Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Singing at concord..
My first performance and a 'peek' into the music circle in the Bay area - I had an opportunity to perform at the Concord temple for the Krishna Jayanthi celebrations! I sang 'Balagopala' in the ragam 'Bhairavi' and the very popular 'Enna Thavam Seidhanai'. We were 4 of us who performed and all of us were accompanied by Violin and Mridangam, which instantly gave it a 'kutcheri' feel! The audience was a small crowd of about 30 people, most of them friends and family of performers. It was a nice experience, got to take my sarees out of the box and get on stage after a long time!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Tour De Peninsula!
It feels good to challenge the self physically and that's what we did Sunday, on the 'Tour De Peninsula'. This tour happens every year and has been going on for the last 13yrs, we heard! With the sole focus of working our muscles out, we signed up for this event.
The entire tour itself was a 33 mile loop, with shortcuts at 17mile and 21miles. Ever since I bought my new cycle this summer, we have become regular bikers doing the 14-mile Los Gatos Creek Trail every weekend.
So we, the amateur biker enthusiasts, got ourselves organized on the ride day morning and drove down to Sequoia High School in Redwood City. When we reached there, we noticed the wide gamut of people taking this trip, from seasoned bikers who looked and dressed like them, to weekend warriors and outdoor enthusiasts eager for anything exciting and also people who had just come there to have fun with friends and family. This gave the tour a very warm feel especially for first timers like us! The tour seemed very well organized, especially when you have to manage about 3500 participants.
We got our bibs at the registeration counter, pinned it on to the back of our jerseys, so it would be visible all through the ride.The excitement was kicking in, and more so was the anticipation of what the course might be. M was very clear since the beginning that we wouldn't both stick together just so that we both give it a 100%, else one might sag the other and I agreed, secretly hoping that I would be the one ahead! We decided that our meeting point would be at the first rest stop which is at about 7 miles from the start.
So, the tour started and we waited in batches with a few thousand people around us, and once at the gate, took off. The start was easy, riding on level, tree lined, residential roads, and was like this for the first 10mts. Soon after we were faced with small hills every now and then, which is something we are used to, living in California. I was keeping up good pace and was ahead of more than half of the people with whom I started.
45mts into the tour, I looked at the road ahead of me. I took notice of an uphill but couldn't look any beyond. Hoping it would be a slope on the other side I pedalled hard and started lowering my gears from 1-4, and kept lowering it until it was 1-1 and couldn't do any beyond. I thought I has reached the 'top of the hill' but noticed there was no downhill or level road as I expected, but an upward gradient all way on Ralston Avenue. Huffing and puffing and in my own pace, I reached the half way mark of 'Mt. Neverest'.
By now, I had totally lost sight of M. The only thing that kept me going was the rest stop at the top of the hill! It was comforting to see some bikers who decided they would be better off walking the hill than cycling it, but I chose not to. I couldn't compromise on the frequent breaks and I wasn't going to hurry. After all this was not a race! Almost 75% near the top, it got a little better and I could feel it in my muscles. The rest stop was in sight and there were volunteers cheering the weary souls and I had finally made it to the top of Ralston! M had already reached about 10mts earlier and he had made the hill non-stop. The rest stop itself was scenic and had beautiful views of the bay from there, and after all it was totally worth it for the view!
The break did me some good. We decided to stick to the 17miles shortcut. The diversion to this was only half a mile away, and it was a lot of downhill from there. I put my gears at the max. and free wheeled, felt more like getting a massage soon after a waxing session! From there on it was mostly level roads and then one big uphill. At Edgewood, we only had to keep our feet on the pedal and the road would do the rest for you. That was the most exciting free wheeling moment I have ever experienced. We were now close to the finish and was now looking forward, to collecting my T-shirt, called officially the 'dirty shirt' and a goodie bag. I didn't imagine the tour to be the way it was, and I was glad I was able to do it and do it well. At the end of it I had biked for 115 mts, approximately about 7 minutes a mile.
I thought the tour was very well organized. Most of the roads were closed for auto traffic for the couple of hours this tour was going on. There were a lot of volunters ,warning us of any diversions, stop signs and red lights. They had Power Bars and water and even dried fruits in the second rest stop. The lanes on the roads were "coned" all the way. They had cycle maintenance crews and also a sag van, to pick up people who couldn't make it. At the school, where the tour started and finished there were expo booths, freebies, food and music! What more would you need? I know what you're thinking,... a free massage!May be not!
Loved it overall, and we hope to make it every year!
Keywords: Tour De Peninsula, Redwood city, Biking Event, Bay area
The entire tour itself was a 33 mile loop, with shortcuts at 17mile and 21miles. Ever since I bought my new cycle this summer, we have become regular bikers doing the 14-mile Los Gatos Creek Trail every weekend.
So we, the amateur biker enthusiasts, got ourselves organized on the ride day morning and drove down to Sequoia High School in Redwood City. When we reached there, we noticed the wide gamut of people taking this trip, from seasoned bikers who looked and dressed like them, to weekend warriors and outdoor enthusiasts eager for anything exciting and also people who had just come there to have fun with friends and family. This gave the tour a very warm feel especially for first timers like us! The tour seemed very well organized, especially when you have to manage about 3500 participants.
We got our bibs at the registeration counter, pinned it on to the back of our jerseys, so it would be visible all through the ride.The excitement was kicking in, and more so was the anticipation of what the course might be. M was very clear since the beginning that we wouldn't both stick together just so that we both give it a 100%, else one might sag the other and I agreed, secretly hoping that I would be the one ahead! We decided that our meeting point would be at the first rest stop which is at about 7 miles from the start.
So, the tour started and we waited in batches with a few thousand people around us, and once at the gate, took off. The start was easy, riding on level, tree lined, residential roads, and was like this for the first 10mts. Soon after we were faced with small hills every now and then, which is something we are used to, living in California. I was keeping up good pace and was ahead of more than half of the people with whom I started.
45mts into the tour, I looked at the road ahead of me. I took notice of an uphill but couldn't look any beyond. Hoping it would be a slope on the other side I pedalled hard and started lowering my gears from 1-4, and kept lowering it until it was 1-1 and couldn't do any beyond. I thought I has reached the 'top of the hill' but noticed there was no downhill or level road as I expected, but an upward gradient all way on Ralston Avenue. Huffing and puffing and in my own pace, I reached the half way mark of 'Mt. Neverest'.
By now, I had totally lost sight of M. The only thing that kept me going was the rest stop at the top of the hill! It was comforting to see some bikers who decided they would be better off walking the hill than cycling it, but I chose not to. I couldn't compromise on the frequent breaks and I wasn't going to hurry. After all this was not a race! Almost 75% near the top, it got a little better and I could feel it in my muscles. The rest stop was in sight and there were volunteers cheering the weary souls and I had finally made it to the top of Ralston! M had already reached about 10mts earlier and he had made the hill non-stop. The rest stop itself was scenic and had beautiful views of the bay from there, and after all it was totally worth it for the view!
The break did me some good. We decided to stick to the 17miles shortcut. The diversion to this was only half a mile away, and it was a lot of downhill from there. I put my gears at the max. and free wheeled, felt more like getting a massage soon after a waxing session! From there on it was mostly level roads and then one big uphill. At Edgewood, we only had to keep our feet on the pedal and the road would do the rest for you. That was the most exciting free wheeling moment I have ever experienced. We were now close to the finish and was now looking forward, to collecting my T-shirt, called officially the 'dirty shirt' and a goodie bag. I didn't imagine the tour to be the way it was, and I was glad I was able to do it and do it well. At the end of it I had biked for 115 mts, approximately about 7 minutes a mile.
I thought the tour was very well organized. Most of the roads were closed for auto traffic for the couple of hours this tour was going on. There were a lot of volunters ,warning us of any diversions, stop signs and red lights. They had Power Bars and water and even dried fruits in the second rest stop. The lanes on the roads were "coned" all the way. They had cycle maintenance crews and also a sag van, to pick up people who couldn't make it. At the school, where the tour started and finished there were expo booths, freebies, food and music! What more would you need? I know what you're thinking,... a free massage!May be not!
Loved it overall, and we hope to make it every year!
Keywords: Tour De Peninsula, Redwood city, Biking Event, Bay area
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)