07 Aug 2012
· cycling
Perhaps more appropriate to say ’trying to’ cycle across the Sach Pass. And failing. We did our best, under the circumstances, and failed. No shame in that!
15 odd kilometers short of the Sach pass we had to turn around . The trail (can’t call it a road, even though it was wider than a typical single track) was so steep, and so full of slush that our bikes had no grip. The fact that we had too much weight loaded on the cycle, did not help either. Add to all of this, the fact that I had just recently recovered from a bout of somewhat prolonged illness, and was perhaps not as fit as I thought I was.
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03 May 2011
· cycling
It’s that time of the year again. When people start thinking about ‘the’ great Indian cycle ride – the Manali to Leh cycling trip. A couple of people have written to me in the recent days asking me questions, many of which can be classified under: ‘what does it take to cycle from Manali to Leh?’ While I have replied to many people individually, I thought it might be a good idea to post a consolidated response here.
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02 Jan 2011
· cycling
After the excesses of the new-year partying, you’d expect that on a cold and windy Sunday morning people might want to stay tucked in a little bit longer. Perhaps spend a lazy Sunday morning at home. The last thing you’d expect is a large turn out for a ‘critical mass’ cycling event, on a biting early January morning.
‘Critical Mass’ is a cycling event organised in many cities across the world to draw attention to the fact that cycling is a good way to travel and that cyclist have an equal right to the road. In most cities, the event is organised to coincide with the peak office traffic on a Friday evening – typically the last Friday of the month. We in Gurgaon have had a couple of successful Friday events but have not managed to sustain the momentum. The conjecture is that most working people can not get away from work in time to participate in the event.
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08 Dec 2010
· cycling
Since Delhi climate bicycle ride was going to be only 11 kilometers and on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, I thought it might be fun for my 10 year old child to participate in, and also get a taste of an environmental movement.
When we reached the venue the first thing that crossed my mind was, where are the people? I knew we were just a little bit behind schedule, but the place looked totally deserted. I later figured that there were only about 50 or 55 people who had turned up for the event.
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15 Nov 2010
· cycling
We finally raised the PedalYatri flag on the Indorie Qila (Indorie Fort). Of course it was a notional one on wikimapia, but it felt special because two of our previous attempts of finding and reaching it had failed.
A very eventful ride with more than it’s fair share of punctures, dynamite blasts, tumbles, scraped knees, nicked & bruised shins, un-rideable terrain with boulders fields & deep undergrowth, and traffic jams too.
Continue reading →03 Nov 2010
· cycling
Watch this video. And if you are still not convinced about the virtues of wearing a helmet then surely you must have a very thick skull! Interesting product idea too, for those who worry about their hairstyle.
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29 Oct 2010
· cycling
First published in Times of India on October 29, 2010. Nice to be featured in the ‘Just4Her’ section of ‘What’s Hot’ ;-).
If you can afford to ride a motorcycle or a car, then why ride a cycle. Its a question that often gets thrown at me, though not always explicitly. More often than not, when I ride, locals mistake me to be a foreigner. Despite the colour of my skin, kids will shout out ‘angrez’ and adults will try to start a conversation in English.
Continue reading →![Packing suggestion for multi-day self-supported cycling trip [1.0]](/images/DSCN0124-m_hu_4668ec29646b2083.jpg)
11 Oct 2010
· cycling
After I came back from my recent self-supported Manali to Leh cycling trip many people wanted to know what I carried on the trip. So here is a list based on what we carried. There were two of us, and we figured that some of the items could easily be shared, so we did not carry two of every thing (I think there are some exceptions to this, but I guess that advice could be another post). The list has four main sections:
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10 Oct 2010
· cycling
Ride report form September 2010 Ride dates: September 4th to 14th, 2010
Two riders: Sanjay Jaiman and Ajay Jaiman
After years of thinking about it and weeks of planning we finally did it. Close to 600 kms of cycling from Manali to Leh (because Tanglang La was closed and we had to take a detour at Debring and go via Tso Kar and Mahe bridge).
We rode with all our gear including clothes, sleeping bags, tent, stove, utensils, food, water, cycle spares on our cycles – an estimated weight of about 25 kgs (not counting the weight of the bikes, pannier racks, and bags.
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17 May 2010
· cycling
I like the idea of self-supported cycle travel. It gives you a feeling of freedom, almost liberation from the constraints of ’tourism’. Or at least that is what I thought. To put it to test, the first order of business was to acquire pannier bags (the bags that hang on the sides of the cycle). And then a pannier rack, on which the bags are attached. Once I had mounted the bags and done a couple of short local test rides, I felt I was ready for a real test ride in the mountains.
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