We all have our childhood episodes relating to the ubiquitous metal horse, which, as we moved in the ‘cooler than that category’, was promptly forgotten, its frame having found it’s idle spot in the garage and then finally in the junkyard. Citing sometimes traffic and other times inconvenience as the culprit, we quickly detached ourselves from it. But now, as if getting its due, the cycle is back, and more than in fashion, on the streets of the city. As more and more Delhites choose to ride the cycle to markets, gyms and even to offices. It is not uncommon to see a helmeted biker, knee pads et al, zipping right through, even as you sit and curse the city’s traffic.
Unwilling to sit patiently through the snarls each day, Marcus Santiago, an avid cyclist and an editor for a local firm, decided to test the clogged street waters and started cycling to work. “At first it did seem like a drag and then there was the issue of not being able to wear formals on the ride. But a quick shower at the workplace and a reduced ride time of 20 minutes from an earlier 45, took care of that,” says the enthusiast, who commutes daily between GK II and his Moti Bagh office and even offers a tip to those deprived of office bathrooms. “A towel bath and a fresh change easily fits in the back pack and I often make use of that on the days I can’t shower,” he adds.
Being a cardio activity that almost all gym goers and shirkers enjoy, the early morning fresh air becomes an added incentive for cyclists like Parth Joshi, who also cycles to work and quite fittingly works for an adventure company. “I usually visit forgotten monuments of Delhi on my cycle and blog about them, before I go to work every morning. Since, I am on my cycle with a camera around my neck, people are less intimidated and more welcoming, especially in the inner lanes where it’s almost impossible to reach even on a bike,” he says, adding, “Since I commute on my bike, it becomes very difficult to find parking if I am out till late at night, which is slightly unsafe as well, keeping the lighting conditions of the city in mind. So, I try taking the metro as I can at least park there.”
Marks on knees are carried as rites of passage from babyhood to juniority, the relentless joy on letting go off the handlebars and the slowly forming lump in the throat as the asphalt comes closer in slo-mo, it’s a feeling that compares no other, specially for Mohammad Asif, who works for a company that manufactures hi-end bikes and cycles. “As I recently shifted here from Chennai, I have not been able to find time to cycle every morning as I did earlier. But weekends are solely meant for my bike and me. It’s something, which if you start once, you don’t feel like stopping,” says Asif. He adds that once he saw a family pick up four top end bikes, when all they had come to buy was a mid-range model, just because they found it as a connect with their childhood.
A beginning similar to Rachit Mehta’s love affair, which took him to Vrindavan and back, all by himself, once he bought his cycle two years ago. “I will soon be heading to Rishikesh for a lone trip,” he says.