An inspirational young cyclist, Agasthi, from Hyderabad has been pulling tricks on the national and international arena. Prajwal writes about him, after riding and building with him…
It’s incredible what exposure to adventure sports at a young age can do to the mind of a child. Shaping their attitude towards victory, confidence, and humility, as well as failure, injury, and pain.
One such case is that of Agasthi. This 11 year old beast-of-a-rider started cycling back when he was merely half a decade old as is usual with young children.
HOWEVER! He wanted to ride alongside his mom for a 67km ride! Assuming that he wouldn’t be able to last the whole ride, arrangements were ready to stop and pack his bike into the car at a moment’s notice.
That never happened. With the grit and determination unknown to the normal human, he endured the entire ride and was successful in completing the ride.
By the age of 7, he was capable of riding multiple centuries and was keen on racing in triathlons. This was when he was taken to Wallride Park Hyderabad, the first pump-track of its kind in the country, and naturally, with the same Go-Get-It attitude of his, he took to BMX with vigour.
Since then, he has raced BMX domestically and internationally, raced XC MTB a couple times, and stole the show at the Game Of Trails Hyderabad Event! Speaking About which…
The Game Of Trails Hyderabad series is an event aimed at bringing a new generation of riders into the sport of mountain biking. It is a free event wherein any rider of any skill level can join and ride, learn, relax, and have some fun in the sun! The first event was held on the 29th of November, and the second edition will be held on the 26th of December (wink wink nudge nudge!)
Anyway back to Wonderboy the BMXer!
Having Agasthi aid in the construction of the trails and having him absolutely send them on the day of the event stunned not only the other riders but me as well. At 11 I couldn’t have been more polar opposite to him. Everything I amount myself to now, this kid has that plus some! It’s legitimately amazing to see a future with him at the helm of MTB, and BMX, not only for the city, but the country too.
One trick Agasthi loves to do is a bar turn (a trick wherein the rider turns the bars of the bike sideways mid-air while contorting their body to look cool). He is quite confident and also skilled so pulling this trick is nothing but easy for him, that being said, seeing such a young child do such stunts had lit a tiny flame in everyone. Age is no restriction to fun, and neither is equipment! In just the act of him jumping, he’d brought the whole gang of riders to start attempting the features (cautiously of course!)
No amount of words can explain the humility, courage, determination, playful nature, and enthusiasm this kid has. It is honestly something I love about this child and I wish him a very successful, strong, and fun future going forward
Till the next time,
Tschuss!
Text: Prajwal Pingali
Photo: Manjoy Lourembam
Check out more photos and articles contributed by Prajwal: Hyderabad Racing Circuit, Handicap Race and Temghar MTB Challenge.
As the saying goes “Catch them young”. Salute the grit of this youngster. Don’t call him a child, unless you mean that”The child is father of the man”!