Though not a fitness freak, cycling is such a passion for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin that he chose to have a ride on the scenic seafront in Chicago.

“Evening calm sets the stage for new dreams,” the Chief Minister said in a post on ‘X’ along with a short video of his cycle ride, probably mesmerized by the cool evening sea breeze. While riding the high-end model cycle, he was also humming a number from an old Tamil film.

On the second leg of his 17-day-long tour of the United States to scout for investment, Stalin arrived at Chicago on Tuesday and was accorded a grand reception by the various Tamil Associations. The very purpose of his US visit is to attract investments so that Tamil Nadu achieves the target of One Trillion Dollar economy.

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister exchanged an MoU with Eaton for Rs 200 crore for R&D and engineering centre expansion in Chennai generating 400 jobs. Further, he said Assurant, the leading global provider of comprehensive risk management solutions for the auto, lifestyle and housing protection sectors, will launch its first global capability centre in Chennai.

Earlier at San Francisco where he landed on August 29, he secured investments to the tune of Rs 1300 crore from global tech giants with the potential to create 4,600 jobs. The companies with which deals were inked at Silicon Valley include Apple, Microsoft, Google and Nokia, among others.

After experiencing a drive in a driverless SUV, he said, apparently in a dig at saffron fundamentalism, social advancement and technological development have come not by remaining chained to the past traditions and beliefs. Recalling Dravidian icon and rationalist social reformer ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy, he said “Progress and scientific advancement attained by the many countries across the world, many discoveries and inventions propelling their development are not due to their contentment with their past, considering that there is nothing more to it. Rather, it is because of their determination to search for the new with the aid of science.”