Do it yourself guide on bike ride, jet lag and heritage shoot
Stomping through swampy puddles is fun if you're on a bike. Try wet weather riding.
Try wet weather bike riding.
Riders in the storm
Stomping through swampy puddles is fun if you're on a bike. Try wet weather riding.
Ride it right
Any trail or terrain can turn into a challenge if it's wet. It is important to negotiate your route carefully. You need to be cautious about maneuvering tight corners, bends, drops, roots and rocks as these tend to become trickier. To avoid skidding, you should slow down around corners. Since your brakes are not as immediate and effective on wet surfaces, a repeated plunging of levers will bring them back into action.
Gear up
Riding in wet weather is less forgiving than dry which is why you need tyres with good grip. A spiked one which is 26" in diameter and 2.3" across will absorb more bumps and provide more traction. The brakes should be tuned well to allow modulation to avoid any kind of jamming. Post ride maintenance is critical in the rains. For a smooth ride, it is important to wash off the dirt with a soft spray of water. A pressure spray can be detrimental to joints, bearings and bottom brackets. Once the cycle is dried out, you should lubricate the drivetrain, moving parts and linkages. The uninitiated can simply drag their bikes to dealers like the Firefox Bike Station, Decathlon and Track and Trail which have an all India presence and provide wet weather tyres, lubricants and post ride maintenance tools and accessories.
The perfect accessories
A helmet with a sunshade keeps the rain from stinging your eyes. Hydration packs from Adventure 18 and Decathlon outlets are recommended since they keep up hydration levels and provide waterproof compartments for your phone and money. Also, if you really have to, you can fetch some rainproof jackets, lowers and plastic mudguards. The front mudguard can fit below your down tube and the rear one fits from the clamp on your seat post.
Keep yourself airborne
Mumbai based nutritionist Naini Setalvad eases the globetrotter's life with tips on tackling jet lag
Sipping straight
One must stay off alcohol before the flight and certainly when flying. Alcohol not only dehydrates, but also leaves you feeling tired, bloated and heavy. It also adds unnecessary calories and increases acidity. Cabin pressure makes the body prone to excessive wind formation and consumption of aerated drinks augments this. Drink plenty of water through the flight to stave off dehydration. In fact, getting up and pouring yourself a glass every half hour will not just keep you hydrated, but boost blood circulation hampered by long flights as well.
The right bite
Ditch heavy meals for a fruit platter. This is rich in nutrients and also easy to digest. Increased air pressure, temperature and time changes can cause a host of digestive disturbances which are aggravated by oily, acid forming, high fat airline meals. If you have a long flight, order a low calorie meal including a soup and salad as fruits may not be enough to sustain you. A good option is to carry your own fresh and dried fruits such as apples, pears, bananas, dates, figs, raisins or apricots. You can snack on unsalted nuts like almonds and cashews (but limit your portions to no more than about 10 of either one nut) or a 100 calorie granola bar.
Sound sleep
It is important to get enough sleep before and during the flight. Sipping chamomile tea will help you doze off during that long flight.
How to shoot heritage
Invoking metaphors of a bygone past, every heritage site has a tall story to tell. A great way to creatively concretise the wealth of our past is to capture it on an artistic, almost alive, photograph. These quick tips will make the task simple Best time The first and last hours of the day are described by photographers as the 'golden hour'.
The light is diffused and allows you greater richness in contrast which highlights the details in the structures. A good tripod Heritage sites make for great long exposure shots. The longer you leave the camera open, the light filters into it. Tripods stabilise the camera and photographs are not blurry. The Gitzo tripod with an Acratech head will work well.
Film and lens Shooting at lower ASA/ISO enables you to play out the finer details in the structure. Also, a wide angle lens compresses the distance between objects. It should start at 14mm and and go up to 20mm (the lower the number the wider the view). The best cameras DSLRs like Canon 5D and Nikon D7000 work well. Other good options are Sony Cybershot DSC-TX9 (Point and Shoot) and Hasselblad 500 (medium format).
Stomping through swampy puddles is fun if you're on a bike. Try wet weather riding.
Ride it right
Any trail or terrain can turn into a challenge if it's wet. It is important to negotiate your route carefully. You need to be cautious about maneuvering tight corners, bends, drops, roots and rocks as these tend to become trickier. To avoid skidding, you should slow down around corners. Since your brakes are not as immediate and effective on wet surfaces, a repeated plunging of levers will bring them back into action.
Gear up
Riding in wet weather is less forgiving than dry which is why you need tyres with good grip. A spiked one which is 26" in diameter and 2.3" across will absorb more bumps and provide more traction. The brakes should be tuned well to allow modulation to avoid any kind of jamming. Post ride maintenance is critical in the rains. For a smooth ride, it is important to wash off the dirt with a soft spray of water. A pressure spray can be detrimental to joints, bearings and bottom brackets. Once the cycle is dried out, you should lubricate the drivetrain, moving parts and linkages. The uninitiated can simply drag their bikes to dealers like the Firefox Bike Station, Decathlon and Track and Trail which have an all India presence and provide wet weather tyres, lubricants and post ride maintenance tools and accessories.
The perfect accessories
A helmet with a sunshade keeps the rain from stinging your eyes. Hydration packs from Adventure 18 and Decathlon outlets are recommended since they keep up hydration levels and provide waterproof compartments for your phone and money. Also, if you really have to, you can fetch some rainproof jackets, lowers and plastic mudguards. The front mudguard can fit below your down tube and the rear one fits from the clamp on your seat post.
Mumbai based nutritionist Naini Setalvad eases the globetrotter's life with tips on tackling jet lag
Sipping straight
One must stay off alcohol before the flight and certainly when flying. Alcohol not only dehydrates, but also leaves you feeling tired, bloated and heavy. It also adds unnecessary calories and increases acidity. Cabin pressure makes the body prone to excessive wind formation and consumption of aerated drinks augments this. Drink plenty of water through the flight to stave off dehydration. In fact, getting up and pouring yourself a glass every half hour will not just keep you hydrated, but boost blood circulation hampered by long flights as well.
The right bite
Ditch heavy meals for a fruit platter. This is rich in nutrients and also easy to digest. Increased air pressure, temperature and time changes can cause a host of digestive disturbances which are aggravated by oily, acid forming, high fat airline meals. If you have a long flight, order a low calorie meal including a soup and salad as fruits may not be enough to sustain you. A good option is to carry your own fresh and dried fruits such as apples, pears, bananas, dates, figs, raisins or apricots. You can snack on unsalted nuts like almonds and cashews (but limit your portions to no more than about 10 of either one nut) or a 100 calorie granola bar.
Sound sleep
It is important to get enough sleep before and during the flight. Sipping chamomile tea will help you doze off during that long flight.
Taj Mahal
Invoking metaphors of a bygone past, every heritage site has a tall story to tell. A great way to creatively concretise the wealth of our past is to capture it on an artistic, almost alive, photograph. These quick tips will make the task simple Best time The first and last hours of the day are described by photographers as the 'golden hour'.
The light is diffused and allows you greater richness in contrast which highlights the details in the structures. A good tripod Heritage sites make for great long exposure shots. The longer you leave the camera open, the light filters into it. Tripods stabilise the camera and photographs are not blurry. The Gitzo tripod with an Acratech head will work well.
Film and lens Shooting at lower ASA/ISO enables you to play out the finer details in the structure. Also, a wide angle lens compresses the distance between objects. It should start at 14mm and and go up to 20mm (the lower the number the wider the view). The best cameras DSLRs like Canon 5D and Nikon D7000 work well. Other good options are Sony Cybershot DSC-TX9 (Point and Shoot) and Hasselblad 500 (medium format).
