Today was not just another "Sunday", it was a "Wow" (Women on Wheels) Sunday. On the eve of International Women Day, Hyderabad Bicycling Club organized a ride to encourage women into cycling and inculcate this activity in their healthier lifestyle.
As rightly said by Susan B. Anthony, US women's rights activist - “The bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world”. The world is slowly seeing a chink of hope in cycling era to see women not just participating but competing.
It took me an eternity but I cajoled my best friend "Hardeep" to partake in this event. First time of everything is exciting, so was this. I wanted this to be enthralling for her as this was her first official event participation. I had the same thoughts running through my mind as if it was going to be my first ride. As I pulled her into cycling, it was my job to get her out of her perpetual darkness of skipping these events for more than a year.
The ride distance was 30 k.m. which may sound like a big number to a neophyte but to make this event imperishable for her, I thought it would be best to take care of all minute details for her ride. She got her bike serviced, bought a bunch of cycling accessories to make her ride comfortable. I promised her that I will take care of the nutrition during the ride so that she stays hydrated (I hope she liked the eatables debouching from my jersey pocket) and of course, later doesn't complain about dehydration 😉. Emboldened by my words before starting the ride, during the ride, and at the stop we took, she did put a great effort to ride the longest distance she has ridden so far. You should have seen the grin on her face when she finished the ride, it was adorable (you can still see it in the picture on the right). I am really happy that I got another cyclist to the cycling community. This is the event which I believe have added another dimension to my friendship with Hardeep. I became cognizant of the fact that speed and distance covered on such events don't matter much but what did matter is the profundity of our friendship.
