From The Biker's Mouth : Cycling Safety in Bangalore

Its very tough to really really convince people that cycling is hardly an act of daredevilry. Its a normal, safe, mode of transportation and recreation, not an adventure sport meant only for those living on the edge!

This was posted by Kanishka Lahiri in the course of a discussion on one of the lists I'm on:

"I have some personal experience that might help dispel certain myths. At the outset, I am a far more experienced driver (~15 years) than I am a cyclist. I consider myself a careful and good driver. I moved to BLR in 2007.

In 1.5 years of driving around Bangalore, I had 4 (all minor, but highly stressful) accidents. That;s more than the number I had had in the previous 14 years. This includes brushes with auto rickshaws, cars, and one stupid cyclist. On a separate occasion I got punched in the face by a motor bike guy because I braked to allow an old lady to cross Sankey Road. Needless to say, each incident resulted in high levels of stress, and a feeling of being physically threatened.

I started cycling in June 2008. Number of accidents in nearly 1.5 years --- ZERO. Number of near misses: I'll admit there have been a few, but in almost all cases, I could attribute the near miss to stupidity on my part. There are a set of rules one ends up following when cycling on Bangalore roads. Mature cyclists make up their own rules to make themselves safe in what otherwise looks like a hostile environment. As a result, for me, while concentration levels are high when biking, emotional stress, and physical risk levels are very very low. Much lower than when driving.

The point I am trying to make is, the notion that our roads are highly unsafe for cyclists who have good judgment is a myth. And my contention is, cyclists must have good judgment, else they have no business being on the road. So I agree, an 11 year old who has little experience, is well-advised when told to stay away from busy roads. But then, why single out cyclists? All road users are required to have good judgement, since city roads are a shared and potentially life-threatening environment. That's why we issue driving licences, and that's why we don't let 10 year-olds drive motor cycles.

At the same time, I am not saying that all is well for cyclists. Things could be better. Much better. Many of the rules I practice when cycling seem unjust to me. I practice them because I need to be safe. But ideally, policies on road-space sharing should be designed in such a way that I do not have to follow some of these crazy rules."

So there. This one's as unbiased as they get. I've a similar story (more in relation to motorbike which I used a lot before I started cycling) but by now, I'm probably considered an outlier. The whole effort reminds me a bit of Wall-E. Perhaps even walking will be considered something fraught with risk and not something that normal members society undertake.

[ Earlier post on this discussed what we mean when we talk about "safety". Do read for a very nice pov from another thread on another forum. ]

Is It Safe ?

Thats the most common question/fear I've heard from people when it comes to considering cycling in and around Bangalore.


[ Personally, I find it safe enough. 80% of road fatalities are those of pedestrians, yet the question rarely comes to mind whether we should avoid walking! Most often, one's either ahead of traffic or behind the lot thats gone past, so you need only a few moments of alertness and you're good. Way lesser risk, and stress. ]

Here's a few interesting viewpoints on safety:

Jayadeep talks about subjective safety, and the Insecurity Syndrome associated with cycling. Honestly, I have almost no incidents on a typical cycle trip, and at least one or two "braked too late" or "got a little closer than I'd have liked to" ones when do a similar ride on the motorbike. In a car, it still happens and its still unsafe - for someone else!

While on that, here's a beautifully articulated viewpoint from Rajat on the Bangalore Bikers group:

Ever since I started commuting by cycle, time and again I have pondered over the safety aspect of cycling when used as a means of transport. Even though the statistics point to a low accident rate, the danger of being hurt sometimes fatally is ever present. An increasing number of bikers and daily commuters will undoubtedly increase the probability that our community may very well have to deal with some really bad news sometime or the other. Each time out on the cycle we are aware of this undeniable fact and yet we ride unafraid, extra cautious maybe, but unafraid nevertheless. We ride our cycles not for lack of choice but because we want to and we choose to. It is my great pleasure to ride each time, either alone or with others, secure in the knowledge that in however small a way it may be I am making a difference in this fragile world of ours.

Somewhere, traffic's started becoming an arms race! No winners there. Just larger SUVs, more metal, road rage and a downward spiral. The humble cycle might yet break that loop.

More cycles -> fewer cars -> safer roads for all!

And honestly, the last 2-3 feet on Bangalore's roads are unclaimed and quite safe :)

Other tips:

• Be V-I-S-I-B-L-E. The helmet helps. Reflective strips, lights at night.
  
• Don't stick too close to the edge. Motorists apparently leave as much space from you as you leave from the edge!
• Use your arms etc to "puff yourself up" and define a space around yourself clearly.
  
• I sometimes stand on pedals to appear larger/slow down vehicles right behind.
  
• Make sure all your actions are indicated in advance to people around. Visibly, and if needed, audibly.
• Be polite. Make eye contact.
• Yet, be assertive. You know how it is around here.
• Before even a minor swing out from your lane/line, look over the shoulder. Practice this.
• Flow with the traffic - especially when switching sides of the road etc.
• Avoid making dumb mistakes yourself :)
• Give right of way. Especially to pedestrians.
• Have fun.
  

BCycle: B the change :)

Oh so cool. Will this work in Bangalore? Need someone to try this out. Whatsay ?

Cycling benefits illustrated

[ From the Mumbai Bikers' Picasa Pics ]

How many bhp was that ? Slow!

Like Bangalore's Bikers have been claiming for some time now - through the city, a cycle is quickest.

Here's proof:

New set of wheels!

Those are a few cell-cam pics of Shubha's new Merida SUB 5-V! Yes, she decided to take the plunge as well, and actually rode the first 15+ kms from Venkatesh's place in Chamrajpet to home quite easily! I got to ride the bike to work this morning as well because of a flat in my bike's rear wheel - nice relaxed ride, and got the hang of the rotary gears quite easily.

Kinds of bikers

I'm somewhere in between, I guess :) Nice comic strip, this one.

Longer TFN Ride

Was earlier planning to do the Tour of Nilgiris days 3-5 but just decided to do days 1 and 2 as well! Thats a total of between 450-500kms - part of it I may do in support vehicles since I want to really really do the Ooty climb and not get too tired before that.

Now I'm not sure I've trained enough. A short 60km ride last weekend felt quite easy, but multiple days of sustained long distances is a totally different deal.

The reasons for doing this ?

• God knows when next
• 25th is a holiday, and I'd have taken a bus on the 26th morning anyhow
• I have done 2 150km rides.... (touch wood)
• The road tyres have given hope
• Shubha said "do it"
• The Ambulance, Physio, the promise of the "sports massage" and Dr Chandra's words which assured they'd keep us going :)
• Company - you often can do more
• Support vehicles - plan to not push too hard on days 1 & 2. Esp day 1.

Let's see how this goes....

Bangalore needs this debate, at least

Copenhagenize.com - The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog: Bike Licences Are Stupid

Well, what we really need is more cycling. The lanes, debates, etc will follow. My recent trip to Delhi presented a scary vision - would hate to see Bangalore go down that path. The city exists for its roads, and getting things moving from point X to Y - and the costs for that are very very high. The Netherlands model is something far more desirable, but to start with the debate about discouraging private cars on public roads needs to be sparked.

That link above has some great reasons for cycling - from the city's point of view. The comments also bring forth a whole bunch of information that was new and illuminating to me personally. Good read.

Edit : Found a paper discussing the sprawl, the automobile and alternatives. To me its a pretty simple equation, we need to focus on getting carbon fuel powered vehicles to travel as less as possible - and the form, flow and design of the urban landscape should just follow this thought. Make it painful to travel long distances, park in crowded centres, or even drive a privately owned vehicle. The clamour for better buses, trains, cycling lanes, shorter commutes will just happen. The first requirement is to build consensus for disincentivising private transportation outside of, say, a 5 kilometre zone of one's place of residence. Parallely, develop smarter bus routes, bike lanes. Make sure its better to walk or ride or bus than drive.

TFN Training Ride #4 : Nandi Hills X 2!

A lot of riders started from Hebbal around 6:30. Joshine and I left from Kgla/Sarjapura Road respectively at 5:20 to get there in time, and we did.

Eventually, the fragmented groups of riders were Ram, Alex, Joshine, Sharath, Saurabh, I and another guy on a roadbike (sorry - forgot the same). Nupur had driven upto Nandi's base and was riding up.

It was good going today and there were few stops - the first being for breakfast just before the airport turn, and the next a short one at Nandi base. Joshine climbed with no breaks, and I took 2. Sharath had a fall and aborted the ascent a a little before the top - and Saurabh did the last 3 kms again while we got to the top :) Sriram, who was running today - met him and Nupur on their way down - they helped Sharath out.

Flew back down - and there was a nice little gathering of all riders there, whom Vasu had joined too - he rode nonstop from Kgla to Nandi base!

Joshine and I decided to try the climb again, while the others left for Bangalore. The sun was nice and bright and hot by now. This time I remembered to lockout the suspension, but, in hindsight, should've eaten before we left. Stopped after 5+ kms once, and in another km and a half, felt a bit of loss of control. Stopped for a longish break, and realized I needed food. Finished the ride with superhuman will :) and immediately announced my alimentary intentions to Joshine, who'd again done it without a break - some willpower the girl's got!

Numerous biscuits, popcorn, juice, cucumber and chikki bites later, we started back. The downhill, as always, made it all worth it :)

Refilled water and started back for Bangalore in terrible heat. That sapped us of energy real quick - especially on the main highway. By the time we crossed the airport trumpet exchange, the consensus was to break for lunch, and wait it out till the sun was less harsh. We attacked the food with relish - tho I'm sure it wasn't the best around ;)

The heat was less of an issue when we started again, but it was slow and easy going from thereon. We were tired, clearly, though still pushing hard on descents. Eventually Hebbal came and the rush of the city traffic helped in a way. Did Hebbal - Sarjapura road in an hour! bid adieu to Joshine at viveknagar and rode slowly home, which I got to by 6:15.

The speedo showed about 156.5, but given that at Nandi top it wat 72, and the extra climb would have been 16-17 kms, I figure I actually managed 160! The speedo does stop working intermittently, and is a trifle pessimistic anyhow. In any case, its my century ride, 160 or not ;)

Feel much more ready for TFN, after this one. Learnt how to manage the heat a bit - gotta drink more often, take breaks evert 10-15 kms. The knees are just fine, though the shoulders need some more work. And I should probably get the cycling shorts anyhow....

The ride without a because

Why am I riding the TFN ?

I'm a 34 year old desk-bound guy who's hardly gotten any exercise in a decade. I'm certainly not the athletic kinds, reasonably sedentary, in fact. I've just started cycling only a few months ago. My legs aren't that strong, and my knees howled in protest on the first long ride a couple of weeks ago. My parents will be in town, and I have a wife and kids who would have ideally joined me in a car on a trip to beautiful places like this.

Why does anyone ride ? Especially such a ride ?

I dunno - maybe its the idea of being up in the mountains with the December chill getting deep into your bones - with the only internal combustion happening inside your cells trying to counter the temperatures. Maybe its the silence of the wind whistling past your ears as you wheeeeeeee! down a slope. Perhaps its an escapist dream one wants to live for a few days, where all that matters is getting to the next milestone, or round the next bend. The company of like minded people to share stories with, and learn from, is surely part of the deal.

Is it the likely battle with ones own self as one struggles up the Ooty switchbacks, or when the muscles scream for rest ? About crossing personal barriers, overcoming demons ? Is it the adrenaline rush of the long distances in the most fun terrain around these parts ? Or the fear of the rapidly increasing numbers on the right hand side of columns in forms which say "age:", and a rush to do something before that number gets too big ?

What ?

Its a beautful place, and tough climbs, cool fresh air, great coffee, fun company. All of that. I could analyse this forever and ever. But at the end of the day, whats true is that I just want to do this ride. Perhaps I'll find the answer along the way, perhaps not. Perhaps I'll not even finish the legs I plan to do.

But - I'll have tried to do what I wanted to. Maybe thats the big one .....


C'y'all on the Tour of the Nilgiris.

Bike To Work Basics

Bike To Work Book Free Chapters

It talks about some common anxieties, issues and myths. Good read if you're still wondering. If we can get 5% of Bangalore officegoers on bikes, it'll have done a tremendous lot for the city, and the riders as well.

My first century ride. Plus Nandi Hills!

Had planned a 90ish kms Nandi Hills ride, and as it turned out, did the full tour-day-distance! 145kms - mostly thanks to the extremely motivating Vasu, and never-say-die-first-long-distancer-Joshine. Joshine and I were the TFN aspirants on the ride, while Vasu was the guy who looked like he could actually do it easily :)

The first-cut-plan was to take a ride with Rajat upto CCD before the airport turnoff - but he had to pullout because of some personal reasons. Vasu called on Fri night and said he'd join as well.

Got home at 1am, caught some sleep and was off at 6 - Joshine got there too and we talked to a few BMTC guys who refused to entertain bikes. Vasu had gotten home at 3 - and asked us to carry on towards Hebbal when I called him. We left Koramangala around 6:50am

There was some pain below my left knee as we started, and stayed for a while but disappeared by the time we crossed Hebbal - we were doing decent time and I even did a burst or two of pushing hard. It rained a bit en-route, and we stopped for water + a snack a little before the airport turn. Vasu caught up with us and we pushed along. Iggy and Rushi crossed us around Devanahalli - apprently after 3 ascents up Nandi Hills! Devanahalli to the turn towards NH is a persistent gradual climb and it took all my might to maintain 14kmph on that. Ant other short break.

Just before the turn at the end of the straight - saw a guy with a compressor, and given the huge rolling resistance i was sensing and attributing to crosswinds - decided to check on tyre pressure anyhow. Front:30 - Rear:35!!! Arrgghhhh. Filled them up to 55-60 (not a very sure gauge I guess) and the improvement was immediate!

Stopped at the Nandi Hills base for eats - bun + tea + biscuits + tea + chips + chikki + water - and did a lot many stretches - answered questions about the bike - and about 20 mins later Joshine and Vasu got there. Another tea.

Felt much better stuffed with all the sugar, salt, water and air in the tubes. Started the climb with a fair bit of anxiety. Vasu provided ample tips on gear selection, planned breaks and the like.

My focus - throughout the ride - was on maintaining cadence as long as I could - and thats what I was focusing on the ascent as well - did that peacefully (gears:1x2/3, 7-10kmph) for the first 3 kms - took a break - carried on for another 3 in similar fashion, then hit the hairpins. The first couple were a disaster - went to 1x1 and was looking for the next lower gear by the end of the slope after the bend :) Vasu suggested moving to the next higher gear on the front (2x2/3) and standing up - pushing hard just around the bend and settling down to the lower gears imdtly after - that helped and went all the way up - with some effort tho. Nandi was in the clouds, and their was a fair smattering of rain to keep things cool.

It must routine for a lot of you guys, but I went "woooooooo..." when I reached the top :)

The downhill - in heavier rain for part of it - was a 35-44kmph affair all the way with the v-brakes doing a fairly decent job! Vasu timed himself and was actually pedalling hard as well - 11.something minutes from the ticketed gate to the base!

Vasu suggested a smaller road to Doddaballapur turning right from the base - we took that - lovely, scenic, lesser traffic. Lunch at D-b-pur was egg+rice/chapati as you wished.

The limbs were beginning to tire a bit - we hit the century a few kms along on the road to yelahanka - and average speeds dropped quite a bit. Joshine was in bad shape but determined nevertheless, and Vasu's egging, and lighthearted banter to keep us distracted, made life easier :) We got to Yelahanka eventually, and from there the rush of city traffic enveloped us, and soon we were cutting/dicing through the urban commuter mess.

Got home at nearly 8:15 - more than 14 hrs after I'd started, 13+ hrs of the actual ride and 8:40 on the saddle! 145kms - unthinkable in the morning but achieved by the evening...felt real good. Especially including the Nandi ascent and rain-riding. And the legs/knees didn't feel half as bad as after my earlier two long distance rides. Slept like a log, though each turn was a sloow painful process.

Am feeling a lot more confident about the TFN stages I'm doing - at least the first day. Getting up in some sort of shape and doing the Ooty climb on day 2 is totally another cup of tea. Raring to go, nevertheless...

Inspiration ?

My knee hurts a bit. Thank god i have a knee to hurt. Watch the video - it shut my knee up for some time at least. Awe inspiring stuff!



"Life is better than worrying about a leg, y'know...."

TFN - Route details

Here are the stages I've committed to - 145 kms from Madikeri-Sultan Battery, with most of the climb at the end - the dark unknown zone so far as my riding abilities are concerned :)

Day 2 of my ride is shorter, but a major ascent -

Day 3, optional - is "in Ooty" itself - either a rest day or a ride to Dodda Betta, which I think is about 15 odd kms one way, though a major climb.

Right now it all looks impossible :) If I do not hit 120kms soon.......

Tour of Nilgiris Signup!

Did something my logical part had shot down after lots of deliberation - registered for days 3,4,5 of this - flyer below:

Will be posting training log updates here - starting with todays 68.8 km ride to Chikka Tirupati and back which has made me realize a lot of things I need to overcome before I consider myself capable of doing the 3 days I plan to.

Why Ride

This one talks about how everyone benefits from cycling - everyone around too that is!

A little too positive, but yeah, if enough cars get off Sarjapura Road, everyone will benefit.

Markets down ? Not for cycles...

Original Article Here

I guess it is a wonderful invention, and as the human race discovers more and more of it, it can only do us all a lot of good. Meanwhile, people have been putting in fabulous mileage on their bikes - and I'm totally awed/inspired.

First "weekend" ride

Finally managed to do a weekend ride around Sarjapura Road this morning. Apartment - Hosa Road - left at the end towards Huskur - Continued straight towards the road on which Vakil Township etc are - then Dommasandra. Had IVC there - and headed back via DPS - some back roads - Sarjapura Road. 30 easy-riding kilometres in all. The stretch just before Huskur was pure off roading fun.


Riders/Bikes:

Saurabh/Trek 4300 V
Arvind/Trek 6500 D
Sameer/Merida SUB 40 V


Total time: 1Hr 40 mins including the breakfast break.
Average riding speed as per my Trek cyclometer: 17.4


Next week target : 50kms hopefully.


Pic: Saurabh rides up in a light drizzle as a I take a break.

Cycling - aches, pains, postures and glossary

I have had a dull ache in the calf muscles for a week or so - and did some reading up about this. Am sharing what I've learned through this - its not first hand knowledge, and you should talk to a doc if you have specific issues.

• Learn about Cadence. Yeah its a technical term, but a useful one-read
• Don't trust your instinct alone - most of us associate "pushing hard" with developing fitness - and there are times where its useful, but mostly counter productive, for bikers
• Read this
• And this : The physiology of cycling,, pains, etc is good to keep in your head
  
• Stretching not only helps, but is very critical for overall fitness.
• Other pains, injuries. Correct Saddle height, riding technique, are all important as you start doing longer distances.
  

Happy riding - and see you on the roads :)