How I'd like to die — crossing the finish line proudly, sitting at the corner of the road, sipping a Coke, looking at the sun rising.
— Avishek, in his own words
Avishek Nayak. Training for Ironman Goa, 2027.
Ch. 01 · Chennai
A kid watching proper bikers race past.
My childhood was in Chennai. I'd see real bikers racing through the streets and wish to be one of them one day.
But life isn't a wish. My father moved cities, so did I. Middle-class elder-son responsibilities started stacking up. Sports stopped being a thing I was allowed to think about.
Ch. 02 · The fire
I kept it alive in small ways.
First pair of skates. Then a 12 km cycle to school every day in 5th standard. None of it looked like much from the outside.
Ch. 03 · The spanner
A ten-rupee brake pad, a twelve-year-old, and a wrench.
I loved cycling so much I carried a panna — a spanner — in my school bag. I broke the rubber brake pads at least once every two weeks.
2012. The pads cost ten rupees. That was a lot for a 12-year-old who broke them every fifteen days. I learned to fix them myself.
I loved speed. I wanted a real bike. There was never money for it. So I kept the speed in me, finished college, and waited.
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Ch. 04 · May 2021
The restart.
I'd just finished college. I was looking for a way to start earning. Life felt heavy.
Cycling was the thing I'd reach for whenever I had no motive to get up.
That's when I came back. I haven't looked back since.
Ch. 05 · Building the runway
BRMs on an MTB. UX design to keep the lights on.
I started with BRMs on a mountain bike — the long, slow way to understand cycling as a sport and as a career. I held a UX designer job to sustain it. I moved to Bangalore to live inside the cycling culture.
No money for a road bike, so I bought a decent Bergamont hybrid. I trained. I raced. I podiumed my first race.
It was heart-overwhelming.
Ch. 06 · The fall
Laid off. Kept riding.
The company let me go. They thought I wasn't serious about work.
I didn't stop cycling. I added running. Nine half-marathons since then. One full marathon in Mumbai. Slowly, steadily, I cleared the debt. And then I bought the aero bike I'd been dreaming of.
Ch. 07 · Now
Pune. Then the card. Then France.
Right now I'm training for Pune – Mahabaleshwar, 190 km, on August 22.
The CFI card is next. I don't know exactly how yet. But I'll get it.
The goal further out is the Tour de France. How? I don't know. But one day, for sure.
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Ch. 08 · Lance
A line I keep thinking about.
Lance Armstrong opened his book by saying he wanted to die at a hundred years old, screaming down an Alpine descent at 75 miles per hour.
Mine ends differently.
How I'd like to die
Crossing the finish line proudly. Sitting at the corner of the road. Sipping a Coke. Looking at the sun rising.
