Pubic Ramus #

About twenty days before my 57th birthday I broke my pubic bone. Sunday, 29th August, 2021 to be precise. It was a cycling accident. Chenka and I were riding happily in the evening. We went to Rajarhat and then turned back from a big jam near Rajarhat crossing meaning to return home along the same route. On the way near Wipro gate Chenka suddenly pulled the brake hard because some old man on a cycle was trying to cross the road and I was close to him. So I crashed into him and fell hard on my bottom on the road. It was very painful. I had to stay on the road for some time. Luckily it was a service road without any vehicular traffic. I had also seen the man. I did not expect Chenka to pull the brake. We could have comfortably crossed the place without a collision and he didn't need to pull the brake. But an accident is an accident. I am blaming him, if you ask, but I don't have any grudge against him. 

 

When I finally got up somehow - after about five minutes - I realised there was no strength in my left leg. It was wobbly. I sat on the side of the road for about half an hour drinking whatever little water was left. The people nearby, there were very few there at that time of the night (around 8.30 pm), were very helpful. Someone picked up the phone which had fallen out of my back pocket (I was wearing the orange cycling jersey). I checked the pocket for the GoPro. It was intact. The cycle was also intact except that its chain had come off the chainring. 

Chenka did a basic check on my back and said there was no fracture. His logic was if there was one I couldn't have stood up. Later in hindsight I understood that that kind of superficial check would show a fracture only if the bone had broken into two or into several pieces. When there is a fall and a sharp pain there is always the possibility of a small hairline fracture. Depending on where it has happened we might be able to do some work (like I cycled 14 km with it) but it is best not to and aggravate the situation.

On the way to Rajarhat. Crashed later

We discussed that the worst case scenario was to call Partha with his Duster and go home in the vehicle with the bike disassembled and kept in the boot. But I took a chance with riding the bike and realised that I could. The small potholes or undulations were hurting. But I could manage. 

I rode very slowly. I was a little worried about crossing the No. 4 Bridge in Park Circus. But even that got negotiated just fine. I reached home and collapsed on the bed. I later realised that I had cycled 14 Kms with a fracture !!! In Ladakh I had walked the Chadar with a broken wrist for three days. You might think one does not need the wrist to walk but trying balancing on a frozen river with a broken hand. You will realise where the challenges are.

On the way back, I realised I was feeling giddy when I looked down and then pulled the head up. I remember not hitting the head on the road very sharply. While falling I remember telling myself make sure you don't hit the head. Hold the head high up. It still touched the road but not with a bang. There is no mark on the helmet. This giddiness was there next morning also but in a very mild form. Finally it went away, I don't know when.

Next morning I realised the pain had just not subsided. I could hardly turn. I told Partha about the accident. He is my doctor friend who does anasthesia for Dr Indrajit Sardar, an extremely reputed orthopedic surgeon who also knows me quite well through Partha. Last night we had thought of calling him if cycling was impossible. 

He said go and get yourself X-rayed and immediately go to Indra-da. He will be free by 12.30. You should not have cycled home for 14 Kms and called me. If there was a small injury you possibly aggravated it. Fracture in the groin region is very common from such falls.

I called for Ranjanda to be my driver. He kindly agreed to do it. Monisha accompanied us. We went to Nightingale. Got myself X-rayed. Mousumi, Partha's wife and a doctor of physical medicine had advised me on what X-ray to do. 

Indrada saw me outside his OT. He was very worried that I had possibly broken the neck of the femur. After seeing the plate he said no, there was no injury on the neck of the femur but he suspected that there possibly was a fine fracture in the ramus - the pubic bone. He made me lie down. Asked me to do a few movements of the leg. He was happy with my response. Finally he started pressing on the pubic bone. It wasn't hurting. Finally at one point it did and he said - there. You have the fracture there. Take bed rest for four weeks. 

So the entire month of September looks like is gone. Today is 9th. I got some strength a couple of days back. Today I did some yoga and feeling better on the butt. 

I shall give a better status report on the various pains tomorrow.   

Thursday 16th September, 2021

I started active recovery in right earnest after last Sunday. Started with stretches of the glute and some very mild stretches of the hamstrings. I was sitting on the floor with the legs outstretched and then tried touching the toes with my fingers, keeping the spine straight. After some effort I could touch my toes. This gave some relief to the butt. 

Having suffered for two years with my left wrist fracture I now know the value of rehabilitation exercise. The fracture had healed in a month but the range of motions and strength of the wrist - these are purely muscular issues - came back after more than two years. I was never told what sort of exercise to do after the fracture had healed. 

I started doing a lot of pelvic floor exercises (that is where I fell originally and sneezing was causing a pain there) and also clenching the thighs and other small exercises for the legs. Things started improving in a day or two. On Tuesday I was being able to take very small baby steps alone and without the stick support. From Wednesday this improved to a slightly longer steps. But I still have to hold the body straight while walking. 

As of now range of motion has improved dramatically - relatively speaking. Yesterday I even did Vajrasan for five minutes. Vajrasan causes no pressure or weight in the groin. But internal rotation of the femur is still a pain. 

Last evening I went down to start the motorcycle and the car. I checked the clutch and whether it causes any pain to depress the clutch. There was none. I think I can quite go for a drive to HSBC but I don't want to. I will go out on Sunday and see if I can go and see Maa.

Last night Monisha brought a small plastic inflatable ball. I used it for pressing between the knees and also between the feet. The later is a lot more difficult. 

From today sneezing is completely pain free. 

One funny part about looking for pelvic floor exercise, Google has started suggesting various sites that deal with Erectile Dysfunction. Normally one looks for pelvic floor exercise as a remedy for ED.

Friday October 1, 2021 

Haven't written in a while. I completed my 4-weeks last Sunday. Started walking from Saturday night. On day 1 I walked for a kilometer at around 18 minutes with considerable pain. On Sunday also it was the same. It had started paining from around 200 meters. But at 800 meters when I changed my posture a little and made the body more straight the pain subsided a bit. But on both the subsequent mornings I was totally pain free. Sunday morning I drove to Nightingale and got myself X-rayed. 

So being pain-free on Monday morning I went to office for the first time in almost a month. I soon realised that sitting on the chair for extended hours was proving to be painful. I walked from Bishop Lefroy's parking lot to the office with Monisha carrying my bag. But I went back to the car in the evening all alone with the bag strapped to my shoulder. It was not a problem.

That evening I set up my Merida on the trainer. First I changed the rear wheel and installed the training wheel. I had to uninstall the rear brake pads as they were fouling with the rim. This is a new rim. Possibly it's fatter by a mm. After that I set the bike up on the trainer which took a while. 

I climbed the bike and pedalled for a minute. I wasn't feeling comfortable. Of course I was in my slippers. I just wanted to have a feel and it was not okay.

Next morning I found there was some pain. So I worked from home. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were rest days with the last two days seeing moderate exercise.

Today I went to work again. I drove Monisha to Dalhousie and came back alone to Bishop Lefroy. Sitting beyond an hour makes it painful. I was constantly standing up and clenching my butts. Came home alone at around 4 pm. 

This evening I did a lot of exercise and felt rather strong in the leg. Monisha and I went for a bike ride. Basically to inflate the tyres. The driveway has become extremely slippery due to monsoon. My feet were slipping as I was trying to pull the bike out while sitting astride. Monisha had to pull it a bit. 

The driveway needs to be cleaned before I venture out again with the bike. It is dangerous. 

I had once before all this driven down to see Maa. I think that was on the third Sunday. I even climbed the stairs in Didi's house. Possibly I shouldn't have. I had also gone for a short motorcycle ride prior to that. 

I spoke to Indra-da over phone on Wednesday. After a look at the X-ray (organised by Partha) he asked me not to walk too much now but to restrict them within the house. He said after six weeks I should be fine. These fractures take six weeks to completely heal. He also advised against cycling any time soon but was okay with stretches. 

I think cycling would be a wonderful exercise for the thighs without any weight. Indrada possibly doesn't know how to cycle or has forgotten how it works. Cycling or swimming, as opposed to walking or running, is not a weight bearing exercise. 

My exercises

I routinely do butt clenching exercise every now and then. Forty times on each leg. At least 3/4 times a day with the first one being right in the morning after waking up. In the evenings I also do a lot of stretches. I recently bought some rubber exercise bands. I also got a rubber ball for strengthening the inner thighs. You hold the ball between the legs and press them hard. It is good and hurts a bit, particularly if I had the ball between my feet. With the ball between my thighs or the knees it doesn't hurt. 

With the rubber band I walk sideways while it stays in a loop around my legs. I also wear it for clam shells. 

October 5, 2021

Contrary to how most people react, I feel very charged up in the evenings on a working day when I come back home. I don't know what will happen after retirement but right now that is how it is. On the holidays I feel very lazy the whole day. 

Anyway, yesterday I did a lot of exercise in the evening. Started with butt clenching, followed by squats 10x3 > stretches for the lower body (glutes, hamstrings, quads etc) > banded side steps > clam shells > squeezing rubber ball > push ups and Trikonasana. It is the best for inner thigh stretching. I have made remarkable improvement in this asana compared to what it was a few months ago. 

October 6, 2021

 

Started indoor cycling from this morning. Did about 5 Km. The first ride was without distance measurement. That would be around 2 Km. For the next ride I added the speed sensor on the rear wheel. That told me I rode for 3 Kms. 

To activate the indoor mode on the Edge 130 you click ride settings and then choose indoor. Every time you do you have to reset it. The unit resets itself to GPS mode. 

I still don't have Zwift. I think I will activate the account once I start riding in right earnest. Perhaps in a couple of weeks. Today's ride was just the first tentative step. My doctor is dead against cycling at this stage. I didn't argue with him that cycling is not a weight bearing exercise for the legs. Actually yesterday I saw an Instagram post from the Liverpool footballer Harvey Elliott. He had a fracture in his ankle and was operated upon. This was much after my accident. Now he is posting photographs of him riding indoor trainers !!! 

Zwift is excellent for the training rides. Must do that also this winter to supplement my road rides. Just road riding every evening is of no use in terms of building long term endurance. I must do at least 3/4 training rides on Zwift every week. 

I have said it before and I must say it again. Without indoor training I couldn't have done Darjeeling.

Monday, October 25, 2021

Yesterday marked my eight weeks of the accident. I am doing exercises in right earnest. There is just one exercise that causes some pain after the exercise. That is - single leg squats or Bulgarian squats. The pain does not linger for too long. But it is pain nevertheless. Proper and normal squats don't hurt though.

Another activity causes pain. That is, if I sit for too long. It starts hurting after about an hour. 

I have bought a foam roller for myofascial release. It is an excellent thing for stiff muscles. But one needs some physical fitness to use it, particularly on glutes and hamstrings or quads etc. I bought it off Amazon for around Rs 600. Good value for money.

Masseur on call

 

My exercise regime is a bit haphazard. But I try to do most of the thigh strengthening exercises. I stopped indoor cycling for a few days because it was causing some pain. Possibly I was riding too fast. Will try at a lower cadence tonight and report.

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Ready for the first road ride. November 11. Should've tucked it in

It's been exactly three months since I had the accident. I can say that I am almost 99 per cent normal now. Last night I went for my second consecutive day of cycling. There is no pain. I cycled 20 Kms on Thursday including crossing the LG flyover from both sides. I repeated the same on Friday. I am quite pain free now. I can say that I am back to feeling normal on the bike again. 

It took me a while to come out of the road fear. The motorcyclists are so extremely irresponsible now that using the road - whether as a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist or car driver - has become extremely dangerous. 

I am using the Surly for these evening rides. But that is more for the Brooks saddle that is obviously a lot more comfortable. I also use my padded cycling shorts. 

I say 99 per cent because there is that very little stiffness in the groin region that reminds me about the accident. Otherwise I am fine.

 

In this last one month or so I had been cycling on and off. But every time I would feel some pain either immediately after my return or the next morning. I was using the heat pad to get some relief. I was even bringing the pad to work.

   

In November so far I have cycled only 82 Kms. May be it will be 100 by the end of the month. I hope to get back to normal cycling now and clock at least 500 Kms in December. Of course, December is a special month when there always is some sort of engagement in the evenings. That might affect my mileage. But I will try.

Monday, 29th November, 2021

On Saturday evening I tried to test the resilience of my groin muscles. I did Bulgarian Squats. Ten on each leg. There was some pain later. Something similar to a 15 Km bike ride few weeks ago. I applied the heat pad. Sunday night I repeated the squats. It pained a little. Heat pad again. I have to go through these pains and get rid of them once and for all. I checked with the pressing of the ball between the feet. I can do them quite fine. 

Bulgarian squats really test the inner muscles of the hamstring near the groin. These are squats on one leg while the other leg rests on a stool behind. There is an element of balance also in this exercise. This squat is ideal if you want a pair of tear drop shaped thighs. 

This week will be difficult in terms of cycling as I have some engagement or the other almost every evening for 4/5 days. Will carry on with the squats and push ups at home.

Independence Day Ride

 

Near Prinsep Ghat on Strand Road

This year's 15th August (last Sunday) marked India's 75th year of independence. A few days ago on a motorcycling forum in facebook someone asked what each member was planning to do on that day. I said, which is contrary to the way I am, that I would go for a 75 Km ride. Now, once you make such a public announcement on a forum you have to live up to it.

My preparation started a few days before the trip. I did not ride the previous day and tried to go to sleep early, which did not quite happen as English Premier League had just started and Liverpool had a match late in the night. So I could not wake up in the morning on Sunday. Otherwise my plan was to go out at 4 am in the morning and finish the ride by 8/9 am. I hate riding in the high sun. 

But as it turned out I made no attempt to wake up early. Instead, I ate a relatively early lunch so that after my siesta I could start the ride by 5 pm. In fact I woke up at around 4 and went out in an hour. I had the Pearl Izumi bib shorts and the orange Adidas jersey. The advantage with that jersey is that you can pull down the front chain to cool off. Otherwise for my normal evening rides I wear the lime coloured Adidas singlet.

Normally, these days I wear my Marmot trekking pants (with the bottom part taken off). But those are for 2-hour long, 40-Km rides. This one would be longer and not on my Brooks. So I dressed sensibly. I chose my relatively faster Roadie. 

Now finding a 75-Km long circuit in Calcutta is difficult. From home I went south and took Southern Avenue. Via Gol Park and Phari I went towards our school St Lawrence. Up Ballygunge Circular Road and then left from Lower Circular Road (now AJC Bose Road) I went towards my familiar Exide Crossing. From here I turned right towards Planetarium  and then via Victoria and Red Road I reached Eden Gardens. Keeping Mohun Bagan ground on my left hand side, I went to Strand Road to go towards Prinsep Ghat.

The area was full of holiday makers who had come to the river side for ice cream and generally roaming around. I went right up to the captured Patton Tank kept in the middle of the road and did a U turn. After negotiating the Prinsep Ghat jam I went straight to Dalhousie via HSBC and then farther up the road past GPO and RBI. 

From the burnt down Standard Chartered bank building I did a U-turn and came back to Victoria via Council House Street and Red Road again. The odometer didn't seem to register anything much despite all this riding. I went for a circle around Exide Crossing, Planetarium, Victoria/Hospital Road and back again to Exide. From here I traced the route back to St Lawrence and Phari again. Again I turned left towards Gurusaday Road and back to Southern Avenue via Ritchie Road and Motilal Neheru Road. 

In case you are still reading and not thoroughly bored out let me tell you that after this I did the Lake-Gardens-Abhishikta-Ruby circuit as well as the Lake Gardens-Gol Park circuit. When I reached the CRC crossing it was some 74 Kms. I took Kabir Road and finished my ride.

Bontrager Bottle Cages

The other day (I think Monday, 16th August, 2021) I went to Veloton and got for my Surly two aluminum bottle cages. They are that shiny stainless steel colour that I was looking for for some time. I intend to use them with the Velo Orange SS mudguards later. I was on the lookout for them for some time online and discovered them at the new store on Anwar Shah Road when I went there for a look a few days ago. 

They cost me Rs 795 for the pair and I installed them right away when I came home. They look nice and are fairly tight for my stainless steel water bottles. All the parts in the bike like the crank, pedals etc are this same shiny aluminum colour. Why should the bottle cage be any different? And the black Decathlon ones had become a bit lose, not to speak of their el cheapo look. 

Veloton has got the dealership for Trek bikes in Calcutta but as of now they have nothing except a few accessories like these bottle cages or bicycle pumps etc. The other Trek dealer who started with a big bang in the city few years ago folded up long ago (I think impractical shop rent killed them, like it kills so many other businesses in our city). Incidentally while Trek is the name of the bicycle brand (and perhaps the company too), Bontrager is the name they use for branding their accessories. This is my first experience with owning anything Bontrager. They are good in terms of price vis-a-vis quality. 

Post-Covid Comeback

I came down with Covid on April 7, 2021. Though not hospitalised, I was pretty sick and even had a black out on the second or third day. I did not cycle the whole of April (except for a few days before Covid) and then the entire month of May I took rest and tried to recover. 

I came back to the road on the first of June. It was a short ride. I realised that the going would not be easy. Earlier, cycling was never an effort. Now I realised that after a short distance of 10/15 Kms it required me to give more than I could. In the initial few days I had the added problem of not being able to ride my Red Roadie. I was riding the Surly which takes more effort due to its wider tyres. 

In June I rode a total of 136 Km. I don't think I attempted to ride any bridge for the first several days. Earlier I would ride the Lake Gardens flyover some 5/6 times. Mostly at full speed. 

July was a little better. I did 258 Km in the entire month. If it had not rained so much this number would've been more. But still I didn't feel that strength that I had in the pre-covid days. I never thought I was strong. My cadence was hopelessly low. My speed was very poor. Relatively speaking, after Covid I realised that in my pre-covid days I was much stronger. 

I rode for many days with Chenku and did a few 30+ kind of rides. But I knew that this wasn't my pre-covid form. I silently felt bad about it. 

Suddenly, one fine evening on July 20 (two nights ago) - after a couple of days of unscheduled rest - I realised that my pre-covid form was back. I did a total of almost 40 Kms at 20+ kmph (this is a reasonably good speed in pot-holed Calcutta with heavy traffic and extremely high humidity) and did not feel overtly exhausted after the ride. I could've gone for 40 more perhaps.

I felt like my pre-Covid days during this ride

On July 21, the next night, my speed was even marginally higher than this. I am right now at 258 Kms with ten more days of riding left in this month. I should be able to clock 400 Kms. At least that is the target.

In fact on 21st I taught a joker a brief lesson on why not to race with a hybrid bike against a roadie. This was on Anwar Shah Road at around quarter to ten. I never race with anyone on the road, except when challenged. If it's a child (usually from the slums) I let them win. This fatso on a hybrid with quite wide tyres was trying to race with me. He had a white helmet on his head and a small backpack. He was obviously commuting, which is nice. His  cadence was double mine and I was riding at a moderate cadence. We were just about side by side but sometimes I was ahead sometimes he was. Suddenly he tried to push very hard to overtake me. So I decided to teach him a lesson. With him a little ahead of me, I almost doubled my cadence and upshifted the gear also. Within a few seconds he was way way behind me. I didn't even look back to see where he was. I am sure he got the shock of his life. I just hope he realises that it was my bike vs his bike that did it. Of course it made my stomach ache a bit but the thrill of being able to teach a lesson to a joker was nice to savour. 

I am back to my pre-Covid fitness level. I felt really nice. Covid took away some years from me in terms of fitness and abilities. I think I am now on the way to gaining them back. My stomach feels very flat and straight and strong now. This is a sure fire sign of good fitness.

On 21st I had to deal with yet another joker in less than 5 Kms. This was a little after Shahid Nagar. This baldie on an ordinary hybrid kind of bike (with not so fat tyres and possibly without any gear) came up next to me. It was past 10 pm. He was obviously out on a joy ride. He suddenly pointed towards my front wheel and said "dada apnar tyre ta ki garte porechhilo"? Did your tyre hit a pot hole?

I felt a little worried. Is it bent or something or is there some visible sign of hitting a pot hole. Instinctively said, no but tell me why? Later I realised I had actually hit a large pot hole at high speed on Southern Avenue. 

Then I realised the fellow wants to know what happens if such a thin tyre hits a pothole. He said he wanted to get a similar tyre and asked me about the size of my tyre. I said this tyre is not available in India now due to government policy. He completely laughed away the point. I said please keep my phone number and let me know if you find it. 

I think he meant the size. I meant the brand. Anyway, he got into a side lane and went away.

Smooth As Silk

 

Last Sunday, 11th July, 2021, I cleaned the Red Roadie fairly thoroughly. I wanted to do it because a few days ago I had to ride in the rain for quite some time. 

First I cleaned the bike with the 3M Shampoo. Next I applied a little bit of kerosene to get rid of the black lube marks. This really cleaned up the bike. Now I wanted to experiment with my newly bought Formula 1 Caranauba wax. I thought I would experiment only on the front fork. 

So first I cleaned the fork with a little bit of isopropyle alcohol. This really made it clean and the natural new colour came out. But the real richness of the colour came out after the application and buffing of the wax. This glaze is really addictive. It makes you want to ride the bike right away. And the smell of the wax. Oh, it's addictive.

I finally waxed the entire bike except the chain stays. The bike now looks like new. Water droplets drop off the frame. And if I hold the frame there is no finger mark. I have to now see how long this lasts. Of course, I did the buffing with microfiber cloth only. The application was with the original applicator.

After this, I cleaned and lubed the chain. The usual process was followed. First with kerosene. Next with water and soap. After thoroughly drying it up I applied the new lube. WPL Wet Lube. I had bought this a few months ago from Happy Earth for Rs 600 I guess. This is a Canadian brand. 

The effect was simply superb when I rode it first on Monday. The bike became butter smooth. We in India call it butter and not silk ;-) The bike glides like a bird with not the slightest hint of any roughness. Of course the chain is new but then I had been riding with the new chain for about 150 Km. It wasn't this smooth before.

My experience with different lube brands is rather limited. Therefor my opinion may not matter. And I never say anything good or bad without using it. 

I have been using Finish Line dry lube since buying the bike. It's a reputable American brand with lots of good reviews online. I have never had a wet lube as they are not easily available in India. This experience with WPL completely changed my perception about what a good lube can do to a bike. In comparison Finish Line now seems like a very ordinary lube. 

WPL is apparently made from natural bio-degradable material. Apparently if the chain gathers a lot of dust it can be just sprayed and cleaned with water. I shall see how that works but sounds very hi-tech. I do not know what it is made of but it makes the ride very smooth. Thank you very much WPL.

    

 

Gear Cable Change For Red Roadie

Before I came down with Covid in early April 2021, I had replaced my old chain on the Red Roadie. After that i tried to tinker with the derailleur cable and ended up breaking it while trying to pull it too hard. I wanted to go and get it replaced but it did not happen and then I was down with Covid and then lock down started etc etc. So it got delayed and delayed

Finally last Friday, that is 19th June, 2021 I got it replaced at Stay Tuned. It was an unknown brand that they installed. While the cable cost me Rs 200, the total cost came to Rs 621 or something like that. They charged double the amount for indexing, which I think is on the higher side. Anyway, now the bike is running fine. 

They told me that I had routed the chain in a wrong way. I was a bit surprised because after installing the chain I had ridden the bike for something like 23 Kms. The bike has run only 3415 Km when the cable was changed. I asked them about the front cable and they said it looked fine. 

The bike is now rolling fine. 

Tubus Front Rack

Yesterday, while surfing through the Happy Earth store I suddenly came across a Tubus front rack. Not that I had a specific requirement for it right now but it was indeed in the wish list. After seeking Monisha's approval I placed the order. Apparently, they had just one in the warehouse. At Rs 11K it is not cheap. In fact if I had it brought in by someone it would work out much cheaper for me. But then you cannot really request someone to bring in a bicycle rack for you. It is quite bulky I am sure and no one will like carrying it. I do not know when it will come from Happy Earth. Perhaps next week. 

Tubus has quite a few different types of front racks. This is the Duo Low Rider. These are essentially two S shaped tubes that you fix on either side of the front wheel. There is nothing connecting one to the other like the Tubus Tara. There is another like the Surly one that has an elaborate ladder kind of platform in the middle (above the mudguard). I did not want that. It would be quite heavy and bulky. Happy Earth has the Surly model too. But I have the Tubus rear rack and the moment I saw the front one I went for it. 

(If you are not an Indian and chanced onto my blog - getting quality, high end products for cycles is not easy in India. Even if you get some reputed brands - getting a choice of different brands and varieties is almost impossible. So one has to be on the lookout all the time. You cannot buy them just when you need them. In my cycling cupboard I have two chains and two sets of brake pads. I am also on the lookout for Garorskin or Schwalbe tyres.) 

The online review for this particular rack is almost non-existent. All the reviews are for Tubus Tara. There are a few discussions of people who have had problems fitting it to their bike. But it was reassuring to find a few reviewers saying they are happy with it on their LHT. Some say that with the rack on the skewer becomes a problem and taking off the front wheel is an issue. I will have to see. I have the additional problem of the mudguard also :-)

I think there is a case for making a video on how to install it. I shall do the unboxing live on GoPro when it arrives and show the pros and cons of installation. Let me see how it goes. 

Wednesday, 24th February 2021

Fedex delivered the big box at the office yesterday. I am yet to open the box at home. I will do the entire unboxing in front of camera. Therefore I will do it when I have the time. Possibly around the weekend.

January Gran Fondo

Indulgence at 99

One of my cycling goals for the year 2021 is to do a century ride every month. The January century ride wasn't somehow happening, though in terms of daily rides it was turning out to be one of the most productive months in my short cycling life. The last two days of the month were weekend. On Friday evening I didn't go out, thinking that I would do the century on Saturday, so I must rest on Friday night. But Saturday came and went. I couldn't motivate myself enough to go out for the ride. In fact I ate my breakfast at 11 or so. It was cold in the morning by Calcutta standards. I thought I would go for an evening ride and slept the entire day. In the evening also I felt sleepy and went back to sleep, intermittently watching English football. I told myself I will go out tomorrow, like I always tell myself every Saturday in winter. Sunday was the last day of the month. If I didn't do it I would miss the January target, right in the beginning of the year. Also, my monthly odo was showing 725 Km. That was another motivation. I wanted to push that to 800.

Sunday morning came. I couldn't get up early enough. My target was 6 am but that remained illusive. Finally after 10 am I decided that come what may I will go. I must go. May be a late lunch but I will go and at least finish the 800 Km target, if not a century.

Went out after my usual breakfast, which now means two eggs, one piece of toasted bread, a toasted bacon and some green peas. Took two boiled eggs in the small Apidura bag and two bottles of plain water. I also carried a packet of Electral in my pocket - just in case.

For the unsuspecting stranger who might be reading this - what follows after is a rather drab route description and may not make any sense to you unless you know the roads and geography of North 24 Parganas. 

As is my wont, I didn't have any plan. This is the benefit of solitary cycling. I went towards Golpark and then off towards Gariahat, meaning to go towards Gurusaday on the way to the Red Road area. At Gariahat red light crossing I was on the extreme right lane. When it turned green, all the vehicles to my left started turning right towards Ballygunge station. After some time I decided to follow the herd and turned right. Okay I will go to Rajarhat. 

During Durga Pujo Chenka and I with Atish had gone to Badu via Kharibari. At that time we saw a wide four lane road meeting the Kharibari Road on the right hand side. Evidently it came from the New Town. So this time I thought I would explore that road, as it meant quite a short cut and of course the opportunity to ride on a nice new road. 

 

I got the exit right in the first attempt. The main arterial road of New Town takes a sharp turn to the left towards Rajarhat and VIP Road/Haldiram's. This is after the Eco-Park. There is a big traffic island there with artificial rock climbing walls, subways etc. From this point I turned right and kept moving straight. It's a wide four-laned sort of road. As of now it's all vacant plots of land on either side but in a few years I am sure this place will have lots of buildings all around.

As expected, this road met Kharibari Road beyond Rajarhat. From here I turned right towards Kharibari (going left would bring me on the Rajarhat junction going towards VIP Road). This Kharibari Road, as I had discovered during my Pujo ride, has now become a nice wide road. It used to be a narrow road with water bodies all around even a few years ago. But now I can see visible signs of urbanisation all around with large, tall buildings. Work is on to make it four-lane up to Taki Road. I stopped for a moment to drink a glass of Chhatu (ground chhola powder, mixed in water with chopped onion and chillies - poor man's health drink but very tasty and mildly spicy) from a road side vendor. It was quite a refreshing drink for Rs 25 only. Off I went towards Kharibari, which was around 10 Km from the point where I emerged on the main road. 

Last time I had turned left from Kharibari towards Guste (my grandfather went to a school here), Kanchantala, Badu, Madhyamgram. This time I pushed further on. I wanted to see Taki Road where the Kharibari Road ended. As per my calculation, it should come at 46 Km from home. And it did. Kharibari, incidentally, was 42. 

Taki Road is a T-junction. Here one can turn left towards Barasat (Chapa Dali Morh) or right towards Basirhat and on to Taki. I had originally meant to come back tracing the same road. But once there I turned towards Barasat. I wanted to see how good or bad Taki Road was. Turned out Taki Road was pretty bad and not at all suitable for a narrow wheeled roadie. 

I wanted to check out the new road that goes through our village. It connects the Kharibari Madhyam Road with Taki Road. I thought I would find it from Kadambagachhi. But they said no, the road is to be found near Dharmatolla. So from Dharmatolla I found this new road. Kanchantala is just 2.8 Km from here. This road goes through my village Kuberpur. 

My Parents 

It was quite a cultural shock for me. The first thing I found here was a three storied building which is a multi-gym. I cannot imagine a multi-gym here near my village where my cousins don't get a square meal every day. I soon found myself cycling through Kuberpur. I saw the small house my father had built. The old brick road is now a narrow but concrete road. My father would have been very proud of this. I regret that I have done nothing for this house. I somehow never liked the local village society here. They are not only extremely poverty stricken, the cultural atmosphere of the village is terrible. I heard extremely loud music blaring from some speaker in what used to be Khudu or Ronu Jyatha's garden. Some picnic party was having a good time. 

I remember taking this road in the 90s to visit my parents when they would stay in the village for a few days. It used to be a narrow village road with paddy fields on both sides and small village houses full of green orchards. Now it is urbanised in a very ugly Indian way. Sree-heen as we call it in Bengali. Meaning, looking shabby and impoverished.

I regret I could not keep this last wish of my father. I did nothing to keep the small one-room house in a well maintained state. It looks like a haunted house from a distance (not the least because our aunt had committed suicide setting herself on fire in our balcony). I cannot imagine ever going and spending even a night there. I will write about this in some other post somewhere else. To keep it short, the abject poverty of my cousins there shocks me and embarrasses me. We support them financially for their children's education or in some crisis but there is a gulf of difference between them and us. Both financially and culturally that I cannot reconcile myself to.

I soon cycled out of the village. No one noticed or recognised me. Reached Kanchantala which is now quite a well populated square. I remembered my parents standing in the sun there for long to catch a bus to Calcutta. We didn't have a car then. I cycled through Badu, which is a big town now. Even the small non-descript sweet shop where my father would customarily stop to get some sweets is now a swanky shop. I thought of stopping there but didn't. Pedalled on towards Madhyamgram. 

From Madhyamgram I was on the Jessore Road towards the airport. The road is much wider now and from Doltala in fact it is a four-laned road. Once on VIP Road I saw my odo was showing only 70 Kms. If I took the straight VIP Road I would reach home at 95. So I entered Rajarhat. At Gariahat I was still 95. So from Jugal's I turned towards Southern Avenue and went towards GolPark. Near Anderson I bought a chock-o-bar for myself and ate it at 99 Km outside Narayan's tea stall. I hit 100 infront of Menoka and reached home just after 101. It was well past 4 o'clock. I had a late lunch after a big shower. Didn't feel too tired. But it was a very dusty ride. 

I did not need the eggs. Drank one bottle of water and a little from the other one. Of course finished the other bottle when I reached home.

My cycle is all dusty. The front wheel I thought had come loose. I tightened the skewer. Next morning I took the Surly to work and didn't ride the customary 40 Km evening ride. Tonight I will. Possibly on the Surly but with the Brooks saddle. 

New Brakes For Roadie

 

I just got for myself two sets of brake pads for my Red Roadie. These came in from Happy Earth and cost me around Rs 3000 for the two pairs. These are arguably one of the best brake shoes available in this country, if not the world. 

The brake shoes that I have are there since the beginning. They came OE with the new bike and it never occurred to me that they might ever need to be replaced or might even need cleaning. After taking them off at around 2500 Kms the other day, (read about the cleaning here) I realised they were hopelessly damaged from use without maintenance. I am not sure if they require an immediate replacement (they are working fine as of now and the bike is indeed stopping pretty well, save for the hideous, gritty noise once in a while) but I went ahead and bought the new sets nevertheless. I don't want to wait for even a day if and when the current ones give way. Right now there is a terrible crisis of bicycle components and accessories.

I will keep a detailed note about how to replace and adjust the pads, when I do replace them. I know it's very simple but still I would like to keep a detailed record. 

Incidentally yesterday I did an adjustment to Mezda's rear brakes. He felt the brakes were not hard enough and asked me to ensure that it aligned perfectly with the rim on the left hand side, which I did. After getting back home he reported it was holding remarkably well. Seems like a happy customer. My only customer so far. 

Saddle Comfort

 I am so much in love with my Brooks B 17 that recently I swapped the Surly's saddle with the Red Roadie's. Since I was not riding the LHT and was taking out the RR every evening I wanted to go for the more comfortable seat on that bike. The LHT had the Brooks while RR had the Shimano. To keep the swap process simple I took out the entire seat post and placed one into the other, so that swapping it back would be easy, if I need to. 

While the Roadie became super comfortable, despite its geometry being different, the Surly has become super uncomfortable (I use it for the short office commute once in a while). Now, I am a little puzzled by this. I have ridden the Surly with the Shimano seat on before. In fact before the arrival of the Brooks that was my installed seat on the Surly. It wasn't so uncomfortable then. I went to Darjeeling in this combination. So what could be the reason for this new found discomfort?

I have two possible explanations. A. I have got used to the comfort of Brooks B. The seat post has a major role to play in saddle comfort. 

The LHT seatpost is a stainless steel one, while the Merida seatpost is made of aluminum alloy. But I must also add here that the Red Roadie with the Shimano seat and Merida saddle wasn't as uncomfortable as what the Surly feels now. 

My Daily Cycling And Goals For 2021

 

Before reviving the Red Roadie 

After the lockdown was lifted in 2020 and offices partially re-opened, I had started commuting to work on my LHT. Around this time I also started cycling every day in right earnest. I was quoted in Telegraph and the TOI etc. This routine of cycling every day for fun continued for a few months. 

Sometime in June/July I also installed two new tyres - Continental Gatorskin - on my Red Roadie. They were size 25, as opposed to my OE tyres that were 23. This dramatically improved the comfort level of the bike. I don't know if it was the slightly broader tyres or the make and model or a combination of both that did it but the bike became more welcoming for me. This made me ride the bike more frequently.

Sometime after the Pujas Monisha started going to office more frequently and I had to drive her to work. So I started cycling in the evenings. This dramatically improved my daily mileage. I started riding around 400 kms every month for a few months. Mostly on the Red Roadie. I guess the lower temperatures of the season also helped.

January has proven to be the most productive month so far, in terms of total distance cycled. Till date - 27th January morning - I have already done 650 Kms, riding around 5 days a week. I am sure I can do 800 Km this month. 

When I started this new year, my goal for the year was to do 5000 to 6000 Km, with one gran fondo every month. But the way things are going and if this can be maintained through summer and monsoon I am sure I can clock above 10K Kms. But I am happy if I can make a total of more than 5K at the end of the year.

As of now every evening I ride for two hours covering 40 Km. My cruising speed is 25 Kmph (that is on decent stretch of road and without traffic interruption) and the average over two hours, given the bad roads and heavy traffic, is around 19/20 kmph. I feel a little exhausted at the end of the ride and drink a mug of milk and banana smoothie mixed with some whey protein. Once in a while I stretch the legs before the ride but I have to make it a daily habit. As yet, I am injury free. 

I think one major difference maker was my decision to ride in heavy traffic to work. This made me accept traffic as part of life and ride even in the evenings. I wouldn't call it more courage. It's just that I am now okay to ride in traffic because the pleasure of riding is very high and I have become more accepting of traffic. Of course it slows me down but I don't feel intimidated by them. I take adequate care not to do stupid things like change lane suddenly on a fast road. After that it's all in the hands of God. 

I now have the Brooks installed on my Red Roadie too. And it's now super comfortable to ride the bike. Only issue is that, at this rate of daily riding this tyre will wear out by the end of this year. I don't think they can last for more than 5/6000 Kms. So what happens after that? India has well nigh banned tyre imports. My tyres were perhaps two of the last tyres that were imported. At the time of purchase I had no idea about the import ban and frankly I never thought I might be riding close to 800 Kms a month. 

Now we have to depend on someone to bring them in for me. Of course these are folding tyres and it should not be a problem for someone to bring two of them but I have to pay for it from here. Let me see how to address this. I have got to do something about it. 

Few Learnings

If I don't ride for two days, it becomes difficult to go out on the third day. But once I am out I am good for 40 Kms. I have often gone out thinking I will do just a short 10 Km ride but ended up doing 40.

So forcing yourself to go out is a good strategy. Even after one day's rest one feels lazy to go out. I often wonder whether taking a complete rest day is a good strategy or whether one should go out for at least a couple of kilometers. Since my riding intensity is not very high I might get away with this. 

I am better disciplined on working days. I get back home at around 6/6.30 and off for the ride at 8.30 pm. Rarely have I deviated from this. On holidays however, when I sleep the whole day or laze around, I find it lazy to go out at all. Every Friday night I go to sleep promising to wake up in the morning of Saturday and go out for a Gran Fondo of 100 Km but I find myself waking up at 8.30 or even 10.

 

Brake Cleaning

My Red Roadie is now almost 2500 Km old. For the last few weeks I had been hearing a most annoying sound whenever I pulled the brakes. I have rim brakes on both my bikes. To get rid of the sound I had cleaned the rim a few times with alcohol. Things would improve for a day but again go back to square one. The other day I took the pads off one by one and cleaned the shoes thoroughly. They were pretty dirty, as you can see. Truth be told. They had never been cleaned since my purchase. Shiny metal deposits were visible as evident from the photograph. 

Rim brakes for road bikes are really simple. Just one nut and two washers on either side hold it to the post. First I tried cleaning with a fine grade emery paper kept for my tube repair. It failed to do a thorough job. I tried various methods. Rubbing them on the carborundum block meant for sharpening my knives was one. The final removal of the last bit of the shiny thing was achieved by using my heavy duty iron file. 

I do not know if I over did it but possibly a lot of rubber got rubbed off and it might not have been even uniformly sanded off. I am hoping that the rim will eventually rub the pads off to a uniform flat. The braking efficiency has improved a lot, no doubt.

There was still some noise coming from the rear brakes. It is not really a squeal. More like someone was dragging a large bamboo along a road. A rough vibrating kind of noise. I adjusted the pad to make the front touch a little before the back. This is called toeing. Things seem to have improved quite a bit. I will have to be alert. I also adjusted the torque in the rear brake's central bolt that holds the unit to the frame. It was so loose that one could turn it by hand.

Today I also ordered for two sets of Kool Stop brakes. The brakes I have as OE on my Red Roadie are integrated and brand less. That is, you cannot just replace the pads. You have to change the whole unit. So I invested in a good pair of brakes costing me close to Rs 3000 for the two sets. Ordered them off Happy Earth. I have Kool Stops on my LHT also, upgraded before the Darjeeling trip. 

I will change the existing ones on the Red Roadie when they stop working, which I suspect will be pretty soon. 

After the upgrade I will just need to change the pads and not the entire unit including the holder. 

IceToolz Multitool

Now that I ride both the Red Roadie and the Trucker I was thinking about getting another set of multitool. My Crankbrothers stays in the Red Roadie's saddle bag. The Trucker, which I ride less now due to Monisha's regular office commute, is ridden without a multitool unless I was going far with it when I take the Crankbrothers out of the Red Roadie. 

So the other day when I went to Rito's Stay Tuned I picked up this IceToolz multi tool. They have two types. I picked this up which is a little more expensive at Rs 650. I picked it up due to its sober colour. The cheaper one had a very loud lemon green colour. 

This tool has all the basic Allen keys that might be necessary on the road. A few fancy spanners are there but I doubt I will ever use them. It does not have any chain breaker. 

Brooks on Roadie

 A few days ago I did what I was meaning to do for a long time now. I took the Brooks out of the LHT and put it in the Red Roadie frame. I took it out along with the seat post so that it was a quick change. I never knew road cycling in Calcutta would become so smooth and comfortable. I am waiting for either Guria or Gublai to come. I want to buy another Brooks. There is no question about the comfort factor.

Initially I was a little concerned about the saddle's suitability because of the change in sitting posture. On the LHT my position is a lot more upright. Here on the roadie I am a lot more inclined forward. I thought the saddle would have been used to my upright position and whether it can handle the other posture equally well.

I realised, after the change, that my reservations were completely unfounded. It is just as comfortable. I will not change my saddle unless I was selling the bike. Period. 

I know there are people who hate the Brooks experience. I think I love it. The gentle flex that it has is a feeling unparalleled in anything else. Of course I have not used the famous saddles that are known for their comfort. But I am quite happy and don't need to look any further any more.

First Fall of 2021

Two nights ago I had the first fall of 2021. Hopefully this is the last. It was a minor fall and there was neither any major bruise nor cut. Just a small pin head sized cut between the fingers on the left hand and a bit of pain on the left hip. I got up almost instantly without help and rode back home after a 12 km normal ride - albeit a bit slower than usual - and a short visit to a friend's house.

I had turned left from Acropolis mall, as I was coming from Ruby and found half of the road was blocked by pedestrians walking gingerly. I went to the other side of the road to overtake them. After crossing them I cut back left. Here at the last moment I realised there was a road divider. I tried to cross it vertically but it was a round and smooth plastic divider. In an instant I was down. I was on the Red Roadie.

 

The fall happened at 1:6:40 in the lane opposite Acropolis Mall

I fell on my side. None of the attached things fell off the bike. The lights were still on. A few young boys came to help me up on my feet. I thanked and told them I was absolutely fine. Jumped on the bike and pedalled off to Shilbhadra's house.

Initially there was pain on the knuckle, elbow and the hip. All on the left hand side. The knuckle turned out to be a minor cut under the gloves. The elbow pain was gone soon. The hip pain was more pronounced. But I could ride back home. Yesterday, Sunday I was at home the whole day. But that is my usual routine on a Sunday. The pain subsided a bit. I don't think there is any fracture. These are muscle pains. I had two paracetamols, 1000 mg each. I did some IT band stretches. 

Tonight I propose to go out again. Possibly with the LHT.

I think recovering from this type of pain is all about fitness. If you are fit you suffer less. I see footballers falling and getting hurt in collisions all the time. But they recover so quickly. They would limp for a while and then go all out again. Except fracture and muscle pulls footballers hardly nurse an injury for long. 

I intend to do a lot of stretches tonight, of the glutes and hamstrings, before going out.

Tuesday, 5th January: I did go out for a ride on my Musafir last night. It was slower than usual but the effort was perhaps more. The wider Schwalbe tyres are really slow. There was no pain while riding. Before the ride I did some stretches and Padmasana and Bajrasana. Didn't feel any pain.