Did a long ride after a decade: A refreshing feeling & itch to do more

Happy to say both the old bike and this middle-aged body handled the ride with ease.

BHPian am1m recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Old(er) man on an Old Bike (Part 1)

Went on a slightly long ride after a long time, recently. I've been riding for decades now and have done some long rides in the past. Ladakh, Kutch, Arunachal, all over South India, and more. Mostly solo (I tried one ride with a biking group when I started, but couldn't stand it!) But it had been almost a decade since I did more on a bike than just commute.

Had a day off during the week, so decided to do a ride to Nandi Hills. Used to have 3 bikes- my Shogun from college, a Thunderbird (on which I did all my long rides), and a Pulsar 180 that I always thought of as my commuter bike. Had given away the Shogun and TB because I was not using them, so all I have now is my 17-year old Pulsar.

Been thinking of buying another bike for long rides, but never took the plunge because I didn't want to add another bike that I would stop using after a year. So, instead of waiting for the perfect moment, decided to just use the bike I had.

The ride was really smooth and nice. I was expecting some back pain and stuff, since it had really been almost a decade since I used the bike for anything more than going to the nearest Metro station. But happy to say both the old bike and this middle-aged body handled it with ease.

Now will increase the distance in stages, plan is to do a day trip to KGF next and then Mysore Zoo and back. If those go well, will get more ambitious and do a couple of weeks ride, sometime when I can get the days off, into Central India.

Should be ok, while I haven't been doing long rides, I have been riding the bike everyday, not switched entirely to the car, and have been keeping myself in decent shape by exercising and running regularly.

For the Nandi Hills ride, I totally forgot that I had a riding jacket and some riding jeans! Pulled them out and aired them, happy to see they have held up despite being stowed away for 9 years! Also happy to see that they both still fit. Will use them on the next rides.

PS: The wife is eyeing all these preps with suspicion. Has the male 'mid-life' crisis finally struck?! Will I now embarrass the family by trying to hit on younger women? And get told "Uncle! Aukaat me raho!" (Balding guy, stay in your limits!) Only time will tell. But I must say (safely on this forum, not out loud!), at least I still fit in my jeans from a decade ago...

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