I've been riding with many different people now, and have been inspired by the passion of many.
One such person who took to biking like fish to water is Shastisulochan Subburaman. I call him Mr Solution, for work related reasons.
The man is riding to office on his bike for over 5 months regularly now, and its been a pretty consistent sight of his Rockrider 5.0 in the bike parking area.
I wanted to hear his perspective of things, how biking has added or removed things in his life.
So what follows is the verbatim account of his feelings, in his own words, but before that:
Thanks a lot Shasti for sharing this with me and allowing me to share it on my blog.
Now over to him:
Cycling... When I hear the word cycle or cycling too many things flash in my mind making me nostalgic… here are a few…
My first cycling experience came probably when I was studying 6th standard. Yes!! Yes!! 6th std is too late to start learning cycle but then it was considered as a perfect age to start. Those days the cycles having supporting wheels were considered as hi-fi cycles and they were owned by only rich people and we used to stare at kids who were owning one. I used to rent a cycle, it used to cost me Rs.2 / hr and my dad was willing to spend those money on that as I was learning a new stuff. Slowly I became expert in riding cycles, by expert what I meant was riding cycle fast and doing some tricky turns but still not tumbling down, riding without holding the handlebars etc etc. I used to ride my friend's cycle and my friends used to appreciate me for my riding which motivated me to get a new cycle, I insisted on getting a cycle with my dad but then since my school was near my dad did not want to get one.
We shifted to a new house a bit far from my school and I knew that I will get a cycle to commute to school. I insisted with my dad this time and got one. Those days the Hercules / Hero cycles were famous and my dad bought me a Hercules cycle and I was damn happy and out of the world for two reasons
1. One I don’t have to hop on to any of my friends cycles while returning home.
2. Secondly can do some stunts(riding without holding handlebars) in front of girls with my own cycle.
I was going to tuition during my 12th Standard after school. My school gets over by 5 and the tuition starts at 5.30(on alternate days). That particular day the school got over early and I went home and slept and when I woke up the time was 5PM. I quickly freshened up and by 5:10 I started from home and in the next ten minutes I reached the tuition centre, the fastest I would consider in those days. While I was good in all those, my maintenance of cycle was very poor and I used to get scolding from my dad for poor maintenance. Due to my poor maintenance sometimes my cycle used to give a screechy sound or the chain would have become loose and it would rub against the chain cover which will again make some noise which was embarrassing, but still I would not improve on my maintenance. There was an old man(close to 60 yrs of age) in my neighborhood having a similar cycle but his maintenance was damn good and it always looked new... every week he used to spend at-least 2 hrs in cleaning the cycle and I used to get scoldings whenever my dad sees him cleaning his cycle. I cursed that old man in my heart but he had the last laugh, how???
One fine day when I was doing my 12th standard, as usual I went to school by cycle and then to tuition and returned home early as it was cloudy. As usual I left my cycle outside my house and it started raining heavily and I thought of parking it inside(at the veranda after the rain stops which I completely forgot and happily had my dinner and went to sleep. The next morning around 6AM my dad, was calling out to me loudly as he could not find the cycle at the usual spot where I used to park. The lecture went on for 2 hours and since he had to go for work he stopped with final words saying that ‘No more cycle for you and you walk to school. If you want a new cycle buy it with your own money’. That day, I realized the importance of hard work, money, maintenance etc etc. After that incident I felt guilty and started walking to school even though my dad gave me money for the bus. I completed my school days, went to college in Trichy. I realized the importance of having a cycle only then because whenever I come from Trichy to Madurai during weekend or vacation I had to rely on ‘NATA’raja service (walking, for the uninitiated) to visit my girlfriend, go to my friends house or grandma’s house etc. But still I was ok with that... Then time passed by, most of the houses had TVS 50 / XL replacing cycles and cycle renting shops were becoming less and we started forgetting cycles and developed a passion towards motorbike.
Completed 4 yrs of college during which I hardly would have had one weeks(in all the 4 yrs) of cycling where as during my school days I was commuting daily on cycle. Got a job and the whole concentration went on appraisals, promotion, onsite, money... health was completely missing here. After nearly 16 years(after my school days) I got a new cycle in November 2012 and when I got the new cycle I remembered my dad’s words ‘No more cycle for you and you walk to school. If you want a new cycle buy it in your own money’. Now I have been commuting to office by cycle for the past 6 months.
Now, I have a sense of satisfaction that I’m doing some physical work and taking care of my health as well. I was always under the impression that I had good stamina but when I started cycling I realized my level of stamina. I did not get dejected but took it as a motivation to maintain or keep up my stamina level. I went to my native after three months to attend a function of my cousin and they were really surprised to see me and everyone told that "You have drastically reduced your weight" which keeps me motivated. After all, recognition / appreciation is the one which is needed for ppl to perform and sustain performance. Now I feel lighter, relaxed, satisfied and brisk. My food habits have changed, my tummy has reduced considerably, tight shirts have started fitting me , especially I started maintaining my cycle well . At my workplace Anand Devanathan(my colleague) has formed a group and we have some 6-7 regular cyclists ranging from age 25 - 40. When I ride with a 25 yr old, I feel young and that motivates me and when I ride with a 40 yr old I motivate myself that if they can do why not me... Thanks to Anand who insisted me to get a cycle.
Anand used to insist me to take a 200km but I was kind of hesitant because I felt I was not ready for that yet. Then he planned for some smaller rides. The first ride was from Marathahalli - Sarjapur - Marathahalli which is a 30KM ride and I completed it with ease. I made an habit that whenever I eat or if I felt like I ate too much I go for atleast a 20KM ride from Marathahalli - Mahadevpura - Hoodi - Whitefield - Marathahalli. So far I have completed a 75 KM ride to chikka thirupathi and a 80KM ride to Hosur. This gives me confidence that I will be able to take long brevets this year. Nowadays I feel something missing if I don’t commute to office by my cycle(unavoidable situations I will take my motorbike).
I would like to make a special mention of my wife who completely supported my decision of cycling. She even prepares me health drinks(Butter milk, Bajra mix etc) before my ride. If you hear / see motivating words / deeds from the one you love, you will turn the world upside down... I'm on course in doing that...
One such person who took to biking like fish to water is Shastisulochan Subburaman. I call him Mr Solution, for work related reasons.
The man is riding to office on his bike for over 5 months regularly now, and its been a pretty consistent sight of his Rockrider 5.0 in the bike parking area.
I wanted to hear his perspective of things, how biking has added or removed things in his life.
So what follows is the verbatim account of his feelings, in his own words, but before that:
Thanks a lot Shasti for sharing this with me and allowing me to share it on my blog.
Now over to him:
Cycling... When I hear the word cycle or cycling too many things flash in my mind making me nostalgic… here are a few…
My first cycling experience came probably when I was studying 6th standard. Yes!! Yes!! 6th std is too late to start learning cycle but then it was considered as a perfect age to start. Those days the cycles having supporting wheels were considered as hi-fi cycles and they were owned by only rich people and we used to stare at kids who were owning one. I used to rent a cycle, it used to cost me Rs.2 / hr and my dad was willing to spend those money on that as I was learning a new stuff. Slowly I became expert in riding cycles, by expert what I meant was riding cycle fast and doing some tricky turns but still not tumbling down, riding without holding the handlebars etc etc. I used to ride my friend's cycle and my friends used to appreciate me for my riding which motivated me to get a new cycle, I insisted on getting a cycle with my dad but then since my school was near my dad did not want to get one.
We shifted to a new house a bit far from my school and I knew that I will get a cycle to commute to school. I insisted with my dad this time and got one. Those days the Hercules / Hero cycles were famous and my dad bought me a Hercules cycle and I was damn happy and out of the world for two reasons
1. One I don’t have to hop on to any of my friends cycles while returning home.
2. Secondly can do some stunts(riding without holding handlebars) in front of girls with my own cycle.
I was going to tuition during my 12th Standard after school. My school gets over by 5 and the tuition starts at 5.30(on alternate days). That particular day the school got over early and I went home and slept and when I woke up the time was 5PM. I quickly freshened up and by 5:10 I started from home and in the next ten minutes I reached the tuition centre, the fastest I would consider in those days. While I was good in all those, my maintenance of cycle was very poor and I used to get scolding from my dad for poor maintenance. Due to my poor maintenance sometimes my cycle used to give a screechy sound or the chain would have become loose and it would rub against the chain cover which will again make some noise which was embarrassing, but still I would not improve on my maintenance. There was an old man(close to 60 yrs of age) in my neighborhood having a similar cycle but his maintenance was damn good and it always looked new... every week he used to spend at-least 2 hrs in cleaning the cycle and I used to get scoldings whenever my dad sees him cleaning his cycle. I cursed that old man in my heart but he had the last laugh, how???
One fine day when I was doing my 12th standard, as usual I went to school by cycle and then to tuition and returned home early as it was cloudy. As usual I left my cycle outside my house and it started raining heavily and I thought of parking it inside(at the veranda after the rain stops which I completely forgot and happily had my dinner and went to sleep. The next morning around 6AM my dad, was calling out to me loudly as he could not find the cycle at the usual spot where I used to park. The lecture went on for 2 hours and since he had to go for work he stopped with final words saying that ‘No more cycle for you and you walk to school. If you want a new cycle buy it with your own money’. That day, I realized the importance of hard work, money, maintenance etc etc. After that incident I felt guilty and started walking to school even though my dad gave me money for the bus. I completed my school days, went to college in Trichy. I realized the importance of having a cycle only then because whenever I come from Trichy to Madurai during weekend or vacation I had to rely on ‘NATA’raja service (walking, for the uninitiated) to visit my girlfriend, go to my friends house or grandma’s house etc. But still I was ok with that... Then time passed by, most of the houses had TVS 50 / XL replacing cycles and cycle renting shops were becoming less and we started forgetting cycles and developed a passion towards motorbike.
Completed 4 yrs of college during which I hardly would have had one weeks(in all the 4 yrs) of cycling where as during my school days I was commuting daily on cycle. Got a job and the whole concentration went on appraisals, promotion, onsite, money... health was completely missing here. After nearly 16 years(after my school days) I got a new cycle in November 2012 and when I got the new cycle I remembered my dad’s words ‘No more cycle for you and you walk to school. If you want a new cycle buy it in your own money’. Now I have been commuting to office by cycle for the past 6 months.
Now, I have a sense of satisfaction that I’m doing some physical work and taking care of my health as well. I was always under the impression that I had good stamina but when I started cycling I realized my level of stamina. I did not get dejected but took it as a motivation to maintain or keep up my stamina level. I went to my native after three months to attend a function of my cousin and they were really surprised to see me and everyone told that "You have drastically reduced your weight" which keeps me motivated. After all, recognition / appreciation is the one which is needed for ppl to perform and sustain performance. Now I feel lighter, relaxed, satisfied and brisk. My food habits have changed, my tummy has reduced considerably, tight shirts have started fitting me , especially I started maintaining my cycle well . At my workplace Anand Devanathan(my colleague) has formed a group and we have some 6-7 regular cyclists ranging from age 25 - 40. When I ride with a 25 yr old, I feel young and that motivates me and when I ride with a 40 yr old I motivate myself that if they can do why not me... Thanks to Anand who insisted me to get a cycle.
Anand used to insist me to take a 200km but I was kind of hesitant because I felt I was not ready for that yet. Then he planned for some smaller rides. The first ride was from Marathahalli - Sarjapur - Marathahalli which is a 30KM ride and I completed it with ease. I made an habit that whenever I eat or if I felt like I ate too much I go for atleast a 20KM ride from Marathahalli - Mahadevpura - Hoodi - Whitefield - Marathahalli. So far I have completed a 75 KM ride to chikka thirupathi and a 80KM ride to Hosur. This gives me confidence that I will be able to take long brevets this year. Nowadays I feel something missing if I don’t commute to office by my cycle(unavoidable situations I will take my motorbike).
I would like to make a special mention of my wife who completely supported my decision of cycling. She even prepares me health drinks(Butter milk, Bajra mix etc) before my ride. If you hear / see motivating words / deeds from the one you love, you will turn the world upside down... I'm on course in doing that...
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