Merida TFS … 4 days on and it’s impact..

It’s been 4 days since I have been riding on my Merida TFS…for photos visit http://picasaweb.google.com/yranade/MeridaBike# and I am absolutely loving it. It’s an amazing cycle, excellent balance, excellent ride positioning, excellent saddle and awesome speed. It just lurches out of the blocks..there are so many fascinating items on the bike, I am discovering them every time I ride. I am not really going to list down the Pros and Cons…yes there are some cons, but what in the world is perfect …u tell me ? The fact is that I love this bike and I love bicycling more now…I actually don’t enjoy driving my Swift anymore…It’s only in the weekends that I will use my Swift when we need to travel together as a family. Btw: I am planning to reduce my driving as well…my lovely wife Sawani has started taking driving lessons from last Tuesday in a local driving school nearby our house…the plan being to handover the Swift to her. ;) I would obviously use it on long drives and stuff, but it’s primarily going to be her vehicle going forward. I definitely plan to take good care of this bike and once Arjun turns 5 (on March 27th), I plan to start taking rides with him (on his little bicycle) in the apartment. I feel the seeds of cycling need to be sown early. One day they will bloom…it’s been 10-12 years since I last bicycled in late December and am I loving it or what ?

So what happened to my Ultima 6 speed ? It has been a good bike that served me well. I had it with me for almost 3+ years (2.8 years was just lying in my house)..I decided to pass this bike on to Shiva, our office boy..he’s been with us at IntelliNet for more than 6 years now, and he is an extremely helpful, hardworking and cheerful chap. He said he needs to buy a cycle for his son, so was way too excited to see a geared bike up for sale…considering the increase in the costs of bikes recently…a normal gearless bike would cost 3K minimum. I decided to pass this on for about 2K..which he readily agreed. Why did I sell it and not just pass it on…well there are reasons for it…but rather not talk about them here. ;)

Here’s some number crunching:- All the following are now on my Merida

22nd Feb: 30 kms (Kanakapura to Brookefields)
23nd Feb:15 kms (loop near my home)
24rd Feb: 20 kms (office and back) – Started going to the gym as well. Did 2.5 kms run (treadmill @ 8.5) + 2.5 km walk (treadless @ 6.4) + stretches + abs
25th Feb: 20 kms (office and back) – 10 mins on treadmill at 10 speed. Stretching and Chest + Triceps
26th Feb: 20 kms – 20 mins on treadmill (3kms), 20 mins on treadless (2.5kms) + Stretches + abs

Total Distance Covered on Merida: 105 Kms
Total Distance Covered on Cycle: 675 Kms

Cheers,
YVR

Dedicated Cycling Lanes…A reality in India ?

We all know that dedicated cycling lanes are provided in most if not all western countries. But this is an alien concept in India…well not to blame the system, but it’s difficult to actually implement them, which becomes obvious and apparent just by the magnitude of vehicles that ply on the city roads…2 wheelers whizzing around cutting lanes as though it’s nobody’s business, 3 wheelers ferrying passengers (rickshaws) and material (tempo travellers) stopping at their whims and fancies as and when they see a potential customer. 4 wheelers (cars,buses,trucks) and 6 wheelers (army trucks and more trucks) all vying for that 100ft of tarmac..So a biking lane in India…would raise the look of “are you nuts ?”… ain’t it ?

But things are improving…I must say…and can you believe that it may actually happen…we bicyclists can get a dedicated lane for ourselves( well surely it won’t remain dedicated…but heh..it’s worth it to have it marked up in the least) …Here’s an email posted Pradeep on the BBC (Bangalore Biker’s Club)…which quotes an article from the Hindu….

“In a bid to encourage use of cycles as a short-distance vehicle on certain roads, the BBMP proposes to make efforts to provide dedicated cycling lanes on important arterial roads. These cycling lanes will be developed based on the recommendations of the department of Urban Land Transport, which is drafting a policy.”

Isn’t this great ? Here’s the link to the original article..thanks Pradip of BBC..

http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/26/stories/2009022659390400.htm

Cheers,
YVR

Tata Launches the Xenon XT

Tata Motors it seems has recently launched it’s new SUV/Truck called XENON XT. The tag line being “FITS NO LABEL”…Sweet I must say..looks great and I think this will kindle interest among quite a folks who are looking for a decent ride as well as carry luggage. I for one am happy with the fact that it’s not too underpowered as others from Mahindra stable; it is equipped with a 2.2 L DICOR Engine, 140 PS Power, 4*4 with shift-on-fly, alloy wheels. hvac and other sundries. It has been priced as; the 4*4 for 8.58L (ex showroom delhi) and the 4*2 for 7.62 L (ex showroom delhi)…positioning it under the Safari Dicor and the Mahindra Scorpio (around 12L on-road). I think they should have slightly lowered the price further, since now this creates a comparison…Should I go for the Safari or the XENON, agreed it’s a different class, but hey, who’s to stop the comparisons ? Particularly in India where the concept of SUV/Trucks for personal transport haven’t caught on…

Take a look at the XENON XT at http://www.xenonxt.com

Cheers,
YVR

I got a Merida TFS 100 V

On account of Mahashivratri last Monday, our office was closed, as a result had a long weekend; effectively had 3 days off (Sat/Sun/Mon). We as a family, were thinking of heading out somewhere, but then the overpowering desire of buying a bicycle gripped me. My dear wife Sawani supported me to the hilt and my son Arjun, was way too excited…We decided we would go bicycle hunting on Saturday and do the trials/shortlist of bicycles and then if I liked a bike and was available for immediate delivery I would head out again on Sunday and go buy it.. I had done quite a bit of research on the internet (Bikeszone in particular) regarding the availability of the bikes and zeroed in on the following:-

1. Merida Matts TFS 100 V
2. Merida Matts Sub 40V/MD
3. Trek 4300
4. Trek 3700
5. LA Sovereign Navigator
6. Hercules Ryder ACT 105

Although I had a fair amount of cycles short-listed, trial runs of all were possible since had to visit only 3 shops:-

Wheelsports near Kanakpura Road, for the Merida Bikes
BOTS in Jayanagar for the Trek Bikes
RR Cycle Mart in Ulsoor for the LA and the Hercules Ryder

Sat 21st:-
Decided we would leave in the morning and head out to BOTS first, since had setup an appointment of 11;00 am with Rohan, the co-owner of BOTS. So all the 3 of us left by around 10:30 am and using the Bangalore Map (I had never been to the South End circle) reached the Sumeru building where BOTS is located. I was told that BOTS is on the 3rd floor, and indeed it is, but it’s on a terrace. Rohan and Nikhil have setup their shop on the terrace of a building; and I must say although not the typical shop that you would expect (considering that the bikes are Trek class) it is a pretty functional shop. As you climb up the stairs; on the left is a small office where some bikes and accessories are placed alongwith a board stating the costs of the bikes and the accessories. There were loads of bikers on the terrace; each trying to either fix/upgrade their bikes with certain components. Finally was able to get through to Rohan (who was pretty busy). Rohan introduced me to Nikhil (co-owner) and then Nikhil helped me and another guy explaining the finer details of the Trek 3700 and the Trek 4300 bikes. The pros and cons of each and I must say it was pretty helpful. Then we decided to have a test ride of the bikes and so the bikes were all pulled up on their back wheels and transported down the stairs onto the road. I took the test ride of both the 3700 and the 4300D and here were my findings:-

Technology wise 4300D is more advanced than the 3700 (No, I am not going to lay out all the details…a quick search will get you these)
The 3700 seemed to be more lighter and agile (18’’ frame) than the 4300D
The 3700 seemed more smoother than the 4300D (Nikhil explained that might be a feeling; particularly due to the difference in tires; and that the normal 4300 came with the same set of tires as the 3700)
Unfortunately they didn’t have any 4300 to test..I enquired about the availability of both the bikes and Nikhil mentioned that bikes would be available in a week’s time. He also mentioned that the colours available currently were the Flame Gold on the 3700 and the Orange on the 4300. That put me off a bit, and he mentioned that for the Black & Grey 4300 I would have to wait for atleast 2/3 months. Anyways it was time well spent and I must say both Nikhil and Rohan are doing a pretty good job at it (considering that hold full-time jobs elsewhere and this being only a '”hobby”)

Off we headed to Wheelsports. I had called Venkatesh (Venky) and he mentioned that he is pretty tied up so he won’t be available in the shop today but there would be Navin available who would help us with the bikes…We reached Wheelsports by 1:30 pm. Wheelsports near Kanakapura road on the 100 ft ring road; is again a shop that is still being setup. Venky is transferring his shop from Chamrajpet to here and is still a work-in-progress. In any case; all the Merida’s were beautifully and neatly arranged in the shop…I could see the Sub 5, Sub 10, Sub 20, Sub 40(D/MD/V) and the TFS 100 V, i.e. all the MTB’s stacked on the left in the showroom and the road racers at the right. Boy were they a sight. The bike that caught my attention was a strikingly beautiful white/black Merida. I asked Navin which was that; and he mentioned it was the TFS 100 V. Wow; the one on my short-list. I took a test ride of the TFS and I came back amazed. Navin mentioned that this was the 2008 model and that they had only 3 bikes remaining (of which 1 was already booked) 2009 model was still to arrive and it would cost much more than the 2008 model. I did my comparisons with the Sub 40V (which was cheaper than the TFS) unfortunately couldn’t try out the Sub 40 V since there was no air and it wasn’t completely setup as yet. So we asked some more questions and then headed out.

We then took the ring road and reached Marathahalli and I mentioned to Sawani (although it was 2:30 and we hadn’t lunch..sawani being sweet and the ever thoughtful had packed some Methi Paratha’s which we snacked on) that we should head over to the RR Cycle Mart in Ulsoor and finish all the test rides that day itself. So we headed to RR Cycles and saw the LA Navigator and the Hercules ACT 105. Both the cycles were pretty good..I liked the LA more than the ACT. Unfortunately RR cycles doesn’t allow test rides (frankly there’s no place where you could considering the major digging work being carried out in Ulsoor for the Metro). We asked for some accessories; and the owner of the shop mentioned that he stocks every accessory under the sun (available in India) in his store. The store btw: although looks small from outside is pretty big once you get inside…it’s like a long alley inside (typical of the olden golden houses) and stocked a great amount of cycles. Anyways, we purchased a bell and a bicycle helmet for Arjun…He was so excited…My Arjun is too sweet…and off we headed back home.

All in all it was an extremely fun day..

Sun 22nd:-

My head was buzzing with all the thinking it had to do; I had now brought the list down to 3 bikes..

Merida TFS 100 V
Trek 4300
Merida Sub 40 V

Considering that the 4300 was available only in orange (I couldn’t imagine myself in an orange bike…i’m too old for that) i took it off my list…So essentially had only the Merida TFS and the Sub 40 V in my list…and considering that I had still not driven the Sub 40 I decided to head over to Wheelsports and finalize then & there itself. Btw: on the phone Venky had mentioned that both  the bikes are available for delivery on the same day. I was damn excited…In the earlier part of the day we decided to go over our routine household shopping and went over to Indiranagar to do some shopping. We did some purchases at the Reliance Footprint showroom in Indiranagar (it has a massive 40/50% discount on really good branded shoes (Reebok/Nike/Adidas et.al.) and then headed back home…Along the way we stopped over for some quick bites at the Outpost near Marathahalli bridge (it’s a nice little self-service/take-away kinda joint) Had some excellent dosa’s and topped off with Mango milkshakes and choco-chip ice creams. Boy does Arjun love ice-cream.

At about 2pm I decided to head out to Wheelsports…called up Venky and he mentioned he is in the store..so I took the Volvo bus in front of my house (Brookefields)…got off at the Banerghatta junction and then took an auto to Wheelsports. I was at Wheelsports in about 40 mins. Venky had gone for lunch so chatted up with Navin for some more time. Once Venky was back (man is that guy impressive…a national biking champion of the yesteryears and now a man who owns his own racing team…impressive eh) he showed and explained to me the nuances of both the bikes and said that it was finally my decisions. Both the bikes were good…I asked him if I could test-drive the Sub 40 V; and he happily agreed. So now I had ridden both the bikes and the ball was in my court…go for a 2008 model TFS 100 or the 2009 model Sub 40 V. Went by my heart and the feel on the bike and selected the TFS 100 V.  At the shop met two young men (Nilesh and Srini) who were great folks (part of the Bikeszone forum)..chatted up with them; Srini and Venky helped me adjust the saddle height and bam I was on the way to Brookefields..on my new Merida TFS 100 V. The distance might be around 30 kms…but the drive was a pure pleasure and boy was it fun…It was amazing…On the outer-ring road, met Suresh (a friend from office who stays right opposite Intel office) and he was also impressed with the bike. It is so light and smooth…why can’t Indian manufactures build such bikes…well not a bad idea…in my view…considering that folks are ready to shell quite a bit of money on imported ones). Reached home by 7 pm and it felt awesome..took the bike upstairs in my home (there’s no way I’m parking it the parking lot) and Arjun and Sawani were both happy with the bike…Here are some snaps…

 

That’s my son Arjun with the bike…Cherished possessions of mine ;)

Cheers,
YVR

Cycle Runs…

Here are the latest cycling updates:-

19th Feb: 20 kms to and fro from office
20th Feb: 20 kms.

My friend and colleague from office had got a camcorder (the 60GB HD capable Sony) and recorded some of our technical discussions at office. While on the way back, since we were leaving together and he stays close to my place in Brookefields, and since my bag was pretty heavy (week load of clothes and laptop) I asked him if I could keep my bag in his car and would collect it outside my gate at Knightsbridge. He readily agreed…and off we went, he sped in his Wagon-R and me on my Ultima 6 speed. I really wanted to reach before him, but he caught me at the Marathahalli flyover on the way down. He was waiting for me, and surprise of surprises, he had took a video shoot of me coming down from the Marathahalli flyover and then cycling on the ITPL main road. The video sizes are pretty huge, so didn’t want to upload..but it felt cool..Thanks Sarvesh for that.

21st Feb: Am extremely excited, since I will be visiting BOTS today..and then maybe Wheelsports …couldn’t sleep thinking about it..finally got up at 4:30 am and started doing some reading…By about 7:30 decided to go out for a run, so onto the road and ran from my house in KB to the junction near Gopalan National School and back to KB…about a 5 km distance…in about 35 mins. Not bad considering it’s been about 1.5 months since I ran…felt pretty good that I could complete…but my body is pretty sore …

21st  Feb: 5km run

Total Distance Covered on Cycle: 570 kms

On to checking out the bicycles…

Cheers,
YVR

(Motor) Biking Enthusiast …are you ?

Well if you are a motor biking enthusiast, here’s a site that should satiate your appetite…http://www.xbhp.com

As for me I’m not really a true blue (motor) biking enthusiast, but xbhp is not a bad place to find out new trails and expeditions that you could do anyhow, on a cycle, on a (motor)bike, in a car…or maybe even a walk..

Cheers,
YVR

Which Cycle to buy

I have been having this innate desire to upgrade to a new cycle. Not that I have any specific complaints of My Hercules Ultima 6 speed…but considering my improved liking to cycling, I would like to now start covering more distances ..beyond the 30 kms and into the 50kms range per outing, so I think a better bike would help.

So while researching on the internet; came across this wonderful site called bikeszone (http://www.bikeszone.com/forum/) which is essentially a forum of all bikers (cyclists) from around India. Although I have not registered as yet, I have been reading the posts on this site..Came to know about WD-40 and it’s use from this site.

18th Feb : While cycling to office, I passed a cyclist (with full cycling gear) on the Marathahalli bridge…I glanced to see which bike he was riding, it was a Hercules Ryder..seemed pretty jazzy…like the hi-tech imported bikes…so visited the Hercules website to check out the models…The Ryder category bikes look pretty good…went back to bikeszone to find user-experiences with the Hercules bike…and while on one of the discussions here came across a post from Pranav Negandhi about the LA Navigator. The bike looks pretty neat…and I was particularly impressed with Pranav’s style of providing comments…so decided to check out his site at www.pranavnegandhi.com | www.notadesigner.com and I must say it’s been pretty impressive. His photos are really nice and he writes amazingly well…great chap and he seems to be in Pune, my hometowm ;)

At this point based on personal preferences and the opinions of folks on BZ, here are some bikes that have caught my attention:-

Bike	Cost	Details	Site	Comments
Hercules Ryder ACT 105	7-8K	Alloy Frame, 21 spd Shimano Gears Front Shox V Brakes Alloy Rims	https://www.ticyclesindia.com/productfeatures.asp?pid=118	RR Cycle Mart in Ulsoor
Hero Thunder MTB	7-8K	Aluminium Frame 21/18/15 speeds V Cantilever brakes Aluminium  Rims	http://www.herocycles.com/thundermtb1.htm
LA Sovereign Navigator	10K	Alloy 6061 frame,Shimano TX 30,Shimano Shifter RS31 Front and Rear V-Brake with Rear Carrier Alloy Rim,Stainless Spokes Including Front Dynamo Lighting Set	http://www.la-sovereign.com/popup.php?qry=83&color=1	RR Cycle Mart in Ulsoor
Merida Matt TFS 100	25K			http://wheelsports.in/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=30
Merida Matt Sub 40(V,D,MD)	V = 22K D = 32.5K MD=25K
Merida Sub 20V	20.5K
Merida Sub 10V	16.8K
Merida Sub 5V	16K
Trek 1.5
Trek 3700	17K
Trek 4000
Trek 4300	23K
Trek 6000	(40K+)
Tarmac 2007
Decathalon Rockrider 5.3	24K
Firefox Target	12K
Merida Crossway	15K			Check at wheelsports

Will be checking out the bikes this weekend…possibly will further shorten the list or who knows…may already come to a conclusion..

Cheers,
YVR

Innovate or Die

Found a very very good photo on Rohan Kini’s (he’s the co-owner of BOTS) live journal ..

Links:-

Innovate or Die;

Rohan Kini’s Live Journal

Cheers,
YVR

Bicycle Information on the Web

Here’s a link to a very nicely written article that encompasses quite a significant number of sites that provide useful information for the bike enthusiast.

http://linuxandfriends.com/2008/10/17/useful-bicycle-related-help-sites/

Cheers,
YVR

500 kms and counting…

16th Feb: Went to work in my car. Carried my clothes for the coming week. Didn’t do the basic cleaning of my cycle over the weekend. I decided to do the basic cleaning (Spray the chain with WD-40 and apply light thin oil…wipe clean the frame and the entire cycle) on Tuesday.

17th Feb: 20 kms For some reason wasn’t upto cleaning the bike. I had seen a decent looking cycle shop on my way to office (after the old Kids Kemp, opposite the HAL quarters) and decided I would give the bike for servicing there. Went over and got the shock of my life, the owner an old man, was extremely rude, first he mentioned (literally shouted)that his technician is not there in the shop so it can’t be done…as though I was to blame for his technician’s absence, and then when I asked typically what work will you do for servicing, he mentioned “kuch nahi”…ie nothing, we will wash the cycle, and grease it…150 bucks…for “kuch nahi”…I decided to not drop the cycle there and continued to office.

Yippeee, I have completed 500 kms on the bicycle. Feels great..

Here’s a pic. of the bike (it’s not my bike, but a picture from Hercules website)..I will be posting a picture of me and my bike soon.

My cycle is Hercules Ultima 6 Speed. It’s serving me pretty good. I have had no major issues and it’s held me in good stead so far…

<side snip>
Office: Got a lot of work done at office, finished up the IRD and sent it out for review and the SRS review incorporation for the Femto Controller product. Got some good news from Viji about the diameter stack performance and that we could now do 3.5K TPS (14K msgs/sec) on a single core (4 hw threads at 1 GHz) PP50 blade. Immediately dashed a mail to the senior folks in the company admiring Viji’s efforts…it was great work by him..truly.
</side snip>

18th Feb: Again went to that same bicycle shop, since I didn’t see the old man there, instead a young chap, but much to my disappointment, this chap was also as arrogant. The way they mention that there’s no technician is as though we were party to his absence…oh well…in any case I had sprayed my WD-40 so my cycle chain was gleaming. I need to further clean to remove the grime, that’s slated for the coming weekend..

Total Distance Covered: 530 kms

Trip to Goa (Part 2)

Here it is, after a long long delay…finally I have decided to continue the narration. My earlier post is available here. Some photos embedded…

 

Sawani and Arjun in the car…

At Gokarna Beach

As you cross Panji and head towards Miramar beach, the place leaves you with never to end sceneries and you beg for more, wanting it never to end. The beautiful tree lined roads, extremely well maintained, row of houses/bungalows on the left and the sea/causeway at the right, with huge sea cruise ships making it an amazing sight. A sight that you rather want it captured in your eyes and heart, that one forgets to click snaps. Here are some..

On reaching “Panchavati” bungalow at Miramar beach, had clocked 14 hrs, trip meter showing 670 kms. Sawani, Arjun and I were really tired, but at the same time extremely excited to meet the folks who had driven from Mumbai/Pune.

 

Here’s Arjun in front of Panchavati, the bungalow where we stayed. So the gang was all there. It was the first time that all of us friends from college were meeting up with families together. We all met each other and the introductions were taken care and all of us and our better halves jelled fantabulously.

Families:-
Deore: Nitya and Shital with their daughter Gargi and son Arnav. In the photo below they are with Rhea, daughter of Mayur.

 

Here’s Gargi, photo taken by my son Arjun.

Dhokarikar: Vikram and Nital: Urf Mama & Mami (Seen at the back below)

Andu Chaudhari: This dude (in the foreground on the left in black) has not yet married, but being a post above the chief-engineer in the merchant navy, does come with the perks, that essentially translate to what’s the need for marrying eh ?

Kolwankar: Mayur, Mrunal and their daughter Rhea (and Gargi)

Nadkarni: Sanket, Sharmila and daughter Jenita (Unfortunately their not being at Miramar beach, I don’t have a family photo)..

and Ranade: Yogesh, Sawani and Arjun

So with the introductions over, we were treated to delicious and invigorating cup of tea made by Nital/Mrunal/Shital and all of us felt amazingly fresh. Goa does that to you. All of us relaxed, lazed around a bit for some time and then decided to head out to the Miramar Beach. All of us had a rollicking time at Miramar beach with the kids in particular literally having a blast.

We were really famished, so we decided to head to the Food Zone right on the beach, a nice beachside restaurant. We finally go the chance to parch our sore throats with the right kind of fluids that the body was craving for so much.

All of us gorged on beer, pizzas, burgers and truckloads of junk food. It felt good. Then headed back to Panchavati, our beer guzzling sessions continued way beyond midnight. All of us were in some sort of a frenzy…Vikram had got some cigars and we enjoyed them way into the night…all of us enjoying each other’s company.

The next day: 25th Jan

All of us decided to head out to Dona Paula in the bus.

It was great at Dona Paula, the pier was great.We carried all the drinks with us and had an amazing time. The kids were reveling in each others company and it was hard for us parents to contain them. Folks did some shopping, buying hats and loads of cashews..

It was lunch time and Nital and Vikram knew a great place for lunch at Calangute beach. So we decided to head out to Calangute beach, all of us had great time giving directions (since nobody exactly knew how to get there), with signboards on the road and Nital’s knowledge we reached Infantaria, a small joint. It was good, all of us enjoyed the meal. We spent time relaxing, guzzling beer accompanied by great food. All kind of items were ordered from fish, chicken, scallops to sirloin steak and lobsters.

We then decided to head out to Calangute beach for some fun and frolic. Sanket and family joined us at Calangute and now we were truly a gang. Calangute beach is extremely crowded, more so since it being a long weekend. But we managed to find a place and all of us went swimming in the ocean. It was great, kids and all of us really had a blast. We did have thoughts of indulging in extreme activities like para sailing, but the queues were horrendous…so decided to skip..We then found a shanty called the Blue Coconut Beach Shack and continued the fun. We drank like fishes and had an amazing time (time much needed and well spent)..Felt invigorating…

It was late till we headed back to Miramar beach…On the way back, in the bus, we had a program of story telling by Vikram to kids Arjun and Gargi. Arjun and Gargi reciting Shubhan Karoti, and then the “nav ghene” karyakram by Sawani and Yogesh (it seems they had done this program while on their way from Pune)..I totally flopped out on it…Sharmila had still to complete her quota of “nav ghene” but she just didn’t get the right words in the bus… The night was again spent having fun. Vikram and I headed out to order for some dinner and went to nice little restaurant. Food and drinks are comparatively cheaper in goa (unless you stay in some high end resorts). We relished on some Goan Made port wine and “Jambhul wine” , smoked cigars, had great food, catching up on all our college memories…We decided to extend our holiday by a day (everyone calling our individual offices informing them) and visit Tarkarli beach in Maharashtra.

The next day, got up had amazing tea made by Nital and all the ladies and sumptuous breakfast of cookies and biscuits. In the interim, I have an aunt who stays in Goa (Vasco), so thought of dropping her a line. My parents called me up and mentioned that they would be in Sawantwadi by noon. Considering that Vasco and Sawantwadi were in opposite directions, I mentioned to my aunt that I won’t be able to make it this time. She was disappointed, and I was profusely sorry for giving her such a short notice and not being able to make it..made her a promise that the next time we visit goa, we will definitely drop by her. She’s great and was more than accommodating. So the plan was that Sawani, Arjun and I would head out in the morning to Sawantwadi, meet my parents, have lunch and then head over to Tarkarli to gang up again. But there was a change in plan, these folks decided to meet us in Sawantwadi itself. Wet met my Dad and Mom at Sawantwadi. It was great…my dad used to work in Sawantwadi many years ago and we (as kids) used to visit him during our holidays. We saw the lake and the bungalow where dad used to stay. We met with Balu kaka, it was amazing, he seeing me all big with a kid.

Finally around 1pm the gang arrived at Sawantwadi and then we decided to head out for lunch in a local place where they serve some great local cuisine. The place was small, but smelt of lovely food. The service was pathetic, way under-staffed, but the food was delicious and homely.

After lunch by around 3:00 pm as we planned to head towards Tarkarli, some of the folks had second thoughts of going to Tarkarli and so the plan was changed to head back to Pune/Mumbai. It was a dampener…but it was allright..We then decided to head back to Bangalore as well…My dad mentioned to take the Amboli ghat, reach Belgaum and then back on to NH4. So we parted ways, these folks continuing on NH17 and we headed towards Amboli…We drove slowly, enjoying the ghat, debating whether to stay at Amboli ( I was pretty tired) but then decided against it..Lo and behold as we reach Amboli, we see the same Neeta travels bus and find the gang again at Amboli. Again all of us had some chit-chat but then we decided to continue our journey back to bangalore.

I drove all through the night  (sawani also didn’t sleep keeping me company…how sweet of her) and reached bangalore the next day at 6:00 am. Tired but invigorated…how’s that…

Was in office at 10:30 the same day…and then the reality sinks back in…

Cheers,
YVR

Momentum

11th to 13th Feb: 20kms each day to and fro from office. Nothing major other than curt looks from motorcyclists and honking from the BMTC buses, particularly in certain places where the road narrows and there’s a climb where I don’t give them the space to overtake…well I try not to loose my momentum as much as possible
14th Feb: 30kms: 2 loops (each 15 kms) finished in 1:48 minutes. This time decided to head out against the wind and covered the loops in the same direction. Non-stop, at the end, my ass ached like hell. But a couple of stretches and a quick shower helped me be back to wellness. .Felt good
15th Feb: Break

Total Distance Covered: 490kms

Broken Handle

11th Feb: Had an interesting day at office. Lot’s of work, had to finish up defining the requirements for the Femto Controller product and also was engaged with Motorola for an hour long discussion regarding our next Diameter release that is lined up for them for March 31st. Things are hectic, confusing - considering the downturn and what it’s effect will be beyond the next 30-60 days, my cycling has held me in good stead. I actually look forward to getting on the bike now, as it helps me unwind and collect my thoughts together, and since I do that I don’t feel tired probably or maybe it’s my stamina ;) My cycle gave me a surprise yesterday, in the morning after reaching office it seemed to be fine as I parked it in the parking lot. In the night about 8:30 pm as I started cycling back home, I thought the handle feel felt weird, it seemed to close towards my body. Was not sure what happened, until as I strode (standing up) on it, when I realized that the handle of my cycle had come loose and was swaying left to right. The bolt that holds the handle to the main frame of the cycle seemed pretty tight but it looked like the grip had swayed. Now not sure why that would happen. Any case, decided to continue cycling albeit slowly since I was experiencing extremely wobbly behavior. Slowly and steadily I rode, till I passed a cycle shop, it was closed, till I passed another one, that too was closed…none till I reach home I knew, rode on slowly, wobbly but surely, with people staring at me taking me to be a novice rider until i reached home by 9:30 pm. Decided to continue further about 0.5 kms since I knew there was a cycle shop ( i regularly visit to repair my son Arjun’s cycle) and I remember “chacha” mentioning that he normally runs the shop till 11 in the night. Unfortunately “Chacha” wasn’t there…so had to return back, cycle unrepaired. Will try to get it done tomorrow/today.

Cheers,
YVR

Pistons

My cycling has continued pretty well.

5th Feb: 20 kms: No pain, no tiredness. Absolute fun
6th Feb: 20 kms
7th Feb: Saturday: Decided to take the day off…
8th Feb: 30kms in 1hr 40 minutes. Decided to test my endurance and time my run on the 15km loop near my house. Started at 9:40 am and felt pretty good. Carried with me a bottle of water and was off towards Kundalahalli gate onwards to Hoodi village and then take the road to Whitefield, via ITPL back to Brookefields. Was able to do the lap (15 kms) in exactly 50 minutes. Had a heavy gust of wind hitting across me, so decided to travel the loop in the opposite direction. Was able to complete the next loop in again exactly 50 minutes at 11:20. Didn’t drink the water I carried, but my lips were pretty parched. Did a lap around my complex walking to get rid of the bums on the saddle feel. Felt pretty good. Now for the reason of naming this post as “Pistons”…well as Lance

Amstrong mentioned in his book “It’s not about the bike”, he felt his legs as Pistons hammering down on the pedals to propel his bicycle to great speeds…Although nowhere near and will never be, atleast I think I can imagine and feel some of the emotions that he goes through. Awesome…
9th Feb: Break: Went to office by car; carried my clothes for the next week
10th Feb: 20 kms. Had a near death experience, when was trying to come back on the road from the gravel near HAL helicopter division. My front wheel couldn’t make the jump onto the road (which was about 15-20 inches up) and I had to balance my cycle on the road, with a bus right behind me. Thankfully the bus was slow and was able to brake at the right time, with the driver motioning me that I was “ready for a launch” :) Any case what is life without the risk.

Total Distance Covered: 420kms

Cheers,
YVR

Technorati Tags: Cycle,Fitness,Pistons,Lance Amstrong

Cycling Continues

Being back from Goa, I have continued my cycling regimen. Here are the updates:-

27th Jan: 20 kms to and fro from office
28th Jan: 20 kms
29th Jan: 20 kms
30th Jan: Break. Went to office by car since it was my turn to haul all the folks for the regular Friday lunch
31st Jan: 15 kms
1st Feb: Sunday off
2nd Feb: Off: Had to carry my laptop, so decided to go by car. Also took along clothes for the coming week to be kept in office
3rd Feb: 20 kms
4th Feb: 20 kms

Total Distance Cycled So Far: 330 kms

Technorati Tags: Cycle,Exercise,Fun