Eleven years

I've done the comparison before!

 

But that was drastic- Almost a two decade jump... Including a whole decade (1999-2009) of little to no cycling (I didn't even own a bicycle those days!) This one is me as a 25 year old in 2009 (the year I bought a new cycle.) Vs me as a 36 year old! With the decade where cycling was fairly constant.

*BUMP*

Yes, I am still alive (obviously... I've been blogging on my other blog/s on and off) and I've not given up cycling. Although I don't cycle as much as I used to (Varied factors.) But 2019 was an especially bad year for me and my bike as I barely cycled while my poor bike gathered dust and the bike chain jammed up and well... Not much went my way and now that I look back, and had all classic symptoms of mild depression (I'm assuming mild, I didn't consult a therapist.)

But 2019 is behind us. And 2020- although the ultimate gas leak year for the entire world... Has been rather kind to me...Or I have been kind(er) to myself in 2020. One fine day just before the government declared lock-down, I fixed my Bergamont (By myself) and began riding in the mornings. Waking up early was the first step towards mental well being, I realised. And as a result, I was sleeping early, eating optimally. It was superb.

Then one fine day they asked us to stop going out completely but that lasted about three weeks and it was fine to cycle again (but this time with masks?) I've been slowly building up my stamina with cycling, squash and yoga and a lot of walking. It's been the highlight of this period for me. Yes, a shitshow is going to hit us soon enough... but I might as well be physically fit to be able to handle it as well as I can.

I've been cycling again for the past three months and I couldn't be happier! Sometimes alone and sometimes with friends who I bump into. Summer mornings are great. and with no sun Two days ago thanks to cyclone Nisarg, it has been raining but I still managed to cycle.

It's been awesome.

Fixing a tyre puncture

Ever since I started cycling again in 2009, I never had a tyre puncture... till a few weeks back. So after two weeks of ignoring it, I finally decided to fix the puncture myself. At least attempt to. 
And what an attempt it was! I took my own sweet time, but it's all well! :D

Long Sunday solo ride

25 kms + long break +23 kms. 
Awesome fun!

GoPro on the helmet

The other day, Nandu uncle lent me his gopro hero 3+ silver edition camera. The first thing I tried to do was to fix the tiny camera on my light bike helmet and realised that the helmet mount wouldn't fit on the contours of my helmet... So I had to tie it up to the helmet with a ribbon. I found a sufficiently nondescript ribbon which wasn't that prominently seen.

This is how the contraption looked like

 

I had to go meet Shruti and Pooja to attend a Bharatanatyam dance performance at Omkareshwar temple yesterday, and I decided to shoot a video of that short ride.

 

Ride to Omkareshwar from Meghana Kulkarni on Vimeo.

This is it! :D 

Not bad for a first try, eh? 

My bergamont is 3 years old!!! :D

A lot of things have changed since I bought the Bergamont. I'm three years older, slightly more confident about my work and myself. My priorities have shifted slightly, and I do admit I am slightly more responsible. I am more confident about biking on climbs now, and my endurance has increased as has my patience, tolerance and acceptance levels and I'm single (yet again). 
What has not changed is how much I love the bike.

This is what I looked like the day I bought my Bergamont:

  

I still look cute.

two posts in one

26th January 2014 

Republic day in all education institutes in the country are celebrated with patriotic speeches and songs on the PA system and flag hoisting. It's time for patriotism and bravado. 

This year I decided to attend this celebration because the students organised an alternate transportation day which meant we could either cycle/skate to college or take the college bus. 

We were to start at 7.30 AM from the college hostel which is a little beyond the chandni chowk toll naka. But I started from home at that time since I didn't expect anything to start on time, and also because I was hoping to not embarrass myself by cycling slowly in front of all my students as I had just recently recovered from an illness which kept me out of action for nearly all of 2013. Nothing like that happened. I met a student who was struggling with his bike before chandni chown. He stopped for a water break, but asked me to continue as he said he might take a lot of time. I saw a few more of his classmates cycling towards us, so I thought it'll be fine and carried on to CC. Surprisingly, I did that climb much better than I used to and as I reached the top, I saw a few teachers waiting there for the bus. After a quick chat, I continued on the undulating route to the college at Pirangut. I met a few more students on the way who needed slight encouragement or their chain fixed which wasn't a major problem. Along the way, there were a few students clicking photos of all of us cyclists 'Tour de France style' and everyone who cycled was received at the college parking lot with extreme enthusiasm. In all, there were 80 cyclists and 4 skaters. The rest of the gang took the bus! And considering the fact that there are only about 300 people in the college, this event was a roaring success! 

Later, I cycled back home as well :D

13th March 2014

There's a short patch of road running parallel to Karve Road which I take to ride to my yoga class. It's a nicely undulating and winding road which goes along a piece of Kirloskar property and between a few housing societies. It's not too crowded most of the times. So as I was riding back home after yoga, I decided to do a little experiment. I tried riding the whole stretch of the road without holding the handlebar to see if I could manage the slopes and the curves in the road by simply tilting my body a bit to shift the center of gravity. It worked for about half a kilometre till I encountered one of the many ridiculously built speed breakers sprinkled all over town which is on a turn. 

But the experiment was a success. i could maintain my path along the edge of the winding road quite well.