My first Critical Mass

Day before yesterday, I attended my first Critical Mass. Since I didn't have a cycle of my own, I borrowed a Firefox Target from Rohan Kini of BOTS. I had some backlog in work, I had to continue working till 11 am that day from night shift the previous day. Thought I will catch some sleep before the CM but couldn't catch a wink despite the fact that I was awake whole night. That's been a problem of late - not getting sleep despite being tired. Anyway, I called up Rohan who said he'll be leaving at 4 pm from BOTS to Cubbon Park which is the starting point for CM. By time we left it was close to 4.30. There were four of us, Rohan, Sidharth or Sid, myself, and another person whose name I forgot (as usual). But I do remember he was riding a 25-year-old Peugot roadbike.

I haven't really ridden a cycle since my last one got stolen sometime around after my 12th while I was still in Calcutta. So it has been like 8-1o years since I quit. Moreoever, once in Bangalore, I've had no physical exercise at all except a couple of treks. I was a bit apprehensive at heart but then thought, "What's the big deal? It's just cycling. I used to do that 20-30 km a day." But then, I forgot 10 years is a looooong time.

The initial few kilometers were fine from BOTS at Jaynagar until I crossed Richmond Rd flyover. Fatigue started to set in and the rest of the pack was way ahead of me and all I could do was struggle to just push the pedal, much less to keep up with them. The nose had started burning and mouth was dry like a Sahara sand dune in summer. Twice, I even thought maybe I should just stop and rest myself a minute before getting back on the saddle, but somehow I managed to catch up with pack, thanks to traffic, by the time we reached Cubbon Park. There was already a huge group there. And that is when I really felt sick. All those medical terms I come across reviewing medical reports started floating around in my head - dehydration, hypovolemia, etc. The ever growing cramp in my stomach jolted me out of my hypochondriac fantasy ride of sorts. I wasn't having anything with a fancy name, it was just a stomach cramp and plain old fatigue. So had a bit of water and sat down. Soon that cramping was gone but I was still feeling quite tired, too tired to really ride the CM. I thought I'd rather turn back and go home and save myself the muscle and joint pain that is going to follow tomorrow. However, that would have been a pretty shameful thing to do, especially with the girls around and not to mention that kid called Maya, so I devised a plan of dropping out somewhere on the ride and go back to BOTS to keep the bike. I felt confident now since I had a backup plan if I felt any more tired to carry on somewhere on the way. It must have been close to 5 when we started. The rest of the ride was uneventful and I'd left the worst behind.

Waiting at Golf Course Road. Graveyard of lovely trees. by shreelesh on Zooomr

The route we took was B’lore Press Club > Queens Road > Raj Bhavan Road > Palace Rd > Chowdaiah Road > Golf Course > Le Meridian > Ramana Maharishi Rd > Sankey Rd > Bhashyam Circle > Sankey Rd like side > CV Ramana Circle > Sanky Tank Main Entrance. I don't know the road names myself so have taken it from the site of a fellow rider called Go Green Rao. He has a lot more and better photos than what I've taken from my old Nikon E3700.

Near Sankey Tank. Prasant speaking about biking and CM. by shreelesh on Zooomr

Near Sankey Tank. Shortly before we split up for the day. by shreelesh on Zooomr

Near Sankey Tank. Shortly before we split up for the day. by shreelesh on Zooomr

By the time we reached the small park near Sankey Tank main entrance the number of riders had thinned out. There was a talk about ways to promote CM and cycling. We had a short session of introducing ourselves too, after which we decided to split up. It had started getting dark. I teamed up with the gang going to South Bangalore including Sid, Go Green Rao, Deepa, Lavanya, and few others whose names I forgot. Sid, Deepa, and I all had to head to BOTS to keep the bikes.

We had a total WTF moment after Hudson Circle when we stopped to have water from a shop. A Hoysala jeep came and started barking. "What are you doing here? Are you racing on the road?" The jeep wanted to take a turn into a narrow road which had got a bit blocked by the way we were standing on our bikes having water. He was barking as if we were a bunch of guys on our way or at a drag race or something past midnight and getting drunk on the road. Geez. Some men are like a Pomeranian on heat like what Chamrajpet Charles says. Just need a reason to bark. I save up using the F word for some situation deserving and this was a true WTF moment in my life. I don't know how such uneducated and low IQ nutcases get to become cops. We didn't get into an altercation and just moved on. That was the 'only' cop we met who didn't smile at us on our entire ride of CM.

By the time we reached BOTS, my bums were really sore. I wasn't fatigued or tired or having any pain in my joints or muscles otherwise. When I sat on my Victor the seat felt like heaven. Decided to fix a motorbike seat when I ride a cycle for the CM next time. The next day when I woke up, I was expecting my knees, thighs, and calves to be paining but nothing of that sort happened. Lay in my bed for a while just to make sure I wasn't dreaming but I'd pulled through the CM without any pain. Wow. Still sleepy, I stumbled across into the other room to watch TV. Sat down and jumped up immediately. In a moment, all my sleep was gone. I couldn't sit on my bums! It was sore like hell. So that's where all the pain has gone into. I spent the whole day trying not to sit in a normal posture. Its fine today, however. Although it is still a bit sore, I can manage to sit without any difficulty. So that's how my first Critical Mass went.

Thanks a lot Rohan for the bike.

Hope I can make it to the next one, work permitting.

Photos I took are here. Lot more at CM Blog here by other riders.