Re-Cycle

The first rain of the season. Its smell. The associated cool breeze. Yes, the rains of Mumbai have been pretending, threatening and teasing  their arrival for more than 2 weeks. Finally got some minor drizzles over the weekend. What could be a better way than to experience it by Cycling?

What was started as a small eco-friendly initiative has become a real fun weekend activity for my friend R and me. This weekend, we decided that we would cover some of the best places in Mumbai by cycle -

• Marine Drive: With its pukka road, amazing breeze and the Arabian sea to watch on your sides, this is clearly the best place to cycle in Mumbai. Ideal time to ride is Sunday early mornings (before sun, with literally no traffic, except fellow people who cycle / jog).
• Worli Sea-face: Another good place to cycle by-sea. The stretch is shorter and narrower than Marine Drive. It also gives better residential feel while cycling.
• BKC: You would wonder how such a vast commercial place in the middle of the city could still be peaceful, clean and less crowded. Yes, it was.. thanks to weekend. If you ever decide to cycle in Mumbai, don't miss BKC on a weekend.

With cycling, one gets a different feel for the city. I got present to the environment, the roads, the trees, the beauties, the sad states of the city on a scale more than I had ever done while traveling by car / bus / train. Be it the small incline / bumps in the road, or the innumerable gully cricket matches (happening simultaneously in a small ground which you would think is impossible), or the distressing living conditions of the people in slums (even in the areas considered to be upscale in Mumbai), the intensity of the experience is higher.

And even if you are not the type who goes gung-ho about the "experience" of the city, cycling is best as it burns the extra fat than the hydrocarbon. As a matter of Fact, one should give cycling a big thumbs up for multitudes of reason - Fun, Feel, Fuel and Fat. So, what F does it excite you for?