Buying the cycle is the best decision that I ever made. I find that I'm able to sustain my activity for much longer than running. I burn as many calories as before don't end up with the kneepain that was causing me so much of trouble earlier.
I've been going out in the early mornings, so the traffic has not been an issue. Early mornings are probably the only time when you get to breathe some fresh air in Bangalore, so that's been an added bonus. I've stuck to two routes, going on the Outer Ring Road till Marathahalli (20 km) or on the Inner Ring Road till the Domlur flyover (16 km) and then looping back.
As I'd mentioned before, there are a lot of passionate cyclists in Bangalore. On Saturday, I joined a bunch of these people for a weekend ride . It was quite a varied bunch of people, a 50 year lady, a guy who has cycled from Arunachal Pradesh to Ahmedabad, a college student who lost 25 kg cycling and has done a trip from Mysore to Kanyakumari, a PhD who works for Yahoo and his French girlfriend. The ride was fairly sedate, we went on Sarjapur road and cut across to Varthur and then went on a side road for around 10 km. The side road was the interesting part, we experienced a variety of terrain ranging from good (smooth tarmac) to horrible (loose stones). We covered 40 km in total. The highlight was towards the end when a bunch of us decided to test how fast we can go and touched 52 kmph!!! I was thrilled that even after riding 40 km, I was to keep up with these guys.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
F1 2008 coming soon
The 2008 F1 season starts in less than 3 weeks. From the winter testing, it seems like it will be another Ferrari-Mclaren battle. In my view, Ferrari have the edge and when they feel the need to push, they are able to comfortably pull ahead of the rest.
Of the rest, Williams and Redbull have been impressive, whereas BMW have not really made the step up from last year. It should be interesting to see what Fernando can do in the Renault, though it seems out of the running for podiums.
There's not much to be said about Toyota or Honda, they're going to be hardpressed to get into the Top 10. Force India will be eagerly watched in India at least, but I'm not expecting any miracles from them. As for Super Aguri, it is still debatable whether they will actually last the season, as they are facing a severe financial crunch.
I'd briefly considered going to Singapore for the first ever night race. But I doubt it will happen, firstly with the race tickets costing 15K and add in airfare etc, there's no way I can justify spending 30-35K on this. Secondly, it's too close to the big vacation we're planning from Oct 2. So, I guess it's the TV for me and I'll wait for the Delhi grand prix in 2010!
Of the rest, Williams and Redbull have been impressive, whereas BMW have not really made the step up from last year. It should be interesting to see what Fernando can do in the Renault, though it seems out of the running for podiums.
There's not much to be said about Toyota or Honda, they're going to be hardpressed to get into the Top 10. Force India will be eagerly watched in India at least, but I'm not expecting any miracles from them. As for Super Aguri, it is still debatable whether they will actually last the season, as they are facing a severe financial crunch.
I'd briefly considered going to Singapore for the first ever night race. But I doubt it will happen, firstly with the race tickets costing 15K and add in airfare etc, there's no way I can justify spending 30-35K on this. Secondly, it's too close to the big vacation we're planning from Oct 2. So, I guess it's the TV for me and I'll wait for the Delhi grand prix in 2010!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Trek has landed
I took delivery of my bike yesterday. Here’s a photo of me taking delivery of the bike.
I rode it back from Jayanagar and covered the distance of around 10.5 km in around 30 minutes. I had to go cycling this morning and went for a ride on the IRR, rode till the Airport road flyover and back, which is a distance of around 16 km. I covered that in around 53 minutes. So, an average speed of around 20 kmph, I’m quite happy with that, considering that I didn’t really stretch myself too much. I plan to maintain a moderate level of exercise for the first couple of weeks and get my body used to cycling, before I think about anything more extreme. Definitely, rides like this one are out of the question for now.
- While changing lanes, look back and ensure that there is no vehicle charging at you. Resist the temptation to squeeze through a gap, especially when there’s a bus or lorry involved
- If you’re stuck behind a stationary vehicle, just take a deep breath and relax. Don’t join the mad rush of vehicles that try to overtake and block the other lanes
- If ever you get into a confrontational situation with a four wheeler, back off. You’ve got much more to lose.
- In a traffic jam, disregard all of the above. As a two-wheeled rider, you are kingJ
I rode it back from Jayanagar and covered the distance of around 10.5 km in around 30 minutes. I had to go cycling this morning and went for a ride on the IRR, rode till the Airport road flyover and back, which is a distance of around 16 km. I covered that in around 53 minutes. So, an average speed of around 20 kmph, I’m quite happy with that, considering that I didn’t really stretch myself too much. I plan to maintain a moderate level of exercise for the first couple of weeks and get my body used to cycling, before I think about anything more extreme. Definitely, rides like this one are out of the question for now.
The one thing that I realized very soon is just how vulnerable a cyclist is on
- While changing lanes, look back and ensure that there is no vehicle charging at you. Resist the temptation to squeeze through a gap, especially when there’s a bus or lorry involved
- If you’re stuck behind a stationary vehicle, just take a deep breath and relax. Don’t join the mad rush of vehicles that try to overtake and block the other lanes
- If ever you get into a confrontational situation with a four wheeler, back off. You’ve got much more to lose.
- In a traffic jam, disregard all of the above. As a two-wheeled rider, you are kingJ
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Kanua : Goan restaurant
Lunch has been a very low-key affair of late, I either come home or go to the canteen with friends. O of my friends suggested that we go out for a change. We've got a few restaurants that we usually go to, Bhagini for Andhra food, Roomali or the Village for North Indian, but today everyone was in the mood for something different. Shashi came up with a Goan restaurant near the Wipro corporate office called Kanua.
After I've seen the fish that they catch at Agara lake, I've avoided eating fish in Bangalore. This being a Goan place, fish was the speciality. The waiter swore that the fish does not come from the Bangalore lakes, so we decided to take a chance. It was a meal fit for the gods. Amazing anjal-fish fry. Fish curry with rice-water dosas. The best biryani that I'd eaten in a while. It was fairly cheap too, just over 1000 for the four of us.
This is definitely a place I recommend and intend visiting again and again.
After I've seen the fish that they catch at Agara lake, I've avoided eating fish in Bangalore. This being a Goan place, fish was the speciality. The waiter swore that the fish does not come from the Bangalore lakes, so we decided to take a chance. It was a meal fit for the gods. Amazing anjal-fish fry. Fish curry with rice-water dosas. The best biryani that I'd eaten in a while. It was fairly cheap too, just over 1000 for the four of us.
This is definitely a place I recommend and intend visiting again and again.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Bad times for Indian IT
Typically, companies in the US outsource their routine maintenance and low end project work to India and keep the really important projects inhouse or work with local vendors here. Most large companies that have offshoring programs have already offshored most of these functions to India. For the remaining companies, if they have not offshored yet in 2007, it is likely for a good reason and I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Even if it does, I feel that the potential increase in business will still not be able to make up for the loss from projects that have shut down due to budget cuts. You will never hear anything like this from the companies or the analysts, who continue to portray a rosy picture and feel that a slowdown will only benefit Indian IT. But, I hear enough news to the contrary and think that companies are preparing themselves for tougher times ahead.
Look at the evidence
IBM fires 700 people.
500 people "voluntarily resigned" from TCS.
I'm sure that there are similar stories being played out elsewhere. I see enough evidence in my own firm. All the managers were called for a meeting last week and informed that the overall utilization was low and a major drive has been launched to fill up the open positions from the bench pool. And yesterday, we learnt that the notice period has been slashed to 1 month. Add to this the fact that promotions, bonus, salary hikes which are typically completed by early January have yet to be announced and it does seem clear that job cuts are on the horizon.
The Indian economic growth story depends a lot more on the IT sector that many people realize. It's the promise of huge salary increases and large disposable income that keeps IT folks spending on a lot of goods and services and leads to a boom in those sectors. So, a slow IT sector is not only bad news for itself, but for many other sectors as well.
Look at the evidence
IBM fires 700 people.
500 people "voluntarily resigned" from TCS.
I'm sure that there are similar stories being played out elsewhere. I see enough evidence in my own firm. All the managers were called for a meeting last week and informed that the overall utilization was low and a major drive has been launched to fill up the open positions from the bench pool. And yesterday, we learnt that the notice period has been slashed to 1 month. Add to this the fact that promotions, bonus, salary hikes which are typically completed by early January have yet to be announced and it does seem clear that job cuts are on the horizon.
The Indian economic growth story depends a lot more on the IT sector that many people realize. It's the promise of huge salary increases and large disposable income that keeps IT folks spending on a lot of goods and services and leads to a boom in those sectors. So, a slow IT sector is not only bad news for itself, but for many other sectors as well.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Cycling updated
I moved closer towards my quest to start cycling. Initially, my thought was to buy a cheap second hand cycle and buy a better one later if I really get into it. So, I found a guy selling a second hand Hero Octane. I met him on Saturday and rode the bike a fair bit. I didn't feel very comfortable, I couldn't exactly place what it was, and thought that I should ride a few more bikes before I make a decision.
I'd contacted the folks at Bums on the Saddle and fixed up an appointment. They are a bunch of bike enthusiasts who were very disappointed with the service of Firefox bikes in Bangalore. When they complained to the company, they were invited to do something about it by setting up their own shop. Which they did.
I'd zeroed in on a couple of bikes, the Firefox Target and the Trek 3700 and test rode both of them. Both were lightyears ahead of the Hero bike that I rode on Saturday. I found it difficult to choose between the two purely on the merits of the bike. The Trek did feel better put together, the seat was more comfortable and the bike felt a little more stable than the Firefox, but for someone of my riding ability, it was difficult to really make out a difference. In some way, this is reflected in the pricing, the Firefox is 10.3K and the Trek is 13.9K. Going by reviews, it does seem like the Trek has better components and will last better. One thing that I've learnt over the years is to go with the wisdom of the crowds, especially when it comes to an area you know little about. So, I've decided to go for the Trek. I'll place my order today and will hopefully get it in a week's time.
I'd contacted the folks at Bums on the Saddle and fixed up an appointment. They are a bunch of bike enthusiasts who were very disappointed with the service of Firefox bikes in Bangalore. When they complained to the company, they were invited to do something about it by setting up their own shop. Which they did.
I'd zeroed in on a couple of bikes, the Firefox Target and the Trek 3700 and test rode both of them. Both were lightyears ahead of the Hero bike that I rode on Saturday. I found it difficult to choose between the two purely on the merits of the bike. The Trek did feel better put together, the seat was more comfortable and the bike felt a little more stable than the Firefox, but for someone of my riding ability, it was difficult to really make out a difference. In some way, this is reflected in the pricing, the Firefox is 10.3K and the Trek is 13.9K. Going by reviews, it does seem like the Trek has better components and will last better. One thing that I've learnt over the years is to go with the wisdom of the crowds, especially when it comes to an area you know little about. So, I've decided to go for the Trek. I'll place my order today and will hopefully get it in a week's time.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Cycling
I've decided to buy a cycle. I got the inspiration from my friend and colleague, Sriram, who has a cycle and uses it for all local commutes in his area. I don't really plan to commute anywhere with it, just use it as a low impact substitute for my morning run, which has given me severe knee pain over the past few weeks.
Just when I start thinking about it, I find out two additional people who are thinking along the same lines. My friend, Rajesh, who runs his own company is moving his office to JP Nagar from Electronics CIty and is planning to use his cycle to go to work. Likewise, my former boss, KR, who works with Rajesh and claims to be a "cyclist all his life" is also planning the same. Some co-incidence.
I also found that there is a small but dedicated community of cyclists in Bangalore and they all meet here
Just when I start thinking about it, I find out two additional people who are thinking along the same lines. My friend, Rajesh, who runs his own company is moving his office to JP Nagar from Electronics CIty and is planning to use his cycle to go to work. Likewise, my former boss, KR, who works with Rajesh and claims to be a "cyclist all his life" is also planning the same. Some co-incidence.
I also found that there is a small but dedicated community of cyclists in Bangalore and they all meet here
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