Hi. I am Jayant. I used to do a lot of riding on my bike during 2007-2011, while I was a student. In the last 8 years before today i had only 1 bike trip in 2014. I was missing those rides but had many reasons or rather excuses to not do it on a regular basis. Today I decided to rekindle my passion for riding & boy, that was one hell of a good decision.

I was free today & decided to give it a try. I decided to take small steps as i am aware of the butt pain you have to face if you go for long rides after a long time. So, it was a short trip. A 60km one side ride to kakkayam dam from Calicut.

I was a little nervous to start with, but eased into enjoying my bike & the road as soon as I hit the road. The traffic which irritated me when I go to work suddenly felt sweet & good. The urgency that I have when I am late for my work was gone. I was calm, I was relaxed, I could take my own sweet time to get to the place I wanted to go & meanwhile I could enjoy my ride. I ride my bike everyday, but today I was not riding it. I was enjoying it.

The road to kakkayam dam is not in a good shape after the floods we faced recently. Too much of patch works all through the route but that didn’t bother me alot. Every town that i touched, i saw people in a hurry either for their work or on their way back home & here I was in no rush whatsoever. It took me 90 minutes to get to kakkayam dam. I roamed around a little bit. As i didn’t know that the timings were limited i couldn’t visit the dam as such, as it was more than 1km walk & I had arrived there during their closing time. I was not complaining though. The whole idea of going for the ride was to test how much physical stress I can endure & the test was not over. I had another 60kms to ride on my way back.

I had a little chat with the tea seller there, & with the police personnel who are stationed there regarding the timings & other places that I can visit nearby (All for the next trip ofcourse). I realised one major thing, we are so much busy in our life that we rarely have a good long talk with a random person. I am not sure about everyone but that’s how my case was. I felt I was not just missing those rides, I was also missing these small conversations over a tea that I used to have during my rides. It was all coming back. After some more roaming around i decided to start my journey back home.

The ride was smooth, I was riding my way back during sunset. On my way back I kept wondering why it took me so long to decide to start riding all over again. I have made a promise to myself, I will make sure that I make out time for these small rides every now & then. I felt i would have a little niggle here & there after completing the ride but i felt I chose the right distance for a start. I am sure another 30-40kms would have hurt my body alot. I am not ready for long rides now but I will keep pushing the boundaries & I will make sure that I am ready for longer rides soon.

I am hoping that my second short trip will be very soon. Until then have a good day people.
Thank you.

PS:- For people who want to go to kakkayam dam. It is 60kms from Calicut. Once you cross kakkayam town you have to go through 10kms of roads that are certainly motorable but no other facilities as it is a restricted forest area. The timings are 9:30AM to 5:00PM. There is a hotel where you will get food & water. Washroom facilities are also available. You can take your car too if you want to.