I did it Guys!!

The day after I bought the bike which incidentally is today, I made my first commute to office on my Hawk.

Yesterday night I rode the bike for 20km from the place I bought it from (Koti) to the place I live (Miyapur). And today got down for my usual jog around my flats and a bit of badminton but my partner was still to wake up at 6AM. So, I took off on my bike towards BHEL on my Hawk and rode the bike for another 16km (to and fro approx).

I came back, got ready to go to office and the time has come for my first commute to office on a bicycle. Being Friday, it was casual wear day and I wore a jeans and T-shirt. Got my lunch packed and my back pack was ready to sit on my back and I was ready to sit on my Hawk.

I checked the air in tires and mounted my bike and I was off on my way to office. The ride was smooth. The bike seems to be taking the bumps in the road well. But there seems to be a slight problem with the rear tire that is resulting in a slight hiccup on every rotation. When I checked the tire, a particular portion of the tire is lower than the rest of the tire. May be the tire did not sit well into the rim. If that is the case, I guess deflating the tire and setting it right and inflating it again should do the trick. If it is a problem with the rim which I think is not the case, it has to be taken to the shop. I will do that in the evening.

I gears were working quite well. Using the low gears when climbing inclines and higher ones otherwise is working well and I got used to it already. The only problem I now see is the head ache of keeping the kids in the flats off the gear shifters when it is parked.

I sailed through my usual route to the office on my new vehicle and reached there in 25 minutes. On an earlier early morning test ride, it took me 30 minutes. It usually took me 20 minutes on my Honda Activa. So a 5 to 10 minutes difference in commute time is not much considering the benefits in terms of fitness and fuel savings that it offers me.

I showed got past the gate, entered the parking lot and reached the usual spot where I park my Activa. The security guard came running and said, “Sir, this is for two-wheelers only. You have to park it there.” Pointing towards the direction where a few cycles parked. I smiled at him cheekily and said, “This is a two-wheeler as well. Do you see more than two?” He smiled back at the joke. Happy that my joke was understood and taken in sporting spirit, I went and parked along with the cycles owned mostly by the support staff of the building.

My T-shirt was drenched on the back and for a decent portion on the front. I usually sweat profusely. So, I reminded myself to keep a formal shirt in the back pack and ride to office in a T-shirt from Monday.

A couple of my colleagues were very appreciative of the fact that I have actually gone ahead and done what they considered was just a good idea that I had. A friend said that more people would be inspired by you. I certainly hope so. 😀

Happy riding,
Venky

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