Yesterday I and Param went to Chennai cyclathon. We were at the venue around 6:00am. Nowadays Chennai is cold at mornings. It was so calm and serene to ride in a bike across not-so-dark streets with no traffic. At the venue, after standing in 3 different queues and test of patience, we finally managed to collect our bibs & rent cycle for the race. The bicycle I got was little taller for me and it took some time for me to get used to that. The event started 1.5 hrs late and they reduced the distance from 25 Kms to 10 Kms. Finally they flagged off the ride and off we went. The traffic was blocked for us and so only cycles were on the road. The route was from Anna University to Madyakailash over the fly over and then a turn back at Tidel Park towards Anna university. I was not sure how fit I was. But once we started it was fun all the way. I was slower than my cousin who also participated but I made it a point to finish it. I was happy I managed to ride over a flyover. While I was riding down the flyover I lost my balance a little but somehow managed not to fall down (If I had fallen down I am sure there would have been lot of bruises). On our way back to Anna Univ, police didn’t manage traffic well and so we had to drive along with cars & buses. All in all, I managed to participate in an outdoor activity after months and it has definitely kindled my desire to buy a cycle …It reaffirmed my love for cycling :-)
It’s a new experience for us at Chennai. I and Param were happy to see big crowd who joined us in the ride. They didn’t mind to get up early on a Sunday and participate in this charity cyclathon. I also felt that organizers learnt a valuable lesson from their first cyclathon event (I guess it is their first time). I am sure they will do it better next year!!
