My sweet 50

Did I write the 50th blog? Did I sleep for 50hrs? Would have loved to but No. Well keeping the suspense short, I crossed the magic 50Km on my bike (lovingly called bicycle back home) yesterday, 51.48Km to be exact. I was so exhilarated that I wanted to post a blog  immediately after reaching home, but had to suffer the minor side effects of this achievement –  aching back, heavy eyes, numb calf muscles, a dead bottom and  being a highway frog on the bed. I did this ride along with a close friend of mine who actually was used to riding the same number but just in miles. Come on!..isn’t the number more important?  I personally feel using the  units  of measurement interchangeably gives you tremendous advantage of exaggerating or playing it down as when necessary.

Cop: You clocked 80 miles/hr

You: Officer, its just 80

(Back home)

Friend: Man ..damn this traffic..

You: Machan, I was once caught speeding at  128Km/hr. What a rush!

Similarly,

Gym Instructor: You did just 5 miles on tread today? Whats happening?

You (back home to wifey): Honey did the  8 today at tread!  cake walk!

The route began at Penn station, navigating between the crazy cabs on Manhattan roads  and tourists in Central Park all the way to the upper west side beyond Columbia to the George Washington Bridge. Crossing the bridge, we moved on to the 9w, which my friend proclaims “the mecca of bikers” for another 1hr of ride in the greens. I enjoyed the onward journey but my mountain bike was not greatly suited for such long drives and had to beg my friend  to turn back. On the way back, we took the Hudson river parkway – a beautiful joggers/bikers track along the river all the way upto 51st street. Since it was already past 7:30pm, I decided to pack my dinner – a burrito at Chipotle, making the whole physical exertion “energy neutral” – I ate what I burned

My biking has a funny history of its own.  From the school days when I have torn scores of school pants every time I fell from the bike to hauling friends at college campus, riding the bike had its own charm. Everybody would have had their own stories on how they learnt to balance on a bike (hopefully when they were kids), how they were jealous to see a second grade kid effortlessly “monkey pedaling” an adult’s bike to the day they had to wait at the local puncture shop to see the mechanic trying to find the leak in a murky bowl of water. You might have grown up,but there remains the lingering  urge to sneak on to it before the kid next door sees you. When I told my parents that I bought a bike, they giggled away saying I was acting childish. I remember this particular conversation that my friend had with his dad when he got his bike.

Friend: Got an awesome mountain bike with 10 gears, shock absorbers and disc brakes

Dad: How much did you pay for it?

Friend: 400 .. ok Dad catch you later!

(Phone rings again immediately)

Dad: 400$!!!, You can get a TVS-50 for that money here and you are telling me you got a stupid bicycle.

To save us all from this frequent ridicule, somebody thought of patronizing  Lance Armstrong and made cycling a fitness regime. Today, I can see tons of bikers in tight outfits cruising on their cannondales weighing probably a kg. I wouldn’t  call myself a  fitness freak or a biking maniac, but just a biking enthusiast. My bike is over 4 months old,  I have refilled air in my tires just once and used it frequently to dry my wet towel. To make amends, I embark on such rides which allows me to explore the city as well. Wearing those mentally retarded helmets, a pair of gloves, carrying the bike up the LIRR stairs and watching passengers look at you with a sense of awe- has its own share of silly pleasure.

So have you been doing anything interesting of late?

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