Cycling Changed My Life Madhavi’s inspiring story
Moving from India to the UK, Madhavi found a whole new purpose
Ihad two pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves on, but the cold didn’t bother me – or the downpours. Pedalling uphill with the fresh air on my face, I not only felt empowered, but free.
I’d just cycled 45 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh in an event called the Classic Challenge. It was a proud moment.
I’d always wanted to ride a bike, but lost my confidence when I was 11. I grew up in Telangana in South India and the only bikes available were for men – and they were far too high for me.
I didn’t know how to brake and one day, I came to a junction and fell off. I was knocked unconscious and fractured my shoulder.
Twenty years later, when I was still living in Telangana, I tried a different bike, but lost my balance and fell into a drain. I didn’t try again.
Then in 2006, my husband got an IT job in Edinburgh and we moved to Scotland. It was a complete shock. I remember driving to our new home from the airport, thinking, Whereis everyone? The streets were so quiet and the houses so neatly arranged, I felt like I was looking at a picture.
In India, I’d wake at 5am and there would be buses going past and people shouting, selling vegetables out on the street all day.
At first we didn’t know anyone. My husband was working and I couldn’t drive, so I was mostly at home looking after our young children, who were then one and four.
We had a big house in India with a garden and lots of tall trees and birds. We’d always have the door open with fresh air coming in. But here we lived in an apartment for the first six months, and it was too cold to have the doors and windows open.
After falling off my bike for a second time, into a drain, I didn’t try again