Expedition through all the known cycle tracks in Pune

I was to meet friends who wanted to see my bike. I was to go to Fergusson college road from my workplace at Bavdhan via CC and Karve road. The JNNURM work going on at Paud road is completely chaotic and haphazard, and its causing more problems that it is meant to solve. Riding that part was a little testing on my patience, but there’s hardly any choice. Maybe riding around the other way via Pashan and University circle could have been a better idea, but those routes are heavy traffic high speed ones, and I also wanted to cycle through all known cycle tracks in Pune:

The ones along Traffic routes–

1. Connecting Karve road to Law college road- One fine gentleman had parked himself on his bike talking to someone on the phone (probably his lady) right at the entrance of the cycle track. So I had to lift the bike over the curb to join the cycle track. The sight of me making an extra effort to join the cycle track had apparently no effect on him, as he continues his feverish delirium on the phone…
2. Connecting Law college road to Prabhat road – people standing and chatting at the entrance of the cycle track made some effort at moving to let me through, but the trees at odd acute angles were a deterrent to continuous cycling, despite the track and footpath being wide enough. But I don’t mind trees as much as the bell-deaf pedestrians. I was thirsty, and since my water bottle carrier had gotten dislodged from the frame, I wasn’t carrying water. So I spotted a neera vendor almost at the end of that road, and stopped for a glass of the cheap and refreshing government promoted healthy non-alcoholic drink.

Thus I joined the internal cycle tracks –

1. Connecting Prabhat Road to Bhandarkar road – This time, another fine gentleman decided to park his bike at the only available space to enter the track just half a minute before I could cross the main road. I thought of giving this smartass a piece of my mind, but decided against it since I didn’t want to humiliate him in front of his friends. This entrance with a pan – smokes tapri seemed to be their hangout. The consequence was that I had to get off the bike again and join the cycle track. There were a lot of evening walkers on the track despite there being a soft jogging and walking track next to the cycle track. Imagine how many people would abuse me if my cycle entered the walking track… and if my memory doesn’t fail me, the sign at the beginning differentiates between the walking track and the cycling track. But I persist tolerantly.
2. From Bhandarkar road running along BMCC road to the end of it and coming out to MMM campus, near FC road - The amusing part about this cycle track that runs through this very quite residential area is the fact that they have blocked the ends connecting the vehicular routes with low steel pip railings. I don’t know what they are called, but they already have the vehicle blockers in place- the concrete stubs that jut out low to prevent motorised vehicles of any number of wheels entering it. The resultant is that one has to lift the cycles over them to enter the cycle track and to exit it. There goes my momentum. Maybe my destitute imagination is too superficial to understand the obvious reason for the existence of those rails, but I haven’t yet figured out the reason.

After I joined Fergusson college road and took a U-turn at the Fergusson college entrance verge, I continued towards my destination – ‘Peppinos’ (my preferred hangout on FC road.) The traffic started thickening and there was hardly any place on the road to ride, and was being pushed near the footpath curb. So I got off on the footpath, and walked with the cycle about 25 meters to the cycle parking between the Peppinos flowerpots and the footpath. I made my friends sit outside with me just so that I could keep a watch on the cycle since cycles get stolen quite easily in Pune. As the sun went down, and the sad little restaurant next to Peppinos was getting ready to open for Saturday night’s crowd, the cycle parking began to fill up with cycles of the employees of that place. So the security vala man told me to move my cycle and place it somewhere else. That really annoyed me! Apparently it was for their employees only. He saw me parking the cycle there, yet, didn’t say anything when I did so. And there was no signboard that said that it was reserved for employees only. So I just took it out and parked it between our table and the flowerpots. At least it was right next to me now. The peppinos people didn’t mind at all.

After getting a few subs packet from Subway, I bid my friend goodbye and traced the journey back through the same cycle tracks till the law college road signal, where I joined:

The cycle track on the one way leading to Nal stop on karve road - This cycle track has concrete stubs blocking the way for motorised vehicles at regular intervals, so it’s a deterrent to cyclists save the cycle track sign at the starting. As I came to the famous ‘pastry corner’, I saw two young gentlemen sitting on those very stubs (maybe waiting for their pastries) and even my repeated bell sounds and imposing visual of me coming towards them on the cycle didn’t affect them, and they continued chatting till I stalled the cycle just a foot away from them. They stared in mild surprise and got off those stubs, and I carried on with a small ‘thank-you’ and the knowledge that they were going to stare at me in disbelief till I turned off Karve road.

The climb from the Nal stop to SNDT over-bridge was measly as compared to the ones I do daily on my way to work. So I went about overtaking all other cyclists and turned left towards my house.

It was a long day. Starting from my house in Karve Nagar to Bavdhan in the morning, from Bavdhan to Fergusson College road in the evening, and back home from Fergusson College at night, I explored cycle tracks I knew of.

I realised the apathy of motorists and pedestrians towards us cyclists. Cycling among most people nowadays is seen as a sport and recreation activity that’s strictly meant for weekends and for fantastic roads outside city limits. It’s seldom seen as a mode of commuting, except by those who probably cannot afford motorised transportation.

I also realised that people are totally supportive and encouraging towards me and my cycle from the comfort and convenience of their swish vehicle seats and accelerator pedals.