Going to college on a bus daily was a big headache, that too when the bus used to take one complete hour to travel 5.6 kilometers. After 6 months of travelling in BMTC I decided to buy a cycle and take it to college daily. When I told my classmates about it, they laughed at me, for who comes on a cycle to C.M.S(Center for management Studies)daily. But I wasn’t deterred by those laughs. Few of my friends even helped me in buying the most suitable bicycle.

I had been living in Bangalore for 1.5 years now but I still felt like a foreigner here, for the roads of Bangalore always felt like new to me. The major part of Bangalore was still unknown to me.

I started commuting daily to my college on my bicycle and none of my friends were laughing now, contrary to this they were amazed upon the fact that I used to cycle daily to college.  But I saw no amazement at all in riding 12 kilometers daily; to me it was more of an escape from the crawling BMTC buses.

But as time passed by I developed a habit of riding long distances; in and around Bangalore. The benefits that fell upon me were unprecedented. I had never imagined how easy it would be to ride through the long traffic jams, also it never occurred to me that I was losing out on so many things by going in a cab to some place; firstly I was losing a great amount of money secondly, in a cab or an auto we are passengers but not the main participator in driving whereas while riding the bicycle you are the driver and you don’t miss out the views presented to you by your surroundings. I had been ignoring the magnificent buildings and the beautiful trees of Bangalore unconsciously, but now I paid close attention to details.  I had ceased to become the foreigner that I was to this city and was more or less a part of Bangalore now, I knew the ways around Bangalore much better than few of my Bangalorean friends, who required Google maps to go to a place.

Along with all these benefits come the health benefits and the environmental benefits. My fitness has improved a great deal and I believe I have played at least a minor role in the fight against global warming.

But with all these benefits, cycling also brought with it a few disadvantages, though these disadvantages are not of Cycling but of the external influences on cycling. My experiences taught me how impatient people are on the roads, as if everyone is in a hurry to catch their ‘important flight’, the reason I mention this is because I have to face the 100 decibel sound of these cars at least 100 times a day, along with this their reckless driving sometimes leaves me unbalanced. ‘Why is everyone so intolerable these days’, I wonder while cycling slowly. Also the rising pollution level and absence of separate lanes for cycles pose a danger to the cyclists of the city.

Cycling has taught me to be patient and remain calm. This is one of the traits that cycling has given me.

Overall cycling has changed the way I used to see things and perceive them along with the numerous benefits mentioned above.