Tour de Park

I have fond childhood memories of cycling-it was the first ever athletic activity I indulged in (that is, if you don’t count leaping around like a frog when I saw a lizard). My father had bought me a purple cycle (that was my first ever favourite color) and my sister a pair of skates and she and I learned together. She went through the whole training process with her skates and I with my cycle. My grandfather anxiously watched from the balcony as we learned, fell, brushed off our wounds and started all over again. Unfortunately, Mumbai isn’t a city suited for cyclists and as I grew older, that interest died.

In a bid to check off all my items on my Singapore to-do list, I have been doing a lot of things for the first time recently. The one for this weekend was cycling around East Coast Park. I was super excited because I had wanted to do this for three years, but never got around to it for some reason or another. I was quite confident that I would be a pro, because my mother had told me that swimming and cycling are two activities one never forgets on learning-they come naturally even if one picks them up after years.

Early on Saturday morning, I set off. I rented a cycle and got on to it, with the confidence of Lance Armstrong. And crashed onto the ground. I tried again and again, only to realise I had completely forgotten how cycling is done. Finally I managed to balance myself and started peddling, but couldn’t go five steps before crashing down again. I was frustrated and embarrassed and went up to the rental guy and told him I wouldn’t be cycling after all. He said it was fear that was preventing me from cycling and once I overcame the fear, I would be just fine.

I thought over what he said as I pulled out onto the road. I haven’t exactly been known for my bravery. I always run away from situations when I feel it’s getting tough-whether its not appearing for exams because I don’t feel prepared enough, avoiding events where people I don’t want to see are coming or not doing things which I feel I would embarrass myself in/fail at. Ms GK 2 (The name for my delhi ex- flatmate henceforth since that was the first thing she ever told me about herself, “Hi, I'm *********. I stay in GK2 in South Delhi”) always used to tell me that I missed out on a lot in life due to my fear and I needed to work on it. In another context, a very good friend told me recently that I need to immerse myself fully into things, without any fear or expectations. Long story short, I decided to try again.

And lo and behold…I could do it, I could do it, I could do it!! It was the most amazing feeling…cycling with the breeze hitting my face, almost as if I was flying on a Nimbus 2000! I was in heaven! And once I overcame my fear and stopped saying Hanuman Chalisa, I started listening to my I pod instead. Wind whipping by your face, AR Rahman performing magic and the sea by your side…what more does one want! I was super-duper happy.

A few words of caution to amateur cyclists:

1. You will fall…A lot. And you will come home with bruises and scratches and aches. In case you have an old Aunty as a neighbour, who is as interested in your life as my neighbour is, please budget for some time to explain to her that these are wounds caused due to cycling-you are definitely NOT in an abusive relationship. Or, be smart and use concealer, and avoid the interrogation altogether.

2. Continuing from point 1, please focus on the road. You may think you are an expert since you have managed to stay on the bike for 5 mins nonstop, but don’t let that get into your head. As soon as I felt I had got the hang of it, I started sticking my tongue out at kids as I overtook them and smiling flirtatiously at all the cute Angrez guys I passed. Unfortunately, the same kids stuck their tongues out at me when I crashed a few minutes later and the Angrez guys smiled back, more out of amusement than flirtatiousness, at the sight of me lying in a crumpled heap.

3. You will have to pick yourself up when you fall. I thought the whole world would come to the rescue of this damsel in distress when she fell-but no one did. Ironically, the song playing on my I pod when I fell for the nth time and picked myself up was, “yeh duniyaaaaaa yeh duniya pitall di”. I will not embarrass myself further by quoting the next line.

4. An I pod shuffle is far, far better than an I pod touch when it comes to athletic activity. 

The party’s just started- Cheers to many, many cycling weekends, with lots of  nice sights (men and otherwise ;), lots of exhilaration and a few falls as well!