Personal journey - Discovering thru biking
This is a journey. I am sharing what I went thru.
After our 7 am Sunday tennis exercise stopped (because few team members started to have knee injury), I picked up biking. I did not have to depend upon anyone and could get the biking done before anyone in the family wakes up :-) I was doing bike rides in the weekend but mostly in the range of 10-12 miles (Cupertino Sunnyvale area). I started to enjoy biking. I was given an opportunity by my family to upgrade to a new and better bike as a gift - thank you! I bought the bike in late 2014 and since then continue to do weekend biking but never went beyond the 10-12 mile range. It never occurred me why I am not pushing forward.
Last year (2015), my mother passed away, here in my home. I went through the normal process of rituals and grieving. But I felt that there needs to be a one on one connection to reflect. I had left India ~30 years ago and have seen my parents once in few years. During those short visits, there is not much time for deep connection. Mom was busy trying to think what to cook and me giving hints about things I liked when we were kids. So, very little time for deep connection. When I came back from India in October'15, after settling my father, I decided to try something new, something different - something out of my comfort zone. I have seen people do long bike rides to raise money for a cause or in memory of someone they love. Why not I do it? So, I decided to do a 50 mile bike ride before my mother's first death anniversary (August'16) and in the process spend some time "alone" to reflect - be connected to the nature and present.
At that time, 50 miles seem like a daunting task for me (5x of what I am used to). I thought if I had made a mistake and signed up for a difficult goal. But the spirit helped me in the right direction. I decided, even if I may not achieve this, let this be a journey of trying to get to the goal (and not so much reaching the goal). I needed to put a plan.
I started biking from October 10, 2015. I started biking from 5:45-6:30 am. The cold early morning tested the spirit of my resolve. It was cold! My hands and face got blunt of the cold air. After few weeks, I bought some gloves and a cap to cover my head. It is always a struggle to start with. But I started enjoying it - riding along the Foothill Expressway (Palo Alto). The changing colors of leaves, the emptiness of road, the bitter cold (sometimes early morning frost), the beautiful sunrise and the morning drew. Most of the time, I was alone in the early morning and getting time to experience and observe the nature's beauty in my own pace.
As I started biking every weekend, there are days when I wanted to skip but this is where I was promptly reminded by my coaches about the journey. By Dec'15, I had done five (30+ miles), two (40+ miles) and one 50+ mile bike ride. It is not the miles that is important but the experiences while riding. This is the most important part - that is what I will cherish. Some of the thoughts have contributed to many of my blogs which also I started (as another journey) in Octber'15. I needed to make it a official day and so decided on March 19, 2016 (My mother's 6 months - but I was expecting El Nino rain in Feb and so decided to do in March a better choice - got lucky as it rained last week :-) )
Between January and March, I did many 25-45 miles bike rides. But my goal was different (which I had not shared with anyone before the biking day) - Do a 75 mile bike ride (My mother would have been 74 in April'2016 + 1).
This is my path I took in 3 stages with a 10 min break after completing a stage. (see at the end of blog for an interactive map). I started
Here are some of the challenges I ran into during my biking journey:
This journey is my own. I shared what I went through. The journey has elements of love and support from others to make it through. I learned a lot during this process about myself and start observing small things ... lots more things still remain to be experienced. This could not have been possible without family, friends, the cold morning, the beautiful maple leaves, the morning sun, the morning dew and the busy squirrels.
I am sure you may be thinking, what's next journey? Yes, I do have a goal for 2017 and for that I have been hiking for the last few months ... (Let's see!)
May all of you find the experiences to make your journey beautiful!
Interactive Bike path Map (for fun):
You can click on the icons. The map is interactive. Have fun!
(You can open up in a new tab by clicking here map )
After our 7 am Sunday tennis exercise stopped (because few team members started to have knee injury), I picked up biking. I did not have to depend upon anyone and could get the biking done before anyone in the family wakes up :-) I was doing bike rides in the weekend but mostly in the range of 10-12 miles (Cupertino Sunnyvale area). I started to enjoy biking. I was given an opportunity by my family to upgrade to a new and better bike as a gift - thank you! I bought the bike in late 2014 and since then continue to do weekend biking but never went beyond the 10-12 mile range. It never occurred me why I am not pushing forward.
Last year (2015), my mother passed away, here in my home. I went through the normal process of rituals and grieving. But I felt that there needs to be a one on one connection to reflect. I had left India ~30 years ago and have seen my parents once in few years. During those short visits, there is not much time for deep connection. Mom was busy trying to think what to cook and me giving hints about things I liked when we were kids. So, very little time for deep connection. When I came back from India in October'15, after settling my father, I decided to try something new, something different - something out of my comfort zone. I have seen people do long bike rides to raise money for a cause or in memory of someone they love. Why not I do it? So, I decided to do a 50 mile bike ride before my mother's first death anniversary (August'16) and in the process spend some time "alone" to reflect - be connected to the nature and present.
At that time, 50 miles seem like a daunting task for me (5x of what I am used to). I thought if I had made a mistake and signed up for a difficult goal. But the spirit helped me in the right direction. I decided, even if I may not achieve this, let this be a journey of trying to get to the goal (and not so much reaching the goal). I needed to put a plan.
- Step 1: The best way to achieve a goal is to lean on family and friends. So, I reached out to two important people who fully supported the idea to be my motivational coach - make sure I give my best effort.
- Step 2: Create some milestones
- Five 30+ miles bike ride by Dec'15
- Five 40+ miles bike ride by March'16
- Three 50+ miles bike ride by August'16.
- Step 3: Get bike gears (bike pants, lights, etc.)
- Step 4: Join a gym (I realized this after few months as muscles started to complain as I started biking longer distance)
I started biking from October 10, 2015. I started biking from 5:45-6:30 am. The cold early morning tested the spirit of my resolve. It was cold! My hands and face got blunt of the cold air. After few weeks, I bought some gloves and a cap to cover my head. It is always a struggle to start with. But I started enjoying it - riding along the Foothill Expressway (Palo Alto). The changing colors of leaves, the emptiness of road, the bitter cold (sometimes early morning frost), the beautiful sunrise and the morning drew. Most of the time, I was alone in the early morning and getting time to experience and observe the nature's beauty in my own pace.
As I started biking every weekend, there are days when I wanted to skip but this is where I was promptly reminded by my coaches about the journey. By Dec'15, I had done five (30+ miles), two (40+ miles) and one 50+ mile bike ride. It is not the miles that is important but the experiences while riding. This is the most important part - that is what I will cherish. Some of the thoughts have contributed to many of my blogs which also I started (as another journey) in Octber'15. I needed to make it a official day and so decided on March 19, 2016 (My mother's 6 months - but I was expecting El Nino rain in Feb and so decided to do in March a better choice - got lucky as it rained last week :-) )
Between January and March, I did many 25-45 miles bike rides. But my goal was different (which I had not shared with anyone before the biking day) - Do a 75 mile bike ride (My mother would have been 74 in April'2016 + 1).
This is my path I took in 3 stages with a 10 min break after completing a stage. (see at the end of blog for an interactive map). I started
- Stage 1: Cupertino --> Sunnyvale --> Los Altos --> Palo Alto --> Atherton --> Woodside --> --> Redwood City --> San Carlos (break) and back to Cupertino (46 miles) ~ 4:15 hrs (break)
- Stage 2: Cupertino --> Saratoga --> Monte Sereno --> Los Gatos (via Hwy 9) and back to Cupertino (18 miles) (1.5 hrs) (break)
- Stage 3: Cupertino --> Sunnyvale and back to home via Apple new Campus(11 miles) (1 hr)
- First 6-8 miles feels like a drag - the body is waking up. The mind is asking not to go forward. It's cold. It's a struggle which I had to overcome every time.
- After 2-2.5 hrs, I feel pain the back sitting down for so long. I tried to overcome by doing some bending exercise and biking standing up for few min.
- After 3-3.5 hrs (40+ miles), shoulders seems to start to hurt a bit - holding the handle for a long time. I do some exercise while holding the bike in one hand.
- After 4 hrs of biking, mind start to fluctuate. Hard to concentrate on bike ride. It starts to go in all direction and then biking becomes less enjoyable. I had to jolt myself and bring the concentration back.
- After 5 hrs (~ 60 miles), it starts to hurt, it becomes a struggle. At this point, it is the mental strength which carried me forward to the end.
This journey is my own. I shared what I went through. The journey has elements of love and support from others to make it through. I learned a lot during this process about myself and start observing small things ... lots more things still remain to be experienced. This could not have been possible without family, friends, the cold morning, the beautiful maple leaves, the morning sun, the morning dew and the busy squirrels.
I am sure you may be thinking, what's next journey? Yes, I do have a goal for 2017 and for that I have been hiking for the last few months ... (Let's see!)
May all of you find the experiences to make your journey beautiful!
Interactive Bike path Map (for fun):
You can click on the icons. The map is interactive. Have fun!
(You can open up in a new tab by clicking here map )
Kunu Babu,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story, what great courage, what passion, what dedication, what love for your mom!!!! I'm beyound impressed. The most I have biked was from Pilani to Jaipur which is a little more than 200 KM. I know the exact feeling you went through. Physical exhaustion is nothing compared to the places you see at slow motion, people you meet, the thoughts that come to your mind and problems you solve on the way, on and on!
I was a very passionate and adventurous person in my young days. Somewhere I lost it, sadly :-( But, your story may bring me back to my life again and I'll certainly not forget to thank you for it.... You have in it you. March on!
Love,
Bapti.
Prasant da, Thanks for sharing. This is so inspiring and encouraging story and how you achieved your goal. The best I did is 10 miles bike ride. You did the 75 miles and I guess we met in that afternoon and you looked so fresh. Hats off to your passion, energy and drive to achieve your goal. Congratulations. Keep it up !!
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