Breaking the cycle: Mumbai youth pedals to Delhi and back

25-year-old Andrew Menezes covered 23 cities in nearly 2 months during his 3000-km journey

Work from home can often get boring but a Mumbai youth broke the monotonous cycle as he pedalled from his hometown to New Delhi and back -- all of this while still hustling and attending work with Zoom calls.

25-year-old IT professional Andrew Menezes saw it all -- beaches, mountains, jungles, rural, semi-urban and urban settings -- in his 3,000-km trip as he rode along the highways to the national capital and back to the financial capital.

A resident of Mumbai's Dahisar suburbs, Menezes attended Zoom meetings, worked and cycled, showing others how it can all be done. Andrew started off on October 23, mixed work from home with his passion for cycling during the lockdown/unlock and the 'new normal and was back in Mumbai on 18 December.

“I cycled for 100 to 120 kms per day.... There’s never been a better challenge than to pick yourself up, pack up, and hit the road, not knowing where your destination lies...in nearly two months, I covered 23 cities,” he told DH.

Over the course of his journey, Menezes traversed through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. In the middle, he also took a small break in Goa where he used a bus. Besides, there was some thrill, too. Menezes recalled the time his cycle broke down along the ravines of Chambal and he had to walk with his cycle for nearly four hours in heavy rain.

His dawn-to-dusk routine was full of activity. “I used to start off at sunrise, cycle till around 10 to 10.20 am, look for a dhaba, have brunch and work there till 2 to 2.30 pm. I used to start the ride around 3 pm and end by sundown, check into a lodge or guesthouses by 7.30 pm and then work till 10 to 10.30 pm,” he added.

Coming to the expenses and other essentials for the trip, Menezes said that his daily expenditure never shot over Rs 800.

“My cycle with gears is second-hand and cost around 10,000 when I bought it two years ago. My bag, which was mounted behind my cycle, contained three pairs of clothes, a sweatshirt, my laptop, my repair kit, patch kit, medical kit and personal kit, water and some emergency food like Maggi and biscuits. I would eat all meals at dhabas/kitchens along the highway and stay the night in lodges/guest houses/dharamshalas, whichever was cheapest," he said.

Andrew started off on October 23, mixed work from home with his passion for cycling during the lockdown/unlock
and the 'new normal' and was back in Mumbai on 18 December.

Menezes said that he would wash his clothes and gear every day and would repair flat tires himself as he was travelling with the tools. "Only for major repairs and maintenance, I would take my cycle to the shop. I managed to survive on Maggi and biscuits if food was scarce along the highway,” he said.

Talking about the challenges, Menezes said that he was left pleasntly surprised. “The first challenge that I thought I would face was network reception on my mobile. This was a crucial factor without which I would face connectivity issues at work. Surprisingly, I got better reception on the highways than I would get in the city. I was attending Zoom calls sitting at dhabas with hot parathas and chaas served fresh. I was surprised myself, with very few stretches of the highway having low or no reception at all, I was able to seamlessly get work done. This was one of the most motivating factors for me that wherever I went, I didn’t have to worry about network connectivity,” Menezes said.

Some cities that he covered on his trip include Pune, Nashik, Indore, New Delhi, Ujjain, Chittorgarh, Ajmer, Agra, among others.