Sore Legs and Muddy Tires

Quarantine has made it quite difficult for many to be able to exercise as regularly as they do. Many including myself mainly participated in sports which was our main form of being active. Because we are all stuck in our homes, we had to find new ways to improvise. I have created an exercise routine in order to maintain being healthy through various exercises such as HIT workouts and swimming laps in the pool. But more than that, I have been pushing myself more and more with my biking, with each time increasing the distance (although not always entirely out of choice). During these bike rides, my dad and I have met up with others and have been exploring new areas for future trips.

Just a few weeks ago (since this post) I did my second furthest trip at 42km. The bike ride was mainly on smooth rodes with hills every now and then. But the lack in hills was made up for with the long-distance pushing my legs quite significantly. Surprisingly we took very few breaks and kept pushing only to stop for coconut water or to take some pictures. Our destination for this ride was to reach the Kelani river north of Colombo near the “Maruti bridge”. You may be wondering why we called it such a strange name? Well, the reason is that the bridge was so small that the largest-sized car that can fit on that bridge is a Maruti. Our trip was quite fast-paced and because of that left me out of breath constantly. Overall I have increased my pacing quite significantly and have improved in my stamina.

But that trip was a cakewalk compared to the most recent trip. Little did I know I would participate in a 54 km ride this last Sunday! The ride followed the same route I took in the last 41 km trip. However, we extended the route, going through wetlands and roads which I never knew even existed! The person who found out about these new routes was done by Abby Pilapitya a cycling enthusiast and father of my classmate Sheruni.

This ride was very tough due to the size of the group participating (there were 7 people total). Because we each had our own pace often there would be splits in the groups, with the fastest in the front while the rest lagged behind. Our trip had many struggles with one of our tires puncturing and some falling off their bikes as we traversed through the wetlands.  But we had great moments as well, such as our break when we snacked on corn and coconut water. When we managed to complete the ride after 4 hours of riding we were relieved that we finished but glad we did it.

I demonstrated the learning outcome #4, Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. This trip was very long and difficult but by having friends around me, it helped me be able to preservere.