Insulating Bangalore with our Bicycle Trails

I was contemplating on how to start my year! if it were twenty years before, I would wake up and go run to the cricket ground. If it was ten years, I would wake up and go to the temple. If it was 5 years before, I would wake up and read a math theorem.  I wasn't quite sure what to do to mark the beginning of a new decade. A career which we worry all our lives, which isn't all worth worrying, I thought let this year be kickstarted with a breathtaking fitness programme.

Am reminded of this popular quote in fitness: One must take care of one's body for a reason that we live in it!

I tuned my bicycle, pumped up the tyres to its fullest, plugged in all my gears and went ahead to garland Bangalore. Yep! me and my friends planned to bike all around the ring road with our bicycles. 12 of them made a earth shattering promise that they would be there at 5:30 am in the morning at iisc gate and just two turned up :-))

The two were:

Sudarshan Iyengar (well that isn't me, I have a friend called sudarshan Iyengar :-)) who works as a software engineer in Bangalore)

Akram (works for a leading MNC in Bangalore)

We started at 5:55 am in the morning and took the following route (Due to my dysfunctional gps, the map is chopped off at places, we actually did 75kms while the map shows around 50+) :

http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/831751?key=49b97c5f7be3fa9795694994a8af6378d38832e4

Sudarshan Iyengar (my friend) rode on his hercules act 110 (hybrid).

I rode on my schwinn searcher (hybrid).

Akram used his Schwinn frontier MTB.

It was the most enjoyable ride amongst the few long ones I have done till date. Outer Ring roads of bangalore are well maintained and one can easily bicycle at 30+ km/hr. We hardly stopped (once for tender coconut and then for breakfast at indraprastha vijayanagar. ) except for a few hydration breaks here and there.

The three of us L2R : Me, Akram and Sudarshan Iyengar (not me uff!)

Saw them near the Jayanagar ring road. Would have been a perfect photo if I had covered all three :-) . Tried but couldn't :-( they were walking really fast and I coudn't run behind them with one hand holding my bicycle. I spoke to one of them later and he said that they push the cycle for 70 to 100 kms a day. And I stopped feeling great about our new year bicycle expedition! :-(

Stay Healthy: A new Diet Gift for Bangaloreans

Have you ever heard of Flax seeds? It was three years back that I struggled to find them in Bangalore. Last year, I ordered it with the help of a friend who works in Big Bazaar. He got me the syrup version of it, which was very yucky on my taste buds. But I was thrilled when I came across this company which manufactures Flax seed bread in Bangalore. This is such a gift for health conscious residents of our city.

Flax seed contains

1) Good amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. Very good for your heart and is great for people with high risk of BP, diabetes, arthritis. It is good on your kids if they exhibit Attention Deficit Disorder. It is a good for people who suffer from depression and mood swings. It is great for your skin! More details here

2) It contains antioxidants which can drift you away from acquiring cancer.

3) It is a rich source of fiber and to consume good amount of fiber you need to add in a lot of calories too. But Flax seed is a rich source of fiber and helps you intake fiber in rich quantities without adding more calories to your diet.

All in all, Flax seed bread must be stocked on everyone's dinning table. It is available in food world (I saw it in malleswaram food world yesterday) and the makers of this bread variety are based in bangalore (at Bommanahalli). I have noted their address and phone number, mail me in case you need more details.

If you haven't heard of flax seeds, google and read a few articles, you will be awed!