Racing against the wind, legs pumping iron, every pedal turn, a test of endurance. For every long-distance cyclist, it is the exhilaration of such a journey that keep them going.
MetroPlus speaks to three cyclists who have covered thousands of kilometres on their bicycles. Their love for cycling is evident as they speak about their tryst with the bicycle, which is an intrinsic part of their lifestyle. June 3 is World Bicycle Day.
Ayyappan Nair
Scientist and biotechnologist
Thiruvananthapuram
After relocating from the US to Thiruvananthapuram, he began cycling to improve his fitness levels. On the suggestion of a friend in 2021, he embarked on a journey to lighthouses across Kerala.
“I jumped at the idea as it was an opportunity to see the coast of Kerala at a slow pace with beautiful lighthouses as my milestones. Symbolically too, they were beacons that pulled me forward. Since I am interested in photography, the coast and the lighthouses were ideal subjects,” says Ayyappan.
Reading up on the lighthouses familiarised him with the rich maritime history of Kerala. He also realised his interest in trying out different cuisines. “Suddenly, the world had opened to me in a whole different way.”
He discovered that the “man on a bicycle with luggage attracted a lot of conversations with strangers from different walks of lives — tea vendors, kids, bureaucrats, activists, academics, businessmen, lawyers to name just a few.”
A view of the lighthouse at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram
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Ayyappan Nair
Discussing the pros and cons of the trip, he believes that not only was it physically, mentally, and spiritually stimulating, but also meditative. He adds that it is a great way to see places that one would surely miss if travelling by a four-wheeler.
However, being at the mercy of nature, the weather is always an unforeseen element in the journey. “Reckless drivers and bad roads are a big risk. One has to be careful about food and accommodation has to be planned well in advance.”
After covering 23 lighthouses in Kerala, he decided to cycle through coastal Tamil Nadu and then the coastline in Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra in a car and on a bicycle. “I plan to cover the entire coast of India. Thus far, I have seen 74 lighthouses. I have developed an interest in writing; a book with pictures of my experiences of cycling along the coast of India is my ultimate goal!”
Shantanu Moitra
Composer
Mumbai
Composer Shantanu Moitra
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The national award-winning composer travelled along the banks of the Ganga, covering more than 3,000 kilometres in 2022 and says that during those 75 days, he saw an India that he had never seen before. Says Shantanu, “I had always liked adventure but it is not easy for a man to go adventuring in India if he also has to make a living.”
However, after his work on the film 3 Idiots was completed, he took 100 days off and travelled across the Himalayas, upto 14,000 feet, from Kashmir to Tibet. After the journey, he wished that he could share the journey, especially with people who could not take 100 days from their work.
“I decided that whenever I did another trip, I could share the joy of travelling with others. Once, I returned from the Himalayas, I was toying with the idea of a trip along the banks of the Ganga. It is one of the biggest rivers in the world. Big rivers had fascinated me from the time I read them in school – the Amazon, the Mississippi and so on. And I never understood what a great river meant. For me, a river is a river.”
He did not want the journey to be in a car or a jeep. “Since I love cycling, I decided to do it on a bicycle.” His friend Abro Bhattacharya, an online producer for BBC, assured him it was doable. The prep for the journey was on when the pandemic struck.
Then Shantanu lost his father to COVID-19. The pandemic changed his perspective and he felt he should not postpone the trip any further. “My father had always wanted to go to Varanasi. He grew up there, and so did I. I had desired to go with him, but after his demise, I decided to cycle down the Ganga, and travel to Gangasagar in West Bengal (where the river empties into the Bay of Bengal).”
With a sponsorship from Sangeeta Jindal, Chairperson of JSW Foundation, he was all set for the trip. Before the trip, Shantanu changed his diet, trained at a gym and rode along the steep climbs in Lonavala to get ready for the ardous trip.
Songs of the River, a series by Shantanu Moitra, documents his bicycle odyssey along the banks of Ganga
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On October 1, he set off for Rishikesh. Trekking from Gaumukh to Gangotri, he started his journey on the cycle to Gangasagar in West Bengal, where the Ganga meets the sea. Shantanu’s journey was divided into episodes to connect with the people living in the places he was travelling through.
He had decided to turn his bicycle odyssey into an opportunity to create music inspired by the river by inviting musicians with whom he felt a connection. “I wanted to work with musicians who could come to the river. What the pandemic changed was the selection of the artists. It had to be somebody, of course talented, but someone who had done something over and above their craft.”
He worked with Mohit Chauhan, Maati Baani, Taba Chake, Bombay Jayashri, Sid Sriram, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Ambi Subramaniam.
Mohit Chauhan had fed street dogs; Taba Chake had taken a village in Arunachal Pradesh under his wing; Bombay Jayashri works with children on the autism spectrum; Ambi Subramaniam and his sister Bindu had made music education a part of online classes during the pandemic.
“All the musicians took a leap of faith.”
He muses that at the end of the journey, he understood the significance of the Ganga and what it means to people. “It teaches you to coexist and think beyond yourself. I was mourning my father when I began the journey. But by the end of it, I was aware of the thousands who had lost someone to COVID-19.”
He began a social media campaign at Benares and told people who had lost someone to COVID-19 to send their photographs. “I carried those with me to Gangasagar and prayed for them. The only memorial to victims of the pandemic is at a school in Varanasi; this was possible only because I cycled down the river.”
Shantanu emphasises that it was only because he was on a bicycle that he could traverse uncharted routes and stay close to the river. “It was there, either to my left or my right. Being close to the river has a calming effect.”
Songs of the River, which documents his trip has been uploaded on his YouTube channel after it was released on Disney+ Hotstar.
Francis CD
Overseer, Kerala State Electricity Board
Thrissur
Francis CD
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In 2004, Francis began cycling while recovering from a spinal injury caused by a fall from an electric post. From two kilometres daily, he progressed to 30 and eventually, 200 kilometres when he used to cycle from Velur in Thrissur to Fort Kochi and back on weekends in 2006.
To create awareness on energy conservation, he, along with three other cyclists, travelled nearly 5,300 kilometres to Kashmir over 56 days. To prep for the gruelling trip, he used to cycle up steep climbs in his vicinity.
Francis is a staunch ambassador of the ordinary bicycle. “It is a people’s vehicle, ideal for conserving energy and to gain physical fitness,” he says.
“Today, there are different kinds of cyclists — professionals, sportspersons and adventurers. But first and foremost the bicycle is a people’s vehicle, especially for students. However, now it is difficult to see students on ordinary bicycles.”
To help cycles reach students in need, Francis buys old ones from scrap shops, repairs them and gives them to students free of cost.
He has designed a bicycle that he calls Francis Masdap (Machine for Activating and Strengthening Differently Abled Persons) for those on the autism spectrum. A stationary bike, he has added a visual element to it by connecting it to pipes in a water tank. When a cyclist pedals, it moves the water at various points in the tank to spout up like a fountain where a ball is kept in motion.
“I want to see the bicycle become a part of our daily lives. Instead of using it for fitness alone or achieving personal goals, we should use it to commute and travel short distances along with public transport to conserve energy and ease the traffic blocks on our roads,” he says.
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