Sane Bike Loony Rider: Ep 5 The Morning Weekday Rides
For the regular readers wondering if I have forgotten how the days of the week work, or that I don't have a job anymore, let me reassure you, that is not the case(mostly). I simply thought that if I can wake up early enough, I can go for a quick ride even on a weekday.
I managed two 5:30 AM rides this week, on Tuesday, and today, Friday. The previous one had me going on a very familiar route, down the HAL Airport Road and back up to Domlur via the dim back roads of Yemlur and the Wind Tunnel road. Now, the reason I picked such a familiar route, is because I had made an educated guess that these roads will not have adequate lighting to see where on earth am I going, and I was right. Surprisingly, even the main roads did not have the street lights on, and I took the help from the headlights of the few vehicles at this hour, mostly buses. The worst of it was a small narrow stretch of really rough terrain that was pitch black at that hour would most likely have strays napping around. Now, its never a nice feeling to accidentally hit a dog especially since you can't see anything and worse if you're in a vulnerable position(like on a cycle) where the dog can get its own back. Luckily, I hit no stray nor any major potholes and made it through. Surprisingly the part of the Wind Tunnel Road that connected through the open wilderness to the next leg of the road was very well lit. And as I rode on, barely tired, the cool breeze in my face, the orange sky of the rising sun, I enjoyed that overtly familiar road like never before.
From there I went via the EGL to Ejipura and headed back home. By now, it was 6:30 and the day was starting to get bright with more vehicles on the road. Today's ride was a bit more adventurous however. I had read an article that stated that the road to Cubbon was quite nice for a night ride, and at 5:30 AM, that's what it feels like, so I made that my destination. Now, agreed, my last ride had been to the same venue, but with a group, I didn't quite remember all of the route. And the GPS instructions interrupting the music in my headphones would be a bit of a bummer for the riding experience. So, I memorized the route as best I could and set off. The riding surface from HAL to MG Road is quite smooth with the freshly laid tarmac, and with not much traffic around, truly a joy to cycle on. Now, I remembered the first half of the route very well, it being quite straight forward, but for the second half I got lost a couple of times and had to stop to use the help of Google Maps. But these stops were too minor to affect the riding experience of well lit streets on smooth roads through Bengaluru with little to no traffic.
The fun of a good ride, at the hour right before dawn, on unfamiliar streets, I must say is near addictive. As long as I can keep discovering new routes to shuffle up with the old ones, this weekday riding could become a regular enough activity. Who knows? I might find people to join ME this time.
Oh, and on a personal note, I would like to share that as per the tracking app I use (Strava) I hit a new personal best max speed of 65 kmph. Also, if you;re wondering, both these rides were of 18-19 km and with no breaks, I covered them within 50 minutes.
As always, hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to share and comment.
I managed two 5:30 AM rides this week, on Tuesday, and today, Friday. The previous one had me going on a very familiar route, down the HAL Airport Road and back up to Domlur via the dim back roads of Yemlur and the Wind Tunnel road. Now, the reason I picked such a familiar route, is because I had made an educated guess that these roads will not have adequate lighting to see where on earth am I going, and I was right. Surprisingly, even the main roads did not have the street lights on, and I took the help from the headlights of the few vehicles at this hour, mostly buses. The worst of it was a small narrow stretch of really rough terrain that was pitch black at that hour would most likely have strays napping around. Now, its never a nice feeling to accidentally hit a dog especially since you can't see anything and worse if you're in a vulnerable position(like on a cycle) where the dog can get its own back. Luckily, I hit no stray nor any major potholes and made it through. Surprisingly the part of the Wind Tunnel Road that connected through the open wilderness to the next leg of the road was very well lit. And as I rode on, barely tired, the cool breeze in my face, the orange sky of the rising sun, I enjoyed that overtly familiar road like never before.
From there I went via the EGL to Ejipura and headed back home. By now, it was 6:30 and the day was starting to get bright with more vehicles on the road. Today's ride was a bit more adventurous however. I had read an article that stated that the road to Cubbon was quite nice for a night ride, and at 5:30 AM, that's what it feels like, so I made that my destination. Now, agreed, my last ride had been to the same venue, but with a group, I didn't quite remember all of the route. And the GPS instructions interrupting the music in my headphones would be a bit of a bummer for the riding experience. So, I memorized the route as best I could and set off. The riding surface from HAL to MG Road is quite smooth with the freshly laid tarmac, and with not much traffic around, truly a joy to cycle on. Now, I remembered the first half of the route very well, it being quite straight forward, but for the second half I got lost a couple of times and had to stop to use the help of Google Maps. But these stops were too minor to affect the riding experience of well lit streets on smooth roads through Bengaluru with little to no traffic.
The fun of a good ride, at the hour right before dawn, on unfamiliar streets, I must say is near addictive. As long as I can keep discovering new routes to shuffle up with the old ones, this weekday riding could become a regular enough activity. Who knows? I might find people to join ME this time.
Oh, and on a personal note, I would like to share that as per the tracking app I use (Strava) I hit a new personal best max speed of 65 kmph. Also, if you;re wondering, both these rides were of 18-19 km and with no breaks, I covered them within 50 minutes.
As always, hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to share and comment.
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