mule along the hill
mule along the hill
by brinda subba
(Gangtok, Sikkim, India)
It was the biggest day of my life. I had been riding mtb for the past few years in a remote place where people hardly have any idea on mtb and was always asked “does this bicycle ride up the hill?”. Although our tourism department had been encouraging local youths towards adventure sports, it was surprising that they decided to organize a 10 day mtb race along the himalayas of Sikkim (INDIA). There were several riders from throughout the country and some from NEPAL as well.
My enthusiasm for biking has been increasing ever since I bought a 2nd handed mtb from NEPAL and the brand of which is nowhere on the net. Its a chromoly and of course heavy for today’s competition but I was glad that I was the only one riding a chromo.
The race consisted of different categories separating each leg by downhill, uphill and bike hike section. The first day first leg (downhill) went good and I was 3 minutes behind the winner. It went worse the following day and even worse the other day and finally stood 17th (among 30 riders) at the end. Despite my best efforts, I could not improve during uphill and bike hike section. I finally realised that I was not riding a horse but a MULE ALONG THE HILL.
The moral of the story is:
XC competition? weight is king, the lighter the faster.
It is not about criticising my mule. I still love my bike as it has taught me a lot of things in life and I always smile when I ride my sweet little mule.
