4th July: Spirited Salutation to American Independence.

It was a casual discussion with Satish, he had mentioned all about his weekend escapades to faraway places with the Hyderabad Bicycling Club. Immediately, I had enquired all about the early morning trips, the overnight trip to Anantgiri, and the mind boggling fitness levels of the members to the boundless levels of fun these guys have. Curious to test myself and also be a part of such a thrilling experience I had expressed my eagerness to be a part of such a ride. I didn’t know the day of my first ride with HBC would come so soon..

It was 4^th of July and HBC was celebrating the American Independence. It started with a power ride by the stalwarts of the group, smoothly sailing through the 50km scheduled ride at 3pm from the Gacchibowli stadium, I obviously was not a part of the ride, I had not even volunteered, who wants to wallow in self pity seeing such fit individuals soar past you in a jiffy and you are left alone pedaling in wilderness. A decision well taken, I was all set to ride with the entourage at 5pm for the casual 17.76km drive (America’s declaration of independence is dated 4^th July, 1776-so the symbolism). The guys were bang on time from their power ride, after a breather we were all set.

The weather was a blessing, the breeze so refreshing and the sun very understanding. We set out on the 15Km journey to Osman Sagar Lake via the life sciences institute crossing Gandipet. It was so beautiful, riding through the countryside, crossing agricultural fields, passing under the shadow of trees and being looked by the awe filled gaze of complete strangers. Just a couple of stoppages mid way for water and we were soon to hit the Osman Sagar Lake. I was hoping for us to stop but then it was the HBC I was riding with, we climbed uphill which to me looked like a no-man’s land, only to find that the hill culminated in a nice spot making us feel on top of the world, with a view worth a million bucks. The weather added to the picturesqueness, it was just lovely. There on the hill we already had Matt and his car loaded with loads of eateries, drinks and crackers. Parallelly, much to my consternation we had Shay, Sandy, Ankit, Sunil and others re-climbing the hill again, for that ‘rush’ as they put it.

 

We then, had the bicyclers at their best, with Matt taking charge of getting the sausages, baked beans and sandwiches ready for all of us. With drinks and chips already at our disposal, it was great to be sitting on the hill top after a hard workout. As it neared dark, the firecrackers were on full display followed by a couple of good Independence Day speeches by Matt and Ed. It was a perfect end to the picnic followed by some good music from Matt’s car.

 

Alas!! It was time to leave and tread back home. It was dark and I had no idea as to how we were going to get back with no clear cut route map and the scarcity of night lights. But we had Shay Baba as he is fondly called in the group, to lead the pack. The beginning of the journey was rather tough as we descended from the hill top taking a shorter route full of pebbles, sand and scrubs. The only time I heard concern was now when a few were worried about someone having a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Scary thought!!. The route was slippery and needed utmost concentration to ride through that dark patch. Thanks to all the good guidance we were all out of it in no time, and what followed was our victory lap.

 

It started to drizzle and it seemed to make a perfect end to the perfect adventure. The drizzle soon turned into rain and the enjoyment trebled. Cycling back 10Km in the rain, was surely ‘the’ way to end my first trip with Team HBC. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the team, a special thank you to Shay for the Cycle which was a joy to ride, Satish for the motivation and for putting everything in place and not to forget Sunil, for his helmet with the flickering red light which gave me the confidence of not being lost:) :). Thank You, guys.

Team HBC Rocks..Cheers.

->Sakhee.