The eight member HBC team, which brought laurels to Hyderabad & India by successfully completing the grueling 500 kms ‘London-Paris Cycle Challenge’ from May 28th to 31st, 2013 & hoisting the Indian flag at Eiffel tower, was felicitated on the occasion. The team comprised of the first father-son duo to have participated in this ride twice, in the history of the Challenge - Mr D V Manohar and Mr D Dharmin, a student, studying in USA & a physically challenged cyclist - Mr Aditya Mehta, winner of two medals for India in the Asia Para Cycling Championships held at Delhi recently. The other team members were Mr Prashant Krishnadas, Mr Sreenivas Hosamane and Ms Asha Hosmane; while Ms D Sujata Manohar & Ms Prateeksha Prashant officiated as volunteers for the London to Paris Cycle Challenge, 2013. The ride through steep mountains, dense forests & picturesque country side of UK & France was very tough this year due to adverse weather conditions - heavy rains and biting cold conditions.
The new Gachibowli Bike Station would be adjoining the new cycling track laid by APIIC and would enable people in Cyberabad area to extensively utilize APIIC’s cycling tracks. The recently launched “Cycle to Work” initiative in Cyberabad by APIIC and HBC will get further impetus with the Cyberabad Bike Station.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Krishna Babu, said an ultra modern bike station is being set up at Gachibowli and will be inaugurated in the first week of July, we have already invested Rs 20 lakhs in the project and another Rs 20 lakhs will be spent on it. This station can accommodate 250 bikes. We are encouraging non-motorized transport. The theme of this project is – ‘Burn your calories and save on fuel’, this will aid your health and also the health of our economy. We will be running a campaign to build pride in Bicycling as a healthy concept. I request Hyderabad Bicycling Club to popularize bicycling by organizing an event on the lines of Hyderabad 10K run.
Mr. N.V.S. Reddy said most major stations off the 66 Hyderabad Metro Rail stations will have latest and modern Bike stations. These bicycles will serve as the last minute connectivities for the commuters to reach their offices from the station. This way the commuters can contribute in reducing pollution and be healthy. Our motto through this project is ‘Pollution free and healthy Hyderabad’, he said. This will be a PPP project involving GHMC, APIIC & Hyderabad Metro Rail and Hyderabad Bicycling Club and will establish bicycle tracks for safe ride. In the immediate future, we are setting up the third and a state of the art bike station at Hi-Tech city railway station, for which Railway’s is sparing 100 yards space at the station.
HBC in its endeavour to make Hyderabad the most cycle friendly city in India, plans to set up state-of-the-art Bike stations at all the Metro Stations with the support of APIIC & Hyderabad Metro Rail, beginning with Hi-Tech City Metro Station, says Mr. Manohar. The bus shuttle service currently running between Hi-tech city station and the IT Park will be dispensed with, in future, with the advent of the Bike station at Hi-tech station, he adds.
HBC, which is totally committed to promote cycling in our city, has emerged as the world’s biggest Cycling Club on ‘Meetup’, with an active membership of 3626 members. The popular cycling club ‘Denver & Front Range Cycling’ (DFRC), USA, has been pushed to the second slot with this surge in the interest in cycling amongst Hyderabadis. To ensure that HBC continues to be the world’s largest cycling club on ‘Meetup’, HBC intends to enhance its membership to 5000 members by this year end and to 10000 members in a year thereafter, says an optimistic Manohar.
HBC is aggressively promoting cycling to ensure physical well being of our fellow citizens and is working towards a more eco friendly environment in the city, says Mr Manohar. HBC is aiming at making Hyderabad the most cycle friendly city in India and is working towards providing exclusive cycling tracks in the city with the support of APIIC & GHMC, besides setting up a number of HBC Bike Stations across the twin cities, he added.
Mr. Manohar said HBC will host a 500 Kms ride across Hyderabad-Srisailam-Nagarjun sagar- Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh and has plans to organize several such rides in AP and India in future.
About Hyderabad Bicycling Club
HBC – a not for profit organization – is already operating a Bike Station with 150 state of the art bikes at Necklace Road, which is an exclusive cycling zone every morning between 5 to 7 am. It regularly organizes a number of rides everyday in different parts of the city. These rides are categorised into Beginners’ Rides, Endurance Rides, High Performance Rides & Family Rides, which meet the requirements of HBC members of all age groups. HBC also organizes several long distance rides such as Most Picturesque Ride series, periodically. HBC is not for profit organization and there are no membership fees. To become a member of HBC, please log on to www.joinhbc.in.
