It's Not About The Bike... Or Is It?

Let's face it, only Lance Armstrong can dare say that it's not about the bike, for the rest of us mortals it's as much about the bike or may be more than it is about us. Consider this scenario for example - I am stopped at a red signal, standing next to a Honda Civic and am drawing more attention than the car from people around me. Is it about the bike? Hell ya! Hopefully by the time you are finished reading this post you will realize what makes the bike more noticeable than a Honda.

(More photographs at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=198483&id=528135688)

When I took a fall from my bicycle about a month ago or so, most of my friends asked me to be safe... when I had a close call with one of the BEST buses last week again people reminded me of safe cycling... same thing happens when I tell them that I ride on the express highways as well. The fact that I ride at night sometimes also troubles the people who care for me. These things lead people into thinking that I am not a safe rider. Quite on the contrary in fact. I consider myself among the safest cyclists in the city. Let's start from the safety equipment - I use a high quality imported Helmet to protect my head, cycling glasses to prevent my eyes not just from pollution and particles but also to increase visibility in rain, gloves to reduce the impact of handle vibrations and to prevent abrasions from a fall, professional grade knee guards and elbow guards to prevent injuries during a potential fall or a vehicle hitting me while moving too close, a powerful headlight to help me see and help others notice me at night, a flashing tail light to let other drivers see me, reflective tape on the wheel along with the regular reflectors and a reflective band on my ankles that also prevents the pants from getting tangled in the cogs. Now let's talk about riding style - first of all I consider myself as just another vehicle on the road and I follow all traffic rules. I stop at red signals, I stick to my lane, make appropriate signs while changing lanes or turning and maintaining the right speed.

I think every car driver or motorcyclist or bus driver is used to watching cyclists go at slow speeds and then change directions all of a sudden to land up on their way... and that's what they are expecting from every cyclist now so when they find someone who is actually behaving like a cyclist should, they just don't know how to react. They still honk at you from miles away even if you are two lanes apart. I think what hits the other vehicles the most is the fact that I can go pretty fast and sometimes faster than them depending on the road condition and the traffic. I have had motorcyclists and car drivers make remarks at me while overtaking, without realizing that they are barely at the same speed as me or slower if I am the one doing the overtaking.

Then there is something to be said about watchmen and security guards... I am not sure why these folks happen to not like cyclists so much. I have had trouble with them at my office parking, at Vihar Lake, at IIT Powai and so on... I would like to think that I am making the least amount of trouble for them of all people they come across but it's probably about them wanting a vent for their day to day frustration and a cyclist is probably less likely to retaliate than a car driver... size does matter after all.

The people who seem to enjoy my presence on the road the most are the street kids. They will admire all the major and minor details about the bike (whatever they can notice)... the most common ones being the gear system and the disc brakes. I have had strangers (mostly other cyclists) or kids ask me about the price of the bike or where I bought it from. The kid that works in my neighbourhood grocery store rode past me one day and asked me if I live in such and such building... every time I go out to ride at least 5-10 kids wave at me or make some funny comment... sometimes they will ask me to give them a ride... some of them would even try to tempt me to race! You look at their behaviour, compare it with the behaviour of other people and can't fail to realize that the craze for cycling is primarily limited to teenagers in India and most of us just loose respect for it as we grow up as if to say, if it doesn't run on petrol then it doesn't deserve my respect.

It's not about the bike to the extent that the fanciest of the bikes is pretty useless if it sits in the garage or at home all day. And to be able to ride consistently and over long distances in a city like Mumbai you need to make sure that the ride is not just safe but convenient also. This implies getting a ton of accessories for the bike, some of which are pretty expensive. For example, the headlight, the gloves, the lock, the helmet, the protective guards, each one of them costs more than the last bike I had (an Avon Muddy Montage during my IIT days). I can't imagine myself spending that kind of money on accessories for a barebones bike like I had before. But more than safety, more than convenience, it's the motivation that actually gets you riding... and this is where it becomes all about the bike! There is so much to look forward to when riding it... the lightweight that helps me carry it through the stairs to and from my home on the 3rd floor, the 24 gear system that makes going up the inclines a breeze and speeding past the arrogant motorcyclist or the obnoxious bus driver possible, the disc brakes that lend you confidence during the rains or at high speeds, all coming together in a beautifully designed and impeccably manufactured machine that almost seems to promise to last forever. Add to it the feel good factor of doing good to the environment, staying healthy and adding some fun to your exercise regime.

The maximum I ever rode on a bicycle in a day all my life was probably 10 kms or less. Since I got this bike 3 months ago, I have already stretched that number to 70kms and I feel I can push it beyond 100. I ride at over 50kms an hour at times, feel great about overtaking cars while doing that, enjoy the Mumbai rains more than I ever did, feel young and childish enough to want to do stunts I never tried as a kid, dream about riding down to Lonavala on a rainy day or participating in the next Mumbai Cyclothon. I have seen more corners of Mumbai on the bike in 3 months than I did otherwise in 2 years. It's making me fall in love with the city all over again.

It's definitely about the bike.