Is bicycle commuting possible on Indian city roads?

Till about year 2000, two wheelers were luxury and personal four wheelers on road were rare. Roads used to be empty and commuting distances were short. Kids used to go to school on bicycle. Working class, labourer used to have a roadster bicycle for commuting to work. But then the number of motorized vehicles started increasing and they are now everywhere. In this transition, bicycles lost their space. And now when we look at the jam packed, crowded roads it’s natural to feel that we cannot ride bicycles anymore even if we wish to.

But we can make a bicycle a part of our daily routine even now. We have to actually start bicycling to believe. Compared to 20 yrs back situation,

- Though traffic has increased, road conditions have improved,

- Commuting distances have gone up, but we also have bicycles with multiple gears, better sitting postures and high speed capability,

- Hostility among the rides has increased, but bicycle isolates you from the road rage incidents.

As we start bicycling, we notice that we can make way through the city roads and traffic. We also isolate ourselves from the anxiety of getting out of the road crowd. As we are the prime power driving the bicycle, we also learn to use our energy efficiently. We influence countless other people on road, to start the pedalling. As we see other people riding bicycle we experience a feel good factor and it gives encouragement. Bicycling increases our confidence on our physical strength, endurance and persistency. When we see other people who are now unable to pedal due to physical conditions, old age etc., we feel privileged and lucky to be able to do pedalling and makes us value our life.