All posts tagged: Cycling

Mammoth Lakes Adventure: The Bike Ride

Published by Anita

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, they say. And I’m hoping it’s true. After the swim, having been sufficiently nourished and rested, we land up at the bike venue at 8 am in the morning. It’s pretty cool, but the weather forecast promises a warm day and I discard my wind cheater at the start itself. I have arm warmers which I hope will do the job. There are around 400 riders at the start point. An impressive turnout for an event in this part of the country. Mammoth Lakes is a little town in Mono country, surrounded by mountains. The 100 mile riders started off earlier – at 7 am. Bike rides are always unpredictable. You could be feeling fit and fine at the beginning and then like you’ve gone through hell and back a couple of hours later. Or you could start off feeling crappy and then blossom, like a flower, your legs opening up as the miles add up. Thanks to one tough practice ride a weekend prior, I was feeling …

Adventures in India: A 12 day trip to the South

Published by Anita

Join me on an adventure of a lifetime! A vibrant and diverse country, India can be fascinating and yet also be pretty challenging for a traveler. Especially, if you haven’t been to the country before. But don’t worry – you’ll be in good hands! I’ve traveled to many parts of the country, on many occasions on my own, and have a fair idea of the dos and don’ts to ensure that we have a great time, and ensure we keep out of trouble. If you did have India on your mind—this could be the perfect opportunity to join in on an active adventure—indulge in fun activities like running, swimming, hiking and cycling (and if we have time, we can even squeeze in a few other local activities). Besides of course, tasting some of the local delicacies—every state in India has a different cuisine, language/s and customs. On this trip, we’ll cover 3 states. Trip Description: An adventure trip and we’ll make sure you keep fit and active with hearty doses of cycling, running, hiking and …

Fitness on the road: A few strategies that might work

Published by Anita

So here’s the problem. I like good food. And when I’m travelling, food obviously becomes even more of an issue. Let me explain why. I can’t really control what I’m eating. I like trying out local delicacies so I rarely say no. And if my host is cooking something, I would eat even if I’m not hungry (rarely does that happen though). I usually am. So the big problem is that it doesn’t do any good to my waistline (I can’t actually find it these days). After every holiday, the scales tip a bit more. At this rate, I have to get new scales. Bringing me to the main topic of this post. With all this gluttony, one has to figure out creative ways to keep fit. I’d love to hear how you do it, but here are some tips from my side. And why “might” work, you might ask? Because as you’ll probably realise, you have to put these to practice for results. So personally, I have tried to make a few of these …

Published: “Letter from Bangalore”

Published by Anita

A piece I wrote for the magazine, “Vision – fresh perspectives from Dubai“, published by Touchline, October edition. It’s published quarterly in the English language, and has a print run of 60,000. It features reporting on business, culture and life in the emirate, high profile interviews with influential thought leaders, In-depth special reports and notes from different parts of the world. I did a piece on the cycling in Bangalore (my favourite topic!) and how, despite the lack of roads and infrastructure, enthusiastic Bangaloreans have sparked off a revolution on two wheels. Read the piece here — LETTER FROM BANGALORE.

A few different ways to enjoy Switzerland

Published by Anita

It’s difficult not to enjoy Switzerland. Not only is it picture perfect, it is one of the safest countries in the world. Where you can go off on a trek into the mountains pretty much by yourself. Or travel from one part of the country to another without too many worries about your safety. A view of the lake on my first trip in 2005 Geneva and Zurich happen to ranked among the top cities with the highest quality of life in the world. (And as a result, Switzerland also happens to be the most expensive country in the world to live in). I’ve been in Switzerland since the first week of August and I must say that I’m enjoying it more than my first time. For one, I have more days in hand. And rather than rushing around, I’ve had the opportunity to soak in some cultural experiences, walk around some amazingly scenic trails in the Swiss mountains, experienced living in a small village and devoured inordinately large amounts of cheese and wine. My …

Vietnam: A few first impressions

Published by Anita

This was a different kind of trip. I didn’t do much research since my fellow traveller and photographer Hema took control of everything including the planning and organising (which I usually enjoy doing for my trips). For a change, I took a backseat as I was already busy planning an all girl’s trip to Wayanad. So I didn’t really have any notions/impressions except a guide book that I’d borrowed from a friend. The guidebook indicated there were a few scams in some parts of Vietnam. But we didn’t come across any such unpleasant experiences. However, another group we met did tell us that cab drivers purposely take long routes even if the places are close by, just to make an extra buck. But after dealing with auto drivers in Bangalore, I think one is armed to take on a few greedy errant taxi drivers. At no point during our trip did we actually feel threatened or unsafe in Vietnam. (In fact, I have at time felt more unsafe in some parts of India). The people …