Reviving my old faithfuls

After coming back from a longish tour of Ladakh on Monday, I got down to setting up my bike for the home trainer on the very next day. My HbA1C level has gone through the roof and I need to do something about it. I have decided that if I cannot find the time to ride in the city, I must ride the indoor bike trainer. It is good for preparing to go on a possible cycle tour in winter.

The whole set up sounds rather simple. My Merida road bike attached to the Elite Qubo smart trainer. I had used this combination extensively before my Darjeeling trip. I had Zwift subscription back then. But after that I have hardly used it and it has been generally gathering dust for a few years now.

Simple as it may sound, reviving old machines that have been lying idle is a daunting task, particularly electronic ones. So I set about it step by step. First I took the training wheel, lying alone unpumped for several years now. I have an exclusive training wheel only for indoor riding. It has a red tire that cannot be used on the road. It held pump fine even after so many years and I was delighted for it. Next I pumped the front wheel and later the regular rear wheel just in case I want to go for a road ride.

Next I installed the training wheel on the bike. The chain looked a bit dry and I decided to lube it later. I wanted to see if the Qubo was still fine.

After this I hauled out my trainer. It had an inch thick dust all over it. Cleaned it copiously with isopropyl alcohol. Then came the difficult task of installing the bike on the trainer. It is not an easy task. You have to align the rear wheel correctly and then clamp it from the two sides. 

It happened after some trial and error. The notches on the clamp have to match with the skewer's lever. Now I turned the switch on for the trainer and it showed the light. I was very happy. Electronics of the trainer was working fine.

My bike had two sensors. A cadence sensor attached to the pedal and a speed sensor attached to the hub of the rear wheel. Obviously the batteries were down. I took them off and replaced the batteries. Opening the battery chamber out and releasing the batteries was quite a chore. They were fine and quickly connected to the Garmin Edge 130. 

After this I downloaded myWhoosh, which is free and is apparently as good as Zwift. However, it did not work. It just could not find my trainer. I believe it cannot pair with Qubos. I checked Zwift. The app identified my Qubo in seconds. However, I have no intention of using such an expensive service for training. 

14th July, 2026

Jai shree RAM

I am using the trainer without any app. I have got myself a RAM X phone holder. I cycle with some podcast on. It helps me pass the time. Otherwise just pushing pedal in a room is extremely boring. I am doing 15 minute runs only. I plan to take it to 30 minutes soon. I start on the first gear and then progressively go down to the third or fourth gear but I keep increasing the cadence too. I try to reach an average cadence of 75. My highest is about 100. From 10th to 15th minute I do one intense session for a minute followed by a minute of relaxed riding. But during that phase I try to maintain the average cadence rate.

For example if on the 14th minute I rode at a cadence of 100 and my average is 75. On the last minute I maintain a cadence of 75 so that the average does not drop.

Meanwhile, my cycle did not fit the trainer properly the first time. The clamping was incomplete. The bike fell and somehow I managed not to get injured and arrested the fall. After this I fixed the bike properly and clamped it secure. Touch wood I have not fallen so far.

I ride with my Quechua boots and socks on. So far I have not used the AC but I sweat profusely after the ride.

SKS Bidons

I bought a pair of bidons from 22 Bikes in Bhubaneswar on 4th January, 2024. They cost me Rs 1080. These are SKS bottles. I have many SKS products like mudguards, pump, chainstay cover etc. They are a German company but most of their stuff is made in China or Taiwan (which is fine with me). They maintain a basic quality in their products. 

The bottles are 750 ml each. I used them during our Tour de Chilika. They work fine. The sipper is good. However, the walls seem thin. It might be an optical illusion and feel so due to the translucent colour. I don't know. They are pretty light, for sure. Will see how durable they are in the long run. These will be my go to water bottles now for most of my rides until they are lost, stolen or break down. 

Earlier I used to use two 1 lit steel bottles. One of them is lost in Sikkim during a birding tour. The other is badly marked and looks dirty. I don't mind the extra weight and value the larger capacity. But they can rattle and make a noise. These wouldn't, hopefully. 

 

Met Helmet

Experimental shot with R7 and 24-70

Today (13th December, 2023) I got for myself a greyish white Met helmet from Rito's. They offered it at 5K against the MRP of 9K because it was lying around for a long time and had gathered some dust - nothing that didn't go with some isopropyl alcohol.

Along with it, I also bought a cheap full sleeve jersey in saffron and a rear view mirror. The mirror is from a Taiwan company named Guee.

Being used to driving cars and motorcycles, I am very used to a rear view mirror on my right hand side. Subconsciously the eye goes in that direction even when walking. Also vehicles in Calcutta come very close to you and often cross you with hardly any space in between. Mezda was knocked down by a motorcycle a few months ago when it's protruding bag brushed against him. Luckily there was no other speeding vehicle coming from behind to crush him. 

I keep looking behind by turning the head. It's a good exercise for the spine and neck and I am quite good at it for my age. Another issue in Calcutta is the larger commercial vehicles often make so much noise that you think it is about to knock you down. Then you turn around and find it is nothing but a rickety truck, carrying construction rubbish to some dump and quite far off. The ones that do a close pass are almost always silent. 

So the mirror would help. Now on to the helmet.

My other go to helmet, the Merida black and green, is now 8K old. In summer the nylon strap becomes clammy and I need to wash it frequently. A spare helmet would help. I did buy a second Merida a couple of years ago. But it turned out to be an extremely cheap and painful helmet. The inner foam cushion has come off and it hurts. I guess I will give it away to the NGO that works with poor children and gives them cycles and teaches rugby etc. 

I loved the fit of this helmet and the colour. Apparently it comes with Mips technology. I have to study what it means. But it is some enhanced safety feature. I shall test it soon and give a feedback. As of now it fits fine. Have to see how airy it is. But given how chilly the mornings are now I have half a mind to ride in the morning with the warm woolen cap.

Mirror Comment - The mirror is pretty useless for me. A. the image is too small for me to see. B. If you can comfortably turn your head while cycling, this is totally unnecessary. In a nutshell, this is useless.

Squirt Lube

Pic taken on 9th May, 2024. Part of my new project to take photography more seriously

I had bought a bottle of Squirt from Rito a few months ago. Squirt is a wax based lubricant for bicycle chains. I cannot remember exactly when I bought it but that was quite a while ago. Might well be in 2022. But I never used it until recently. I was using my WPL wet lube which is a pretty good traditional lubricant. Before this I had a bottle of Finish Line dry lube which also worked just fine for me. I bought the Squirt more out of curiosity. I had seen its name being mentioned by a lot of people on international cycling forums. 

Sometime in end November (19th November, to be precise), I wanted to give my Surly chain a thorough clean. It is there since I bought the bike (more than 5000 km now) and has never really been taken off the bike for a thorough cleaning job. It is almost coming to the end of its service life. So I thought, before changing it I would give it a thorough clean. 

I took the masterlink off and soaked the chain in kerosene oil. After some time I brushed it with an old tooth brush. Then cleaned it in soap water followed by rinsing in clear water. After this I repeated the entire process once again because I found there was still some dirt stuck to the chain. 

Finally I dried it with a piece of cloth and let it drip dry by hanging from a hook. After this I installed the chain and lubed it with Squirt. I let it sit overnight and went out with the bike next morning. I put one drop on each link from the top.

But to my utter surprise I realised the chain was making an annoying continuous noise. Like a drone. After coming back home I cleaned the chain with a cloth. There was some blackish gunk. And I reapplied the lube. This time I kept the chain on lowest gear, as recommended on a youtube video. This apparently keeps the chain a little twisted and hence leaves a slight gap in the rollers to let the lube go in.

This time I lubed the chain twice. Once on the upper side and another time on the lower side. Exactly as suggested in the video. Normally I put a drop on each link from the top. This time I was a little more generous. I let it sit for two days, when I rode my road bike. This time when I tried it the sound was a little less but it was still there. I have always ridden in total silence and even the slightest noise leaves me very annoyed. As it is, I am quite obsessive about any continuous noise anywhere. I just cannot stand it. It draws my attention and I cannot concentrate on anything else.

I was very disappointed for the second time. I went ahead and applied another round of lube to absolutely no avail. 

So in total I applied three rounds of Squirt but the sound remained just as annoying. It's a continuous dronish sound. It stops the moment you stop pedalling.

What was I doing wrong? Most of the videos on the subject talk about applying Squirt on a new chain. And they talk about cleaning the chain (of the factory supplied lube) thoroughly, which I certainly did. But what I didn't do is clean the entire drive train. I didn't clean the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur. I had cleaned the front chain rings a little perfunctorily. I didn't even touch the cassette. The videos don't talk about the need to thoroughly clean the entire drive train.

I checked the chain. It had visible gunk all over, despite this being the dry winter months. A wax based lube is not supposed to have such gunk all over. So I told myself - I will clean the entire drive train once again very thoroughly and give it a last chance. If it still makes any noise I will either throw the bottle away or give it away to someone. Meanwhile I started riding my road bike in total silence.

A few days ago I decided to repeat the entire cleaning process but this time more thoroughly. I took the chain off once again. I cleaned it with the Ice Toolz degreaser (as opposed to kerosene) followed by soap cleaning. But more than the chain I spent a lot of time cleaning the two jockey wheels. I used a screwdriver to do the job. They became squeaky clean and started moving very nicely. I also thoroughly cleaned the front chain rings. I took the rear wheel off and thoroughly cleaned the casette. It wasn't dirty enough to require taking the casette off. 

After drying the chain overnight I discovered there was still some stubborn gunk stuck to the inside of a few of the links. I cleaned them individually with a thin screwdriver and literally polished every individual link with a piece of cloth.

After installing the chain I applied the lube. One drop on each of the link - once from the top, another time from the bottom. The chain was kept on 1st gear. 

I let the lube sit for more than 3/4 days. This was not by design but because it was raining in Calcutta and I didn't go out riding in the cold rains. 

Today, with some trepidation, I went out to check out how my intervention worked. I was quite determined that if it still makes any noise I will just degrease it and apply my wet lube. To hell with Squirt. I have a planned long ride in Orissa coming up. I cannot take any chance any more. 

But once out on the road I realised that the thorough cleaning job worked. The chain is absolutely smooth and silent. My normal lube also makes it quite smooth but wax keeps the chain clean and therefore improves its lifespan. That's the only advantage of wax.

So I am keeping Squirt for now. I will take it to Orissa because people say it requires frequent application. I shall see. As of now I am very happy that I solved the problem.

If you want to wax or Squirt your chain - please remember to abssolutely thoroughly clean the entire drive train, not just the chain. I think this lube being much thicker gets easily blocked if there is any gunk there in the links. So clean it up and give it the time to get in. And you have a delightfully quiet and silent chain.

I will change the chain once I come back from my Orissa ride. As of now the  stick showing100 per cent on my chain wear indicator is not going in smoothly, meaning there is still some life left in the chain. I guess in another few hundred kilometers it will become smoother, meaning it would be worn out enough to require a change.

Tubus Duo on Bridge Club

Yesterday I tried to see how the Tubus Duo front rack fits on my Bridge Club Mossy. I was prepared for a long session of trying various combinations of holes and bolts. But to my utter surprise it fitted just fine in the very first attempt. 

In the bottom of the rack go for the lower hole, on top choose the hole in the middle and as they say Bob's your uncle. 

After I posted a pic on the Ogre/BC group someone said his Ortlieb bags don't fit on it. So I took the front bags out of storage and put one on. No problem. It fitted just fine. I think Tubus and Ortlieb - both German companies - work together on their products. This guy probably did not have the front bags.  

I have half a mind to make a video on the process - that is how to instal it on the bike - but it seems so simple that it might really look stupid when turned in to a how to video. But then when I googled the subject "Tubus Duo on Bridge Club" there is nothing. So I might just make one for all it's worth. Perhaps the best idea is to make one showing how it is done on the Bridge Club and the LHT. That might have some takers.

Cadence Sensor

My Garmin Edge 130 is paired to a cadence and a speed sensor. While the cadence sensor is mounted on the

crank arm of the Merida, the speed sensor is installed on the training wheel. This morning I wanted to check my cadence and realised the sensor was not working. I was a little worried that it might have either conked off or the battery was down.

After coming home I promptly replaced the battery (I have a whole box full of these 2032 batteries) and to my great relief it was found to be working just fine. As is my wont, I had to once again learn the entire process almost from scratch. First you take the damn sensor off the crank arm. It is secured with a robust rubber band. Next you find out how the battery chamber is opened. That was pretty intuitive. But what stopped me for a long time is the question - how do you take the actual battery out of the slot? Turned out one has to press any of the sides of the battery down, the other side comes up. Otherwise there is no notch where you can slip your nail and jack it up. This is the ultimate in precision engineering. Not a micro millimetre is wasted.

The biggest challenge was taking the new Duracell battery out of its packing. I had to cut it open using a pair of sharp scissors !!!! 

But the great relief was when I saw the two tiny light dots signalling it was fine. I checked it out by turning on the Edge 130 and they connected almost instantly.

I wrote down the entire process here lest I forget again. I am not sure how the health of the speed sensor's battery is. I suppose it should also be changed. But then taking off the hub of the wheel is such a tricky thing to do.

I have decided to do cadence based fartleks at least once a week. That is you go for 30 seconds on high cadence and then cool off for another 30 seconds. Gradually you increase this 30 seconds to perhaps a minute. This exercise really helps. I learnt it while training on Zwift before the Darjeeling ride of 2019. 

Meanwhile, today is 3rd November and the cadence sensor is working fine. Here is today's reading.

Changing Brake Pads on Roadie

Day before yesterday I changed the brake pads (I am not sure if they are to be called brake pads or shoes but I changed the entire housing and rubber) of my Red Roadie. I changed only the rear ones in the first go and will change the front ones tonight. The Roadie's odo says 4262 Km (after the 10 Km trial run last night). It had the original factory fitted brake pads from Merida which had worn off, to put it very mildly. In fact after my August 21 accident I had entirely taken off the rear pads  and installed the bike on my Elite (on a trainer you are not supposed to use the brakes) for rehab at home, complete with the training wheel. The training wheel being slightly wider than the Merida regular wheel, it made sense to the brake pads off.

Now I have decided to do a 58 Km ride on my birthday this year. That would be better with the roadie. So it is imperative that I instal the new pads. I had bought these Kool Stop in February 2021 off Happy Earth. You can read the post about it here . The two pairs for the front and rear had cost me Rs 3000. They are super premium by Indian standards. The oridnary ones cost Rs 250 or so. Incidentally, now I find they cost Rs 2000 each pair. Of course the exchange rate of dollar has also gone up.

Before I get into the nitty gritties of how I changed, I must say the test ride last night was super smooth in terms of rear braking performance. I never realised what I was missing with those hideous Merida OE brakes. I will need to tighten the brake levers just a bit. Right now I am reading up on the subject of how to do that.

There is nothing hi-fi about changing a brake pad. In fact I had changed them in my Surly before my Darjeeling trip (from Tektro to Kool Stop). The main challenge is to know what type of brake you have and then buy the correct ones accordingly. After that it's a matter of just using the allen keys properly. Remember to fit them in the correct direction. An arrow is shown on the rubber.

But my case was slightly complicated. I had to increase the gap between the brake caliper and the rim marginally. Otherwise the pads wouldn't fit. After much brain racking I decided to slacken the brake cable a bit. Possibly it got slackened a wee bit too much.

These brake shoes have two washers and a spacer. I kept the spacer and one of the washers on the other side of the caliper. On this side I have just one washer. It's working fine. 

Before signing off, I must once again state that the new brake shoes or pads are simply excellent. Kool Stop really makes your bike stop very cool.

Tubus Duo Low Rider Front Rack

Today I accomplished what sometime ago seemed like a very daunting task, if not an impossible one. I installed the Tubus Duo low rider front rack on my Surly LHT's front rack. I had bought it a few years ago. On my first attempt it seemed completely impossible that the rack would fit my bike. For the life of me I could not see how it could be done. There are three holes where the bolts have to be tightened to secure the rack against the frame. And it seemed impossible that the three bolts could be properly aligned. 

But then the Tubus Duo is fairly well known in the touring circuit and so is the Surly LHT. Therefore surely it could be installed but I wasn't sure how. I even got a special skewer brought in from Happy Earth that does not have a key so that it wouldn't foul with the rack. I thought I would use it when necessary. In fact they are still kept safely in the cycling cupboard.

I couldn't find any youtube video on Tubus Duo. The Tubus Tara seemed more famous as a front rack.

Finally on a facebook forum for LHTs I saw someone's rig with a pair of Tubus Duos. His rig gave me the confidence that it could be done. In fact with this confidence I even bought a pair of Ortlieb front panniers from Stay Tuned. 

I thought I would try installing the racks with the mudguards removed. And after mentally postponing the installation several times in the past few months today I thought I'd try my luck.

So I first undid the front mudguard's two screws on the two sides. Next I started fiddling with the rack. Not much luck. I was beginning to get worried. Next I opened the instruction manual. The diagram clearly shows placing a spacer with the bottom bolt. I did that and bingo the damn thing went in without fouling with the skewer key. Next were the two bolts on the top horizontal tubes. They also went in without much drama. And I was finally done. Later, I removed the spacer and placed the mudguard's anchor point which acted as a spacer and it worked too.

I even removed the front wheel with the rack on. There was no problem whatsoever. Of course you cannot turn or rotate the key with the rack on but then you can unscrew the skewer from the other end holding the keyed side steady, which is what I did and the wheel comes off nice and easy. 

So here are the instructions for myself or anyone else who might have similar problems as me. For myself because I might soon quite forget what I did. Therefore it is prudent to write things down.

Shimano Gloves

Yesterday I got for myself a pair of Shimano gloves in size XL and colour red. The sub brand is Airway Glove. From Stay Tuned for Rs 1470. It is a thin pair without any gel. My Rockbros gloves have done 4K plus kilometers and may not last me for too long. That's why I got these. The gloves feel rather ordinary. 

There is nothing except the brand logo that can justify the price. Let me see how long they last. That can be the only justification for the more than double the price of a pair of Rockbros. 

The gloves do not have any closure around the wrist. Just a triangular piece of elastic. In fact the stitch had come off a bit on one of them. Got Monisha to stitch it.  

The one good thing about the gloves is that it is very very light. It hardly has any weight of its own. That's the in thing in the world of road biking. Some road bikers even shave their hair to reduce weight. They are known as weight winnies.

I normally require a pair of gloves to ride my bicycles (or even motorcycles) for two reasons. A. my palms sweat a lot and it becomes very uncomfortable, if not risky, to ride with such sweaty and clammy palms. B. it's safer to be wearing gloves while riding in case there is a fall. It protects the palms from bruises and cuts. Our natural tendency in a fall is to protect the body by smothering the fall with our outstretched hands. A pair of gloves can protect the palms in such a case. 

These half finger gloves are for my regular riding. For cold climes (if and when it happens) I will need a pair of full finger gloves. But that I will buy when I go somewhere really cold. Otherwise it will be a waste of money. Let me see what this winter and the next summer holds for me.

Cat Eye AMPP 400

 

Got this Cat Eye AMPP 400 from Bike Zone (or whatever the name is of the Salt Lake store) just before New Year when we went to Dibhai's house in Salt Lake. It's an excellent piece of Japanese workmanship. Quite bright at its highest and a little lower mode is also available to run it for longer hours. There are two blinker modes. But I realised it's a distraction to the rider. I tried riding with the full blast on. The button turned red after an hour and a half. I shall see when it goes completely dark. And then I shall use the less powerful mode.

They have given a very small USB cable to charge it with. The full charging time will need to be observed too. Right now I am down with Covid. Once I am up and running shall do all these tests. But now that I have two lights I am a lot more confident. Won't run out of light in a hurry.

I have nothing new to say about Cat Eye. They make excellent cycling products that are all made in Japan. This is my fourth Cat Eye product. I have had two Velo's (8 and 9) and one back light. All perform as expected. No drama. This light feels robust too despite being very handy and light. I think it is metallic. Not plastic.

In comparison to my 350 lumen Night Rider this 400 is a lot more bright. Possibly the reflector is of better quality. Looks slick and smart too. 

The unit attaches to the strap that one can install first on the handlebar and then clip the unit on to it. For charging or for taking it away in your pocket from a parked place it is possible to just slide it out of the strap. There is a small clip that you push and slide back. 

The NR comes with a rubber band kind of strap, which is also fine. 

Endura GV 500

It's been a long time ambition for me to go cycling in the Himalayas after retirement and I am well aware that I will need warm garments to do that. So when my favourite nephew asked me what to bring from England I told him to get for myself an Endura GV 500 insulated jacket. It's a bit pricey at 150 pounds but I never expected that he would refuse to take money for it. Incidentally, in case you are worried about the impact of this on his bank balance, his second car is a Porsche Taycan Turbo (yet to be delivered though). The first is of course a BMW.

Keeping the price part and who paid for it aside, this is easily the finest and the most comfortable piece of garment I have ever worn. It's soft, warm and very nicely packable in its own pocket into a small size. The fill is not down, which is one of the reasons I bought it. There is a new synthetic material called Primaloft which is a very premium replacement material for down that is increasingly being used in the adventure and active wear market. 

I have a down jacket for hiking in the high altitudes. It's a Marmot. Very warm and tested at -30 degree celsius in Chadar in winter. 

The disadvantage of down, apart from the whole ethical question, is it is much larger when packed and becomes a mess if it gets wet and in the mountains it always rains. Primaloft continues to work even if it is wet. Or so they claim.

I tried the jacket out one evening here in Calcutta in what was possibly 20 degree. I started sweating in less than 10 km. The only issue is that once I packed it in its own pocket and kept it in the side bag, crease marks came up on the fabric. I have kept it hanging in a hanger at home. Waiting for my next trip to the mountains. 

It has subtle but hopefully effective reflectors on the shoulder and two zippered side pockets. The chains are superbly smooth. They are not YKK but some other brand. A unique feature of the chain is you can unzip it from both upper and lower end keeping only the middle (or any other part) fixed. It is somewhat like a buttoned shirt where you open the top two and bottom two buttons open. This will be nice when you are feeling hot due to cycling but may need to pull it up soon.

I think it will make for a great jacket for around town too except that it has a cycle jacket's cut where the back side is longer than the front.

Endura is a Scottish company that makes top quality clothings and other accessories for cyclists. It has made quite a name for itself in this niche area. I hope this one lives up to the expectations. It is meant for gravel riding, which is what most Indian roads are in any case. I do not really know how a jacket is supposed to behave differently on gravel or on road. This is taking segmentation to its ultimate level. 

In any case, I hope the fabric is tough enough, being meant especially for gravel. It feels very soft and is extremely comfortable to the touch. Unfortunately it is an overkill for Calcutta. One sweats after riding with it for 10 km in the most biting winter evenings of Calcutta :-) So, I cannot really ride in it every evening during the short winter spell of our city.

However, in terms of keeping one warm in really sub zero temperature, it is not a match if compared to the Marmot that I have. One will have to layer adequately for using this in the high mountains. And I have to keep the Marmot handy too because even if the Endura is adequate while cycling, in really cold weather (Khardungla or Sela for example) one will need something warmer than this once the riding stops. 

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.