Handsfree and cycling... ummm... talk about setting wrong examples!

No no... not Panda shots vala handsfree! Maybe that too, but no. Its about my phone vala handsfree.
Even as I could take my cycle out of the parking, my friend called me. As I started talking, I realised that the conversation is not going to get over so soon. Primarily because I wanted to talk about whatever we set out discussing. So I though of not wasting time and started riding on my usual route. It was quite a discussion. I guess people though, yet again, that I was a mad woman on a cycle who talked aloud while riding. But I let that feeling pass because i was really involved in the conversation, all the while minding the traffic and avoiding any mad drivers. It helped that there was less traffic on Pune roads today because of the bandh and the holiday season.
So I cycled from My house to Law college road - a distance of about 3 kms in 10 mins, talking all the while. and then I reached my destination, I realised I just had the longest phone conversation while I was on my bike.
Ok so... this is NOT advisable! I must avoid doing it often!
Also today evening, there was a girl riding her activa on a turning talking into a phone she was holding with her left hand... I shouted at her to keep her phone down while riding... But then i thought about how I talk on the phone while riding. But i am marginally better than she is because I keep my hands free to hold the handlebar! Or am I?
Well... talk about setting the wrong example...
And I still haven't bought a new cycle because everytime I think of getting a new one the Lumala looks at me with sad eyes asking... almost screaming at me to reconsider! Emotional blackmail! Sigh...

bike wheel lighting system

bike wheel lighting system
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

indigenously developed by yours truly!
Many months ago (last July to be precise), I decided to make a bicycle wheel lighting system. for some reason, I never got about to making it. So today, I had a sudden epiphany and ended up finishing what I started so long ago, and taking the cycle out for a spin. Some heads did turn but mostly for the wheel light ;)

I spent almost an hour photographing this at night... Hard work! now for some funkier and more complex lighting designs...

This goes on my cycle wheel tonight! Woohoo!

I just found this funny photo clicked of me after our Pune- Mangao ride!

I was almost dead till lunch arrived! This was taken at Mangao on NH 17 on the way to Diveagar. I never made it to Diveagar. In fact, I never made it beyond 100 metres after this place were we lunched.

The wounded ego of the male cyclists when a female cyclist overtakes him...

Whenever I'm cruising around on my bike, enjoying the ride, I always encounter a few men with their single speed bikes riding comfortably without a care in the world. I invariably end up overtaking them and move ahead quickly.

And then in a few seconds, I see something whiz past me. Its the same men whom I recently overtook, having had their pride hurt and their desire to prove a point to me. They seldom look back, but they seem to be saying 'Now who's faster, bitch! dare you overtake the almighty race again!' Suddenly their posture is much more aggressive and frantic. I can sense their willpower stretching them to the limits where even their veins are about to burst.

What they don't seem to understand is, that somewhere deep down, even though I am a woman (ok... girl) I have an ego too... and 21 gears on my bike! I just switch over to the highest and overtake them without breaking into a sweat!

How do I make them understand that there is no need to dispel all that energy just to soothe their hurt ego and make me feel lowly, because I have the advantage of advanced technology and I just need a third of the effort made by them to move ahead? How do I tell these men that no matter how hard they try, I'll overtake them eventually? And then what will they do... beat their wives when they reach home?

I'll admit that given the situation where I was riding a single speed bike like theirs, I wouldn't be able to overtake these men in a race for gender supremacy... But hey, I'll give them a fight till the end!

The need to upgrade

I have been thinking about it, and by the end of this year, i want to get a new cycle. And probably a red one this time. I wouldn't mind buying extra locks for it, but I want to get a flashy and expensive bike because such bikes are comfortable too. Especially for longer rides on rough roads.

So thats the top priority!

The next project...

Will be to paint my bike! any design suggestions?

me (2010) Vs. me (1992)

me (2010) Vs. me (1992)
Originally uploaded by DraconianRain

Pooja clicked this picture for me, and I remembered that my mother had clicked a picture of me on my bike back in 1992. I was 8 years old, and I had a little bike. It was small and nice, and I've had many many good times and accidents on it. comparing these two pictures I realised that my face hasn't changed a bit since then... thats the only thing that hasn't changed, though...

The new photo was clicked by my friend Pooja two days ago in Narayan Peth, Pune while the old one was clicked just off the town of Suratgarh in Rajasthan in the second half of 1992.