Fiction & Nonfiction

The Pleasure of Pedalling

If you ask me what the strangest thing in the world is, I would say it is the human mind. There is no other explanation besides for the way in which I think and I behave. Anyway which of our actions does not hark back to our thinking and attitude?  None whatsoever. Take my bicycle interest for instance. What else is accountable for this rekindled interest in a sport, which I abandoned as a hopeless one three decades ago? Sheer attitude and the prospect of a challenge of course.

In my home country, India to be precise, after every two weeks I feel like a change.
This leaves me with two options. One, visit my local relatives or go shopping. Both proved to be boring in the long run.

The first because people have their own schedules and would prefer their time divided as they planned. Also very few would have something new or different to talk about. As far as shopping is concerned I have never been able to enjoy shopping as some people do. Even window shopping did not attract me so much.*Yawn*

So how else could I provide change to myself? Should I start learning a new skill like typing or speech making? The first needs nimble fingers and the second a nimble tongue both of which failed in satisfying my inner self as I discovered after a while. The other alternative is to visit my sons settled for good in the far flung foreign shores.

Actually it all started in the basement of 57 Fremont Street, a rather sedate and sleepy backwater in Boston. The important question is why have I opted to take up cycling at this late hour in life, in forties.

Several reasons really. Let us look at the aesthetic ones first.
Consider the carefree air it lends to the rider. Look at the elegance in flight. The easy take off and the sauntering pace it allows. The effortless merging with the surroundings.

No constraints of the seat belt or the narrow confines of a four-wheeler. You are out in the open all the time breathing fresh air and enjoying the company around you.

As for the mere material aspects, no gas and so no unhealthy fumes to breathe in. In other words riding a bicycle is both economical and healthy. All one needs to do is to pump in air into the tyres, check brakes,*Check* adjust the gear and the seat height as per your requirement and you are on. The helmet is necessary to avoid any kind of head injury. Cycling no doubt saves time that one spends on exercising.

Above all cycling develops the element of 'balance'.*Cool* This, after all is the key factor in the art of cycling. To begin with, one starts practicing on single pedal and then go astride the seat and practice with both feet on both pedals. I had to often check the impulse of going full speed which without the knowledge of applying the appropriate brake could really, really hurt.The whole secret of mastering bicycle riding is to practice balancing by turning the handle bar, a little to the right and a little the left. The idea is to stay in the seat without falling.

Thus it went with me for a few days. I emerged from the confines of the basement and discovered the delights of riding in the open.

In my case I was lucky to have found a huge playground attached to a school, which was usually vacant after the school hours.

Despite fear and the strong inclination to stop the whole painful process, I went ahead for the excitement and the feeling of exhilaration provided by it.

As the days passed (it took about 6 to 8 days) I was occasionally cheered by the people who have been witnessing my effort on the bike. 

After a couple of weeks in the solitary field I ventured on to the road and was doing pretty well till a certain evening. On that particular evening as I was returning home, I didn't notice the fast car, when I was about to cross the four road junction. When it went past roaring I got panicky and almost ran into a pillar on the sidewalk.*Shock* Luckily, I turned the handle a little and the right balance saved me from a heavy fall. *Smile*

I learnt that riding a bicycle consists of a compendium of actions. It includes pedaling with the first half of the feet, looking ahead of the road and not down, gripping the handle bar ever so lightly so as to make it easy to turn either side, brake when in doubt, freewheel when the ground allows and never get into a panic or lose cool.

Once I started feeling confident, cycling became a source of great pleasure for me.*Delight* It took my mind off the mundane worries and made me more tolerant towards the quick-tempered people around.

It took away the painful shyness I suffered from all through my life and made me more forthcoming and free both in expression and action. It made me understand that the world is not ' too much' to live with, rather it is vital to our happiness. *Thumbsup*
Oh! I must go now. It's almost time to get on my hobbyhorse, my own Pegasus