I have been cycling of late and I now understand what its like for those who do not have the luxury of simply rolling out the unpleasantness with the help of tinted windows.
Cycling along the East Coast Road from Besant Nagar to Sholinganallur and back is approximately 32 Kms for me. As I discovered, cycling is not so much of a challenge as cycling on ‘these’ roads is. Being a cyclist, I am at the bottom-most spot of the food chain on the road. Almost everyone is bigger and faster than me except the pedestrians but then they are nimble footed and can always jump or leap or stop or make a sudden dash.
Public transport buses drool when they see me, they honk to startle me and edge me off the road into oblivion. Then come the SUVs like Scorpios and Sumos. I don’t think they even see me. Period! After that come the two wheelers who drive on the wrong side of the road as a result of which I am cycling on the stretch of the road which is occupied by pedestrians, hawkers, playing children, other cyclists (who are also driving wrong side) and truck, tempos and buses all squeezed on my side as they are driving in the opposite direction. Suddenly I am left with no space and should I even veer a bit to the right, there is always a lurking bus that honks me away like an errant cockroach being shooed back in the gutters.
Seriously, my self esteem and dignity haven’t taken such a beating as the time I started cycling. If I am cycling at a steady pace, there will always be a car or a two wheeler or other bully that will cross me even if I have right of way. I must brake and come to inertia and gain momentum only after the bully has passed by. Believe me this is the most painful thing for a cyclist to suffer-to Stop after she has gained steady speed and make her pedal all over again to reach her erstwhile speed.
The road itself is not kind- there are potholes, speed-brakers (I think the second most agonising thing for a cyclist- potholes kick you where it hurts the most), puddles, garbage that you are almost cycling in to after a speeding bus has ensured you will not ride on roads again, pedestrians that stare at you and other riders that wont consider you their equal. Forget equal, condescending will do just fine, if he lets me pass by in pass. Then there are pedestrians that are everywhere- and I mean everywhere, they are walking on the edge of the roads, they are crossing by climbing road dividers that are 4 feet high and who suddenly jump from those right in front of you and scare the shitz out of you. It’s truly terrible.
I thought to myself, maybe if I Ieave earlier, I will eschew all the unpleasant aspects but I got hit by a sea of humanity in all its glory at 5.50 am. I turned left at a tricky corner only to be assailed by the smell of garlic and potato being fried- wonderful- well all the travelers who caught buses at Thirivanmiyur bus depot had to be fed at this same time. I said to myself well things can’t get any worse. Wrong! Things not only got worse, they went all the way south of Antarctica. All the temples along ECR road were lit like electricity would be declared illegal tomorrow.
The loud speakers were blaring devotional songs (7 temples in all). And the songs that are heard at these decibel levels hardly sound devotional. It’s something else. At last after 6 kms I cycled past Neelakarai and civilisation with all its sights and sounds. I opened my mouth to get a mouthful of fresh air and loosened my muscles. I pedaled less furiously to enjoy the pace that the flat coastal roads give you. I thought it was raining because I felt something wet hit my ankle. Great, a light shower would be nice. As I lazily gazed at my tyres, they were covered in mustard coloured squish…and so were my ankles. Apparently I had cut a birthday cake a while back and was enjoying the spoils!
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