So yesterday was a blah day... it started off with a peaceful morning, quick wrapping up of work, a strange situation, a phone call and a mood that lasted me the WHOLE day and more! It was awful...
I had a day full of shit thoughts and I just couldn't get myself to go away from them! I might have been pmssing too as everything would lead to my stupid tears rolling out. Whether I felt anything inside didn't matter... It was like the tear factory was in full swing ahead mode! LOL... So my cycling trip was kinda the same...
Aiyaps was kind enough to pick up quickly on the fact that something was wrong. Bad day at work??? He tried to distract me and snap me outta the mood! :) Bless him, waiting for the damn elevators, which took forever by the way, the man didn't know what hit him when I started to tear while randomly talking about not being affected! LOL! Throughout the ride, he gave me the space to just spin out my mood, distracted me with his day agenda... PS: you didn't finish telling me about the ppt you had to close! ;) and we made our way to our older routes which was fun! Less water and traffic helped. The STUPID drivers didn't however! I am sure I cursed soo many people on the way, and normally Aiyaps would be kind enough to laugh it off or see what happened... This time he just heard me belt out the cusses! lol!
All I really could think about is... Me wanting to JUST DISAPPEAR! I even voiced that to Aiyaps while riding through the inner lanes of gurgaon, but before saying anything else... there came the water fountain again, so decided to shut my trap and head home!
We had a good one hour of peddling, no stops for water or nothing! I have been meaning to have bhutta for soo many days now, every time we cross a bhutta waala the smell kills me :) in a good way of course! RAkshit was a darling and asked me like twice if I wanted to stop, but obviously, I was in no mood. I just wanted to head home and have a long shower...! There were tears rolling down my cheeks which I just couldn't stop. At least under the water they would disappear... even if for a while...!
Anyway, blah day... kind of a blah ride for me! Sorry for being a sour grape yesterday Aiyaps! Will try not to be so very often! The only good thing is that peddling is becoming a little addictive... helps me get things out of my system, one way or another! :) A new form of meditation for me possibly? :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Gurgaon ki matti! :)
So the past couple of times... the roads have been full of muck due to the rains in Gurgaon. Last two times we have been cycling, even though our rides have been short, Aiyappa and I have managed to come back home with keechad splashed over ourselves!!! :)
Last time, I came home to see mud of my face, arms, shirt, tracks and every other place possible. Yesterday, the roads were worse than what we expected. My only prayer was that we shouldn't get splashed by a vehicle crossing us. Getting soaked in the dirty water would have been much! lol! Having said that, we did go through some puddles which got the water splashing from our own tyres on us! All of a sudden both Aiyappa and I felt our asses getting wet (yes I am well aware of what else that line could sound like! ROTFL)! I said this out loud and two seconds later we both were laughing our behinds off! Making statements which were facts, but could be misread and HOW!
Anyhow, a nice quick ride, talk of butter chicken and butter naan, and a good laugh on ourselves later, we were home, had quick showers and decided to head to Dana Choga! That craving for the food just didn't die down! Lol!
Butter Chicken, Butter Naan, Gulab Jamun, Kulfi and Coke later... Home is where we headed and called it a day! :)
Last time, I came home to see mud of my face, arms, shirt, tracks and every other place possible. Yesterday, the roads were worse than what we expected. My only prayer was that we shouldn't get splashed by a vehicle crossing us. Getting soaked in the dirty water would have been much! lol! Having said that, we did go through some puddles which got the water splashing from our own tyres on us! All of a sudden both Aiyappa and I felt our asses getting wet (yes I am well aware of what else that line could sound like! ROTFL)! I said this out loud and two seconds later we both were laughing our behinds off! Making statements which were facts, but could be misread and HOW!
Anyhow, a nice quick ride, talk of butter chicken and butter naan, and a good laugh on ourselves later, we were home, had quick showers and decided to head to Dana Choga! That craving for the food just didn't die down! Lol!
Butter Chicken, Butter Naan, Gulab Jamun, Kulfi and Coke later... Home is where we headed and called it a day! :)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Breaking the jinx!
So, to me it seemed like we had managed to get a little jinx on our cycling trips in the evenings. It had been a week and we hadn't stepped out! Something or the other would just keep cropping up! Finally, I gave up on going with the flow and decided now was the time to break this jinx! You gotta do what you gotta do you see! ;)
Wednesday, AIyaps and I were meant to head out at about 530 or 6 and we realised that he is still stuck in a meeting. So I head home and change and wait for him to finish. The clock passed 6, 630 and 7! I was almost in two minds to cancel the ride, but I decided against that last minute. Told Aiyaps, that I'd pick him up and we'd go for a short ride, no matter the time. I had to break this jinx. The minute you start letting go and become slack on certain things, that's the end of that!
We got home at about 8 and headed out by 815. It was a little dark, yet bright enough as there were many cars on the road. Aiyappa needed to be at a poker game at 9 (obviously that wasn't going to happen!) So we decided to peddle fast and just take a quick round from paras, down to route, left towards sector 56, left on the golf course, passing my new office, and then making a stop at KFC!!! :) We got out of Princeton and peddled really hard. I lowered my gears and it honestly felt like a spinning class for the first 20 mins! Spinning is harder than you think!!! BY the time we got to golf course road, the last stretch I HAD to slow down! :) I also managed to make a stop to adjust my seat height! Realised that I was sitting too low and that wasn't really helping me!
Anyhow, we got to the mall which has KFC and Aiyappa wants to lock and leave the cycles outside with the guards! LOL! Seriously man, be trusting but not THAT trusting! hahahaha! I managed to explain/convince him as to how taking them down to the basement would be a better idea where the only people who can see them are the guards who will be responsible for them! Doesn't allow the janta to maybe want to pick them both up and run! LOL! So down we went to the basement parking on our bikes. I am SURE that none of our friends have ever done this! It was so strange riding in on our bikes and then riding out!!! WE parked and locked our bikes in a quiet dingy corner and headed straight up to KFC for our dinner! A quick 10 mins later, back in the lift towards the bikes. Rakshit Aiyappa decided to crack a joke on the bikes being lifted to which I promptly stopped him and told him not to give me a heart attack! Riding out was fun, extra effort was needed uphill of course! Even in the car you know you have to be on a lower gear and extra careful, just that the stress on us we didn't expect. I made my way up and heard Aiyappa in the background. Even he didn't expect the effort! LOL!
Almost on the main road and I look back to notice that Rakshit darling in missing. Did you stop to talk to the guards or something? :p I slow down towards Princeton and there he comes up beside me two mins later. We ride straight into P'ton and to the elevators of the building! No time to cool down. Poker game to get to for Aiyaps.
Get home, wash face, have Tang! The regular drill! Wait for Aiyaps to have a shower and then head! I drop him off and get home to my bathroom for a nice LONG, HOT shower which is the best part of my day post our rides! Makes you sleep really well! Its been helping my sleepless nights anyway! ;)
Our ride was short, but sweet! 45 mins, good distance covered, KFC included... Brava! ;)
Next ride time: this evening. Need a new route and some interesting events on the street too! :p
Wednesday, AIyaps and I were meant to head out at about 530 or 6 and we realised that he is still stuck in a meeting. So I head home and change and wait for him to finish. The clock passed 6, 630 and 7! I was almost in two minds to cancel the ride, but I decided against that last minute. Told Aiyaps, that I'd pick him up and we'd go for a short ride, no matter the time. I had to break this jinx. The minute you start letting go and become slack on certain things, that's the end of that!
We got home at about 8 and headed out by 815. It was a little dark, yet bright enough as there were many cars on the road. Aiyappa needed to be at a poker game at 9 (obviously that wasn't going to happen!) So we decided to peddle fast and just take a quick round from paras, down to route, left towards sector 56, left on the golf course, passing my new office, and then making a stop at KFC!!! :) We got out of Princeton and peddled really hard. I lowered my gears and it honestly felt like a spinning class for the first 20 mins! Spinning is harder than you think!!! BY the time we got to golf course road, the last stretch I HAD to slow down! :) I also managed to make a stop to adjust my seat height! Realised that I was sitting too low and that wasn't really helping me!
Anyhow, we got to the mall which has KFC and Aiyappa wants to lock and leave the cycles outside with the guards! LOL! Seriously man, be trusting but not THAT trusting! hahahaha! I managed to explain/convince him as to how taking them down to the basement would be a better idea where the only people who can see them are the guards who will be responsible for them! Doesn't allow the janta to maybe want to pick them both up and run! LOL! So down we went to the basement parking on our bikes. I am SURE that none of our friends have ever done this! It was so strange riding in on our bikes and then riding out!!! WE parked and locked our bikes in a quiet dingy corner and headed straight up to KFC for our dinner! A quick 10 mins later, back in the lift towards the bikes. Rakshit Aiyappa decided to crack a joke on the bikes being lifted to which I promptly stopped him and told him not to give me a heart attack! Riding out was fun, extra effort was needed uphill of course! Even in the car you know you have to be on a lower gear and extra careful, just that the stress on us we didn't expect. I made my way up and heard Aiyappa in the background. Even he didn't expect the effort! LOL!
Almost on the main road and I look back to notice that Rakshit darling in missing. Did you stop to talk to the guards or something? :p I slow down towards Princeton and there he comes up beside me two mins later. We ride straight into P'ton and to the elevators of the building! No time to cool down. Poker game to get to for Aiyaps.
Get home, wash face, have Tang! The regular drill! Wait for Aiyaps to have a shower and then head! I drop him off and get home to my bathroom for a nice LONG, HOT shower which is the best part of my day post our rides! Makes you sleep really well! Its been helping my sleepless nights anyway! ;)
Our ride was short, but sweet! 45 mins, good distance covered, KFC included... Brava! ;)
Next ride time: this evening. Need a new route and some interesting events on the street too! :p
Monday, August 1, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Princeton, Paras, Artimus, Mayfair, Sohna road, Sohna extension, Sector 56, Golf course road and back to Princeton in 1 hour.
For some reason I was lost in thought and noticed nothing today. Just the rain in the end and the one auto with some music after ages. Sorry Aiyyaps it must have been one hellova boring ride ;) We didn't manage to say very much apart from catching up on the day's happenings! :)
Even TANG didn't turn out right today!!! LOL!!! :( :)
I'm gonna keep it simple and short!
For some reason I was lost in thought and noticed nothing today. Just the rain in the end and the one auto with some music after ages. Sorry Aiyyaps it must have been one hellova boring ride ;) We didn't manage to say very much apart from catching up on the day's happenings! :)
Even TANG didn't turn out right today!!! LOL!!! :( :)
I'm gonna keep it simple and short!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Feeling the need to peddle...
So, Aiyaps was on a short trip to Mumbai which meant that our cycling routine had to have a short break. By Wednesday I was feeling the need to be cycling! Its strange not being active now. You realise you're in a better mood and everything the day you go cycle!
Wednesday night is when he got back and we were off on Thursday cycling again! :)
This time we decided to take a different route and head to phase 3 in gurgaon. Now the road there is kind of hilly, which was fine. We enjoy that stretch, we had a bit of a technical glitch with Rakshit's chain coming off!!! There I turned around to realise that he is stuck on the road... 10 mins of both of us trying to get that chain back on, and greasy hands after... we were back on track. We actually hit MG road with all the traffic to cross over to phase 3! :)
Going through phase three was pretty cool cause the roads are kinda hilly, brought back a lot of memories for me! Every time we go on a ride, I somehow have enough and more stories to share. :) Through phase 2 I told Rakshit about my best friends house and some stories that go all the way back, and this time round it was about my school! Through traffic we rode down the main phase 3 road and managed to over take all the big huge cars driving down! :) Made a quick stop to withdraw some monies and then rode down towards my old school! Showed Aiyappa my school and told him a few more stories. Showing him houses of my friends and sharing some other stories. Then I decided that we'd go back through a small connecting road (different route) that would take us close to my house. This is the road I used to cycle down with my friend Tanmay to school in the morning and back. Of course those were the days when there was a lot less traffic, more than half the houses/buildings that are there today never existed! Got to the road that leads to the cyber city main road only to realise how clogged and jammed it was! WE couldn't even manage to squeeze in our bikes through the traffic! That's how bad it was! So we decide to turn around and head back the way we came.
People are spotting us on our rides these day I must say, when we turned around we had a friend of ours notice us, but by the time he realised he had sped off. He called me later to tell me though.
By this time we had been doing some serious peddling. Got onto the main road again to cross over and there was an incline. This is where my heart started to pound a bit. In the excitement of getting out on the road, we speed up and go everywhere and don't pace ourselves. This is when reminders from our bodies get given to us. Stop for a breath or stop for water! Got off the cycling, walked across to the petrol station and got a bottle of cold water. The days we don't stop consciously for water, something of the sort tends to happen. This day was my turn and our next ride was Aiyappa's turn! :)
After our water we headed back home! Same nice last stretch back through the golf course which is always such a bliss! Come home and by the time we hit the elevator we have been soaked in sweat! LOL! Our ritual after cycling has become a bottle or two of tang! Rehydrate and stock on sugar! :)
This was our Thursday ride. Friday we head off in the other direction. Since we've been peddling for a while now, our speed has become fairly good! We manage to cover a bit of distance in shorter times. We actually had our shortest ride ever on Friday. We wrapped up our ride in 55 minutes. Normally we are out anywhere between 1.5 - 2 hours. This was also the day of coincidences. We sped off down the other side of gurgaon and at the artimus signal I for the first time broke my peace with all the men staring while we cycle down. From Princeton till that red light I had enough and more people staring at me, slowing down and riding by. At the signal, there was this guy on a bike who had pulled up next to me and I caught him looking at my from the corner of my eye. By the time I turned to look directly at him, he had started to look down at my legs and the cycle. By the time his eyes made his way up, I was well cheesed and looked him in the eye and asked him, 'kya ho gaya bhaisahab?' (what's the matter brother?) with a sarcy tone! The man totally didn't expect it and was so taken aback, he shifted balance and turned his startled self to the left where there were two guys on a bike asking for some directions. LOL, have to admit that felt good.
Then there was a man who was going in the opposite direction on a red light as we started to move on our green. I had to slow down and tell him 'kaka laal batti hai'. Its kinda fun to do this, but I realise I can't do it all the time. It was the day for me to talk to all the random people on the road though. One our way back, on another road there was a small kid riding a huge bike slowlllyyy, and lost in his own thoughts. Which is fine, however he was on a main road and a frivolous move would get him into a lot of trouble. I almost banged into the kid cause he swerved without knowing or looking any side. Told him two bit of how he needs to pay attention to the road too. In a sweet way of course.
Like I said before this was the day of coincidences. We turn down a road where our friend Himanshu's office is and as we approach the office building we see him walking out towards his car. We stop to say a quick hello and kinda take a break, that day was Aiyappa's day to feel the heat while cycling. We realised we needed water and decided to pop across to an 'in & out' to get some water. So that is exactly what we did. Later that night I bumped into a few other people in places I would have never guessed, which is when Aiyappa pointed out how it was a day of coincidences.
Getting home and having tang was a must! Even though we had our shortest ride ever, we really managed to peddle at decent speeds. Our thighs tell us this now! :) ;) I did not manage to take any pictures as I left my phone at home both these day, however will leave you all with a picture of us enjoying our 'tang sessions' :) !
Our next ride is tomorrow and I cant wait! Specially since my Sunday ride was ditched by my darling hungover friend who wanted to shop and enjoy his lazy Sunday! :p
Wednesday night is when he got back and we were off on Thursday cycling again! :)
This time we decided to take a different route and head to phase 3 in gurgaon. Now the road there is kind of hilly, which was fine. We enjoy that stretch, we had a bit of a technical glitch with Rakshit's chain coming off!!! There I turned around to realise that he is stuck on the road... 10 mins of both of us trying to get that chain back on, and greasy hands after... we were back on track. We actually hit MG road with all the traffic to cross over to phase 3! :)
Going through phase three was pretty cool cause the roads are kinda hilly, brought back a lot of memories for me! Every time we go on a ride, I somehow have enough and more stories to share. :) Through phase 2 I told Rakshit about my best friends house and some stories that go all the way back, and this time round it was about my school! Through traffic we rode down the main phase 3 road and managed to over take all the big huge cars driving down! :) Made a quick stop to withdraw some monies and then rode down towards my old school! Showed Aiyappa my school and told him a few more stories. Showing him houses of my friends and sharing some other stories. Then I decided that we'd go back through a small connecting road (different route) that would take us close to my house. This is the road I used to cycle down with my friend Tanmay to school in the morning and back. Of course those were the days when there was a lot less traffic, more than half the houses/buildings that are there today never existed! Got to the road that leads to the cyber city main road only to realise how clogged and jammed it was! WE couldn't even manage to squeeze in our bikes through the traffic! That's how bad it was! So we decide to turn around and head back the way we came.
People are spotting us on our rides these day I must say, when we turned around we had a friend of ours notice us, but by the time he realised he had sped off. He called me later to tell me though.
By this time we had been doing some serious peddling. Got onto the main road again to cross over and there was an incline. This is where my heart started to pound a bit. In the excitement of getting out on the road, we speed up and go everywhere and don't pace ourselves. This is when reminders from our bodies get given to us. Stop for a breath or stop for water! Got off the cycling, walked across to the petrol station and got a bottle of cold water. The days we don't stop consciously for water, something of the sort tends to happen. This day was my turn and our next ride was Aiyappa's turn! :)
After our water we headed back home! Same nice last stretch back through the golf course which is always such a bliss! Come home and by the time we hit the elevator we have been soaked in sweat! LOL! Our ritual after cycling has become a bottle or two of tang! Rehydrate and stock on sugar! :)
This was our Thursday ride. Friday we head off in the other direction. Since we've been peddling for a while now, our speed has become fairly good! We manage to cover a bit of distance in shorter times. We actually had our shortest ride ever on Friday. We wrapped up our ride in 55 minutes. Normally we are out anywhere between 1.5 - 2 hours. This was also the day of coincidences. We sped off down the other side of gurgaon and at the artimus signal I for the first time broke my peace with all the men staring while we cycle down. From Princeton till that red light I had enough and more people staring at me, slowing down and riding by. At the signal, there was this guy on a bike who had pulled up next to me and I caught him looking at my from the corner of my eye. By the time I turned to look directly at him, he had started to look down at my legs and the cycle. By the time his eyes made his way up, I was well cheesed and looked him in the eye and asked him, 'kya ho gaya bhaisahab?' (what's the matter brother?) with a sarcy tone! The man totally didn't expect it and was so taken aback, he shifted balance and turned his startled self to the left where there were two guys on a bike asking for some directions. LOL, have to admit that felt good.
Then there was a man who was going in the opposite direction on a red light as we started to move on our green. I had to slow down and tell him 'kaka laal batti hai'. Its kinda fun to do this, but I realise I can't do it all the time. It was the day for me to talk to all the random people on the road though. One our way back, on another road there was a small kid riding a huge bike slowlllyyy, and lost in his own thoughts. Which is fine, however he was on a main road and a frivolous move would get him into a lot of trouble. I almost banged into the kid cause he swerved without knowing or looking any side. Told him two bit of how he needs to pay attention to the road too. In a sweet way of course.
Like I said before this was the day of coincidences. We turn down a road where our friend Himanshu's office is and as we approach the office building we see him walking out towards his car. We stop to say a quick hello and kinda take a break, that day was Aiyappa's day to feel the heat while cycling. We realised we needed water and decided to pop across to an 'in & out' to get some water. So that is exactly what we did. Later that night I bumped into a few other people in places I would have never guessed, which is when Aiyappa pointed out how it was a day of coincidences.
Getting home and having tang was a must! Even though we had our shortest ride ever, we really managed to peddle at decent speeds. Our thighs tell us this now! :) ;) I did not manage to take any pictures as I left my phone at home both these day, however will leave you all with a picture of us enjoying our 'tang sessions' :) !
Our next ride is tomorrow and I cant wait! Specially since my Sunday ride was ditched by my darling hungover friend who wanted to shop and enjoy his lazy Sunday! :p
Sunday, July 24, 2011
back on the Peddle ....:)
This week rhea is back, and as anticipated, complete nirvana has not happened under the 21st century pepul tree. Otherwise I presume I would be cycling with a companion in orange robes……jai mata di…
Back on the peddle was exciting. Moving into the lift and peddling out of princton took us barely 2 minutes, and the first conversation was of how I’m having my first attacks of alzimer’s, only to realize at the first traffic signal, that my forgetfulness is worse than predicted………I HAD FORGOTTEN TO LOCK THE HOUSE DOOR……PUFF!!!!!!
So back again we went to Princeton for the necessary doings. But here, with just a 2 minute break after peddling for 5 minutes, the sweat pores opened up like a dam bout to burst.
This time we just turned where our mind took us. Ofcourse, Rhea is still the navigator, but like other times, we did not analyze directions. It had rained in the afternoon, (which almost cancelled our plans to hit the road), so most of gurgaon was puddled. So we had to find a way not to hit the regular roads, and this gave us a new view of gurgaon.
Since we had a puddle situation we rode into the by lanes of our intended route. Very less traffic and thus less pollution and less noise from the unruly gurgaon motorists. Gurgaon is green and not actually as parched as it looks from the main roads. One thing I noticed during this ride was that most of the carwalls of gurgaon only know the MAIN roads to drive on and seldom venture into the side lanes. Well, the roads are usually bad, so I guess moving that 10 grand tyre over those 2 grand roads might pull up a 20 grand maintenance bill.
There was loads of gossip and newz to catch up on after our 12 day hiatus. As we were well early into the evening we had loads of time before it gets dark. So with enough news and enough time at our disposal, we kept cycling into the various bylanes of gurgaon, till we reached our regular pit stop a.k.a hang out point…..the icecream/panipuri/paniwallas, at the Leisure Valley.
I instantly decided to pick my regular orange bar, but, Miss return from nirvana, was contemplating on whether to take one or not. Thanks to some divine intervention I guess god said buy the mango bar…..hahahahaha….(rhea, I know I will have to pay for this…hahaha.)
Here everything seemed normal like our usual visits……..people watching us…..some gaping at our bikes, and the tapori kids, faffing around…….except for one……there was no music around. Our usual bollywood item numbers were not to be heard…….i decided to give the benefit of doubt to the IFFA awards that just finished in Toronto. Character dheela Zarine Khan must be in some rehearsals and other item heroines must be busy there, trying to literally crack their next movie deal on some fluffy 5 star bed….:) Thus we had to make do without our bollywood dose.
By now we had finished a good two hours on the road as we headed back to princeton. Back on the peddle was exciting, fun and liberating. More joy was in the fact that we had company again…
Before I start my next days experience, I should bring to notice, that we have another silent fan in our cycling dairies…….Ms Ruchi Singh………she does get to hear most of our cycling experiences before it turns into a blog. During our usual meets in the evening, she keeps saying I look bored, so I rattle… Keep the encouragement coming Ruchi, and we shall keep the cycling goin…. :) Better still, join us….:)
In between all this, the other good newz is that Mr Himanshu Anand is fairing better after his ligament tear and hope to see him up and about in couple of weeks.
The next day of cycling, I was informed of a time constrain. So we had to be quick and had to finish between 5pm and 6:30pm, as airport duties were called for after.
On this ride, we rode into the super elite area of Gurgaon……THE DLF GOLF CLUB. Rhea with her high connections rattles off some names and numbers to the security guards at the main gate. The poor guys were for the first time in their jobs, allowing two cycles into the gate. Before most of the guards realized, the gate were open and we rode in. I’m sure, they were wondering for the next couple of minutes, wondering how to register two cycles in their entry books. If they did, then the entries, would read like…….BMW/Lexus/Mercedes/ Porsche/ cycle1/cycle2/Audi/Bentley/Honda/ BMW/Volvo……
The ride here was bliss…….well laid roads, pruned hedges and plants, a green golf course on one side and super expensive apartments on the other side……nice….nice…nice. We peddle out of rear exit of the property into a nice asphalt pathway with elephant grass on either sides. From here, Gurgaon surly looked green and clean as the government claims it to be.
We reached the main road, and rhea decides to ride on the wrong side of the road against oncoming traffic. Though it was for just bout hundred meters, I’m dead scared of riding on the opposite direction. Because, here in Gurgaon, any chunk of metal on wheels can pop up from anywhere, at any time. And the last thing the drivers care bout, are the cyclist on the road.
On this ride the talking was less and we kept looking at our watches more often. Due to the time restrictions, god know why, but we were cycling fast and in the process covering miles quickly. Imagine this……we head out of Princeton, into the golf course, into phase one market, onto golf course road again and into phase 2, turn into turn into turn and reach Iffco Chowk all in a matter of 35 minutes. The RPM on the peddles were high this evening.
At Iffco Chowk, the traffic at the signals had crammed up. We cool people on our bikes decide to cross the road and cycle inbetween the cars. We were on the otherside of the road in less than a minute. The carwallas would take atleast 25minutes to finish that distance.
No pit stop breaks on this day. We ride down …fast…towards Gallaria mall and ride on a foot path along a embankment and up to the main road. We have actually started discovering many a off road paths in Gurgaon.
We reach Princton well within our time limit, sweating and drenched like we had walked out of a pool. Legs aching we make our way up the lift, but completely happy with the days outing.
Ruchi and Aanchal, keep the comments and encouragement coming……as for me…….the woods are lonely dark and deep and I have mile to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep….:)
Back on the peddle was exciting. Moving into the lift and peddling out of princton took us barely 2 minutes, and the first conversation was of how I’m having my first attacks of alzimer’s, only to realize at the first traffic signal, that my forgetfulness is worse than predicted………I HAD FORGOTTEN TO LOCK THE HOUSE DOOR……PUFF!!!!!!
So back again we went to Princeton for the necessary doings. But here, with just a 2 minute break after peddling for 5 minutes, the sweat pores opened up like a dam bout to burst.
This time we just turned where our mind took us. Ofcourse, Rhea is still the navigator, but like other times, we did not analyze directions. It had rained in the afternoon, (which almost cancelled our plans to hit the road), so most of gurgaon was puddled. So we had to find a way not to hit the regular roads, and this gave us a new view of gurgaon.
Since we had a puddle situation we rode into the by lanes of our intended route. Very less traffic and thus less pollution and less noise from the unruly gurgaon motorists. Gurgaon is green and not actually as parched as it looks from the main roads. One thing I noticed during this ride was that most of the carwalls of gurgaon only know the MAIN roads to drive on and seldom venture into the side lanes. Well, the roads are usually bad, so I guess moving that 10 grand tyre over those 2 grand roads might pull up a 20 grand maintenance bill.
There was loads of gossip and newz to catch up on after our 12 day hiatus. As we were well early into the evening we had loads of time before it gets dark. So with enough news and enough time at our disposal, we kept cycling into the various bylanes of gurgaon, till we reached our regular pit stop a.k.a hang out point…..the icecream/panipuri/paniwallas, at the Leisure Valley.
I instantly decided to pick my regular orange bar, but, Miss return from nirvana, was contemplating on whether to take one or not. Thanks to some divine intervention I guess god said buy the mango bar…..hahahahaha….(rhea, I know I will have to pay for this…hahaha.)
Here everything seemed normal like our usual visits……..people watching us…..some gaping at our bikes, and the tapori kids, faffing around…….except for one……there was no music around. Our usual bollywood item numbers were not to be heard…….i decided to give the benefit of doubt to the IFFA awards that just finished in Toronto. Character dheela Zarine Khan must be in some rehearsals and other item heroines must be busy there, trying to literally crack their next movie deal on some fluffy 5 star bed….:) Thus we had to make do without our bollywood dose.
By now we had finished a good two hours on the road as we headed back to princeton. Back on the peddle was exciting, fun and liberating. More joy was in the fact that we had company again…
Before I start my next days experience, I should bring to notice, that we have another silent fan in our cycling dairies…….Ms Ruchi Singh………she does get to hear most of our cycling experiences before it turns into a blog. During our usual meets in the evening, she keeps saying I look bored, so I rattle… Keep the encouragement coming Ruchi, and we shall keep the cycling goin…. :) Better still, join us….:)
In between all this, the other good newz is that Mr Himanshu Anand is fairing better after his ligament tear and hope to see him up and about in couple of weeks.
The next day of cycling, I was informed of a time constrain. So we had to be quick and had to finish between 5pm and 6:30pm, as airport duties were called for after.
On this ride, we rode into the super elite area of Gurgaon……THE DLF GOLF CLUB. Rhea with her high connections rattles off some names and numbers to the security guards at the main gate. The poor guys were for the first time in their jobs, allowing two cycles into the gate. Before most of the guards realized, the gate were open and we rode in. I’m sure, they were wondering for the next couple of minutes, wondering how to register two cycles in their entry books. If they did, then the entries, would read like…….BMW/Lexus/Mercedes/ Porsche/ cycle1/cycle2/Audi/Bentley/Honda/ BMW/Volvo……
The ride here was bliss…….well laid roads, pruned hedges and plants, a green golf course on one side and super expensive apartments on the other side……nice….nice…nice. We peddle out of rear exit of the property into a nice asphalt pathway with elephant grass on either sides. From here, Gurgaon surly looked green and clean as the government claims it to be.
We reached the main road, and rhea decides to ride on the wrong side of the road against oncoming traffic. Though it was for just bout hundred meters, I’m dead scared of riding on the opposite direction. Because, here in Gurgaon, any chunk of metal on wheels can pop up from anywhere, at any time. And the last thing the drivers care bout, are the cyclist on the road.
On this ride the talking was less and we kept looking at our watches more often. Due to the time restrictions, god know why, but we were cycling fast and in the process covering miles quickly. Imagine this……we head out of Princeton, into the golf course, into phase one market, onto golf course road again and into phase 2, turn into turn into turn and reach Iffco Chowk all in a matter of 35 minutes. The RPM on the peddles were high this evening.
At Iffco Chowk, the traffic at the signals had crammed up. We cool people on our bikes decide to cross the road and cycle inbetween the cars. We were on the otherside of the road in less than a minute. The carwallas would take atleast 25minutes to finish that distance.
No pit stop breaks on this day. We ride down …fast…towards Gallaria mall and ride on a foot path along a embankment and up to the main road. We have actually started discovering many a off road paths in Gurgaon.
We reach Princton well within our time limit, sweating and drenched like we had walked out of a pool. Legs aching we make our way up the lift, but completely happy with the days outing.
Ruchi and Aanchal, keep the comments and encouragement coming……as for me…….the woods are lonely dark and deep and I have mile to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep….:)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
the week that was'nt....!!!!!!
This week rhea has gone off for her spiritual enlightenment.........i sense that nirvana might just happen there under a 21st century pepul tree ....hahahaha
So i'm back riding with the original founding member of this cycling times.....mr himanshu anand...:) Setting the seat to the desired hight was the concern from start. after making ourselfs comfortable with the settings, we head out, a little into the dark actually. Now here i should say, riding with a girl and riding with a guy are completely different experiences. With guys it is focused riding with the intention of exersise and burning calories. Talk less work more....:) With a girl it is talking, riding, talking, focusing, talking, cursing, talking, navigating, talking,.....and ho ya......burning calories by default.....and talking....!!!!!!
As we head out into the dusk of gurgaon, the after office commuters seem to be all over the place, looking tired in their multi million rupee cars.........so much sadness inside luxury i tell ya. i think they look at us and wonder if they could change places for our bikes.......actually, i'm constantly thinking that everyone wants our bikes.......for no reason at all....!!!! We peddle down paras hospital and turn towards Route 69, but pit stops are made to adjust the seats again. the carwallas zip past us with no concern of rules and regulations. The wife's must be angry and scripting a mahabharat at home.....:) For us on our bikes, its a quite and focused ride, with the wind blowing throught our hair.
We decide on a short ride this time as its getting dark and we are expecting guests at home. so we turn left again to sector 56 and stop again for seat adjustment. On most occasions i keep turning back to keep a look out for my peddle buddy, but this time i'm more at ease as its Himanshu on the peddle, and the darkness is less concerning.
here on we encounter the maxi cab wallas of Gurgaon. As life had it, we were locked behind one cabbie that was crammed with people but stopped very hundred meters for more people. we would move past him and he would move past us only to stop ahead of us for more people. It was like a drag race between a cycle and maxi. everytime it wizzed past us, it smelt like a skunk had let loose its aroma...yuck...yuck...yuck...!!!!! Having your cycling rythem cut down every hundred meters is irritating. Himanshu and me tag along cursing the maxi guys, but there is always something to laugh about on every occasion.
its been a hour of riding. Though it was short, it was effective. We enter into princeton, and at the parking we bump into our first guest for the evening......Aanchal Cheema.........For us the evening had only just begun.....:)
The next day was Himanshu's football match, a game that he loves heart and soul. But as lady luck could have it, Himanshu has had a ligament tear around his knee and that puts him on brazers and bed rest for the next one month. ....GET WELL SOON BUDDY.......
as for me, the week has passed with only one ride, and i look forward with hope that Rhea will be back for company and wish that complete nirvana has not happened on the 21st century pepul tree....:)
So i'm back riding with the original founding member of this cycling times.....mr himanshu anand...:) Setting the seat to the desired hight was the concern from start. after making ourselfs comfortable with the settings, we head out, a little into the dark actually. Now here i should say, riding with a girl and riding with a guy are completely different experiences. With guys it is focused riding with the intention of exersise and burning calories. Talk less work more....:) With a girl it is talking, riding, talking, focusing, talking, cursing, talking, navigating, talking,.....and ho ya......burning calories by default.....and talking....!!!!!!
As we head out into the dusk of gurgaon, the after office commuters seem to be all over the place, looking tired in their multi million rupee cars.........so much sadness inside luxury i tell ya. i think they look at us and wonder if they could change places for our bikes.......actually, i'm constantly thinking that everyone wants our bikes.......for no reason at all....!!!! We peddle down paras hospital and turn towards Route 69, but pit stops are made to adjust the seats again. the carwallas zip past us with no concern of rules and regulations. The wife's must be angry and scripting a mahabharat at home.....:) For us on our bikes, its a quite and focused ride, with the wind blowing throught our hair.
We decide on a short ride this time as its getting dark and we are expecting guests at home. so we turn left again to sector 56 and stop again for seat adjustment. On most occasions i keep turning back to keep a look out for my peddle buddy, but this time i'm more at ease as its Himanshu on the peddle, and the darkness is less concerning.
here on we encounter the maxi cab wallas of Gurgaon. As life had it, we were locked behind one cabbie that was crammed with people but stopped very hundred meters for more people. we would move past him and he would move past us only to stop ahead of us for more people. It was like a drag race between a cycle and maxi. everytime it wizzed past us, it smelt like a skunk had let loose its aroma...yuck...yuck...yuck...!!!!! Having your cycling rythem cut down every hundred meters is irritating. Himanshu and me tag along cursing the maxi guys, but there is always something to laugh about on every occasion.
its been a hour of riding. Though it was short, it was effective. We enter into princeton, and at the parking we bump into our first guest for the evening......Aanchal Cheema.........For us the evening had only just begun.....:)
The next day was Himanshu's football match, a game that he loves heart and soul. But as lady luck could have it, Himanshu has had a ligament tear around his knee and that puts him on brazers and bed rest for the next one month. ....GET WELL SOON BUDDY.......
as for me, the week has passed with only one ride, and i look forward with hope that Rhea will be back for company and wish that complete nirvana has not happened on the 21st century pepul tree....:)
What no music on the streets of Gurgaon in 2 weeks?
So as soon as we started the blog, I had to take off for a 12 days course. Obviously that put kind of a stop to the posts! :S
Back to the world with a bang and a great first cycle ride! Both Aiyappa and I managed to maintain a fairly good and constant speed and cover enough ground in Gurgaon. For a bit we thought we wont be able to make our ride due to the afternoon showers, however that didn't stop us. :) We managed to be on the road AND dodge all the water logged areas, the splashing cars and other idiots on the roads! ;)
We took off at about 615 in the evening. All super excited to be hitting the road together again! Bring back the continuity... We head out of the elevators with our big cycles and take off on the main road deciding our route for the day. It took us some time to hit the main golf course road and we realised that we had to turn back. My dear friend Rakshit in the excitement of getting out had forgotten to lock the house and merrily given me the key to take care off. LOL!!! WE had anyway been joking just the second before about how he is becoming forgetful, to which I corrected him and reminded him that he is not forgetting, just that his recall power has been REALLY slow lately! ROTFL! So we headed back to our place and I waited downstairs till he ran up and locked the house!
Another thing we knew about was when we are cycling we don't really feel hot, but if we have to stop somewhere for more than 2 minutes, the sweat starts kicking in like the damn shatabdi express on your body! I had to cycle downstairs while waiting cause it was killing! :)
So we headed off again trying to figure which way to go and before we knew it we were just going with the flow. Taking small detours here and there to give us the 'off roading' ;) experience. Making sure we get some rocky terrain to test out the ease of these uber cool bikes! :)
Gurgaon seemed a little different in the middle of all our conversations. A) It felt like Gurgaon was burning all over. No smell of poop, that was the strangest!!! However there was a lot of burning smells. Probably garbage, rubber, and some other things! B) THERE WAS NO MUSIC! Normally there is an auto that over takes us (or is riding side by side just sooo amazed to see us on bikes, rather a woman on a bike) that has music blaring which gives Aiyappa and I enough to sing along and laugh about. When we came for our regular water break, I happened to say this thought out loud to which Aiyappa responded by saying, "Zareen Khan must not be back from Canada!" Or something to that extent. We couldn't help but burst out laughing! 'Character Dheela' being the most popular choice amongst the autowalas! If it carries on to be this quiet, I think I'm going to suggest taking a small speaker along and attaching our ipods! Just that we will ensure that the playlist is all pappu Bollywood pop music! We have to be considerate towards all the other cyclists, autoguys and rikshaw walas and their passengers. Cater to the mass! ;)
So from Golf course road, to some inroad, back to golf course, old sohna extension road, route 69 road, the ardee city and gold souk crossing, past my old office, through south city and kingdom of dreams, past crown plaza we reached our normal stop/cool down spot. Since we were back after so long, along with water, Ice cream to banta tha! ;) Didn't hit the gol gappas yesterday, but we probably will do that today at some point if we cross our spot, or else tomorrow for sure. Pictures will DEFINITELY be uploaded... You have to live our rides through us! Unless you buy a bike and join us! Which is a waayyy cooler option! :)
This is our view with everyone staring at us as though we are aliens! :)
Aiyaps with our paani guy, gol gappa guy and ice cream wala! :)
Retardation - that being me! :)
Aiyaps, we can actually call this the ice cream diaries and get something new everytday! LOL, what say?
After that, we made our way back, saving ourselves from all the insensitive drivers who whiz past through puddles of water. I had 2 close calls of being splashed with some lovely dirty brown slushy water! I was fully clad for the same reason. Didn't wanna be in shorts while getting drenched (just in case I did).
The last stretch home was mostly on the inroads, to avoid traffic and get some more greens. The most fun part was the last 10 mins. Last time we went on a round, we crossed our friend Nitya's House and went down a path which we had no clue about. Did not really know where it would lead us, but we went anyway. It was such a fun spot because it was like riding on mini dues and it lead us right next to Paras hospital which happens to be 2 minutes away from home! So we decided to go down the same path and head home. It was all cool and we were talking about the drink we'll make ourselves once we get home, and we realised that after the really cool enjoyable dune bit, the connection to the main road has been dug up! LOL! Just as we thought of turning around, Aiyaps decides to be adventurous and ride parallel to the road only to realise we were riding through such a dug up area. I had my first official skid there... I DID NOT FALL! But had I not had good control on my bike I sure as hell would have! Anyway, we came out to the little kirana shops and car and cycle repair shops and hit the main road. Obviously the men there were shocked to see us two come out of no where... Almost dark on bikes even! LOL.
We did our last few rounds in the compound and rode our bikes straight to the elevator, just to realise that we had to wait to get into the house. We had been locked out! :)
This time there weren't very many interesting observations, I think we were too busy catching up on not having spoken or caught up on current affairs in 2 weeks ;) What say Aiyaps! Promise to notice more interesting things in our next few rounds out. Maybe we'll make some fun pit stops and get more pictures of our views to help give our readers a better view! :)
Back to the world with a bang and a great first cycle ride! Both Aiyappa and I managed to maintain a fairly good and constant speed and cover enough ground in Gurgaon. For a bit we thought we wont be able to make our ride due to the afternoon showers, however that didn't stop us. :) We managed to be on the road AND dodge all the water logged areas, the splashing cars and other idiots on the roads! ;)
We took off at about 615 in the evening. All super excited to be hitting the road together again! Bring back the continuity... We head out of the elevators with our big cycles and take off on the main road deciding our route for the day. It took us some time to hit the main golf course road and we realised that we had to turn back. My dear friend Rakshit in the excitement of getting out had forgotten to lock the house and merrily given me the key to take care off. LOL!!! WE had anyway been joking just the second before about how he is becoming forgetful, to which I corrected him and reminded him that he is not forgetting, just that his recall power has been REALLY slow lately! ROTFL! So we headed back to our place and I waited downstairs till he ran up and locked the house!
Another thing we knew about was when we are cycling we don't really feel hot, but if we have to stop somewhere for more than 2 minutes, the sweat starts kicking in like the damn shatabdi express on your body! I had to cycle downstairs while waiting cause it was killing! :)
So we headed off again trying to figure which way to go and before we knew it we were just going with the flow. Taking small detours here and there to give us the 'off roading' ;) experience. Making sure we get some rocky terrain to test out the ease of these uber cool bikes! :)
Gurgaon seemed a little different in the middle of all our conversations. A) It felt like Gurgaon was burning all over. No smell of poop, that was the strangest!!! However there was a lot of burning smells. Probably garbage, rubber, and some other things! B) THERE WAS NO MUSIC! Normally there is an auto that over takes us (or is riding side by side just sooo amazed to see us on bikes, rather a woman on a bike) that has music blaring which gives Aiyappa and I enough to sing along and laugh about. When we came for our regular water break, I happened to say this thought out loud to which Aiyappa responded by saying, "Zareen Khan must not be back from Canada!" Or something to that extent. We couldn't help but burst out laughing! 'Character Dheela' being the most popular choice amongst the autowalas! If it carries on to be this quiet, I think I'm going to suggest taking a small speaker along and attaching our ipods! Just that we will ensure that the playlist is all pappu Bollywood pop music! We have to be considerate towards all the other cyclists, autoguys and rikshaw walas and their passengers. Cater to the mass! ;)
So from Golf course road, to some inroad, back to golf course, old sohna extension road, route 69 road, the ardee city and gold souk crossing, past my old office, through south city and kingdom of dreams, past crown plaza we reached our normal stop/cool down spot. Since we were back after so long, along with water, Ice cream to banta tha! ;) Didn't hit the gol gappas yesterday, but we probably will do that today at some point if we cross our spot, or else tomorrow for sure. Pictures will DEFINITELY be uploaded... You have to live our rides through us! Unless you buy a bike and join us! Which is a waayyy cooler option! :)
This is our view with everyone staring at us as though we are aliens! :)
Aiyaps with our paani guy, gol gappa guy and ice cream wala! :)
Retardation - that being me! :)
Aiyaps, we can actually call this the ice cream diaries and get something new everytday! LOL, what say?
After that, we made our way back, saving ourselves from all the insensitive drivers who whiz past through puddles of water. I had 2 close calls of being splashed with some lovely dirty brown slushy water! I was fully clad for the same reason. Didn't wanna be in shorts while getting drenched (just in case I did).
The last stretch home was mostly on the inroads, to avoid traffic and get some more greens. The most fun part was the last 10 mins. Last time we went on a round, we crossed our friend Nitya's House and went down a path which we had no clue about. Did not really know where it would lead us, but we went anyway. It was such a fun spot because it was like riding on mini dues and it lead us right next to Paras hospital which happens to be 2 minutes away from home! So we decided to go down the same path and head home. It was all cool and we were talking about the drink we'll make ourselves once we get home, and we realised that after the really cool enjoyable dune bit, the connection to the main road has been dug up! LOL! Just as we thought of turning around, Aiyaps decides to be adventurous and ride parallel to the road only to realise we were riding through such a dug up area. I had my first official skid there... I DID NOT FALL! But had I not had good control on my bike I sure as hell would have! Anyway, we came out to the little kirana shops and car and cycle repair shops and hit the main road. Obviously the men there were shocked to see us two come out of no where... Almost dark on bikes even! LOL.
We did our last few rounds in the compound and rode our bikes straight to the elevator, just to realise that we had to wait to get into the house. We had been locked out! :)
This time there weren't very many interesting observations, I think we were too busy catching up on not having spoken or caught up on current affairs in 2 weeks ;) What say Aiyaps! Promise to notice more interesting things in our next few rounds out. Maybe we'll make some fun pit stops and get more pictures of our views to help give our readers a better view! :)
Monday, July 4, 2011
gurgaon abridged in a week...!!!!!
People say travelling is the best education and and a traveller is the most educated.........so here comes some wisdom, insights, smells, colours and energy that makes Gurgaon tick....:)
To begin with, i think Gurgaon has the worst drivers from anywhere in the world. Zig zag driving is the norm (straight driving is like being drunk on the wheels), blinkers are for recreation, horns are for ego boosts and a foul mouth to get people off your way..........and anything interesting on the road needs to be checked out then and there(after all, every tax payer believes that he DOES own a part of the road)
Heading out of Princeton begins with a Adrenalin rush. Rolling down Paras hospital road, all eyes from big fat cars to the shared autowallas, gaze at you like there is a UFO in their midst....... i should add....a girl on a fancy sporty bike, sure is a UFO phenomenon here.
Reaching the first traffic signal (lal bhathi...G style), the traffic constable decides to stop doing his job and decides to turn to some intresting things around him. ........actually, thank god, we can make his 90 seconds of the day intresting sitting there. Thereon, we turn to the first direction, Rhea the navigator decides. Everyday is a new direction a new experience. The only constant in all this is the dust that comes flying and sticks to the skin like unwanted lovers and ofcourse the constant gaze...:)
Muscles cramping, we peddle down the various sectors of Gurgaon, its time to catch up the days gossips, news, current affairs, etc. Healthy conversations range from governement apathy to travels to civic sence of the people and the "mutre visarjan" that is rampant across the vast stretches of open land.
Cycling down the various unkept tree laned roads, its time for a water break. Haggle with the vendor for regular minaral water(the other option always given first is the vendors self produced sweet or sweat water). A orange candy bar helps once in a while. To add to this, the tupori kids hanging around add a bollywood number for background score. The last number heard was the Salman Khan item number "main karu tho salla ...... character dheela hai". i silently hoped Zarine Khan could do a thumka there......would add to the ambiance........actually, thinking again, my candy bar would have melted before i can savor it....HOT!!!!!
Thereon, from which ever corner of Gurgaon we are, we move towards princeton, and now oblivious to the gazes around. But then........moving into Princeton for a warm down ride is a scene by itself.............we have become popular with the herds of 5 to 10 year olds that run behind us like dogs running behind car wheels.............all wanting a short ride on our bikes.........but....but....sorry buddies......your luck just ai'nt right....:)
To begin the end of this first blog,.........Himanshu Anand, thank you so much for creating this phase and Rhea Malvai, thank you for eventhing else....:) And to the people of Gurgaon.......here comes the tide on two wheels....:)
To begin with, i think Gurgaon has the worst drivers from anywhere in the world. Zig zag driving is the norm (straight driving is like being drunk on the wheels), blinkers are for recreation, horns are for ego boosts and a foul mouth to get people off your way..........and anything interesting on the road needs to be checked out then and there(after all, every tax payer believes that he DOES own a part of the road)
Heading out of Princeton begins with a Adrenalin rush. Rolling down Paras hospital road, all eyes from big fat cars to the shared autowallas, gaze at you like there is a UFO in their midst....... i should add....a girl on a fancy sporty bike, sure is a UFO phenomenon here.
Reaching the first traffic signal (lal bhathi...G style), the traffic constable decides to stop doing his job and decides to turn to some intresting things around him. ........actually, thank god, we can make his 90 seconds of the day intresting sitting there. Thereon, we turn to the first direction, Rhea the navigator decides. Everyday is a new direction a new experience. The only constant in all this is the dust that comes flying and sticks to the skin like unwanted lovers and ofcourse the constant gaze...:)
Muscles cramping, we peddle down the various sectors of Gurgaon, its time to catch up the days gossips, news, current affairs, etc. Healthy conversations range from governement apathy to travels to civic sence of the people and the "mutre visarjan" that is rampant across the vast stretches of open land.
Cycling down the various unkept tree laned roads, its time for a water break. Haggle with the vendor for regular minaral water(the other option always given first is the vendors self produced sweet or sweat water). A orange candy bar helps once in a while. To add to this, the tupori kids hanging around add a bollywood number for background score. The last number heard was the Salman Khan item number "main karu tho salla ...... character dheela hai". i silently hoped Zarine Khan could do a thumka there......would add to the ambiance........actually, thinking again, my candy bar would have melted before i can savor it....HOT!!!!!
Thereon, from which ever corner of Gurgaon we are, we move towards princeton, and now oblivious to the gazes around. But then........moving into Princeton for a warm down ride is a scene by itself.............we have become popular with the herds of 5 to 10 year olds that run behind us like dogs running behind car wheels.............all wanting a short ride on our bikes.........but....but....sorry buddies......your luck just ai'nt right....:)
To begin the end of this first blog,.........Himanshu Anand, thank you so much for creating this phase and Rhea Malvai, thank you for eventhing else....:) And to the people of Gurgaon.......here comes the tide on two wheels....:)
Starting up with some form of physical activity! ;)
I have two friends of mine, who wanted to do more than work and going out. In the process they bought two cycles! Much to my advantage, one of my friends has other physical activities planned during the week. So Rakshit Aiyappa and I manage to go and get out cycling much more often.
We started to head out last week and I must say we've been pretty good at it. We are on the roads for at least an hour and a half if not more. The first day took some getting used to. A fancy new bike with gears and different options, that too, with us riding at night! Our first ride was about 2 hours long after the sun had gone down. We decided to go towards the Sohna extension road and then head back from sector 56. In that first 30 mins, you realise how your body hasn't been used to physical exercise!!! LOL!
In the dark there wasn't much seeing to be done, but we could feel the dust on our faces with all the cars going by! :) the beautiful smells of Gurgaon in patches! *Please note the tone of sarcasm*
The first night we rode for just over two hours and even made 3 pit stops! Stopping at 2 friends houses to say hi and have water and to go see some of our other friends playing footy!
It has been a week and we have managed to get around a fair bit as of now. I must say that its much better to be out and about in the day. You can get to go off the roads and be a little more adventurous... You get educated on dust patters on the roads, how to dodge them, stupid drivers who love to cut across and slow down or break bang in front of you because they are so amazed by two normal people out biking...!!! You also get educated on the different odours in this city. To the point that you can actually make out the difference between camel, horse and cow poop! :p All this goes well along with our constant speed, normal chitter chatter... one abuse here and there at some random drivers and catching up on our days happenings amongst us two. The only thing I have not done yet, is tell one of the random men off for staring at me and slowing down... Apparently a woman on a cycle is a rare sight... I really want to say, "Ma, behen nahi hai kya?" at some points... LOL, But I do the right thing... Ignore and cycle by!!! :)
The last couple of days were fun because we managed to add some perks to the ride! :) We stopped for some water at a park and ended up treating ourselves to golgappas and an orange bar after that! These little added perks make our ride soo much more fun. This way, we get to do something fun, explore the city, and find new little places to get to. I think we might go have dinner on our bikes one day too... when the weather is a bit better! :)
Now that our speed is a bit constant and we're possibly clocking a good 10 - 15 kilometers a day, we come back and do a couple of rounds in the compound to 'cool off'. I ride my bike till the elevator in the building and while we wait for the lift a whole new world of sweat begins to appear out of nowhere!!! Riding on the bike is one thing, in the heat is okay too, but once you stop, its crazy the amount you're sweating. I didn't know all these pores on my face existed till then!!! hahaha!
We head out all excited and come back happy! A little tired and desperately needing a shower! The ritual is becoming a large bottle of tang before I head home and Aiyaps heads for a shower. All in all, a good start to a new routine!!! :) Lots of things are changing about for me, and they all seem to be for the better! Fingers crossed, let the happiness remain and let me be able to spread the joy! A new leaf, a new life, a new phase!!! :)
Thank you Aiyappa, I'll make sure we keep this up! I ain't letting you give up! :) :p and here is to us being more regular on the blog with our daily rides and different views! ;)
And of course, thank you Himanshu, for letting me clock more miles on your cycle than you do! :D
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