My Cycling Story - Taranjit Singh Sidhu

“I was introduced to cycling as a boy when I saw a friend, Aman, performing stoppies on a cycle. I was transfixed. I started visiting that place again and again to watch them and I developed a hunger for doing stunts. I fell in love with the challenging aspect of the sport. It challenged me every time to try to do something new, and whenever I would feel down, it would cheer me up.”

“I started doing stoppies on my cycle, although I crashed a lot, I learned something every time I fell. When our family moved to Bhubaneshwar, I got to attend a Cyclothon where I found other riders who were a part of a group named Xtreme Wheel BURNERzzz a well-known team in Odisha. Today I'm an MTB freestyle athlete. I land tricks like wheelies, stoppies and other acrobatics. But that wasn't always the case.” 

“It wasn't easy to get better. There are always chances of a crash when learning new tricks, or even when trying old tricks. Whenever I'd crash, some part of my cycle would get damaged and I'd have to spend to repair them. That would take days, as I was a student and I had to request my family for money to repair it. At first, they were disapproving of why I'm spending money on my cycle, but over time they got to see what I could do. Another thing I had to get over was the word 'circus', that's what a lot of people would call us when they'd see us practicing tricks. I never liked that as what we practice is an extreme sport. Over time, the spectators became supporters and we got some really amazing fans.”

“One of my personal highlights was getting to take part in the MTB Stunt Championship held at Lucknow where I got to meet many amazing riders, along with the one and only Lakshay Jangid who's won the accolades around the world. In 2017, I took part in the MTB Net Championship hosted by Kamil Kobędzowski from Poland and secured #28 in the world! A year later I finished 7th and then 13th the year after. One day I'll get to the top too.”

“Balancing work life and my career as a rider was difficult, but then I joined Decathlon Sports India in Bhubaneswar where my worked involved helping the cycling community and helping people discover cycling. Now I get to pursue my passion and my career together at Decathlon Phulnakhara. I look forward to helping you discover the amazing world of cycling with Decathlon.”

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