Now it’s sporty time, given the CWG opening ceremony’s success and positivists from Indian sports. I personally think, now it’s time to think - sports is more than just cricket. With that note, I had repaired my cycle, which was not used for a few months.
I cycled yesterday to office on a normal route (there are two routes from Motinagar to Hitech city, one using a suburban area roads with path whole and the other one is longer, cleaner and traffic prone route). I preferred the longer route (around 10K) for the better road. I had to face the errant auto drivers, two wheelers and all sorts of big and small four wheelers. I started from Motinagar, via Yusufguda, reached Jublee hills road no. 10, from there I ventured a lot of ups and downs, specially the one at the end of Jublee hills road 10-near iraani chai, a stretch of around 400 meters inclination. Though not stiff, but a painful one. I had spent most energy here…afterwards the route was kind of plane till Madhapur. I preferred to take the short cut to Durgam Cheruvu road, and went easily till the major uphill near the Orbit mall…I had put wrong gear and couldn’t climb it…gave up before reaching the top. Reached office after cycling around 40 minutes (my cab takes around 45 minutes on the same route). I felt the pressure on my knees, abs, and back. Overall it had similar effects after one hours of my regular aerobics (that includes 15 minutes of abs and verities of crunches).
In the evening it was darker at 6PM, and was doubtful to cycle, finally decided to try out on the Borabanda route…it was a little painful with the darkness, path holes, muddy terrain and errant two wheelers and more than expected crowd on the roads…for a while, I seriously thought of solutions to bring down such crowds on average Indian roads….after getting the full irritation while cycling…wondered if all the second tier cities will bloom in economic and industrial ventures, may be prime cities will get a breath from this rush hours…
I followed the best practice of wearing a cycling helmet (colored one), which brought the notice/gaze of most of the onlookers. I understood the strangeness - in a city where people don’t wear helmet while driving two wheelers (even while riding @ 80 km/hr + speed), wearing helmet for cycling was off course little strange…but these practice are not just for symbolism or fashion rather a safety norm to be saved from an untoward accident.
It was a smart decision to cycle intermittently as my near to perfect workout was done on my travel time. However, the only issue was the traffic cum pollution which I had to bear, and felt little tired after reaching office. Cycling to office from homes near to office (around 4-5 KM radius) is the best commuting means from different angles. Though, lanes for cyclists are still a distant dream in India, these small efforts may ease out the traffic and pollution to some extent!!!
