Race in our metros: BMX vs Runner (New sport)

Remember the Olympics ad which showed a guy running in the streets? That sent a tingle down my spine. ‘I’m not alone’. Yeah people run in the streets all the time, especially in Mumbai. But if you are in Kolkata good luck to you trying to run in the streets without being mistaken for a robber fleeing a crime scene.

By the way, if you think the above pic is a strange sight to see in Kolkata, picture this: You are headed home after a hard day’s work and you hear footsteps thumping behind you. You swivel and there’s a maniac sprinting towards you in 35 degrees heat, flecks of sweat flying everywhere. And alongside this madman there’s another grown man riding a baby sized bike. You wonder if you had a couple too many. Blink a couple of times and rub your eyes to see if they are playing tricks on you. Nope this isn’t a illusion. Its real.

Remember the scene in Main Hoo Naa. When that lady teacher would walk in, not Sushmita Sen the other one who had a crush on Shahrukh Khan. She walked around in a slo-mo montage with all the kids diving out of her way, leaping hither-tither to safety to clear her path. That’s how I like to picture myself running in the streets. Like a Brahma bull. A Juggernaut with legs pumping the pavement like pistons, putting cracks in the cement.

Sadly, its just the opposite. Just like the solo runner shown in that Olympics ad. You gotta run alone in most parts of India, especially if you are training for marathons.

I brought a BMX to avoid the hassle of taking public transport, and to get a good workout because the smaller wheels of a 20 inch wheeled BMX ask for a lot more effort than a regular bike. But I ended up using the bike in a entirely different manner. I take people for rides. Literally. I fulfill the childhood dreams of my buddies and let them feel young again by riding a BMX through the city while I run alongside them.

Training for a marathon, its hard to find someone to run along with you. A marathon is 42 kms long. A good run for training for that is at least over 10 kms, preferably twice a day. Normally people don’t like to run that long at a speed of 14 km/hr. And its cool to have some pace setter so you can exceed your speed and comfort zone. So I get someone to cycle along with me while I run. Perfect night out, get a good workout, see the sights in the city, get super hungry and stop for a bite along the course.

Its even smaller in person.

I’ve lost count of how many times people pass comments like “Couldn’t you find a cycle your own size?”, “Lol Cycle!” I never knew there was a way to laugh which comes across as LOL, trust me there is. I’m often tempted to point out the difference between wheel sizes leading to a better workout and better control. But I’m too busy running. A BMX is probably the safest two wheeler you can ride. Smaller wheels allow for better mobility and it makes for faster acceleration than top of the line mountain bikes, some of which cost more than motorcycles.

It’s a lot more fun to run through a metro than take a car. Darting through the traffic, zig zagging among the stationary rows of vehicles at red lights. The exhilaration of overtaking slow moving vehicles is profound and it gives you an adrenaline surge which carries you ahead faster. I think I may have stumbled upon a great training method for a marathon runner. Its the most fun I have running. Having to dodge traffic, one upping expensive vehicles, watching four wheelers stranded while you zoom ahead. Running through a crowded city keeps giving you those little surges of spikes of adrenaline which propel you.

Even more fun, when you have someone riding along while you run. Perfect workout for both. Usually people want a workout and prefer to cycle over running. But a normal sized bike doesn’t give you that much of a workout. hence the BMX. And you give the sleepy city a thrill too by introducing a Martian looking combination on their familiar streets.

The only drawback is that the city is so polluted that it gets hard to breathe and the temperature is actually higher in high traffic areas. But the latter is a boon if you are looking to sweat more. Normally we ride for an hour and cover 12 km, although I run at 14 km/hr the traffic does slow us down a little in parts.

When I run in the city, I’m the turtle. Slow and steady at 14 km/hr but I usually don’t have to slow down for traffic and I can just zig zag and zoom ahead regardless of the congestion. There are elements of Parkour thrown in here too, having to jump and skip around drains and over pavements. Its a lot of fun to run like this.

Bunnyhop at Red Road.

That’s a buddy of mine who’s too lazy to ride along on my BMX and sticks to his mountain bikes and does Parkour on them. Prateek Singh, Editor of MTB Mag India. He’s the one who got me into cycling. Funny story that was.

I was covering the Kolkata Cyclothon press conference, and he along with another rider were supposed to come in and do some stunts at the press conference. The other rider called in sick. I thought I’d try my hand at doing something.

At the Kolkata Cyclothon Press conference.

I almost asked Avon to gimme that bike for the stunt I pulled, but thought better of it and purchased one myself. That moment of improvisation, learning to balance the bike on a pedal in a hour, was the rebirth of my love for cycling. Soon after purchasing a BMX I realized that I’d rather not spend three hours daily trying to learn to do tricks. And then the better use of a BMX came to mind.

I’ve been asking around for cyclists to accompany me while I run, but I wouldn’t want to make them go at such slow speeds. A cyclist enthusiast typically rides at a slowest speed of 20 km/hr. And the fastest marathon runners go at that pace. Obvious solution being to buy a bike which has wheels so small that it gives a great workout to the rider while keeping them slow enough that you can run along with them.

While writing this, I thought of how fun it would be if there could be races of this kind. A cyclist and a runner on one team. Idea being to get from one end of the city to another. Each team scouts the best possible routes for themselves and tries to beat the other.

It’ll require chemistry among the teammates, the one rule in this being that the runner and cyclist must finish between 5 minutes of each other and the race isn’t won by a team if either one crosses the finish line first, both have to do it together.

Races are inherently reckless but this one is less so provided the number of teams are few. Ideally no more than 10 teams for a congested road. It’s not really reckless if you are going at the slow speeds of under 20 km/hr and place civic sense above speed. Have teams which race rashly be disqualified.

Of course the above is assuming that there is traffic on roads. Will be fun if this race can be done on a Car free day, or have the roads cordoned off.

Even if a race between teams is unsafe, one can still go along for a run with someone on a BMX and make a great workout of it. If the idea strikes a chord with you, feel free to drop a comment and get in touch with others who feel the same.

If you need convincing that you ought to cycle, give this one a read:https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/08/14/why-cycling-is-frowned-upon-in-india/