To cut the story short, I got into cycling on this day, exactly a year back. Before that my ride was a Hero Ranger or a One Tonner :)
Was introduced to good cycles and BikesZone while searching for 26x1.75 tires for the Ranger. Till that time cycle worth 5K was costly for me and the suspension on ranger a Luxury. Was blown away one day when Vandit said somewhere about 25K fork on his Niner. Slowly built up my mind for getting a new cycle as I was feeling tempted as well as a wayanad trip was being planned. Took a lot of time from fellow BZers asking whether extra 2K for Schwinn over ACT110+ was worth. Finally took the plunge after talking to Krish from TBA. Became a proud owner of Schwinn Sporterra on 18th Aug 2010. Was ridiculed by many for 'wasting' 14K on a 'cycle'. Anyways kept my cool and headed to Wayanad the day after on 20th. Till date I dont know how come I managed that distance with that ease!
Seeds for anther long solo ride were being planned while returning on a crappy Kerala ST bus.
Started riding almost daily, a distance of 30-35kms on weekdays and 80-100s on weekends. Was not aware of cross training and all such fundas. Got introduced to Rohan Kini when he talked in BBC about a garage called BOTS he owns. Talked to him and got introduced to the wonderful community of BBC and BBCh and a bit of bike servicing after RR cycles screwed my RD.
One fine day did a solo trip to Goa. Was talk of the village for two days courtesy the bike trip and more so for the 14K cycle I owned. Got some snarky comments, I moved on. Returned to Bangalore while dad wanted to keep Schwinn for him.
Seeds for anther long solo ride were being planned while returning on a crappy Kerala ST bus.
Started riding almost daily, a distance of 30-35kms on weekdays and 80-100s on weekends. Was not aware of cross training and all such fundas. Got introduced to Rohan Kini when he talked in BBC about a garage called BOTS he owns. Talked to him and got introduced to the wonderful community of BBC and BBCh and a bit of bike servicing after RR cycles screwed my RD.
One fine day did a solo trip to Goa. Was talk of the village for two days courtesy the bike trip and more so for the 14K cycle I owned. Got some snarky comments, I moved on. Returned to Bangalore while dad wanted to keep Schwinn for him.
Took around a months gap, one fine day or I should say night, was speaking to Krish. He just made a passing remark that someday ill own a roadbike. I tried skipping that thought but it was not to be. Did couple of test rides on Vishaks Sport1 and made my mind. I did not have enough money so opted a interest free loan from Company and bought myself a roadbike, Giant Defy 2. Was welcomed to the 700c club whole heartedly :)
Started enjoying the whole new world of roadbiking. Weekend distances increased from 100kms to Multiple Nandi climbs. One day got up early morning and rode to vellore to return home by 9pm, distance 405/17hrs. Still was far way from any methodic training. Weight came down from 82 in Aug 10 to 71 in Jan 11. Did set my PB on Nandi in this period. I was having a good time with BBCh and other rides. Or should I say this was the calm before a storm?
Then on Jan 15th, Bangalore BRM 200km, rode hard without a warmpup and injured my left knee. Limped back 105km and finished the Brevet. Just a day earlier, my comment that 'I can just get up and ride 200km' had come in some Newspaper, coustesy Anita. Blamed my overconfidence and took rest for around 4 months, did many things to get out of the injury.. Did some sporadic rides in between but nothing consistent. Changed my job as I could not afford maintaining roadbike with previous salary. Spoke to many friends regarding recovery and correct ways of training. Though I was not cycling, was actively involved in various community events like BRMs and BBCh.
Got back to regular training from June. 1st. No exercise(except for knee) took toll on my body as I gained around 11kgs to my Jan 11 weight. Lost a lot of Stamina. Suffered like anything on a short 46km ride with friends. Got better slowly and followed a training plan. I love Long distance riding but all of that was taken away from me, in a day because I hurried up into things. Someday in my life I want to finish PBP and RAAM. Lets see how things go.
Started enjoying the whole new world of roadbiking. Weekend distances increased from 100kms to Multiple Nandi climbs. One day got up early morning and rode to vellore to return home by 9pm, distance 405/17hrs. Still was far way from any methodic training. Weight came down from 82 in Aug 10 to 71 in Jan 11. Did set my PB on Nandi in this period. I was having a good time with BBCh and other rides. Or should I say this was the calm before a storm?
Then on Jan 15th, Bangalore BRM 200km, rode hard without a warmpup and injured my left knee. Limped back 105km and finished the Brevet. Just a day earlier, my comment that 'I can just get up and ride 200km' had come in some Newspaper, coustesy Anita. Blamed my overconfidence and took rest for around 4 months, did many things to get out of the injury.. Did some sporadic rides in between but nothing consistent. Changed my job as I could not afford maintaining roadbike with previous salary. Spoke to many friends regarding recovery and correct ways of training. Though I was not cycling, was actively involved in various community events like BRMs and BBCh.
Got back to regular training from June. 1st. No exercise(except for knee) took toll on my body as I gained around 11kgs to my Jan 11 weight. Lost a lot of Stamina. Suffered like anything on a short 46km ride with friends. Got better slowly and followed a training plan. I love Long distance riding but all of that was taken away from me, in a day because I hurried up into things. Someday in my life I want to finish PBP and RAAM. Lets see how things go.
So what I gained in last one year? Most important for me was the new friends from variuous walks of life, managing events and a lot of self confidence. This is the best investment I have probably made.
I would like to thank all those who have helped me in various ways. Rohan, DocD, Rajesh, Vandit, Nalla, all Venkats/Venkys, Manish, Siva, GR, all Abhis etc etc. The list is looong :)
