Sunday ride

Today I decided to go with HBC for the weekend ride. I've been with them a few times before and have always enjoyed riding with them. These are skilled riders with advanced machines. 11 had signed up or the ride and 10 showed up - not a bad number. Today's ride was about 60 odd kms round trip and was supposed to take us through some villages. HBC riders are fast and I've struggled keeping up with them on my previous rides so this time I knew what to expect. After the first pit stop and a couple of riders dropping off, the pack (7 of us) picked up speed. We were doing about 25-30kmph on flat roads. We took a detour on which I've never been earlier. The road was good, no traffic and lined with trees on either side of the road. We passed marigold fields, paddy fields, cereal fields among others. Though the morning was sunny to begin with but pretty soon clouds covered the entire sky. There was slight breeze making the ride all the more pleasant. I particularly liked the route today and it was made even better by good company and interesting conversations. Our second designated break was at a local tea shop in the village. A bunch of riders with fancy bikes and colorful jerseys did attract a lot of attention of the villagers - especially kids waiting at the corner for their school bus. A few adventurous kids took a few steps ahead and started feeling the bikes and the gears. The place was brimming with activity. On any other given day with slightly better light, I would have easily spent hours over there with the camera. But today was not 'other day', today was the day to ride. So I left all that behind for some other day, hopefully, and rode on. Farside would have really loved this ride.

The ride back took us again through the outer ring road. That 3-4 km stretch has a slight incline and towards the end of the ride becomes quite demanding. But today whether was better. Also, I had a strong rider riding alongside me and probably that kept me going.

The highlight of the day was a 12th grader who was riding with us. He had incredible energy and spirit and was almost always right ahead of the pack. He had a heavy full suspension bike. Once or twice when I or someone else tried to overtake him, he started pedalling twice as fast, ensuring nobody ever got ahead of him. And he was the one with whom everyone was taking liberties and he was happily contributing to the fun whole-heartedly.

As usual, I was in two minds about getting up early this morning. I have to get up even earlier tomorrow so thought would catch up with some sleep today. Glad I changed my mind.


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