Life behind bars

How I became a cyclist:

It all started when I was in class 7. I randomly stumbled upon a group on Facebook named BDCyclists, and I was instantly curious what the group was about. So I started to roaming around in the group and gathered a lot of information about cycles. One point I realized I was obsessed with cycles. So my next step was to buy a cycle so I can join the group. I also started watching a lot of videos on Youtube about how to maintain a cycle, how to wash a cycle properly etc. Finally I bought a cycle with the money I saved from my pocket money in 3 years. And my life as a cyclist began.

My first cycle

My life took a turn:

After buying my first cycle there was a lot of restrictions from my parents such as "You can not leave the alley in front of our building" , "You can not ride on the main road" and on and on. But I was really excited to explore the city with my cycle. So I used to sneak out of my house and roam around the city. Gradually my parents were okay with me riding in the city. The first few months I had a lot of accidents. I still have marks on my back, knee and elbow from the accidents, but these did not stop me. I found a new meaning of life, something that makes me happy and also keeps my healthy. I have met a lot of amazing person through cycling. I also made a cycling group with my school friends, we used to roam around the city like a flock of free birds.

Places I have explored:

After riding in the city for about a year I was bored and annoyed of the heavy traffic of Dhaka. And at that point we were pretty experienced riders. So we started making plans to go to places away from the city and close to the nature. We went to Keraniganj, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Shonargaon, Mawa and a lot of other places.

Most memorable ride:

The most memorable ride was the Mawa ride. Before our HSC me and another friend of mine thought we should go for a last ride before our exam. So we made a plan that we will go to Mawa ghat riding our cycles. It was a 123kms long ride. We were so excited for the ride that both of us woke up at 5:30am and started our ride at around 6am.At first we were energetic and optimistic that we'll reach ou destination at ease. But as we went further and further we started to think it was a dumb idea but we 

did not stop pedaling. Our plan was after every 20kms we will take a short break to stretch our legs and eat something. At first we were doing great we stopped Jatrabari for a tea break and after 20kms more we stopped at a unknown place for breakfast. After that we started pedaling again we entered Naraynaganj took some photos and kept moving after pedaling for 50kms our legs went numb and we regretted our decisions once again but it was too late to back off so we kept moving forward. We took

the longest route to Mawa. After crossing Munshiganj we were exhausted and also we were middle of a highway so we were able to take a bus and go home. We had no other option but to reach Mawa so we can get a bus and return back home.

After crossing almost 80kms we finally reached our destination. We were starving at that time, so without thinking we went to a hotel to eat something first. After that we went looking for a bus which will drop us inside Dhaka as we were about to pass out due to exhaustion. But none of the drivers and staffs willing to take two cycles in the luggage box. So we had no other options but to ride back home.

When we started the ride back to our home it was already noon, the sun was above our head and we were very tired and exhausted. At our way back home we regretted every decision we took that day. And kept complaining about why the bus drivers weren't willing to take us. It was almost a 40kms ride from Mawa to Dhaka. But we safely reached home by the grace of almighty.

It took us total 11hours to complete the ride. Even though we were regretting our decisions back then, now when we look back we that ride as one of our best and most exciting ride till now.