Shek's Footprint

I bought a roadster from India. These bikes are very common work-horse bikes in India. I have not been able to update the ‘My Bicycles‘ page due to some error with wordpress and my hosting server. Till then, enjoy this slideshow. The bike cost me 60 USD. The bicycle shop owner packed it in a box and I brought it over as a checked in luggage. International travelers are allowed two 50 lbs bags to check in.

The riding position is taking time to get used to. You can see Matt from bikejax riding it to get an idea of the posture. For starters, the handle bar grips are very skinny and make it uncomfortable. It is an easy fix. I have installed a longer seat post and a new seat that I had. The bike is very tall at 22 inches for me but not too tall. The brakes are rudimentary rod brakes. No cables. These brakes will take time getting used to as well. The master plan is to have this bike replace Katrien. I will still hold on to the antique dutch bike, just not subject her to too much beating.

These are some pictures from my ride in a cycle rickshaw from Bandel to Chinsura in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. Bandel and Chinsura are suburbs of Kolkatta. They are poorer suburbs with a lot of history built around the banks of river Ganga. A commuter rail provides transportation to Kolkatta. The cycle rickshaws and auto-rickshaws provide transportation from the train stations. There are busses but are very unreliable. 

The cycle rickshaws are modified roadsters. They are comfortable for two people. Some are modified with facing seats for school children. There are no gears. The rear sprocket seems to be a larger one. The front sprocket looked like a 42-48 teeth.

The slide show has pictures of people in various forms of cycling around. The particular day this picture was taken was the morning of a holiday. Hence the crowd appears to be slim. There are pictures of multiple people on a bike, a cargo trike etc. 

A few things to notice: no helmets, no bike lanes, no stop lights and much more. All movement, pedestrian to cars to large trucks happen in a sort of mini critical masses.