जिंदगी

 जिंदगी ..एक साँस भर की

जी लो , जब तक है बाकी 

क्या पता कब कम पड जाये 

और उधार सी लगे ...जिंदगी 

आँखे मुंदे मत सोचना 

अगर और थोडा वक्त होता .. तो ये होता 

वक्त है ... फिसलेगा ही मुठ्ठी से 

पकडो नही .. बस बेह लो 

जिंदगी है ... जी  लो

-- मीता मेहेर 

(24-02-2021)

Fear of highway to 200 BRM ...

From fear of riding on highway to attempting 200 BRM (distance 210km) in less than 12 hrs.

Two 100 , one 150 and now 200 BRM ... all achieved because of #BNPGR Cycling group.... company matters 😀

This journey was not easy. It started with fear of unknown. Will I be able to ride on highway, how will I manage traffic? Will I ever be able to take bridge , show a sign with one hand and control the cycle with just one .. and many more. But slowly I was able to answer it for myself .

I started going solo on highway for smaller distance . I still remember how thrilled I was when I completed my very first solo ride on the highway , took all the bridges from Thakur village to Oberoi mall...10km.. achievement ha 😀  . Slowly I was comfortable on highway and bridges but not yet with traffic. But weekend long distance rides helped me. Punitji used to keep me engaged with all sort of stories and it kept the fear at bay .

I still have issues with traffic but I know how to handle it now.

For First 100km , Guruji was kind enough to give me weekly plan , he encouraged me to finish within 5 hrs and I could finish with timing of 4:47 with partner in all my crime, my bitter half :-). It was like my first podium ( running मे नही तो यही सही 😀). 

Milind did not register in next 100 km , so I was going to take it easy. With Vaibhav I could finish first half very easily , but in second half I increased my speed . Riding solo is difficult , specially on monotonous highway and torturing heat .  Punitji and Mihir advised to take proper breaks , eat well and hydrate well. But this time I was carried away to finish even faster than last time, that too solo. Huge mistake. I achieved my best time , I finished in 4:43 hrs , 5 mins improvement , but I was dead tired. जब सिनियर्स कि नही सुनोगे तो और क्या होना है ?

Meanwhile I also joined another cycling group -#BCA for weekday rides. Very experienced and talented riders. Their stories, tips were very helpful. My schedule was set Mon and Friday assisting in 5k running batch and Tues , Thurs and Sat/Sun cycling. It was fun / tricky balancing rides with both the groups. But eventually total experience helped a lot.

150 km was tough. I registered  without complete knowledge of route. 2 km Tandulwadi ghat gave me jitters. But I had learned my lesson so decided to take it easy. I had simple plan ... follow  Mihir and Shreyas. We were together from start to end. Heat was at its peak with never ending rolling hill  from kelve to varai naka . But when you have determined and fun company, then क्या घाट क्या heat , we managed to finish it in 9 hrs 23 mins.

I was not sure about 200km after 150km experience .. पर आपके well wishers आपका साथ छोडते नही. They push you to your limits and unknowingly you broaden your horizon. Saurabh silently convinced me to register, also shared his detail plan. Missed Guruji as he was busy with Deepaks event, but his subtle comments makes all the difference. Vinodji took all the headache away of logistics. Punitji reminded and assured that I can do it by reiterating that I should manage my speed and take all the breaks for food , hydration , stretching. Shreyas and Kiran took responsibility to take us to start point and back. And Dr. Dilip, Saroj , Garv , Parag B and Rajesh , all made the experience wonderful and complete.

And that's how I ended up doing 200km BRM with company of Shreyas and with help of some awesome, caring and determined bunch of people.

Now I am being asked what's next 😀... and my answer is Lets see if we can do this madness again... together 👍