Bright colours help cyclists

To all the bicyclists on Bangalore Road,

I have experimented and I can confirm that bright red, orange and yellow T's / shirts help! The motorcyclists and the car drivers on the road notice you from far. You can figure this out by the distance of their honking (Yeah! They still honk - what do they think? That I am on a suicide mission and will jump straight in their path on purpose? ). When I put on something dull, they tend to notice me very late and the clearance between them and me, when they pass me, is scary.

So, chaps take my advice. Display your colours! After all nature intended the male of the species (I do not see many lady cyclists on the road anyways!) to appear bright - look at peacock

Monsoon and Cycling

I dreaded the onset of monsoon. There goes my twice-a-week commuting to the office - I thought! But no I was wrong. For one, Bangalore does not have torrential rains - when it rains it pours, but more or less at definite intervals. And second, the mornings are so pleasant that one wants to cycle on and on and on. And third, light showers cool your body down and makes the ride a real fun. And fourth, the motorcyclists seems to hate light showers and tend to stay off roads during the showers making the roads that much safer.

Note: I wonder why anybody hasn't come up with a scientific explanation on the more or less 24-hour cycle of the rain patter in Bangalore.

How much do I save by Cycling?

Besides the fact that I feel healthier and all systems go, I decided to work our how much I save per year by cycling twice a week to work.

My office is 10km away from my house. The price of 1 litre Diesel is around Rs. 38 in Bangalore. I think my car does about 14 km per litre, but in Bangalore during the rush hour I will be surprised if it does anything more than 10km per litre (and that is on the hgher side!).

That means I spend arounf 2l of Diesel a day. Works out to Rs. 152 per week. That is Rs. 608 a month. That is Rs. 7296 a year.

Plus the fact that I feel good about doing my bit to save the world.

Hmmm ... I think I need to start doing this 3 times a week!!!

Message from a cyclist to all the pedestrians on Bangalore roads

Hi all those who cross the roads in Bangalore,

I wish to place the following for your kind consideration:

Please acknowledge the presence of a cycle approaching you in the same way you would to any other speeding vehicle. Cycles are not made of gases and it is unlikely that unless the cyclist brakes hard when you mindlessly step in front of him/her the resulting impact will not hurt you and/or the cyclist.

I am willing to be corrected here, but except at zebra crossings, on roads a cyclist has the right to way. I do understand that you will cross the road when you need to, but when you stop for a speeding car to pass, I see no reason why you cannot do the same to a speeding sycle.

The above is also directed towards those who, instead of walking on the pavement, walk on the edge of the road. The extreme edge is where we cyclists tend to ride and that belongs to us when there is a pavement.

And no, I have not yet met with any accidents, but I have had some close shaves - not with cars and m'bikes but with pedestrians.