It has been a year I got my new cycle, and this year was amazing to me.

Cycling changes the world around us. One of the things I love most about cycling is that it slows me down and exposes me so that I see, hear, and smell everything along the way. I can now distinguish different kinds of trees and notice grass on sides of the road. Stretches on both sides of road become interesting when on a cycle. Cycle ride seems to me a tonic to be exposed to sunshine, rain, dust, fog, winds! In short, it lets me get connected to the world around me. I feel that I have established a contact with my environment and that I am at peace.

Another reason to love cycling is the community it builds. On every ride, riders from different groups wish and wave to each other. I have made new friends while cycling, and its amazing that being from completely different type of profession, education or community, the cycle got us closer.

I like the freedom of being on saddle and knowing I can go just anywhere on my cycle. I generally ride in group with friends, and we love to go those places where we usually don’t go otherwise. We did get chances to explore those offbeat places which we might never visit with any other mode of transport. Most ride were my new learning and a chance to collaborate with other riders.

Cycling has become an absolutely essential part of my day. Cycling never bores me. Each ride has its own story and each story teaches me a lot. Cycling is like test of skills, stamina, determination, efforts, patience, nature of being adventurous and an attitude of – “lets do it”. After a year of riding my cycle, I realised that job fills only pockets, but a cycle ride fills the soul.