Happiness on 2 sleek wheels: My love-story with the cycle

Today marks my 7 year tryst with the bicycle! What started as a desperate move to shed some weight, soon turned into a love story, that helped me see myself in a different perspective.

A lot has changed in the last 7 years and life has crossed some remarkable milestones. Much of the transformation has happened under the skin. On the outside the scales moves from three digits to a respectable two digits!

Many have asked me how and why I chose to cycle. My answer is, the cycle chose me!

In 2013, I was a juggling work, travel, home and kids and amidst it all I lost myself. Soon the weight piled up and my confidence plummeted. In June of 2013, my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Just as we were speaking, the advert of Hero cycles was running on TV. On a whim I said “I want a cycle!”. He laughed.

Over the weekend he asked me if I still wanted a cycle, to which I said yes. He laughed again. This time harder. Nevertheless the same evening he got a Hero cycle and added a disclaimer that “yeh do chaar din ka bhoot hai”.

The cycle kept staring at me. I was like abb kya? If I don’t ride it, this man is just waiting for an opportunity to shoot a sarcastic laughter again. I ventured out.

I remember the first day, I couldn’t lift up my leg and get on to it! I laid it down and got onto it! The best thing about staying in a cantonment is the never ending open space and good roads. I did about 3 kms that day. The next day I was sore. But the thought of my husband’s laughter pushed me to ride. Slowly, my inhibitions decreased and strength increased.

Within a month, cycling became a non-negotiable routine. There were days, I would come back late from work and go for a ride past midnight after putting the kids to bed. The cantt safety and lighted roads was such a blessing.

After three months, I had lost significant weight. My husband too was silenced. He actually even pushed himself to praise my consistency!

I moved to Bhubaneswar in 2015 and have since been a part of Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club and the rest is history.

That’s my accidental love-story with the cycle and how a random advertisement on TV changed everything. That’s why I always say “The cycle chose me!”