What next?!
So now that the running goal of the year was achieved early in Q1 itself, needed some additional motivation to continue the active lifestyle I had started.
Needed to save the long term impact on the knees and to prevent repetition of the recent ITBS injury. Also wanted to protect myself from any excuse I could conjure up not to be active. One option was hiking. A friend, Rajesh, had recently done Kilimanjaro and that indeed seems enticing. Although the ideal season to do that would be early in the year so I had missed that opportunity already. Maybe next year. So what next?
Cycling it is...
Lot of friends on Facebook had turned to cycling. I had stayed away from cycling so far primarily fearing the condition of Indian roads and traffic. Was not convinced this was the right sport for me. But after a long and hard debate with myself decided that it wouldnt hurt to start in April now that the running goal for now was out of the way.
Next decision was which cycle to go for. Price range was fixed - approx 30K as didnt want to overspend not knowing my cycling future. Lots of research on the web, friends, visiting stores in Pune like Lifecycle, Giant Sprint, Trak and Trails and Pro sports. There were many options and range varied a lot - mountain bike, hybrid, Road bike to start with. Then the brands ... from Trek as Mahesh, who had done Pune to Kanyakumari cycle ride, had suggested that. Few friends suggested Schwinn. Another friend - Satish, suggested Giant Roam 3 which he had bought earlier and was loving it. Neeraj, suggested Marin. So it was all over the place. Research on the cycling forums threw up even more choices! So many choices.
Zero in on the bike ...
After visiting the stores, my confusion increased even further. The conclusion was that the brand matters less as quality was quite similar in the mid range brands. Only difference was the name. Finally shortlisted Giant Roam 3. Unfortunately it wasnt available and would only come a month later. Roam 2 was available but was above around 40K. Nope ... not right now. Couldnt wait for another month. Needed the bike now! Impatient now that the decision was done. Lifecycle guys couldnt convince me to go with a Fuji or Scott. Searched for a Trek but couldnt find it anywhere. Finally went to the friendly folks at Pro sports. Amar from the Aundh showroom convinced me to buy a Marin as the components were high end of Shimano, the brand was good, but prices were on the reasonable side as the brand was still nascent in India. He also checked the bike and fitted me with the right size. Interestingly Marin was a Bay area bike - quite popular in California!! Finally bought the Marin San Rafael DS2 - a Bay area bike after having moved to India. :-) The circle of life is complete!
Ready to ride and conquer Pune and outskirts!!