I am not a cyclist, I'm just a commuter! I just don't like to label myself with something more than I do! 20kms is how much far I get to pedal everyday to commute to work and back. I had cycled before, I had a vague idea of how difficult or how easy it would be to commute the 20kms everyday. It was just an idea then, that was even before I had a first hand experience of the Namma Bengaluru traffic and the infamous Electronic city road.
I bought a decent pre-owned MTB bike and it took 2 visits to the workshop to get it ready for an uninterrupted daily commute. The bike was brought from Mysuru after a month we settled down in Bengaluru. It was peak of the rainy season, the roads here gets clogged with water and traffic. It was the enthusiasm at first, the rising eyebrows for riding 20kms everyday next and then the feel good factor which has kept me a commuter so far and will be a commuter in the coming years.
I weighed a 100+, lazy as pig and the highest fitness I had was to take the stairs at work and home. Neither I look like a stick figure after riding 1000 odd kms in the last year nor I have a fancy ride from the money I have saved by not paying the fuel bills. But definitely I feel much healthier and the fitness level has increased tremendously. I could easily finish the Annapurna Base camp trek and that is all I wanted.
The initial couple of months of bicycle commute wasn't easy at all. I had soar muscles for days, I would sweat like a pig and I had to carry a spare tee to change into after and before the ride, my hunger grew exponentially and the more time I spent cycling, I had to inhale burnt gases though my bicycle doesn't emit anything. Yet, I had no reason to quit! The days when I don't get to ride bicycle to work, I find my self slogging through the entire day and my muscles feel cramped. Commuting on bicycle had become a habit and my body had started adjusting to it and expecting it everyday.
Nobody likes a lady driver and a bicycle commuter on the roads! Yes, I have several instances of being yelled at or those stares by the other people on the road as if his/her eye ball would pop out right there. May be they feel that I'm slowing them down or they just cannot accept the fact that I have switched to a better option. I always avoid being a jerk by not responding to any taunts on the road.
I photograph birds and I hug trees, I'm afraid of my death in an Apocalypse caused by destroying our environment and so I treat it with utmost respect and also be a little more responsible. Oh yes, I'm the most selfish person and now you know the reason I ride a bicycle. I have brought down my carbon footprint and I flaunt with pride for every kilometer I ride.
I bought a decent pre-owned MTB bike and it took 2 visits to the workshop to get it ready for an uninterrupted daily commute. The bike was brought from Mysuru after a month we settled down in Bengaluru. It was peak of the rainy season, the roads here gets clogged with water and traffic. It was the enthusiasm at first, the rising eyebrows for riding 20kms everyday next and then the feel good factor which has kept me a commuter so far and will be a commuter in the coming years.
I weighed a 100+, lazy as pig and the highest fitness I had was to take the stairs at work and home. Neither I look like a stick figure after riding 1000 odd kms in the last year nor I have a fancy ride from the money I have saved by not paying the fuel bills. But definitely I feel much healthier and the fitness level has increased tremendously. I could easily finish the Annapurna Base camp trek and that is all I wanted.
The initial couple of months of bicycle commute wasn't easy at all. I had soar muscles for days, I would sweat like a pig and I had to carry a spare tee to change into after and before the ride, my hunger grew exponentially and the more time I spent cycling, I had to inhale burnt gases though my bicycle doesn't emit anything. Yet, I had no reason to quit! The days when I don't get to ride bicycle to work, I find my self slogging through the entire day and my muscles feel cramped. Commuting on bicycle had become a habit and my body had started adjusting to it and expecting it everyday.
Nobody likes a lady driver and a bicycle commuter on the roads! Yes, I have several instances of being yelled at or those stares by the other people on the road as if his/her eye ball would pop out right there. May be they feel that I'm slowing them down or they just cannot accept the fact that I have switched to a better option. I always avoid being a jerk by not responding to any taunts on the road.
I photograph birds and I hug trees, I'm afraid of my death in an Apocalypse caused by destroying our environment and so I treat it with utmost respect and also be a little more responsible. Oh yes, I'm the most selfish person and now you know the reason I ride a bicycle. I have brought down my carbon footprint and I flaunt with pride for every kilometer I ride.
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