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.