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7th May 2009

I had a tough time selecting the right bike for me! When I come to think of it, it actually took me much longer to pick a bike than it took me to buy a car!

Why do I need a bike?

1. Weight wise, I am a bit (hmm… actually a lot) on the heavier side, so I wanted myself to engage in a physical activity, which gives me a good workout (Running is great! But running alone becomes a pain sometimes…)

2. I am becoming a bit cautious of how we (humans) are screwing up this world for the generations to come. Be it Global Warming, Pollution, Energy Crisis, Obesity!

3. Most of my weekends (actually it’s just the Sunday that we take off) include catching-up with my sleep, watching a movie, occasionally reading something etc…. all the boring stuff that I am sure you guys do as well. I wanted to get out and explore places around Bangalore (and what better way to do it than on a bike)

(enough now! I am sure you have similar reasons)

How much was my budget?

So the first thing I got asked when I went to bicycle shop in Jayanagar was “How much is your budget?” Well, I hadn’t thought of a figure yet, I wanted to get an idea of how much do bikes cost these days! I said “close to 3000, and I want a bike with gears” (because as far I can remember when I left cycling around 12 years ago, bikes used to cost around 1000 for a decent bike and I thought the rates would have tripled at max). The shopkeeper smiled, and said “sir itne mein to kuch nahi milega”. I was surprised. Was it just Bangalore or do bikes now cost much more than that? I came back and googled for the brands that I could recall. It was Hero and BSA. Spend a whole day researching on net and found out that there is a new Indian brand that has come up called Firefox. So I almost finalized on a couple of bikes and they were all between 6,000 and 8,000. I though that’s ok, I can manage to spend that much on a bike. It would get me in shape and I would have fun over the weekends – all this while saving the world! I was about to go to a shop the next Sunday, and I googled for reviews of a Firefox bike. It somehow took me to bums on the saddle website, and I thought let me check them out. The bikes on their websites were expensive, starting from around 17,000. I thought let me checkout what’s so special about these bikes anyways…

I called up Rohan and he said I could come on a Saturday morning. I was traveling to Delhi for work, so I visited BOTS 2 Saturday after that. The first question that I got asked was “What do you need the bike for?” (Ah! Finally, a question that I had the answer for!). Rohan explained the differences between different TREK models that they had, why were they costlier than Heros and BSAs of this world. Guys at BOTS were kind enough to let me test ride a few models of TREK and I could understand what he was saying and how could that be potentially correct, but I had to ride the hero and firefox bikes that I had kinda short listed to really feel the difference.

I went back to the same shop in Jayanagar and he somehow agreed to let me ride the bikes in 50 meters circles within his shop. I could feel a world of a difference between any of the 6-8K even 12K firefox bike and the TREK 3700 (the entry level bike ~ 17,000).

So I was in a fix again! I wasn’t sure if I would ride that much to justify the 17K that I put into a TREK bike. So I gave myself a week to let it settle down in my mind and if the fire to ride a bike was still so strong I would go and buy a TREK.

During that week, someone mentioned that there is a big store called Decathlon that we should go and checkout and see if LifeMojo should become a reseller for them. I had a look at their website and wow, they had bicycles starting from 25K. I googled decathlon bikes and figured out that these guys are a good brand in Europe. I spoke to them over phone and they said they are coming out with a big store near Surjapur and their entry level bike starts around 11K. I thought it might be worthwhile to wait for them to setup the store and checkout their bikes as well. I checked with Rohan and he said they might have good bikes in India too.

Then I got super busy with LifeMojo and couldn’t get time to check out any of the bikes for a couple of weeks.

The fire was still on! I came back from a trip to Delhi and Hyderabad and the first thing that I wanted to do was to get a bike and start riding. I had decided on TREK 3700 and the only brand left to checkout was Decathlon. I went to the store and rode almost all the models that they had.

Decathlon is a bit slow in updating their website with the latest that they have. So I couldn’t check the specs of the bike before making the decision. I relied on Rohan’s feedback, tried their 5.1 and 5.2 models. I had kind of made my mind about the 5.1 because of how much it costs, but when I tried 5.2, I fell in love with it. It is a super neat bike!

Finally took the plunge, bought the 5.2 and am super happy with it now.

27th September 2009

The cost justification

Justifying the cost of buying an expensive bike is the major cause that I have heard for people to go with sub quality bikes… So here is what I have been doing with the new bike:

1. Sundays: I ride every weekend either on Nandi Hills, or in the BBCh events.

2. Weekdays: I ride 4 out of rest 6 days around 25 Km each day. (A bonus that I hadn’t thought of)

3. I have lost 6 Kg since I bought the bike.

4. I am already thinking about upgrading to a Road Bike ( which would cost even more ? )

How good is the Bike? Here is a review that I wrote after a month of riding and I still feel the same way about the bike.

I hope this helps you make a good decision on buying a good bike…

15th and 16th August was a long weekend for Team LifeMojo after a long time. Varun Khurana and I love training (running for varun and cycling for me) on mountains. We enjoyed the Nandi climb a few weeks back and wanted to train on a different mountain this time ( this way we all have an outing as well ). Varun Gupta was nice enough to become our support (with the vehicle) for this training session

We somehow managed to fit in my bike in my Santro (Nangia Airlines) and pushed off. There was no space for the guy sitting in the back seat to keep his legs down, so it became a sleeper birth ( the only Business Class Seat in Nangia Airlines )

On the way to Yercaud, we stopped at Salem for lunch and then decided to train (run / ride) on the uphill the next day morning. On the way up we noticed a lot of monkeys near the base, but there were few of them near the top. After a fun filled evening on 15th (guess what we did) we woke up a bit late than we decided (thanks to me ). We got ready and reached the hairpin bend no 5 at around 8AM and got the bike together.

The Training

It is a nice 8Km climb (with 2% – 12% gradient) to the top (from hairpin bend no. 5 to 20).  After 500 meters or so, I realized I am not able to shift properly, the screw that maintains tension in the gears had been replaced a few days back and I knew that was to be fixed. We had to wait for 10 minutes till I got that back into shape and we started again. Varun Khurana ran almost at the same pace as I rode my bike (which means he is a nice runner). Varun Gupta was with us the whole time, helping us with Gatorade, Water and moral support.

The Finish

When we started, Varun was ahead, halfway up the climb (after I took a leak), I was ahead and then Varun climbed on hairpin bend 18 or 19, skipping 100 meters and took a lead of about 50 meters. As soon as he saw the destination, he started pacing up. Seeing him do that I shouted lets race and moved my gears to 2 – 6 (the same gear ratio that I usually use on flat roads). I gave it all I had and I think I reached 15 seconds before him.

Overall It was great fun !

Need to find a comfortable running stride and style for myself…

Here is a video that made me think about Front and Mid foot landing while running.

It is Decathlon Rockrider 5.2 ( Size: L – 19″ Frame Size ). It costed me INR 15,499 for the bike and some 1,000 change for the accessories – lock + basic toolkit + saddle cover.

I bought it last Monday (4th May, evening) and it was fun taking it from the decathlon store to home. You guys can imagine 3 guys and a bike in one Maruti Alto We stopped at the food court at Total Mall on the way back to celebrate my new bike, Sandwiches there were great!

I took it for a ride the very next morning I rode 22.58 Km in 2 hours leisurely riding across the city. More than exploring new routes, it was more of getting comfortable with the bike. The bike is awesome!

I plan to compete in the Bangalore Duathlon (June 14), which is 20 Km Ride + 10 Km Running. I am not sure what is a decent time for it, but I would be happy to finish it in 3 Hrs (1.5 hrs each). And I would love to join the BBC (Bangalore Biking Club) on Sundays!

Burn fat not fuel – Byke along to a healthier life and a cleaner world! – (from the signature of One of the EMails on BBC)

http://www.lifemojo.com/people/namit

So you guys can have a look at what I am upto ( health wise ) and the good thing is that it keeps tweeting on my behalf as well

Oh, and if you want an easier access, just subscribe to my Fitness Feed here : http://www.lifemojo.com/people/namit/feed

I am glad, I just skipped one today

I started running on 26th November 2008 just to get back in shape, but now I want to run as many marathons in my life as I can. I ran for around 15 days and then Knee Pain started. 12 days in the gym and I was back on my feet to run again…

I have been running with Varun (Gupta), Himanshu and Varun (Khurana) on Sundays at Lalbagh. We usually run as much as we can and then have a nice meal at MTR. The maximum that I had run before this was close to 5 Kms.

Stuff that helped me complete the 21 Km run:

1. Music: I have started listening to Trans music now a days, specially while running and working out. Oh, and iPod Shuffle, it is the best iPod to run with. I love the fact that it has a clip and I can clip-on the iPod to my shorts while running.
2. Clothes: Nike Dri Fit T-shirt and Adidas Running Shorts. I used to think that cotton is the best to run with until someone (sorry I forgot who it was) told me otherwise.
3. Shoes: I don’t have the light running day shoes, but I am happy with my Nike Zoom Structure Triax+ 11. They are Motion Control Shoes for over pronators like me.
4. Diet: Pretty much what LifeMojo suggested as Runner’s Diet.
5. Stretching Exercises: All the stretching routines that I had mentioned before and a new one for the shin that Dharmendra suggested.
6. Crowd cheering along the way: I can’t even express in words, the motivation that I got when strangers smiles and clapped as I passed the milestones. It is a great moral booster, especially for the first timer like me.
7. Water: I don’t remember how much water I drank while running, but it was a lot!

It is a great feeling to complete the Half, and I would try to improve my timing next time.

(I am not the right person to take marathon running advice from. I am just sharing what I did to complete my first Half Marathon.)

I was running fine for around 15 days, and then the Knee Pain started. The pain was concentrated on the left side of the right knee and a friend of mine who is a physiotherapist said it is because of the strain on the knees when I run. Here is what I was suggested:

1. I would need to get shoes that suit my feet type. (Motion Control Shoes for me because I over-pronate).
2. I could try doing a few exercises in a gym that would help me make my knees strong.
3. I would have to find a softer surface to run than running on the road.
4. I would need to lose some weight before I can run long distances.

I really want to take up running as a daily exercise so I went ahead and bought a pair of Nike shoes for motion control. I started hitting the gym and did doing the prescribed exercises. For running on a softer surface I would have to travel a few kilometers and would have to switch to running in the mornings which I can’t afford right now. And I am trying my best to lose weight; I would not switch to an unhealthy way to lose weight ever again. (Read about the last time I tried a shortcut to lose weight)

Finally after 12 days on 25th December, I could run again without any pain.

I searched about the knee pain on the net and i guess it is called Jogger’s Knee. For me there are two solutions

1. Buy shoes which have more cushion than the shoes that I have.
2. Stop running on hard surfaces, and find a park nearby.

OR both.

Tomorrow I might not be able to run (not because of the pain, but because I would be busy most of the day). I would be happy if I can complete 2 miles in Lalbagh this Sunday.

I ran for 10 minutes today and walked for about 30 minutes.