand construction of delhi metro on it's way to connect gurgaon with the main stream. and on the left side can be seen the leftovers of the once flourishing m.g. road retail sector, which had been demolished or shut down a couple of years back. though some sparks of life can be seen as some shops have re opened and doing business.




as i pedaled towards gurgaon, got used to the traffic. and kept my all time lazy pace. a bit before aya nagar crossing saw this small roadside shrine, which i had otherwise always overlooked. didn't get down just took a couple of shots sitting in my bike and carried on, the woman there was probably expecting some shoot charges and looked a bit dissapointed at my early leave.




in the next few minutes i'm in gurgaon and on my regular commuting area. another short photo session



trying to make my bike well traveled mountain bike. prefered to follow the longer route home with a bit more of uphills, somehow this time it didn't tire me at all and soon i was home downloading the pictures on to my machine. and here i am finally writting down the trail.

trail to bhondsi

this morning around 7 of us did a ride to a nearby village of Bhondsi. We all are from gurgaon and the trail started from sohna road. most of the guys were regulars and seemed to be fit enough except for me. we pedaled upto the village temple next to a pond, where we could see ducks and peacocks. took a short break there. had a photo session. and off we started back did a short detour to take a full round of the pond. the road was excellent for biking. most of it had trees around and almost negligible traffic. on our way back we stopped at a chaiwala after a short dirt road. i had to get down and push my bike through. chai accompanied by matthi and parle glucose biscuits. back on track in while we hit the sohna road and soon we where back home. the entire trail was around 25kms or so.

Bhaskar Naidu

As i was pedalling my way to work. now that i am immune to the staring eyes looking at me and my strida, some of them surprised others finding it just funny. that doesn't concern me any more. as i hit the lonely patch of road taking me towards Qutab Plaza though not so lonely at peak office hours. i could hear a bike (motorbike) approaching me at a very slow pace, i guess the mobike was slowing down very cautiosly as it approached. very much like a stalker. sounds funny now, but it really raised a few questions at that point of time. i could hear the motorbike rolling next to me just a couple of yard behind. surely he must be working hard to keep pace with me. it's not so easy to ride a motorbike at such slow speed as i was riding. finally after a gap of around a half a minute i looked back encouraging him to start riding next to me. finally this man a bit younger than me riding a hero honda broke the ice by saying "hello". well that was it for the next couple of kilometres he kept on riding at the ultra slow pace next to me. asking me all about my bike, the cost, the effort it takes to ride, where i got it from or did i build it myself. normally i prefer my share of peace during my rides. but none the less this guys enquisitiveness i didn't mind. although i guess by now i was more intrigued by motorcyclist trying to keep pace with a biker. after a while he told that he is the tennis coach in DLF Country Club and how happy was he to see someone riding a bike. somewhere being a sportsman for him he could connect to a biker (a biker without a cause). for a while we rode together without further sharing a word. till we came to a point where we had to take different turns. and as he bade goodbye by telling me that he is "bhaskar naidu".

this episode surely made my belief stronger that there are loads of people who look upto bikers, somewhere in their mind they understand the goodness of biking. just that they themself have to choose some other mode of transport. hopefully one day i see Bhaskar Naidu on the road riding his own bike, where i go and bug him with my questions.

easy riding

few things we can remember for great riding experience

EAT before you are HUNGRY.
DRINK before you are THIRSTY.
RELAX before you are TIRED.

my red strida

back home

after a days work, biking back home comes across as the most pleasant breaks. absolute stress buster. i am lucky to have an office so close to home though i don't know for how long. it's around 4.92kms and takes me 14-16 mins to reach. today i was all geared up to take some pictures on my way back. the street lights had just been lit. i was somewhere between the day and the evening. a beautiful time to stop by the roadside. and watch the cars passing by, everybody in rush to beat the traffic.

probably nothing is as beautiful as going back home. soon i'll be home. till then let me enjoy the road. the road to home...

The 10 Trail Rider’s Moves You Need To Master

read something interesting, the credit goes to someone else for taking the pain to write, i'm doing a copy paste job for the same. do read it, surely it will make our rides simpler and pleasurable.

1 LOOKING AHEAD: Learning to look ahead is the most important trail riding skill you can develop. It is a skill you should continually hone, and by that we mean working on it 24-7. When driving on a freeway (either as the driver or passenger), practice looking far enough ahead so you see brake lights go on way in advance and anticipate slowing down without having to slam the brakes. It’s the same thing on the trail. Look ahead for trouble and the best line before you arrive there.
Instead of sighting down the front wheel at the ground right in front of it, look 30 or more feet ahead. Keep surveying up ahead and pick the fastest line while avoiding bad ruts and mud holes. Watch other riders ahead of you and read the severity of the terrain by noting how they react.

2 CLIPPING IN
Clipping into a pedal needs to become second nature, and you need to be able to clip in without looking down. Beginners should read “Clip In With Confidence” (MBA, October 2007), and more experienced riders can work on “feeling” their way to the pedal rather than looking for it.

3 RIDING 80
Use an 80-revolutions-per-minute pedal cadence. Wear a watch, ride easy terrain, and count how many times the right knee comes up. The knee should come up at least 20 times over a 15-second period. Multiplying 4 by 20 equals 80, which is the most efficient cadence you can use to turn the cranks over. Keep track of it and you will eventually memorize the feel. Now ride with a 60 cadence (knee comes up once a second) and a 100 rpm pedaling cadence (knee comes up 25 times in 15 seconds). Once you memorize the feel for the varying cadences, use the gears to keep the legs moving at 80 rpm. That pace is the perfect compromise between muscle force and aerobic power. If you do it right, it’s possible to pedal an 80 rpm cadence almost indefinitely.

4 USING THE FRONT BRAKE
Always use the front brake. When decreasing speed, body weight shifts forward, and this improves the grip of the front tire and “lightens” the rear tire. Because of this, most of the stopping power is in the front.
If using the front brake doesn’t feel comfortable, ride easy terrain at a slower speed and only use the front brake when slowing. You’ll find that the more upright the bike and the straighter the bar, the harder the front brake can be applied.
When beginning a turn, it is necessary to back off lever pressure. After enough experience, you will learn the feel for how hard to brake the front wheel and go right up to the point of it skidding out to the side. That is when you will have the ability to brake down
anything.

5 BREATHING
When you breathe, you have more power. Get into a rhythm to make breathing a seamless part of your cycling. Key breathing to the consistent rocking of the body, spinning feet, or the clinking of a necklace on your chest (a trick Ryder Hesjedal used while racing mountain bikes).
Focus on a stronger exhale, because it automatically forces a deeper inhale. The opposite of a good breathing rhythm is holding your breath when the going gets tough. Make a conscious effort to exhale when hitting a sudden climb, jump, or series of bad bumps.

6 STAYING LOOSE
When you stay loose, you keep your center of gravity lower and your weight better positioned to respond to the trail. Don’t tighten up. Allow the bike to move around and do its job. Staying loose uses less energy, and you will feel better after a long ride.

7 POWER SHIFTING
Ideally, you can use all cog combinations with the chain railed on the middle ring. Reserve the five smallest cogs for when your chain is in the largest chainring and use only the five largest cogs when you are in the granny gear.
When starting a climb, you should be using skill number one and looking ahead to see what you are getting into. Decide right then and there if it’s a granny climb. Switch early, before foot pressure becomes too great to make a clean granny shift.

8 BUNNY HOPPING
In two linked motions, compress into the bike by bending the knees and elbows and then rebound by pushing off the ground and lifting up on the bar. Your bike will spring off the ground! Using clipless pedals, it’s possible to use the feet to gain height and control flight. Practice until you can approach a curb at a moderate speed and easily hop over it.
When you can bunny hop, you become a better bike handler. It becomes easier to shift back on the bike and lift the front wheel without thought. You ride lighter on the pedals and float over holes and rocks. Your body will feel more like a spring and will help the suspension absorb hard impacts.

9 CLIMBING EFFICIENTLY
It’s best to stay seated on most climbs. When standing, it’s easier to lose traction and harder to steer and direct the bike. Use out-of-the-saddle spurts only to get back on top of a gear or to claw over sudden obstacles.
Steep climbs require that you shift your weight onto the saddle’s nose to keep the front down while still driving the rear tire into the ground. Fall into a breathing and pedaling rhythm. When shifting up while seated and building pedaling tempo, slide back on the saddle to maximize leg torque.
If you are confused about the correct saddle height, read the Garage Files (MBA, March 2008) explaining how to determine your saddle height.

10 KEEPING THE ELBOWS OUT
Try bench pressing while bringing your elbows close together. You’ll find out quickly in this position that you lose force and control. Same goes for holding the handlebar of your bike. Keep those elbows up! Not only does this position give superior strength and control, it also keeps your chest open and makes it easier to fill your lungs with air.
Wide elbows keep the body comfortably bent over for better aerodynamics. Plus, the head stays in line with the fork, weighting the front tire so it can be stuck harder into turns.

the beginning

i can still remember the moment when i did my first bike ride. it was my father’s bike. and my father was holding it from the back to make sure i don't have to worry about balancing it.

i was so happy to be able to pedal the bike as my father held it from behind.

i'm sure that's the way a kid feels when he is able to walk for the first time. and as any kid would do i turned towards my father to see his face at this moment of pride. he wasn't there, he was not holding the bike anymore, he was standing almost a hundred meters away next to my mother watching there son's maiden ride. it didn't take me a second to fall on ground, not just that i fell on the soft ground, but that very moment i fell in love with the bike. for around next 12 years i rode my fathers avon slr. the very same bike, which taught me the lesson to trust yourself than depending on others to achieve your goals. that was when i was eight years old. and since then i had a lot to learn from my bike(s). the avon was followed by an atlas concorde and an atlas rebel. but all of them had something to teach me.

life moves on, along with it people move on to a more complicated life and lifestyle so did i. then came the scooters and the cars and my concorde rested somewhere in our backyard getting rusted. it still did not lose the blue metallic sheen. still an object of delight. though it became like a piece of furniture lying in a corner. till one day i see my neighbours son riding a blue bike. my mom just gave it away, without even asking me. had a cold war with her for the next few days. tried forgetting but failed. all i could manage was to suppress my emotions. days went by and years since my last bike ride. but my bright blue bike always stayed in my heart. the bike which had been my best friend for years. i remember how girls used to turn to have a look at my bright blue bike (and often i thought i am the head turner). how can i forget the scorching summer afternoons, even the dogs couldn't be seen on the roads, but there i was with my bright blue bike. the word wanderlust came into my dictionary much later, but surely i grew in me with those days when i used to wander all alone on the roads in faridabad, i had seen more of the town than most of my friends they where too busy with cricket and football. i got branded as a loner, i guess nobody ever noticed my companion "my bright blue bike"