When he got his brand new cycle on July 28 last year, little did Guru Sathyanarayan, realise that purchasing a cycle and the 12 km morning ride the next day could turn out to be a life-changing decision for him. It was just the daily routine of traffic snarls that pushed the IT professional to buy a cycle, but a year down the line, the pedal pusher swears by this mode of transport as it has helped him lose more than 15 kg without gym or diet, and has also gotten him in touch with a more proactive social circle.
“One year ago I was obese and weighed around 106 Kg . I had borderline BP , was constantly stressed out and had trouble sleeping. I couldn’t even walk 1 km without feeling fatigued and breathless. I knew that something had to change and I switched from car to cycle for commuting. And now I know that without doubt, it was the best investment that I have ever made,’’ said Guru who formed the city-based club ‘Cycling Next Level’.
As Bengaluru wakes up to a whorl of traffic jam every day, a growing number of working professionals have resorted to cycling and they teach you how to save time and money and to be in shape while you peddle your way to office. For IT professional Sarthak Dimri, burning calories and getting to office early was the motivating mantra that made her choose cycling over riding in cars. “I feel relaxed every time I peddle and it acts as an awesome stress buster while riding back home,’’ she said.
“My office is in the outer ring road which witness traffic snarls all day long. It hardly takes 15-20 minutes to reach my office now and I lost almost 10kgs after I switched to cycling,’’ said Avishek Behera who is a software engineer. Also, young parents have took to peddling with their kids recently contributing to the spurt in the cycling enthusiasts in the city. Looks like these peddlers pick up cycling not just for recreation, health benefits or sporting purposes but for parent-child bonding too.
“We did a very basic but a very important thing - helped our kids find pleasure in simple things. Sometimes we are also cheerleaders for our kids and It's precious!,’’ said Viresh, father of 8 year old Madhav and 10 year old Sneha.
