On April 16, fourteen cyclists, ranging in ages from 14 to 63, will set off from the capital city and traverse the entire stretch of the State till Kasaragod in 13 days, carrying a message against noise pollution. The trip titled ‘Silent Wheel’ is being organised by the Indus Cycling Embassy and the Kerala chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
The Indus Cycling Embassy, a collective of cycling enthusiasts in the city, has been actively organising regular trips, but most of them within the district. “Now, one of our main activities is the get-together of cyclists on the second Saturday of every month at Manaveeyam Veedhi. We traverse around 13 km through the city. We also organise longer trips on weekends, to places such as Varkala and Poovar. We have also cycled for various causes, including organ donation and a recent one for the Earth Hour with the WWF,” says Prakash P. Gopinath, the founder of Indus Cycling Embassy.
It was during one of those trips that the members raised the idea of a long trip for the summer vacation.
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“We heard about the National Initiative for Safe Sound, an initiative of the IMA and the ENT association. We tied up with them for this trip. There are no cycling professionals in the group,” he says.
On April 16, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will flag off the trip from Thiruvananthapuram. They will reach Kasaragod on April 28.