Category: cycling

Of butterflies in your stomach

I just finished a book by a friend, which contained his life as a government official in my home state of Kerala, India. It was an interesting book which captured life in India and the functioning of the government in the early 80’s. In one story he talked about how we remember those people who die young more than those who die old and it really got me thinking about my friend Venky. Venky passed away in September of 2012, I still remember the day, with my friend texting me over google chat and I couldn’t believe it. I broke down, crying so hard. It hit me so close for a multitude of reasons.

Venky and I were classmates during our MBA. everyone knew him as Gymbody, and he was just that. His goal was to hit  a 2%body fat ratio, while I on the other hand was happy with a 2% muscle mass ratio. Venky managed to get the college to not only build out a gym in the school, but also got the gym ready for all of us. He spent time there and made sure everyone exercised correctly and set up routines. He would’ve been an excellent trainer, but he was an amazing person as well. He was always open to talk and a good listener. He made friends easily and always came with with a smile attached.

We worked on our first startup together at his house, iFarm. It was an ambitious exercise born out of his house in kotturpuram, Chennai. He joined Cognizant around the same time as I did and so we both ended up meeting everyday for lunch. He kept tabs on my food intake and ensured I ate healthy. I learnt so much from him and I was his sounding board for new ideas and he made a big impact with those who worked because he built a great network of folks who would listen to him and be willing to help.

When I got married, he made the trip over for my wedding, promising to come and keeping the promise. During the journey back, he met someone and I remember him telling me “maddy, I can’t explain it man, but I was getting butterflies in my stomach talking to her”.  It was nice hearing him talk like this. He actually met someone really nice after that and she made him really happy.

I moved out from Cognizant to setup my own firm www.virtu.in and was constantly talking to him about what to do. He actually invited me to talk at Cognizant about Knowledge Management in startups. I still have that presentation (https://www.slideshare.net/madanmenon/cognizant-presentation-by-virtu-technologies-presentation)

After I sold my company in 2012 and moved in Bangalore. I was in touch with him and met him every time I came to Chennai.

He was healthy and so when I was told he suffered a massive heart attack at 530am and didn’t recover,  a part of me died. I won’t he hearing “Hi Maddy”, “Are you sure you want to be eating that” and many more venkyisms, anymore.

It’s been more than 8 years, but I still miss him. My lunch companion for 3 years, my Knowledge Management guru, my health instructor and most importantly my friend.

I’m sure you are making everything better whereever you are and smiling your 10,000W smile!

butterflies in my stomach!

of broken bones and cycles

I couldnt figure out what i should put in the topic, but the very fact that i cracked up while cycling is somthing of importance.

10/10/10 – the Hercules City Challenge – organized by CRX Sports was supposed to be an exciting treasure hunt with clues and we had to go to the clues to get the next one, slated for the previous week, but due to some reason it got pushed to the 10th. I was all excited since i was preparing quite hard for it. the routine included a 20 odd km ride in the morning (as often as i could) a run in the evening and on weekends a 1-1.5km swim. i was happy with my fitness level, to the point i set my sights on riding upto yercaurd from salem the following weekend all this to get to my ultimate goal – coimbatore to ooty ride – 70kms of which 50 were uphill. The gradient was steep and not forgiving, but the chennai bikers had done it last year, and i was determined to do it. Why? I want to ride downhill from kotagiri to mettupallayalam – what a ride- crazy decent, 2nd only to the kalahati climb – which incedently was the other objective. Ride ooty – mysore and then come back by car / train / bus.
So, the flag off of the HCC was from adyar – a decent 20kms from home- at 545 am. So that means i needed to leave by 5 to do a good warmup and not exhaust myself before i got there. So wake up call at 430 from my wife, got ready, and just before i left i figured i should eat something and drank a half glass of milk. good thing. Switched off all the lgiths, fans, internet, and by the grace of god- wore a headband under my helmet. Finally got out by 515.
Started off, good pace, relaxed ride, decided to climb the bridges on the way – thats 2 steep “mini flyovers” Ala Govt of TN. reached the start by 550, a good ride, and all charged up. registered myself, set up the playlist and got in line.
was starting in group 5, so the last group. all groups left, and finally we took off. furiously pedaled down to the first check point – cofee day. While i approached, the guy came out and stuck out the clue, i was like wow- touch and go. took it – it read ” the coolest cycle shop in mylapore” being a TI event, the only one is the BSA shop which i know. So started putting the clue into my pocket, I caught a glimpse of the speed breaker in front but didnt think much of it, one hand on the handle bar, and another in the pocket, and the next thing i know im falling.
toppeled, hit the ground, rolled and was out for a few split seconds. Shit! shit! this is not good. got up, moved my hands, the left shoulder was making a funny noise – click click…everytime i move. not good. shit shit! forget the bruises.. this was bad. moved my sholder- i could lift it- but with pain – atleast not a dislocation. there was one competitor who stopped to help me. Thank you! there was a shop outside which i fell. no one came forward to help , everyone was just looking at me.
the race organizer in the check point came running and helped me up. i just held my shoulder – witout moving it. crap! my race ws over. I asked them to bring the ambulance -cause i felt it was quite bad. jst hung around there, in a lot of pain, till finally the ambulance came. The guy sprayed a lot of volin – for what i dont know, i asked them to take me to the hospital.
to add to it, my phone was busted. i couldnt take out my wife’s number and tell her. finally called my mom – nto the best thing- with sirens blaring and at 630 in the morning, being woken up is jolting. then called a friend to come and pick me up from Global hospital. They were the healthcare partners for this event. They took awesome care of me throughout this. the Xrays, medicines etc etc.
I must thank Global Hospital. Thank you! For the record i was like “ive never heard of global hospital” and went there expecting a small 25-30bed place – but man was i wrong. They are expanding to about 1000 beds and its HUGE!
So i was diagnosed with a broken collar bone, they first gave me some pain killers and stuff. Asked if i hit my head, since there was not bleeding or anything i was fine. the bruises and stuff were painful. The gloves saved my hands from getting scratched.
I was discharged and told that i need to just rest for the next 6week. crap! one stupid move and im out for such a long time!
The only good thing – lance armstrong also broke his collar bone!
So now its only recovery.

the first time i bite the dust!

Well, after buying the Trek, and restarting my cycling, i was awating that moment when you have a crash, and today that moment was there – waiting for me with open arms.

Over the last week, i got hit twice by motorcyclsts – for absolutely no fault of mine, i actually chased one bugger through the traffic and was tempted to whack the fellow, but let him go because he apologized a lot.
But today, for no fault of anyone but my own, i said hello to the pavement setup by the lovely chennai corporation.
I was trying to change lanes and take a turn, and since there was traffic, i decided to pull over to the left and then cut across to the right after waiting for the opportunity to cut across. while the bike was slowing down on the left side of the road, i failed to see a rather large stone. well, large for the cycle to handle and it hit the wheel, the handle bar turned, and bang! i was on the pavement.
0 – pavement in zero seconds flat! fastest time down!
took a while to figure out what the hell just happened, picked my self up, checked all the gears and then continued.

Moral learnt? Yup- always keep both hands on the handle bar! 🙂

Uphill ride


Did my first uphill ride today. It was hard, and time consuming but the low gear ratios on the trek 4300D really helped a lot. the first leg of the journey was a 15 km ride to the base of the hill. from there it was about a 2 km ride UP… now that was killing. However, i told myself that i will not walk- that meant that i had to ride up. I stopped 3 times, but that was worth it. Managing to cycle up.. got me highly kicked. Even though i was the last one up (considering i was the last to start) cycling up was totally worth it! 🙂