Found a new passion |Cycling | 5% to sl-charity

The pandemic has restricted all of us in houses for quite a some time now and it’s hard to be in home without gaining a little weight. I was searching for get rid of it at least a bit and cycling happened to be the solution, as I was impressed and suggested by some friends’ activities.

There are several advantages of cycling.It decreases body fat levels and increase metabolism activities which allows to burn more calories and strengthen muscles specially in legs (quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes). It is also decreasing the probabilities of cancers and increase mental health as well as balance, posture and coordination. In general, cycling is a good exercise to have for a person at any age and little by little, becoming a popular habit in Sri Lankan suburbs.

So, here’s my experience so far. There are certain types of cycles which are tailor made for cycling and are very costly as well. I have started cycling with my sister’s bicycle- a smaller and a normal one that you could buy in regular cycle shop. Modified it with a rechargeable light which is very important if you ride at night, a pouch to put phone and stuff and a water bottle as well.

In the first day, only rode about 5/6 km and already exhausted when I reached home. Little by little increased the distance and now I’m riding 20-25 km per ride and hope to increase more. Riding in my area is not too hard as it is a coastal side, there are no roads with high and continuous climbs. Galle road and Ambalangoda – Elpitya roads are my favorites as the views and breeze could easily refresh the body and mind and roads are in good condition. I am sharing few photos I took on some rides herewith.

Then I found the perfect app for record statistics of the rides. It is the Strava app, and it can record the ride distance, elevation gain, time spent, average speed and few other data in the free version and has many impressive features in premier version. In fact, it has many options like running, hiking, weightlifting, swimming and all sorts of workouts and physical exercises and can record different statistics accordingly. And some challenges to join and once you complete, you get a badge or sometimes enter to a raffle draw to win a bicycle gear or something like that. So it’s really interesting and you can follow other fellow riders and see their activities, comment and give a kudos.

There are few things to be concerned as well. Professional riders wear helmets and kits suited for cycling but we don’t wear them normally so need to be very careful and mindful on the roads. It’s better to ride when there is good day light but not hot so the other vehicles can see you and you won’t get exhausted. I ride at the evening- in the dusk most of the time hence I wear a white t shirt so I would be spotted for the vehicles and a blinking light in front. The smoke from vehicles could be another concerning factor so it’s better to wear mask for prevent from that although it’s uncomfortable.

So, Do you like cycling? If not started yet, why not giving it a go!

Stay safe,

-Ceylonese Eye-