Time to get the bike out again.

 Aaahh... can you feel that ? Spring is in the air. And about time too, cause winter was behaving like a forgetful grandpa , constantly returning to pick up things they forgot. Overstaying their welcome. Its my favourite time of the year.. just warm enough to be outdoors, but cool enough to still have a light jacket on. Goes nicely with coffee.

And bikes ! Spring is undoubtedly the best time of year to get riding again. The humble bicycle should be mankind's finest inventions. It solves problems, is fun to use, and needs close to zero maintenance, and no charging (looking at you e-bike users). Bikes are virtually free, and require no insurance, registration, license, parking spaces, or any other hassle. They are so easy to own, and so incredibly useful and beneficial, with absolutely no drawbacks whatsoever to ownership. And yet somehow, there are adults out there – millions of them, ..... – who don’t even have a bike.I have been riding one since.. I turned.. 5 , I think  ? Can't remember. And it surprises me that most people still don't have a bike.  

Bikes are virtually free, and require no insurance, registration, license, parking spaces, or any other hassle. They are so easy to own, and so incredibly useful and beneficial, with absolutely no drawbacks whatsoever to ownership. And yet somehow, there are adults out there – millions of them, ......... who don’t even have a bike.

The fact is that the bicycle is still the world's most efficient way to travel, 52 years after it was first proven. Back in 1973, Scientific American magazine published an article written by S S Wilson, then a lecturer in engineering at Oxford University, in which he argued  that the bicycle’s purpose was to “make it easier for an individual to move about, and this the bicycle achieves in a way that quite outdoes natural evolution.” 

And along with that article was a graph, which charted the weight vs efficiency of most things that move on this green planet. The classic graph, reproduced countless times by engineers and cycling enthusiasts, has inspired figures as diverse as Steve Jobs, who famously compared the personal computer to “the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”  In the latest edition, the magazine have now updated that for modern times. This graph : 

There are few things more nerdy that hearing an engineer waxing on the benefits of riding a bicycle: and Wilson does an excellent job staying true to form. He explained that while an unaided walking human consumes a fair amount of energy per distance traveled, a cyclist using a bicycle reduces energy consumption to roughly a fifth. In Wilson’s words: the cyclist “improves his efficiency rating to No. 1 among moving creatures and machines.”

Wilson also outlined practical ways to encourage cycling in cities: cycleways to reduce conflicts with automobiles, bicycle parking stations, transport of bikes by rail and bus, and public bicycles for “park and pedal” services. “Already bicycling is often the best way to get around quickly in city centers,” he noted.

His prescription for global challenges of transportation, health, and resource efficiency? “Cycle and recycle.” Wilson even applied his ideas practically, helping develop the Oxtrike cargo tricycle for developing countries.

The bicycle, as both Wilson and modern science attest, remains a triumph of efficiency and human ingenuity—one pedal stroke at a time.

But the biggest benefit of cycling ? Its just fun.

Ill see you down the road.

Bangalore Cycle Day

 

This month’s edition of Feel Bengaluru Cycle Day was at Indiranagar, on July 27th. I had known about the movement and wanted to participate earlier, but the previous venues were far off.  This time, the venue was closer to my place, so I participated, and boy, was I glad for it.

We were at the venue at 6:30 in the morning, I was still checking my watch because I am usually in bed on Sundays, till 11, but today, I was up at 5:30 itself. There was already a long queue for the rental cycles, but we got in line anyway. The crowd had started to build up, people of all ages were on multi-coloured bi-cycles of all manner of sizes and design. We had to stay in line for almost an hour for our bikes, but it was worth the wait.

My only rant about the event was about the rental lines, there was a lot of line jumping in the queue. People jumped in and where out with bikes in no time. We could see the line did not move, but all the bikes ran out of the first two trucks ! We were beginning to feel we would not get a bike at all, but it all worked out good for us. The queue was still growing, I am sure lot of them did not get bikes even after being in queue for more than an hour :-( .

The main ride was flagged off at 8:30 AM, a whole swarm of cyclists were unleashed, no one seemed in a hurry; after all , it was a ride, not a race. The Bangalore cops had shutdown motorized traffic on the bike route, and so , the entire ride was pure fun. With the motorists out of the way, it seemed like we OWNED the roads.  There were guys on skateboards, and kids on little kiddie bikes, and there were the pro-bikers, on their big mean carbon fibre bikes. It made for a good spectacle though, we could see pedestrians and motorists watching us on the side lines.

Bangalore Cycle Day is Citizen’s event, run in co-operation with Bangalore’s finest (cops) and various social gatherings. It is held on the last Sunday of each month, each time, they identify a different part of the city to host the event. A bike route is prepared, and arrangements are made to block out motorized traffic in the area for the 30min bike ride. Various groups have sponsored parts of the event, there are about 250 bikes people can rent, they just need to hand in their original photo id cards as collateral. People are encouraged to , and do, bring their own bikes. After the main ride, there are street events for everyone to join in. Since the roads are pretty much free, grids for various traditional and modern board games are chalked right on the roads. You can sit and enjoy a nice game of chess, snakes and ladders, and various other traditional games I couldn’t name. No body is in charge, but everybody is. You just need to turn up at the event with family and friends , and just have a good time. And did I mention, the entire event is FREE ! (though I’m sure people would gladly pay).

An uncle turned up with a rope-n-top, and I tested my old top skills. I was happy I was able to set the top spinning again! There was a skateboad group , HolyStoked collective, and they were giving away lessons on the sport. Kids were taking up hulla loops,scootering,skipping, and drawing on the streets, and ..slow cycling.  All in all, there was something for everyone, though I think the organizers did not expect so many people to show up. The place was jam-packed !

Bangalore , and other Indian cities as well, needs more such citizen’s events. Kids nowadays don’t have the luxury of open fields and trees like we enjoyed in our young days, for them, games mean video games. Catching up/hanging out means facebook & google hangouts. Even for us grownups, we need a reason to step out , get some exercise, and meet people face to face again. What’s the point of toiling away life at the office desk, when you forget for whom it is for. And the streets, for once it was nice to see people gather on the streets for all the positive reasons. Nowadays , to “take to the streets” means to revolt, uprise or revolt against something. But for Cycle Day, taking to the streets was full of positive vibe.

I wanted to stay longer, but it was already 10:30, and hunger pangs got me. So off it was, and I’ll be back for the next event soon. Here’s hoping other localities and cities of the country follow suit and organize such events too, starting a “chain reaction”.

Thanks to Decathlon & ATCAGS, for sponsoring the bikes, you guys are doing a fantastic job.