Old age is only a state of mind. This adage works well for 70-year-old cyclist Dundappa Athani, working in the sports hostels of the city on honorarium basis.
Cycling has become an intrinsic part of Athani’s life in the last nearly five decades.
Athani, who rides a bicycle for several kilometres daily, said that the craze for cycling started when he was studying in Class IV.
“My uncle then had a bicycle which I used to ride often and took up cycling in an unexplained manner. Though because of poverty, I could not study beyond Class IV, my craze for cycling stayed with me,” Athani, a native of Kolhar town in Vijayapura district, said.
It was in 1971 when he first participated in a professional cycling championship in Vijayapura and won the first prize with his uncle’s bicycle.
Since then, he began participating in several cycling events and won medals regularly.
In the years that followed, he won medals in championships in Hubballi, Chennai and Bengaluru.
Recalling a memorable moment, Athani said that in 1973, when he got selected for the national championship in Haryana, he reached the venue on his bicycle as he did not have enough money to travel by bus or train.
Though he did not win any medal in that championship, he has the credit of representing the State in the event.
Later, he started working as a trainer for budding cyclists of Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts.
He was appointed official coach in 1986 and retired in 2007. However, considering his contribution and expertise, the government continued his services on honorarium basis.
Gangubai Biradar, who is serving in the Police Department, was once a pupil of Athani who introduced Ms. Biradar to cycling when she was in Class VII.
“I am grateful to Dundappa sir for introducing me to cycling. I got a job in the Police Department under the sports quota because of cycling,” she said.
Srishail Kurni, honorary secretary of Karnataka State Amateur Cycling Association, said that Athani was still active at an age when people decide to stay home to spend the rest of their retired life.
Athani said that he would continue to keep pedalling till his health permits.
