Monday, March 26, 2007

Cycling - a new found passion !

The last time, when I ever used cycled extensively was during the summer and winter vacations trying to explore the Mylapore locality along wth my buddy neighbour, way back when I was in my 6th or 7th Std @ school. Seemz like am trying to get in terms with those days back again ;)

Things came through when I came across an event - 'International Cycling Race on East Coast Road (ICR on ECR) '. I was really eager to participate in this one and got in touch with the event organisers. The event was scheduled for the evening of 19th of Jan 07, and participated in the event using my friend's cycle which I'd borrowed the earlier day~! The event went on well; however reduced to a 5km (cycle for cause joyride), as the corporate event scheduled, had to be cancelled due to logistic constraints.

I'd really enjoyed driving along ECR, the ride from home to the venue - Mayajaal was a memorable journey in itself, sans the hot sun. It really struck me why not I make cycling a weekly activity, say a Sunday morning, when cricket net sessions are not happening (cricket will forever remain my 1st love :) )

The endeavour would also help me being active and agile, and yeah, most importantly help me cut down a few xtra calories and stay fit....lol!

The 1st of my cycling spree started out on one of the weekends in Feb 07. Being my first of the rides, stopped at the ECR Toll post and pedalled back home (total distance covered: 24 km in 1 hr 35 mins).

The week after, ventured out a bit further to ensure I improve upon the distance covered the previous week, and pedalled on till Mayajaal..added 1 extra km. (total distance covered for the day: 26 km in 1hr 55 mins)

The consecutive week (3rd March 07), was eager to better my previous 2 outings and cycled the distance whch could be covered in 1hr on an onward journey. Definitely no too bad I felt - reached Muttukadu - boat house by then! (total distance - 38km in 2hrs 15 mins)Then, headed back home, and on the way took some well-deserved break to replenish myself, and gulped down coconut water from a roadside vendor. Felt really good! Reached home, yep as ever the return journeys have taken more time than the onward ones, thanks to the scorching sun and strain on ur calf muscles and the burgeoning traffic.

The last and most recent one was on the 10th of March 07, wherein completed 40 km in 2hrs 35 mins. The route as ever..the same, jus going past a few kms ahead of the Muttukadu boat club, crossed a narrow bridge and turned but at a Punjabi Dhaba!

Looking forward to continue with this and hope to go on till Mahabs sometime before the end of this year. Am sure its possible for sure, just tryin to ensure I've done all the basics right by gradually increasing the distance to ensure its an enjoyable and fun trip.

A couple of things one needs to keep in mind while cycling/running along ECR is that - its definitely a great stretch, but at the same time is quite risky as the roads get narrow at times, with the bikes, cars, buses and lorries whizzing past you...Its also a good thing to carry along a kit which has a small bottle of water/drink, and a couple of choc bars to munch along on the way!

The last 2 weeks have been quite busy with some work in office, and have been totally away with any kinda physical activity :( But now seemz like things are fallin in place, and I should be back in action with good workout sessions.... More as it follows!!! Till then tc ;-)

Have a great day!

Cheers,
Vignesh Raja

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice post dude. I love cycling too but the place where i live in is difficult to do so. Have fun and hope to see more posts coming from u...

Capricorn 83 said...

hey thnx a ton buddy! ;) try chckin if u can join sometime! its definitely fun!

Ravi said...

Keep this passion alive man. Alternate with running. We still need to make it to Toll-Gate on ECR !

Anonymous said...

Good one ,Vignesh!!!!!!

Capricorn 83 said...

@ Ravi - Thanks Ravi, sure sure..am jus doin that :)
and yea yea...still due to complete our run to ECR! will make it soon :D

Capricorn 83 said...

@ Archu - Thanks Archana :)

Arbit said...

Good one buddy.