Riding a pedal-powered wave: Women cyclists hit the road to fitness

We may not have dedicated bicycle lanes in the country yet, but the number of women who are hopping onto their cycles to ride to work, to run errands or to participate in specialised tours, is on the rise. Many of them are now getting ready for Nilgiris 2010, also called the TFN (tour of Nilgiris), a cycling tour that promises a rider, a trip “through rolling terrain, steep inclines and challenging passes”. The tour is a flagship event from Ride a Cycle Foundation (RAC-F), which is a non-profit outfit that promotes cycling for health and environment reasons. It also designs fundraisers through cycling for a variety of charities and lobbies for the rights of cyclists and for laws that offer protection to cyclists.

TFN was launched in 2008 with 40 riders and now has 100 riders who are participating and will be cycling across 1000kms this year.

The women who have discovered the joy of cycling did so for various reasons. Says Malvika Jain, an advertising and marketing consultant, “I used to cycle through fields and trails as a kid in Lucknow with my friends. When I moved to Delhi during my college years, I would rather cycle than argue with the auto rickshaw drivers. I also began serious biking, when I joined a Youth Hostels' Association trip to Ladakh. That was my first experience with cycling for days on end. Later, when I moved to Gurgaon, I started cycling regularly with the Pedal Yatris. Cycling has always been in my system. It's a desire to explore the world and see what's round the corner.”

Another avid cyclist, Kavitha Kanaparthi, 37, who is an event manager for outdoor events, started cycling at the age of seven. “As a means of transport, it has a minimal carbon footprint, is handy, and a bicycle gets you where you want to go quite easily,” she says.

Adds Jain, “What many of us like most is the self-reliance in cycling. We don't use fuel and there is a good bit of manual labour involved. And once you get the tempo, the rhythm keeps going and it's like flying. Also, you can weave in and out of traffic jams and you can go over irritating road blocks with the cycle on your shoulders. And seldom is any way too narrow for a cycle pass through.”

Anjana Deepak, another cyclist who works in Accenture, says that her love for cycling was born when she was in Ladakh to run Great Tibetan Marathon, “I went on a fun ride and that experience stayed with me,” she says. “I took up serious biking to complement my other passion, running.”

Kanaprathi has ridden a few Cyclothons, in Bangalore and Delhi, a Duathlon in Bangalore, the MTB Aravallis Challenge in Delhi but the TFN10 will be her first organised tour.  But when it comes to city roads, she finds it far more challenging. “It is hazardous to ride on the roads,” she says. “I've been almost mowed down a couple of times, and especially when the driver realises it is a woman under that helmet and gear! I try staying on the far side and ensure I am aware of all the traffic around me.”

For an event like the Nilgiris tour, she practices for 8-10 hours during the week, with hill training, and another 6-8 hours over the weekends.

A typical cycling tour, usually lasts 5 to 10 days. “The day starts very early,” says Jain. “We cycle all day, everyone at their own pace and stop along the road for food. At night it's time to exchange notes and sleep. It's all just about pace and endurance and we're back to the same routine the next day. The toughest tour was Enduro where the day just wouldn't end. Cycling was mixed with trekking, rowing and rapelling. Here I did extended night cycling for the first time, and started hallucinating at about 1 am, absolutely fatigued as I had begun cycling at 9am.”

For Deepak, her cycling training programme is typically one or two rides over the weekday and back to back long rides over the weekend. “Weekend rides take up more than 5-6 hours, but it is not the exhaustion which drives me crazy at the end of rides, but being away from my 4 year old daughter,” she says. “I try and complete my rides before noon over the weekend to be around her.”

Though some cyclists are into cycling for fitness, those who go on professional tours need to stay fit for the events. They run, cross train, and stay focused on working out as they get closer to the days of the tour.

According to Jain, more and more women are being drawn to cycling today. “They join simply for the love of sport,” she says. “And it could also be because they see other women cycling and want to do so too.”

Adds Kanaprathi, “Sooner or later a day will come when cycling will be the only option available to us. There are so many environmental changes happening today, and we are fast running out of natural resources. It is important to drive home the message that cycling is not just a poor man's transport. It is a great way to stay fit, and to be part of a highly supportive community that is growing by the day.”