July has always been a very eventful month in my life. I’ve
had many challenges come my way and I’ve turned them into achievements and
adding a new dimension to myself. And, surprisingly, all of the challenges have
taken me beyond my comfort zone traveling down the path less travelled. Over
the years I’ve managed to replace the traumatic images from July of 2011 with
pleasant experience and achievements. Here
is a quick look back at the last eight Julys of my
life and how I turned myself from a cyclist to an athlete.
The
first challenge
In July of 2011, I underwent a corrective heart surgery
to reroute an anomalous
pulmonary vein that eloped to the wrong side of my heart. Post-surgery,
doctors advised me against lifting heavy weights or pushing my heart into
extreme sports.
No
guarantees for a quality job?
Despite charging 2.2 lakhs for rerouting the rouge vein,
Doctors at Manipal Hospital didn’t give me a year guarantee on the procedure. In
October of 2011, I decided to test the quality of their job by cycling 55 kms
in the Loire Valley, France. A year later, I cycled 120 kms at Acadia
National Park celebrating my first anniversary with my friends Paul and
Stephanie.
With no quality issues, I decided to purse cycling more
seriously and kicked started the next phase of my journey by participating in
the CRX
Ride for World Heart Day cycling 45 kms from Adyar to
Mahabalipuram.
Turning
a sport into vacation
“A man on a thousand-mile
walk has to forget his goal and say to himself every morning, 'Today I'm going
to cover twenty-five miles and then rest up and sleep.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
In July of 2014, Stephanie and I trekked along the
Austrian Alps (Salzkammergut) for a week covering over 200 kms in 5 days. The
Salzkammergut stretches from the city of Salzburg (birth place of Mozart)
eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the
peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. We camped by turquoise water bodies and ascended
the peaks of Alphs to visit the world’s oldest salt mine of the Habsburg
Monarchy (A UNESCO World Heritage Site).
Intoxicated by nature, I furthered my explorations from
foot to wheel. In July 2015, I cycled along the Atlantic Coast in Portugal from
Lisbon to Faro in the South covering 500 kms and reaching the southernmost tip
of Europe. Not only did I discover the beauty and the history of the coastline
that once played a key role in slave trade, but also tested my commitment to
the sport of cycling.
Exploring
National Parks and wildlife
Sometimes, endurance is more psychological than
physiological and my explorations in 2016 and 2017 equipped me survival skills
to be vegetarian in a fish-eating nation and coexist with animals in wilderness.
In 2016, I teamed up with my colleague Balaji and my
friend Vijay for another memorable expedition to explore Japan, a stunning
Island country, home to Mount Fuji, Buddhism, Arashimaya Bamboo forest,
Geishas, superfast bullet trains, Sushi and many more. Over two weeks days, we
crisscrossed the Island nation of Japan on superfast trains and explored cities
(Tokyo, Kyoto, etc.) on foot averaging 15-17km each day totaling to 200+ kms
and losing 5 kilos in 15 days.
If Japan taught me survival skills in a predominantly
pescatarian nation, South Africa taught me how explore the wilderness and have
a close experience with a hungry lioness, face-off with male elephant in musth
and being chased by a protective mother Rhino and her calf. Paul and I ascended a kilometer-high Table
Mountains of Cape town replacing my agoraphobia with panoramic views of the breathtaking
coastline, intoxicating vineyards and lush Kristenbosch National Botanical
Gardens.
Conquering
horizontally
“If
you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” goes the African Proverb. Along
with Shivaji, I joined a trekking group to explore hillocks and beaches of
Gokarna and peaks of Karnataka (Tadindamol – 1.7km in height). Among the group
of 20 hikers, I managed to reach the top ahead of the rest. Somewhere along the
way I asked myself why not improve my lung power and start conquering the
planet horizontally?
We both registered for Bengaluru10K and trained for 2 months to complete 5K in
under 30 minutes and finished at 6th and 12 positions respectively
in the 35+ age category.
What’s for next July?
Scars are not signs of weakness, they are signs of survival and endurance. ― Rodney A. Winters
As I head back to my annual medical examination this
month, I’ll proudly tell my physician how I turned myself from a cyclist to an
athlete and lost 8 kilos. So, for the next July story, should I aim for 10K,
Ironman challenge, Skydiving, bike to Ladakh or trek in the Himalayas? Who wants to partner
with me for a self-discovery and self-transformation trip?
