The maiden highway ride

Yesterday I went as far as the Dankuni Toll Plaza. I went in through Bally Bridge (46 Km) and came back via 2nd Bridge (30 Km). A total of 76 km. Apart from being the longest ride so far, it is also the first time that I rode on the highway. To add one more first to this ride, it was my first group ride. The rest of the group went as far as the Singur CCD and I came back on my own after a daab and chhatu sarbat beyond the toll plaza with the group.

Incidentally, this is also the first time I peed when I was wearing the cycling bib. It's simple - you take the helmet, t-shirt and waist bag off. Pull the damn thing down and just do it. No one bothers to look at you. I did it by the side of the highway in a desolate place though.

Now back to the ride. First, the special learnings from the ride.

I think riding on the Kona Expressway was the most dangerous thing to do, particularly in the sections where the road is divided into three lanes. I was on the first lane which was being used by the aggressive buses. I had to go down on the side walk several times to let them pass. Finally I decided to take the middle lane, which I noticed was not being used by anyone. This felt a lot safer.

Another critically important thing, to ride on the highway is, your neck should be absolutely supple and flexible. You are on the extreme left of the road. Trucks are flying past you with very little gap when one is overtaking the other from the wrong side. Now a local three-wheeler is coming down the track in the wrong direction towards you. You realise that there is truck coming from behind but you aren't too sure how far behind. So you don't know if changing lane is a prudent thing to do. Turning your head, you find you can turn it a little more than 90 degrees (4 to 5 o'clock). You must be able to turn 180 degrees. Otherwise it can be dangerous. Turning your head 180 degrees while seated on the cycle is not easy, at my age and fitness level.  

In my case, I stopped. The three wheeler also stopped inches before hitting me. I turned my head back with my left toe on the ground. Saw the truck off and then proceeded. 

The places where roads merge are also pretty dangerous, particularly if the other road is merging from the left hand side. I started coming to a dead stop at such mergers and then would go to the far left when there was no traffic.

Now the ride.

As I said earlier, this was a group ride for me. I knew none of these people before Sunday morning 5 am. I had posted on DoW that I wanted to go as far as Dankuni Toll Plaza via Bally Bridge to come back via Kona EW and if anyone would be interested to come along. 

Sumanta Rana Sengupta, the guy in an orange jersey squatting in front, responded. But he wanted me to reach Ruby at 4.30, which was difficult for me because it would entail leaving home at 4 and waking up at 3 am. Not really feasible. Finally it was settled that I would try to make it to Science City at 5 and see where they were. 

Upon reaching the bend where the PC Connector turns towards ITC at around 5.10 am, I found a seniorish gentleman in blue helmet and black jersey (he is standing next to me in the pic and his name is Mr Sanjay Kumar Daga) waiting by the road side. I asked him if he was waiting for Rana and he said yes. I was so glad that I found the group in the darkness of the morning. We moved a little ahead and found Rana was already there along with a few other guys. I introduced myself and I must confess I cannot remember any of the other names now except for the guy in the extreme left who is Idris and the other senior gentleman with a goatee and an orange jersey - Mr Dipak Lal. 

Off we went. We cycled straight down the By-pass. Took the new Ultadanga flyover and stopped near the VIP-Jessore Road crossing where this photograph was taken. We moved on towards Belghoria EW and hit NH 19 (earlier NH 2) near Bally. On the way we stopped briefly for a quick photo session near a place where there was a bifurcation with one road going to Nivedita bridge and another going to Bally Bridge. We took the later. Our next stop was after the Dankuni toll plaza where I saw the odo had hit 46 Km for me. 

Here everyone had daab and chhatu sarbat. I also met Mr Arvindhan Ganesan (he has been my facebook friend for long) here who had come from Shyamnagar to this spot to ride with the group. Mr Daga refused to let me pay. It was time for me to say good bye to the group. They would go as far as Cafe Coffee Day near Singur. For me that would be too far. So despite them asking me to come along, I declined politely and started the return journey alone. 

According to my calculation it would be another 30 Km to home and that turned out to be perfect. Before starting the return journey I did another first. I peed. This demands special mention because I was wearing a cycling bib which makes things difficult. I took off the helmet, my T-shirt (I don't have a jersey) and my waist pouch. Pulled the straps off my shoulder and just went for it. No one quite bothered to see what I was doing on the side of the highway. And even if anyone did I couldn't care less. 

The return journey was uneventful except for the fact that it was my first solo ride along the highway. Never for a minute did I feel overawed or anything. I know this highway like the back of my palm. But then driving on a road in your car or SUV is one thing. And riding your road cycle alone is quite another. The only point worth noting on this trip is that 2nd Bridge is really tough. Very steep and for a very long stretch. 

Oh yes. I hit a lunatic person near Kadamtala Crossing. He just came out from behind a stationary truck, running, to cross the road. It was too late for me. I think I kind of nipped him on the heel. Neither of us had a fall. 

Back home I did a few stretches for my glutes and quads and hamstring and I am fine. But yes, while crossing the bridge before Salap I realised I hardly had any more strength left in my left hand. The wrist had become jellyish. I did not even have the strength to push the gear shifter for the front chain ring. The hand is still bad. I am finding it difficult to even blow the horn of my car with the left hand. 

The effect of the wrist fracture is obviously still there. I have to work on it.