After having lived in Bangalore for almost 7 years I have realized that it is a lace where it is better to travel by bicycle than by any other means. I have been cycling since 1989. Almost 20 years now. In my hometown, Chitradurga, I used to wait at ‘Ganesha Cycle shop’ to hire the bike for 50p an hour. Now such shops have gone extinct. My father got me a Hero Ranger when I was 13 (1993). I then transitioned to BSA Photon in 1995. I used it throughout my college. In 2001, I gave it away. In 2002, I got my first bike, LML Freedom, to commute to office. In 2005, I bought a used car – Daewoo Cielo. In 2006, I bought a cycle again – Hero Thunder MTB. I paid Rs.6,500 for this all aluminum 21 gear bike. I used to take it to office once in a while.
Last year, I found the joy of listening to audio books while riding. This, along with cantankerous traffic jams made me miss my cycling days. But I was reluctant. But after my K2K trip, I decided to reduce my carbon footprint to the maximum extent. I started commuting to office on my bike once in a week. Gradually it doubled. After watching ‘Planet Earth’, I was so inspired that I started using my bike on a regular basis.
It has been three months. I have not stopped at a gas station. I have saved around Rs.4,000 on gas and have started to reduce weight. Yes, biking is paying off.
I want 2009 to be a petrol free year. Having spent all these years cycling, I am consolidating my experience into this blog, trying to answer some of the frequently asked questions. (more…)