In a rare feat of its sort in Mangaluru, 24 cyclists from the city clocked 200 km in a day cycling from Mangaluru to Kundapura and back on Sunday. In all, 29 cyclists made the attempt while two could do 175 km, another two 125 km and one more 75 km.
The event also saw Kodi village near Kundapura, which has been infamous for frequent communal disturbances, playing host to the cyclists from Mangaluru Bicycle Club, in its attempt to shed the tag and be known outside for better reasons.
Titled 200 Km league, the ride commenced around 4.20 a.m. from Mangaluru and reached Kundapura by noon. The club’s Panambur Abdul Khader had spoken to his friends at Kodi a day before and had asked whether they could arrange some tender coconuts.
However, what awaited the cyclists was more than tender coconuts as the residents, under the banner Kodi Beach Friends, arranged a whole lot of snacks, from fresh fruits to dry fruits and many more. They even had a banner, welcoming the cyclists to Kodi Beach and congratulating them for promoting non-motorised transport.
Rauf Koteshwara, one of the members of Kodi Beach Friends, told The Hindu that the residents were overwhelmed on hearing the event and decided to play good hosts to the cyclists. “It is also our endeavour to remove the stigma attached to Kodi and make it presentable to the external world,” he said. The cyclists were also taken around the newly built “Green” mosque in Kodi.
Chandrakanth Shenoy, who owns a resort in Kodi offered space facilitating refreshments for cyclists while Arif Kodi coordinated the entire arrangements, Mr. Koteshwara said.
Club’s founder-member Ganesh Nayak surprised everyone saying he would not return to Mangaluru with them.
He then announced he has plans to ride solo till Surath in Gujarat and complete 2,000 km ride coming back to Pune. By Monday evening, Mr. Nayak was in Kumta preparing for Tuesday’s ride towards Sirsi.
200 km: Ashoka Vardhana, Anil Shet Raikar, Chinmaya Delampady, Donald Menezes, Arjun, Ananth Nayak, Gaurav Prabhu, Joshua D’Souza, Kishan Bangera, Lohith Rao, Gautham Shirali, Nithya Bhat, P.A. Mohammed, Praveen Vijayashankar, Shivashankar, Shubhanand Rao, H.S. Sushil, K.S. Venuvinod, Athul Kamath, Bhavesh Javiya, Ganesh Nayak, K.Y. Aravind, Pradeep Konaje and Parul Javiya.
175 km: Hare Krishna Maheshwari and Bunty Raj
125 km: B.R. Sadashiva Rao and Dr. C.R. Udupa
75 km: Shashank
