Monday, February 5, 2007

Biking Colombo


I changed best friends again yesterday. No, not the human ones. Nilu, Saandra, Sunimal you guys still rule. Nish and Titto too. Most of the time, the best friend would be the book I’m currently reading (at this point it’s a book called “Founts of Sinhala” and yeah it’s a good read) or sometimes the weekend. But this time it’s the new bike I got. Well I didn’t really get it, and it isn’t really new. This used to be my brothers bike and now it’s at home. It has given me this new freedom to go places whenever I felt like it, explore new roads (Gosh I love doing that) since I don’t drive (yet).

Oddly enough, Colombo is new to the whole ‘chicks riding bikes’ deal (as the males themselves would put it) and therefore, there is no end to the comments and the ooohs and the aaahs. Well you’d think I’d get offended by them, but surprisingly, not! It’s much like tuning in to a silly comedy show, except that you’d have to listen to it over and over again until you knew the script by heart. ;-)

It’s a good thing too, to learn how to control your bike cos when the local three-wheeler drivers see a girl on a bike, they suddenly forget about the hire they are running, and before you know it, where you go is their destination. Bringing you down is their new goal, and they’d follow you for miles trying to knock you down. Not that I want to imply that I rode for miles (maybe a couple), but well, you get the drift. And my new goal is to somehow maneuver the thing to get two of those dudes to collide in to each other and for me to come off unscathed. Or maybe I’ll leave it to Charlie’s Angels or the like, for there won’t be no camera tricks on our old Galle Road.

Two observations, on the whole biking fiasco.

  1. It should be made mandatory to wear a helmet for ANY kind of bike. (be it motor or mountain or the plain old ‘push’)
  2. Your butt hurts a lot more when you’re on a bike and you’re riding through rocky roads or nice carpeted ones with humps every 10 yards.

So all you folk out there wanting a little bit of childhood fun, borrow the next door kid’s bike and ride away. And if you’re a girl, trust me; the fun will be two fold!

12 comments:

Sanesh Fernando said...

Some Comments regarding your Observations

Your Butt was Herting because the seat is prety old with no cussion.

I saw Thathi had put a new cussion over the old seat and also I saw while you were riding, the cussion had fallen side ways and your butt was hitting the old seat.

So replace the seat with a good one!

As for the Helmet, I would love to see you riding the bike with Thathi’s Helmet. :-)

Ayya - Sanesh

Charith Welikala said...

Hey… I remember this legendary bike. It’s a black Kenstar mountain bike which was given by an insurance company…..

Unknown said...

Well I used to cycle all over Colombo. Also I learned few good lessons while riding. Did few cycle tours with friends and went down south and up north.

1. Girls and pot holes don’t go together as I fell few times trying to cycle and look at girls on the road.
2. My front breaks were stronger then the one behind and again fell in front of some school girls trying to cycle on the pavement.

Also once I held a bet with some of my friends and rode the cycle without touching handles from Wattala to Katunayaka. (Guess with all the traffic and road blocks – no one will be able to do this)

Also one time I got hit from some girls in a ladies school bus as they threw Rambutan seed at me 

Those were some of my happy memories of the days when I used to be a kid

Sherwyn

Unknown said...

Sesh Ur Brlliant. I wud definitely not have cared about these low lives who give comments as well!!

Sanesh Fernando said...

Can I have my Bike Back... ??

It seems biking is Soooo Interesting. :-)

dilsiriw said...

whoa, i ve never seen any girls on bike in colombo....lol

Unknown said...

I believe I was one of the privilaged or unfortunate few (which ever you may wish to call it) to witness this great spectacle. Your blog tells me that more such could be expected in the future and I should watch out everytime I get my car out :)

Kokila

Ibba said...

damn i gotta see our seshi doing some wheeling and some stunts... up and at em girl(the vagabonds 3whlr guys)show em wot u made of..

Dulan said...

You on a bike? That's a sight I'd love to see!

My own experiences have invariably included falling off in the most inconvenient places - most notably in the middle of Galle Road, in traffic. Ah, those were the days.

It's been ages since I sold/donated/lost my old bike (I've really no idea) and honestly miss the freedom and exercise that came with it.

Given the nature of Sri Lankan three wheeler drivers, I'd suggest leaving the heroics to your alter ego Natalie. But when it comes to your decision to keep cycling - Respek!

Cheers!
Dulan

nuuuwan said...

Hey Seshi...I seem to have stumbled upon this blog a couple of light years late...But why have you stopped with entry number one????...There's a sort of wizzy-jolly-duckyness in "Biking Colombo" which makes really cool (Ashok Ferreyish???) to read...Cheers!!!

Seshika Fernando said...

WOW! Ashok Ferreyish...! Thats the biggest compliment i got on my writing.
THANX!

Preveen said...

It only hurts the first few times. The human body is amazing in its power of adaptability. Thoughts of an ex-cyclist :)
And you've never has the full experience until you've gone a couple of km in the rain, wearing spectacles with drops of water on them, and getting splashed on by buses.