Cycling in Nagpur

Quite a few of my readers know that I've studied engineering in Nagpur for two years before I was forced to quit due to eligibility problems and ended up doing my graduation and post-graduation in Pune.

Well, I was a different type of person when I was in Nagpur. I used to study for one ;). Another of my traits was cycling. For two years I rode my bicycle of Japanese origins a lot. I would peg it at around 15-20 kms a day on average.

It was a beauty of a bicycle, if I may say so myself. I'd bought it in Colombo when Dad was posted there, and it was one of those all-terrain things. With a light MgAl frame (the same stuff that's used in making airplanes), I could lift it from the hub with no effort at all.

I used to ride pretty fast. I remember once, when I was cruising down a road, pumping my legs hard as usual, I'd chanced to look at a motorcycle's speedo while passing it. It showed 40kph. :) Still brings a smile to my face. I remember his face as well... no smile there :D.

Once when I was visiting my classmates on the other side of town (hell I don't remember the names of places anymore, its so long ago), I'd bragged to my sardar friend (Harpal) that I could race him to the south-indian fast food joint around a km away, and would beat him. The bet was on. I'd been slightly lucky. The traffic was a bit heavy, and I had access to the footpaths that he couldn't get onto :). I got a free milkshake.

I'd had a couple of accidents on it. Nothing serious (serious means broken bones). I'd a habit of always skidding to a stop. It used to work like this. My front brake calipers were slightly loose. So when I used to apply the front brake even slightly, it used to cause the calipers to go inside the fork so that the front wheel used to lock. This used to cause the rear wheel to go light. If I hit the rear brakes at that instant, the result used to be a beautiful skidding stop.

My tyres always wore out pretty fast. One other time I'd claimed to the aforementioned Harpal and his roomie Sanyam that I could do a 360 degree skid. As chance would have it, a patch of loose sand on a smooth road happened at the right time, and I managed to perform the only 360 degree skid in my life :). More milkshake :D.

Nice memories actually. I left the cycle back in Nagpur along with some other of my stuff, intending to go back and pick it up a couple of weeks later. Never went :(. I don't even have any photos of those days, only memories. But as I said, nice memories actually :).