School days. 90’s. Almost everyone cycled to school. Boys had cycles with handles turning up in the sky and girls, ladybird. Our whole bunch of girl gang had ladybird cycles. All colour variations. I remember distinctly which colour belonged to which friend. Enter – Phase College. We wanted our own bikes. Who cycles to college? That is so old-school ! Scootys, Activas, Splendors and Pulsars ruled us. Zig-zagging on them through the (not-so-crowded) streets, air flowing through the hair was an eye-catcher. And then we evolved our commute-selves to cars, super bikes, super cars, cabs and more cars !

Getting out of home, having a comfy seat below our fundaments, that takes us to another comfy seat at work and back to our comfy sofas at home. This is today’s “bottom-line” story. This is not a blame game, and no one is an exception. This is the generic flow of the river in which we all are flowing. One day, we had an impulsive moment that led us into buying the bliss : bicycles. No thoughts, no plans, it just happened to us, and we are so glad it did. I am not writing about this to  urge you to go and buy one or get into this but just to share awesomeness we could experience with the pedals

1.Experiencing your own city in a unique way :

Thanks to the wonderful and super traffic, you can never cycle in your own city during the routine day or eve times. (Applicable to India!) You have push yourself for an early morning ride or a midnight ride and that is the best thing that can happen. You will get to see your city in the most beautiful form. You will fail to recognise the same roads that you drive on in extreme bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions. An experience worth waking up or staying up for.

2. Self Motivation

Seeing your own data on fitness apps boosts your morale and the fact that you are getting better motivates you to keep going. This holds true for any form of exercise. But the fact that your “joy ride” is contributing to your healthy body and fitness is worth taking into account.

3. Zero Emission

The feeling of contributing your little bit towards zero emission and an eco-friendly way of moving around is satisfying. For shorter distances, you can always chose to pedal to your destination and play a small role for the environment. I personally feel that the damage done by humans is probably beyond repair but since the lines : “Hope is a good thing. May be the best of things and no good thing ever dies”from The Shawshank Redemption :  are my favourite, I always feel good about cycling in this way.

4. Freedom

Stuck in hours of traffic jams, choking out of air conditioners, we have forgotten what magic a little cool breeze of air can do to us. Be it an early morning walk, a run or a cycle ride, the breeze that gently touches you fills your moments with positivity. While on the two wheels, you are free! Free from the four windows, from the mental block that you can do nothing to change your mundane routine. Breaking away from the stereotype that “cycling” is only for kids, pedal your way to freedom.

5. Stuff

This point may be to please the ‘shopoholic’ in you but you indeed get super awesome stuff related to fitness (cycling in this case) these days. Stuff that will become your investment for your own well being and not just be hanging there in your home. Im not much satisfied writing this pointer but if it inspires any one of you to at least go and check out the stores, i’ll have you one step closer with us.

6. Fancy Things

We first had our ‘cycling moment’ as adults when we visited Germany a couple of years ago. Germany is a cycler’s paradise. It even has a highway dedicated to cyclists. You can carry your bicycle in trains and buses to distant places. The Green Index of Germany is exponentially high.  Europe is full of cycle stories. Amsterdam has more cycles than people maybe. We find all this fancy when we visit countries abroad, then why not bring and carry the same spirit back home? We had the same experience when we visited Pondicherry early this year. While roaming in the French Quarter, most of our photographs featured a bicycle on the backdrop of a bright wall. It will just take a movement and a change in frame of mind to bring the same culture in your own town too. Seems like a herculean task but then, nothing is impossible!

7. Feel Good

Leaving aside the environment, our fitness and all other ‘said’ things, the most important point that I See is the “Feel Good” factor. It can in no way be explained and you must experience it yourself. It is a good feeling. A feeling that you are doing something right. That you are going against the negativity. And that all this is a source of a different form of innate energy.

Thats Why, Cycling !

P.S. India is a magnificent country and we live on a beautiful planet. Please do not litter. Be a responsible traveller.

All photos are clicked and owned by us. Please drop a line if you want to use them.