Ride in Okhla Bird Sanctuary

It has always been a great fun exploring flora and fauna of Delhi on bike. Luckily got a chance today morning to ride in okhla bird sanctuary, now more a joggers park. Starting from entrance near noida gate to end gate near kalindi kunj, the place is full of lush green flora. If lucky enough, one can spot the rare bird species over here.This place is known for waterbirds.

Its an average track with a little bit of off-road terrain. Place is open for cyclists till 8:00 am only, after which bicycle entry is barred.

Total length of the track : approx 3 km
You would have okhla village towards west and GB Nagar towards east. End Gate opens at kalindi kunj

Yamuna along the track is an added attraction.

WHY CYCLING ?

I guess you know walking, swimming & CYCLING are among skills a person learns and never forgets. The best thing about Cycling is you can ride a bike in any season, terrain, weather. Cycling has not got the status as a sport it deserves, reasons are many like lack of awareness, expensive cycles, lack of competitions and many more… But if you look at health benefits Cycling offers I recommend it as fitness alternative to jogging. Following are few benefits :-

• It is basically a good aerobic exercise which workout’s heart and lungs thereby improving your cardiovascular fitness and stamina.
• Tones up leg muscles, this is one aspect which otherwise only Gym can provide.
• Strengthen back and abs.
• A very good exercise for people having joint pain. Normally a person with knee or ankle pain cannot run, but cycling help’s. A must for heavy people who otherwise find it difficult to run and cannot swim.
• As such all sports provide health benefits, but to reap them one needs to workout between 45 min to 1 hr. For beginners this is very difficult, but a person can easily ride for 1 hr.
• A environment friendly sport.

And the list goes on…..

So pick up a cycle and pedal to a healthy and youthful life…. All the best

aJIT

Series: Ride Destinations around Gurgaon-1 Manger

About Manger: It is a 100-hectare jungle, mostly consisting of Dhau trees, in Aravalli hills.

The solitude of the woods, only a few miles outside south Delhi, is refreshing. The forest is sacred, the trees are worshiped and there are two temples. The valley has a village of Gujjar herdsmen who believe in a mystic called Gudariya Baba. They warn: cut a tree’s branch and get ready for the Baba’s wrath. On Sundays, village children share stories of the invisible Baba under a Banyan tree.

Local lore apart, riding in the valley would make you sensitive to the preciousness of our fast-receding green cover. The forest’s wilderness – intertwined trees, twisted trunks, thorny twigs, sandy mounds, rocky riverbeds, bird sounds – is uplifting. But the continuous ghrrrr of airplanes – preparing to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport – also reminds you that the concrete civilization is not far. This savage beauty is fragile.

Mr Krishen has talked about Mangarbani in his must-read book:

Mangarbani is a sacred forest, consecrated in the memory of Gudariya Baba, a local holy man, and protected by superstition that anyone who breaks a branch or grazes his goats here will suffer grievous harm.

Reaching Mangarbani is easy. we started from Hong kong bazaar sector 57,Gurgaon.

Golf link extn Road - Alhawas Village- Aravalli's- Banidham-Manger (Ref. Map)

We spotted few wild animals like fox's, Blue Bulls(Nilgai) and a black buck too...

we spotted a old ashram on the way, nice scenery, people of village were very hospitable many of them asked us to have tea but we had to ignore them as we didn't knew what others(whome we said No) will do ;-) .we touched faridabad-Gurgaon road while exiting the village near surajkund police station, we had a breakfast way back to gurgaon near TERI .

it was an memorable ride for all riders.

Coming Soon: Many more amazing destinations around Gurgaon.

Ashutosh Shukla, Founder: Gurgaon Peddler's(GP's)

How To Select A Road Bike : Sizing and Fit

All thanks to one of the esteem member of our cycling club who shared such an insight on Road Bike Sizing and Fit...

If you are not sure what bike size is right for me, refer to the chart below. Because right size is very important for anybody before s/he jumps into biking. Size is crucial but before that clearly understand what your riding routine would be, i.e. short (1-3 hr) rides or long (5-10 hr) rides. Ask all the questions first would I be going for a intercity rides, cross country, racing etc. then choose the right bike. The choice could be from MTB, Hybrid or Road. There is another type Track, which can be talked about if anyone is interested in competitive cycling. Yes, even other bikes can also be used for competitive cycling, but leisure rides as well, but track cycle can’t be used.

Now coming to size of bike measure your inner leg length i.e. groin to heel then compare that with the chart below and choose a bike, remember relevance of inner leg length on bike is top of saddle to paddle axle extended down. The seat post should be between 8 – 10 inches exposed less means big frame and more means small frame.

Determining Your Road Bike Frame Size

Height Inner Leg Length Bike Frame Size

4'10" - 5'1" 25.5” - 27” 46 - 48 cm

5'0" - 5'3" 26.5" - 28" 48 - 50 cm

5'2" - 5'5" 27.5" - 29" 50 - 52 cm

5'4" - 5'7" 28.5" - 30" 52 - 54 cm

5'6" - 5'9" 29.5" - 31" 54 - 56 cm

5'8" - 5'11" 30.5" - 32" 56 - 58 cm

5'10" - 6'1" 31.5" - 33" 58 - 60 cm

6'0" - 6'3" 32.5" - 34" 60 - 62 cm

6'2" - 6'5" 34.5" - 36" 62 - 64 cm

Author : Ajit Siingh

Cycling and Male Fertility

The Problem with Cycling

• Riding a bicycle leaves a rider with three points to carry the bulk of his weight. Two locations are the pedals, and the third is the seat. While the handles help, the majority of body is carried on the other three. And, while riding long distances, most riders tend to sit. Unfortunately, due to designs to reduce bike weight, particularly for competition purposes, the bike seats on road cycles have grown smaller and smaller. This leaves a very small contact space for a significant amount of body weight to sit on. In doing so, the bottom groin area of the male rider ends up taking the most abuse from body weight, road concussion, and repetitive damage

Read more: Cycling & Male Fertility | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6674081_cycling-male-fertility.html#ixzz1gKM4cW00

Yeah this is could be true but for those who ride with very high seat and mismatched cycle size according to their height or continuously for more than 8 - 10 hrs(on daily basis), otherwise all top level cyclist would be impotent [including me :-) ]. A national level cyclist needs to practice for min 3 hrs at a stretch in one session with 5 to 6 hrs per day to be able achieve and maintain that performance. so do change your saddle if very narrow ( and if it hurts) plus adjust seat height according to your leg length - Ajit Singh (BSF)

My First Riding Experience

Now I don’t spend my weekends watching TV….I discover places..

Negating the folklore adage, cycling use to be consider a poor man's car. Time changed and so did the perception.

Today when our cycle speeds up on empty Delhi roads at dawn, a different aura sets around us. And we enjoy it. Cyclists in Delhi or India for that matter are increasing dramatically, it’s a fad. It’s good to see people talking about new range of bicycles (Road, MTB, BMX or Hybrid) to lubricants for machinery.

This has come to me like a comet…

I wanted to adopt a sport to get out of Daily office chores. Thought of adopting bowling, then football (and what not) but nothing gave me more adrenalin rush than riding on my Ducati Monster 600 to India Gate with Noida Cycling Club first time in April 2011. That was just the beginning, from an average speed of 15kmph to an average speed of 25kmph today…from a distance of 19km in 1.5 hours to covering 100 km in 4 hours..cycling as a passion has taken out the sportsperson inside me.

That was my first ride with people whom I met on facebook. My first lesson on intricacies on biking was been taught at India Gate only. It’s still a learning process and we are learning in each of our rides.

Thanks to all of my fellow riders.

Next Is what….

Road Bike…..

Ankit Laroiya