Why should I blog about 2011? After some contemplating and conflicting thoughts i decided to pen down why 2011 was special. It was a fun filled and an exciting "Green" year. The adventure mania continued but running on Gatorade rather than diesel or petrol..!! The major contributor to the fun n frolic is attributed to the bout of cycling that I took up as a hobby. Thanks to Deepak and especially his Father in law (Mr.Bhat) whose trip to Kanyakumari really kindled the passion and joy of cycling.
The fun-fest starts with a BSA Cyclothon. The feeling of riding amongst a sea of cyclists (~5k) gave me goosebumps. I was riding on my former dream machine "Hero-Hawk" which I had an eye ever since I saw it first when I was in 6th std and a senior used to ride that to school everyday and he was the "rich" kid. Lucky me, I owned the BSA-SLR ladies version (The one without the top tube). It was a lighter and quicker bike owing to the 32c tyres. Anyway, I used to cycle to school and my neighbours complained about the "race mode". The dream of owning the hawk was finally realized towards the end of 2009. I happend to do loops of sultanpalya >> hebbal >> mekhricircle and back almost every day. Being the only cyclist on that route to wear a helmet and gloves i was the comedy piece for the public. But undeterred I enjoyed riding the loop almost every day for a year. The first long ride on the hawk was with a buddy whom I befriended from Bikeszone forums.
First long ride on the hawk to Mysore and I was super excited. Read more about the mysore trip here. The preparation rides were to hosur, chikka tirupati and Nandi Hills. What followed for the rest of the year I couldn't have done it without my mother's support and understanding, upgrading to a better cycle to help me do long rides and also try my hand at the BBCh (Bangalore bicycling championship races). So the funds for royal enfield were diverted and I ended up with my rubie KHS Flite 300. Within a week of ownership, I simply registered for the 600 Brevet. The organizers being skeptical of me attempting this even without doing any preliminary rides of 200/300/400 was shattered once I managed to completed the ride within 36 hours against the 40 hour limit. New friends made and also a member of the "Cleated Warriors". Dec 2010, when I heard the price of the bike of Mr.Bhat, my friend's father in law, I was in awe. April saw the purchase of the Flite 300 and I then understood instantly why some things cost more. To put it in simple terms consider the price difference between idly and Biryani. why do you pay Rs.10/15 but for biryani you pay nothing less than Rs.50. Both are food but the ingredients used and the labour involved in making the taste buds go Woo hoo..!!! Better (higher) quality, rigid frame and long lasting components which don't break down unlike the desi brands. Hercules off late have realized the potential in this domain and seem to have given quite a bit of attention and have released quite a few good models but still lack the standard and quality against their imported counterparts like schwinn/GT/Gaint etc.
After the brevet I was so madly in love with cycling that most of the weekends I ended up riding to nandi hills or the Siva's road (budigere road) as it is fondly known after a founder in the Bangy-velo-space. A few of the warriors did the ooty via kalhatti and that blew the whistle in my head and in sept I had the bicycle rack for my car. As my car had clocked lesser mileage than my bicycle it was time to get it running. Started with trips to Yercaud, Ooty and Chikmagalur. Not to forget the CAM ride, the first long ride on my MTB. To top up the fun team Cleated Warriors also won the 2nd position in the Team Time Trial.
Whats in store for this year. Hope is what drives mankind and living the day is just the way I'd consider living 2012. Its funny that when one gets to know his "expiry date" the present life becomes living hell as the mind is now burdened with "the bucket list". (Things to do before dying also there is a movie by Jack nicholson and Morgan freeman) Also available in Bollywood as Dasvidaniya (by Vinay Pathak).
Anyway the point is I would like to become a super randonneur, attempt snorkelling, scuba diving, and sky diving. The year just got started and I have quite a lot of expectations from me and of me. I hope to live up and exceed with positive results. Wishing one and all a Happy 2012...!!
The fun-fest starts with a BSA Cyclothon. The feeling of riding amongst a sea of cyclists (~5k) gave me goosebumps. I was riding on my former dream machine "Hero-Hawk" which I had an eye ever since I saw it first when I was in 6th std and a senior used to ride that to school everyday and he was the "rich" kid. Lucky me, I owned the BSA-SLR ladies version (The one without the top tube). It was a lighter and quicker bike owing to the 32c tyres. Anyway, I used to cycle to school and my neighbours complained about the "race mode". The dream of owning the hawk was finally realized towards the end of 2009. I happend to do loops of sultanpalya >> hebbal >> mekhricircle and back almost every day. Being the only cyclist on that route to wear a helmet and gloves i was the comedy piece for the public. But undeterred I enjoyed riding the loop almost every day for a year. The first long ride on the hawk was with a buddy whom I befriended from Bikeszone forums.
First long ride on the hawk to Mysore and I was super excited. Read more about the mysore trip here. The preparation rides were to hosur, chikka tirupati and Nandi Hills. What followed for the rest of the year I couldn't have done it without my mother's support and understanding, upgrading to a better cycle to help me do long rides and also try my hand at the BBCh (Bangalore bicycling championship races). So the funds for royal enfield were diverted and I ended up with my rubie KHS Flite 300. Within a week of ownership, I simply registered for the 600 Brevet. The organizers being skeptical of me attempting this even without doing any preliminary rides of 200/300/400 was shattered once I managed to completed the ride within 36 hours against the 40 hour limit. New friends made and also a member of the "Cleated Warriors". Dec 2010, when I heard the price of the bike of Mr.Bhat, my friend's father in law, I was in awe. April saw the purchase of the Flite 300 and I then understood instantly why some things cost more. To put it in simple terms consider the price difference between idly and Biryani. why do you pay Rs.10/15 but for biryani you pay nothing less than Rs.50. Both are food but the ingredients used and the labour involved in making the taste buds go Woo hoo..!!! Better (higher) quality, rigid frame and long lasting components which don't break down unlike the desi brands. Hercules off late have realized the potential in this domain and seem to have given quite a bit of attention and have released quite a few good models but still lack the standard and quality against their imported counterparts like schwinn/GT/Gaint etc.
After the brevet I was so madly in love with cycling that most of the weekends I ended up riding to nandi hills or the Siva's road (budigere road) as it is fondly known after a founder in the Bangy-velo-space. A few of the warriors did the ooty via kalhatti and that blew the whistle in my head and in sept I had the bicycle rack for my car. As my car had clocked lesser mileage than my bicycle it was time to get it running. Started with trips to Yercaud, Ooty and Chikmagalur. Not to forget the CAM ride, the first long ride on my MTB. To top up the fun team Cleated Warriors also won the 2nd position in the Team Time Trial.
Whats in store for this year. Hope is what drives mankind and living the day is just the way I'd consider living 2012. Its funny that when one gets to know his "expiry date" the present life becomes living hell as the mind is now burdened with "the bucket list". (Things to do before dying also there is a movie by Jack nicholson and Morgan freeman) Also available in Bollywood as Dasvidaniya (by Vinay Pathak).
Anyway the point is I would like to become a super randonneur, attempt snorkelling, scuba diving, and sky diving. The year just got started and I have quite a lot of expectations from me and of me. I hope to live up and exceed with positive results. Wishing one and all a Happy 2012...!!
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