Cycling

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So these gents cycles which were ugly monsters when we compare them to their modern sleek avatars had actually to be stolen  while the elders were taking a siesta and the “danda” did not prove to be too much of an obstacle as we had devised a novel method of cycling by riding through the gap inserting one foot and pedalling while the other foot remained on own side handle firmly in our hands rather precariously poised not a very stable ride but nevertheless a ride . Since our height did not permit us to sit on the seat hence we had to resort to these novel methods to steal those rides. Unlocked cycles were considered fair game and we simply whisked them away for a quickie whenever we got the opportunity.
Anyway to get back to my own experiences with this humble mode of transport which has of late assumed the mantle of a fitness accessory, it was my cousin who introduced me to cycling  I was all of seven he would have been 15 we dutifully hired one of those mini cycles meant for kids and I was perched on the seat very confidently,  gently pushed with feet firmly on the pedals and hands glued to the handle, I pedalled away at a feverish pace not looking anywhere except at the pedals my joy knew no bounds having mastered cycling in a matter of minutes.. My cousin chasing me asking me to slowdown and the inevitable happened I crashed into an old man trudging along, he too was  engrossed in narrating his woes to his friend  not noticing this misguided missile headed in his direction….. sure enough the crash brought him down I went flying and simply ran realizing my perilous position. It required all his diplomatic skills for my cousin to retrieve the cycle from the old man who had by now got back on his feet showering me with choicest expletives. I of course had already scooted following the age old adage ” wisdom is the better part of valour”.

 But that lesson was priceless and soon I was cycling away even carrying my younger brother to school  still not tall enough to be able to sit on these, riding in the scissor style. The school was about two kms away from home and even as a nine year old the parents trusted us more than what  we do with our twenty year olds. So  me and my brother cycled to school, the saving grace was that the cycle was a ladies one without the “danda” so scissors style cycling was ok till I crashed again. This time it was during the rainy season when the feet just slipped from the pedals and yours truly was literally hanging on to the handle with both feet dangling away unable to get to  the pedals; in that split second I took a command decision asked my younger brother to jump off lest he too crash along with me and he dutifully obeyed, the moment he did that the cycle now more disbalanced from this jerk simply skidded off with me rolling along… both my knees bearing the brunt apart from  the uniform. The result was that the height of the seat of the cycle was brought down to a level where I could now sit and cycle along.

Little did I know then that cycling will go on for a number  of years more while in the academies where cycles were duly issued to us as our own modes of transport.  We hired cycles in RIMC when we went on leave out… Liberty in normal parlance,  to the town, watched movies and at times even on the FLs when we cut bounds at nights when the hiring had to be done in the evening itself and cycles had to be securely hidden away from the prying eyes of the duty officers and even our prefects, the appointments. These cycles were actually ramshackle contraptions which we could have have done without and probably we could have walked faster at times than these,  but all the same we did use them for these adventures and even for our bicycle hikes to Haridwar Rishikesh. In the final term I was privileged to have been issued  my own bicycle being the cadet captain…..of course it was the property of the course with  me getting it only for official duties else all the course mates had priority rights over it  all the time.

The most memorable cycling trip of course was the hike to Chandigarh via Paunta Sahib from Dehradun and back. This trip was eagerly awaited by the course, as our seniors had regaled us with stories of how they were looked after by the Rimcollian (alumni of our school RIMC) CO,  Col Mangat (later Lt Gen) there, and that the trip was extended by a day to permit them to enjoy Chandigarh to the fullest. Cycles were the same old ones but with renewed josh and vigour  we reached Paunta Sahib and the Gurudwara was our abode for the night, the place is beautiful and the granthis were very hospitable especially seeing us kids barely 14-15 year old. The meal as usual comprised the tasty Dal and the chapati (parsadaji), we were famished and  naturally relished it. The next day was hard work with climb to Nahan and then roll down to Kala Amb, the climb was extremely challenging, some of course took short cuts by hanging on to the rear chains of the trucks, but most of us trudged along. The dhaba owner at Kala Amb as overjoyed at seeing 50 youngsters as his customers for the night, least realising our apetites, because when we finished, the owner had not only run out of his stock of rations but replenished them twice and still there were some of us who could have gone on….. his parathas and chutney with raw onions were really delicious. On our way back the dhaba guy was smarter and rationed our parathas to two each. Chandigarh was nice, lovely boulevards very neat and clean but to our chagrin….the Rimcollian CO had been posted out and consequently we did not get any extension and hence had to return with just a day and a half spent at Chandigarh.


In NDA the cycle provided us with a means to move around in the huge campus in squads of four or six.Squads for the uninitiated was a square or a rectangular group in perfect order but only in senior terms; as second & third term we either pushed the cycles around or lifted them over our heads and ran around the Ashoka pillar. There were more adventures associated with the cycles most interesting ones were the valve raids in the battalion area.
These raids were planned and executed in true commando style complete with mission and objective a plan of insertion and extraction and diversionary tactics planned in minutest detail. The task was to manage as many valves as possible but not less than 20, in the bargain deflating the cycles of the neighbouring squadrons. This operation was executed in utmost secrecy and needless to mention, was carried out well after lights out keeping out of harms way, of the  the duty officer of the day. Duty officers were also known by their characteristics some like a Capt  Anshu Trivedi who liked to be known as the phantom who appeared the moment a light was switched on anywhere in the battalion . Obviously these operations were carried out when we had the Naval dopes or the jazzy flyboys who would invariably call it a day much earlier after their customary barra pegs. There were of course exceptions there too, the likes of Cdr Chitnis and Flt Lt Johri . 
Anyway getting back to the valves and the cycles these prized possessions which we had stolen were then distributed as the booty after the loot and we deposited them in empty match boxes to be produced to win a favour from a senior in difficult times. The most interesting part was the morning muster when we deliberately kept flat cycles else they would invariably be whacked by our worthy seniors who would simply hand over their punctured ones to us to push around. Once the muster was over these valves would miraculously appear, the tyres would be inflated and off we second termers went for our outdoors of course ensuring that our seniors did not catch us on the bikes lest we lose them again with the added punishment of the cycles on our shoulders rather then merely pushing them along. Then someone in the hierarchy decided to put an end to these adventures by providing us with plenty of valves with the CQMS,

the quarter master sergeants and suddenly the bikes serviceability state improved dramatically.

The other interesting anecdote of cycling related to our colleagues from friendly foreign countries especially the Bhutanese ones as they laid their hands on cycles only in NDA as there were no cycles in Bhutan.These guys were dangerous and most cadets avoided getting into their foursome “squad” . The bike especially on a downhill slope refused to pay attention to their endeavours to turn and simply zoomed off straight ahead, the rest of the squad had no choice but to follow suit or crash into them thus injuring themselves and also rendering the cycles unserviceable with the rims deshaped and couple of spokes becoming casualty. Cycling to Peacock bay was fun we never felt it to be drudgery and really enjoyed these rides ….difficult to imagine our youngsters today, they would immediately lay their hands on a mobike rather than trudge along on a lowly cycle.
Cycling continued even post commission as the two wheelers could only be purchased after the the first few months salary was credited into the the bank. But the fourth pay commission arrears soon provided us with the moolah to get our very own two wheelers, a LML Vesspa it was as motor cycles were strictly prohibited by our parents having witnessed our cycling feats and to keep us safe. We of course treated this family ride also as the stallions and rode around in a similar fashion.