June 14, 2015. Cymour Sunday Ride to Dive Ghat. Total Distance: 45 kms.
It started out as an ‘everything will go wrong’ kind of a day. The back-up van was not available and I could not have my usual Scott as most of the cycles had been taken away for some major event in some other part of the city and none of the encouraging, familiar faces were to be seen.
I don’t have a good feeling about this, I complained. Should I go back home? Why do you have to be so negative, said my sister who was visiting from Mumbai and was very much looking forward to the ride. So I looked up at the sky with resentment and began to pedal grumpily on a lowly six gear bike sans helmet (they had run out of them as well).
The sky responded with equal distaste- the clouds were a menacing grey and kept threatening to pour down.
The first few kilometers passed in bearable silence. When my sister excitedly called me to stop and see a really magnificent eagle that she had spotted, I could barely give a shit. And when it started drizzling, the grumpy in my head, who had accidentally fallen to sleep woke up with the start and began shouting- I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!
Don’t get me wrong, I love rains (and birds). But when I am sitting by the window, listening to romantic poetry and drinking hot soup. But. Not. While. Cycling. It is not just the fear of slipping and falling. I have a practical problem here. I wear glasses and unlike cars, they don’t come with wipers. Don’t suggest riding without them, I have a very high number, and am almost blind without them.
The drizzle, however, never turned into a downpour. The clouds just gave us shade from the sun. The ‘lowly’ bike began to feel quite comfortable, the landscape slowly changed to a pleasant scenery and the breeze was lovely. Grumpy started feeling drowsy again and believe it or not, I actually began to enjoy the ride.
After a while, we reached the foot of the hills. It was suggested that beginners could wait there and have breakfast while the rest would go ahead and climb the ghat.
I decided to go. No, not because I have a ‘just do it’ kind of a spirit. To be honest, I am a ‘give up very easily’ sort of a person.
I decided to go, as much as I could manage, because I did not want to miss the downhill part of the ride. So I pedalled with all my might. The uncle behind me encouraged me to continue. After a while, my back began to hurt and I stopped. After a while, I rode some more. I still wasn’t even halfway to the top, but I decided I had climbed enough and sat down to enjoy the landscape and the few minutes of solitude. My awesome sister, I was happy to hear, had managed to go all the way to the top.
I stayed at my spot till the ones who had gone ahead started coming back and I joined them. The ride down the ghat was super fun and the high spirits it put me in lasted all the way back home.