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ShareEither for the environment or to stay in shape -- an increasing number of individuals are taking to cycles in the city. DNA meets the pedal pushers of Mumbai.
Full circle
Faisal Thakur used to ride around Carter Road as a boy, with nine other BMX-buddies. "We would customise our bikes with white handlebars and funky pedals to look cool," recalls the 35-year-old. None of those guys would even look at a cycle now, says Thakur, but his own distinctive figure, with its full beard and shiny glares can often be seen zipping down the promenade with his new gang of friends, the Carter Road Cyclists.
The group of around 40 riders meet on weekends to ride around the city as well as take longer trips to its edges, the most gruelling being to Kanheri Caves, the memory of which still elicits groans. "The idea behind the group is to make cycling both more popular and safer," says Thakur.
For Thakur, cycling has become more than a hobby and something of a mission. He takes special sessions on road safety with group members as well as underprivileged children on Bandra Reclamation. "If motorists or bus drivers see us riding in straight line, wearing helmets and pads and using indicators, they treat us differently," he says. Thakur is also part of larger campaign pushing for the creation of cycling tracks, especially where new roads are being planned. "if they had created a track on the Bandra-Worli sea link, it would have encouraged a lot of people to cycle to work," he points out.
Even in the absence of such infrastructure, Thakur feels cycling is an idea whose time has come in Mumbai, and is even toying with the idea of setting up a specialised business for creating customised bicycles. "The movement has gone viral. I have never seen so many riders around before," he says.He himself uses his trusty BSA every day, for doing his daily chores as well as attending meetings with clients. "People often stare along the way, so I smile and say Hi, start chatting, and sometimes end up getting them out of their cars and onto a cycle."
Boys with toys
"She's about a month old," says Freddy Phiroz, executive, gazing fondly at his silver and gray bicycle." She doesn't have a name yet, but I'm thinking of one." An affectionate 'handle' isn't the only thing that is unique about Phiroz's wheels.The shiny Merida Sub10 he rides, with its 21 gears and nifty add-ons like cyclo- computer and customised pedals came with a hefty price tag of around one lakh rupees. Not quite the amount one associates with the humble machine, butPhiroz isn'tregretting his decision. "When I started exploring the options, the price was daunting," he admits.
"But when I rode this model I was won over." His reasons for opting for a high-end cycle are the same as those for buying a high end car. "There is more comfort and an added element of safety that is a big plus in this city which is not very welcoming to cyclists. Just sometimes, the professional look of the machine gets you the right of the road."
Certainly Phiroz's sleek turnout, coupled with his imposing collection of body art, does make heads turn as he rides around his Pali Hill home. Often, a friend accompanies him on an almost identical ("but even more expensive") Merida, as well as a father-son duo on red Firefoxes. But despite the 6 digit price tags on their cycles, Phiroz insists they are not status symbols yet. "There is no real snobbery involved, since not too many people know enough about high end cycles to be able to make a statement with them." So far, Phiroz has used his Merida for weekend cycling and to knock off some extra kilos. And while he troubleshoots by only going out in the early mornings, he admits it is frustrating not being able to unleash the full force of his designer machine on the roads. "I once rode to Shivaji Park and got into a fight with a cabbie who kept trying to knock me over."So, is he more considerate to cyclists when he is driving? " I don't have a car," grins Phiroz. "I have road rage problems."
Reduce and recycle
When Shivani Prabhakar set her Facebook status to 'Looking for an old bicycle', she gave a whole new twist to the phrase 'Reduce and Recycle'. "I wanted to take up riding to knock off some extra kilos," says the 30-year-old marketing executive, "and decided to do it using a refurbished old bicycle instead of buying a new one." Sure enough, a friend soon responded by offering up her younger sister's rusty machine, which hadn't been used for 4 years."The whole thing cost me about Rs600," says Prabhakar, "and I have the satisfaction of using something that was going to waste."
It hasn't been all downhill for Prabhakar though, who discovered the rough side of being a woman cyclist in Mumbai on her very first forays. "I wouldn't say it's completely safe, and I wouldn't ride alone," says the Versova resident, who sticks to her neighbourhood on weekdays and takes longer rides on weekends with a local group. "People say "They seem to be from good families, why do they need to ride a cycle?"
On the upside, the exercise has given Prabhakar the kind of glowing good looks that the aspiring divas of Versova would kill for. "I went to a friend's place one morning after a ride and she kept asking me what I had been doing to get that glow," she laughs.
For Prabhakar, the best thing that can be done for cycling in Mumbai is "to find a way to make it cool again, like Karan Johar has done with Hindi films." Her big appeal for the activity has been the memories it brings back of her childhood in Delhi's Karol Bagh area. "We would cycle everywhere, and the feeling of the wind in my hair and against my cheeks just takes me back to that freedom." It has also given her a more intimate feel of the city she now calls home."On a cycle, you see details you miss while zipping past in a car. It helps experience the city in a different way."
Easy rider
When Nikhil Kurian started arriving for work on his second hand cycle, he found himself at the receiving end of his colleagues' jokes. "There were a lot of wisecracks about how the recession had hit me really hard." But the 23-year-old researcher with an international consultancy firm, was determined to pedal his way from his Bandra home to his Khar office. "Not only is it more eco-friendly, it makes sense in terms of money and time," he says. His morning run gets him there faster than an auto, besides giving the usually late riser some early morning thrills. "Its not entirely safe," he admits sheepishly, but I get a big kick out of beating the cars at red lights."
While some mornings see him set out in his formal office wear, the recent heat has led to his arriving at work in a sweaty T-shirt. "It really helps that my office is supportive and has facilities where I can shower and change," admits Kurian, who routinely carries spare shirts in his capacious bag.The large number of expats in his workplace as well as colleagues who have experience of cycling abroad also means that his cycle is treated with due respect. "In many places, the security guards don't let you park inside with the cars, but I don't have that problem."
The biggest problem he did face after moving to Mumbai was finding a place to buy a bicycle. "In Bangalore and Chennai (where he lived) there are cycle shops everywhere." The Bandra sshop he finally found sold him a lemon, which crowned off a series of minor mishaps with a loud and spectacular tyre puncture in the middle of a traffic jam. "Road safety is a big issue here; motorists will just mow you down given a chance", He does admit, however, that cyclists are not always the blameless victims. "I was teaching a friend to ride, and let her go ahead alone only to find her lying in a heap on Hill Road. She was OK, but there was hell to pay from the little old lady she knocked down."
