Cycling enthusiasts peddled their way to Jayanagar here on Sunday as part of ‘World Cycling Day’ to create awareness about the greenest mode of mechanised transport.
Among the several participants was Naveen Kumar, an IT professional. He started cycling to be fit. But soon it became an obsession and he now cycles nearly 80 km every day. In fact, he had cycled for seven days through the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.
For, Roshan Naveen (25), cycle is his chosen means of transport for the awareness campaign on literacy. Having begun in July, the campaign – as a part of the Rotary India Literacy ‘T-E-A-C-H’ Mission – involves visiting government schools across the country to understand issues of the education sector in India. “So far, I have covered the eastern and north-eastern India, but had to take a break because I fell ill. The rest of the country will be covered by January 2016,” he added.
Stories of passion for cycling were aplenty at the exhibition at Shalini Grounds in Jayanagar. More than 100 persons from various cycling communities made their way there, and conversation invariably revolved around the humble bicycle.
For Sukrita K., an athlete, and Prabhakar ‘Go Green’ Rao, who heads a 3,000-member cycling community, cycling helps reduce pollution in the city. But for Murali H.R, a cycling activist, cycling helps one keep healthy. The exhibition was organised by Icycle – a cycle event organising company – to project the city as the “Bicycle capital of India”. While some stalls deployed ‘pedal-less cycles’ to teach the concept of balance to adults – who may have perhaps missed out on the skill in their childhood, there were others that provided a platform for local vendors to demonstrate simple skills, such as repairing cycles, filling up deflated tubes, among others.
