The Zen of Cycling When You’re Over the Hill

After decades of juggling work-life priorities, chasing mirages, and making things happen at Pramati, I felt a peculiar vacuum that was hard to understand, let alone explain.

I had existential questions. (It’s scarier than it sounds.)

I talked it out with a friend over a drink. He was of the opinion that I was going through my mid-life crisis and that I would eventually get used to it. A little hard to swallow, that. I wasn’t willing to accept the crisis theory, but I did realize that I needed new goals — hopefully ones that will help me get over my dissatisfaction with life in general.

How it began

It isn’t easy starting out on a rigorous fitness regime when you’re over the hill. It took me all of five days to understand that this was more about mental strength than physical power. I started burning stress and anxiety along with the calories, eating better and maintaining a healthier lifestyle. All good.

But it didn’t seem enough. I wanted to do more.

After months of running and cycling, I signed up for my first half-marathon. Galvanized, I pushed on and started participating in marathons every year. Last year was memorable because I completed a half-marathon that was conducted to raise funds for an orphanage at my personal best and my participation inspired my friends to donate generously.

Cycling 67-kilometers and egging others on

Again, I had the itch to do something more. I tried persuading colleagues and friends to join me for a cycling drive, but the response wasn’t exactly enthusiastic — some thought it wasn’t their cup of tea, some procrastinated to the next weekend that never came and some showed interest but were unsure about how far they could go.

Finally, about eight people signed up (mainly so I’d stop bothering them). But 67 kilometers was a long, long way. We planned a practice run before the actual drive and ended up covering an impressive 42 kilometers. We went on to complete the full ride and partnered up for several other events after that.

The takeaways

For anyone who feels that they’re too old to do something ‘young’:

• One, it’s never too late to begin a habit or take on interests.
• Two, it’s hard to push people to take on something new, but that’s leadership in real life — not managing someone, but pointing them somewhere they need to be and helping them get there.

And last but not the least, there’s no such thing as a mid-life crisis.

Kalyan Kuppachi is the VP of engineering at Imaginea, a group company of Pramati Technologies. You can connect with him on Twitter @KalyanKuppachi.