As the dawn breaks, this cycle gang hits the road, leaving behind trails of dust over the rugged paths of Aravalli and nearby areas. ‘Pedal Yatri’, a bunch of cyclists from Gurgaon have been pedaling all long from the past three years, serving their passion for cycling and mountain biking. Clock hits four in the morning and these cyclists are all ready for their journey and this is a part of their daily routine.
It is the common passion for cycling that drives these people to follow their instinct and keep up the motive of the group. The Pedal Yatri was formed about three years ago with three people -- Rajesh Kalra, a senior journalist, Anand Sinha, Country Director, Private Sector Partnerships-One, Abt Associates and Manish Gahlot, Head, Abbott Medical Optics Inc. Since then there has been no looking back and the group has witnessed a vast transformation in the growing interest of people towards the sport in a short span of time. The number would have been over 300, but those associated with the group do not believe in networking through the forum and hence many of the requests have been left pending. The group is Gurgaon based and most of the members are from the same city so that it’s easier for them to connect, collect and actualize the proposed cycling schedules. Other Pedal Yatri chapters are operating in Noida and ISB, Hyderabad.
The Idea Behind The Concept
What specialises this group is the motive and ideology of its members. This group in entirely devoted to cycling and mountain biking with no alignments to any promotion and networking. This is the main reason that the group has so many add requests pending. The senior members of the group spend quite a lot personally, but they never seek for sponsors and financing. The group even has members with only one gear cycles and they have been doing well. So the driving force is not just the equipments and resources, but it is the passion that keeps these PEDAL YATRIS aiming for higher.
“The feature which distinguishes it from others is that it is a non-competing. The early morning ride freshen my mind and gives a kick-start to the new day,” said Dr. Atamjot Kaur, Head, MAX, Integrative Medicine Centre.
Way To Enter The Pedal Yatri Group
It is not that easy to get the tag, as the group is not 'just' to have fun. It is formed for serving one’s passion and displaying one’s seriousness for the adventure sport. The panel of few people decides and evaluates the ability of a particular applicant and on the approval of these people they get into the group. Selection is done on the basis of one’s physical endurance and most importantly his/her disciplined conduct.
“We are on Google and other social networking sites. People, who are interested in joining us, send their requests to any of us. Then the managers consider the requests,” said Manish Gehlot, one of the managers of the group. The group has an addition to it ‘Pedal Yatri Lights’, meant just for beginners who want to ride seriously, but need help with things such as correct positions, saddle/seat height, etc.
Age No Bar, Gender No Bar
From a 16-year-old kid to people in their late 50s, all are part of the 174-member group with 60 requests pending as of now. From a doctor to an engineer, from a student to a brand consultant, all unite under this group for their common passion. Though there is lesser number of women in the group, safety has never been a cry for the women members.
“Human is a social animal, and this groups along with helping us to keep fit gives a nice platform for community development. I cycle with my husband along with the other group member’s. For any woman to cycle around Gurgoan or any other NCR area is absolutely unsafe .Within the group I feel comfortable and safe. I hope to see more women coming up to join as this concept can revolutionize the adventure sports and mountain biking in India,” said Bindu Krishnan, who is a senior VP, Operation, in a multinational company and has been cycling from past two-and-a-half years.
Structuring Of The Plan Of Action
The weekend and holidays are the best days to go for the longer cycling routes to the nearby areas located at Aravalli hills, which include the endurance rides, trail rides on the rocks and the non-metal surfaces. To decide the routes and the schedule, the senior group members visit the place and study the important details of the same, as they have to make sure that none of the cyclist gets hurt and rides goes smoothly.
“We depend heavily on technology, like GPS tracking system which enables us to find out the locations and maps. The Google Earth maps are a great help. Along with that we actually go on a recce to ensure the safety and other concerns,” said Rajesh Kalra. “Once the recce is done, the information and details are sent to all the members for the upcoming cycling plan through the website so that people can collect on time and head for the journey,” added Kalra.
Challenges Never Reckon Their Spirit
Such long routes of up to 100-150 kms calls for greater amount of care and safety measures as the paths are uneven, puncture-prone and challenging too. Almost all the members of the group are skilled in fixing their punctured tyres and broken chains as these problem pops up quite often.
“We make sure that we leave on such routes with enough safety measures, we carry water, nutrition bars, tubes, pumps and a first aid box with us. No one is allowed to cycle without the helmet and gloves, Helmets have really saved many of us many times from serious injuries,” added Kalra.
Special Programmes
With the longer routes on the weekends, time and again the group has been going on the city to city routes like the Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Ajmer routes and has successfully covered the distances. The group has few members who are the ‘Ultra- Cyclists’ who cover the distance of over 250-300 kms a day. Though the group does not believe in organising championships and cycling events, it did organise a MTB Aravalli Challenge, which saw over 150 participants in the year 2009. Special cycling programmes are also organised just for kids on the special occasions like August 15 etc. It is quite amusing that in the last Delhi Cyclothon 2010, out of the 1100 participants, 91 from the pedalyatri group took part in the event.
Critical Mass Movement
The Pedalyatri group also adopted the ‘Critical Mass Cycling’ movement, which originated from San- Francisco and is now supported world-wide. The idea is to point out the apathy and unfriendliness of the city people towards the cyclists. “We hardly see lanes devoted for the cyclists on the roads. In our country there are hardly any tracks and parks meant for cycling. It is just the Bio-Diversity Park in Gurgaon which has a separate track for cycling,” the members pointed out.
What’s Next?
The group never waits for anyone. Cyclists hit the road at 4:00 am in the morning. With the daily routine cycling, there are always plans for longer routes to be taken for the weekends. For the coming weekends the ultra cyclists of the group will be covering the distance between Gurgaon and Nuh (lies on the Delhi-Alwar Highway). For the rest of the group the route is planned to be from Gurgaon to Dwarka via the T3 loop and Manger, CRPF camp situated at the Aravalli ranges.
By Akshi Aggarwal, Indian Sports News