2. Double Trouble On Two Wheels

Designated Jeep waiting at the foothill of Maxwell HIll

I was about 15 when one day, my elder cousin came to me and said, “I went to see my friend Bala at his workplace on my bicycle, but I came back with him in his jeep. My bicycle is still there. Can you go and fetch it?”

Without a second thought, I said, “OK,” and set off.

Now, Bala wasn’t just any friend. He was one of the jeep drivers at Maxwell Hill, ferrying people up and down the winding slopes (like us, my cousin and Bala were classmates at SGI in the late 1950s). My cousin had left his bicycle at the foothill, right at the jeep terminal where all the rides up began.

The foothill of Maxwell Hill was about 3 kilometers from my house. Walking wasn’t an option, so I took my bicycle and rode there. In those days, many of us were skilled at a tricky little art - cycling with one hand while rolling another bicycle with the other. Confident, I thought I could do the same when fetching my cousin’s bike.

When I reached the foothill, I found the bicycle exactly where he had left it. Without a second thought, I hopped on my bike, grabbed his with my free hand, and started pedaling home.

What I didn’t count on was the slight downhill gradient of the road from the foothill. Within seconds, both bicycles started picking up speed. That’s when I realized I had made a huge mistake. The only thing I had control over was the brake on my own bicycle - and when I pulled it, the cable snapped. Suddenly, I was flying downhill with two bikes, no brakes, and no way to stop.

Instinctively, I let go of my cousin’s bicycle and gripped mine with both hands. His bike shot forward , wobbled and crashed into some bushes about 20 meters away. My bicycle, meanwhile, raced nearly 100 meters downhill before I finally managed to bring it under control.

The aftermath wasn’t pretty: my cousin’s bicycle was damaged and had to be repaired, and the brakes on my own bike had to be replaced. Still, it was a small price to pay. The silver lining was that nothing worse happened - no pedestrians, no vehicles, no collisions.

From that day on, I became acutely aware of how dangerous even a slight gradient can be. And every time I walk or cycle down a sloping road, I remember that wild ride and the lesson it taught me.

Raja Sekaran A

7th September 2025