Waking up early in the morning and getting ready for school has always driven me crazy specially during winter when all I wish, is to sleep under the warm quilt but my sister would come and pour water on my face. The start of the day used to be in awful mood but then riding my Atlas Goldline (the Milkman Cycle model) down the road to school used to calm me down and I used to cherish the moment of competing with motorbikes, fellow bike riders and flouting the traffic signals.
Few months after joining my first company, I stared developing tires around my waist and it was then I decided to start with some health regime. I started with gym which only lasted for two months due to irregular work shifts and pain of waking up early morning. My self-esteem was low as I did not feel good about the shape I was getting in. It was then I decided to buy a cycle for myself. Without giving any second thought or some peer reviews, I went to a bike shop in Gandhinagar and got myself Hero Hawk with 15 gears for 4.5K. It was a good pick for someone with a constraint budget and love for speed. I started riding from home to office. The distance one way was 6 km and I used to enjoy doing it but somewhere down the line I started making excuses and eventually stopped.
The recent bike workshop by Fidelity Cares and FBOTS was a great boost to my dormant passion and going back home I dusted my cycle and was back on saddle. The speakers had genuine interest of spreading the message of eco friendly transportation mode via cycling and I was among the few who got infected with their infectious zeal. They shared their valuable experience and patiently answered to people's concerns and queries ranging from safety on road to eve teasing. The current state of world environment needs no statistics and our personnel experiences are sufficient to vouch for greener lifestyle. Examples of few personalities who have transformed their life from being PULPY to CLASSIC physique by a simple act of pedaling a machine, bolstered confidence in me that this simple act of cycling can change my life drastically too.
The arrangement of new and modern bikes for test drive was a feather on the Cap of the event. Post lunch many people had test drive of the modern bikes which was enough to fuel them and get them interested with riding bicycle for short commute and weekend activities. I drove all the five models available and was amazed by the swiftness with which this bike move and their gear and break mechanism which was an engineering marvel. I have now planned to give away with my motor bike plan but to upgrade my current cycle to MTB (Mountain Terrain Bike). Also, the cycling community (BBC) suggested by speaker is one stop shop for all queries regarding cycling and has amazing set of people to be friends with. I have already started getting invitation for weekend rides making new friends. I wouldn't claim of achieving body build of John Abraham but there are subtle changes which can be seen like few autotwallah's Thumping me Up, my landlady calling me for evening snacks and my office colleagues looking up to me for cycling tips. There are still few inhibitions which I would like to overcome in coming days but the sheer joy of reaching my destination before a motorized vehicle and riding on sideways when stuck in traffic jam and enjoying the gust of wind against my face is no match.
My love for cycle cannot be put in better words then our Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."
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