When M S Athirup, a Thiruvananthapuram-based engineer launched Athis Bicycle Club (abc), the city’s first cross-city bicycling club, little did he know about the immense response his initiative would garner.
The club, which started off with 35 members in Kochi, now has more than 1,000 members. The club rents bicycle for two hours for Rs 2.
Athirup is excited that corporates are showing interest in his initiative. He said three companies from Infopark have approached him to seeking the service of Athi Bicycle Club.
“We take this proposal as a new beginning. Major companies like Wipro, Cognizant and HDFC have approached us. Discussions are going on. If all goes well, we can extend the services of Athi Bicycle Club to Infopark too,” he says. He adds that at present the club has 2,500 members in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale has helped the club get more users. “I got a call from foreign tourists who had arrived here at Kochi for the biennale. They were excited to avail themselves of such a service,” he said.
Athirup has also submitted a proposal to the Kochi Corporation seeking its help. “The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has agreed to help us by contributing bicycles. We hope we will get the Kochi Corporation’s help,” he said.
The procedure to rent a bicycle from the club is simple. You can walk into any of the club’s bicycle racks or call 9645511155. A person just have to provide basic details such as name, age, profession, landline number and email id. Once the landline is verified, you will be provided with the membership provided you deposit the membership fee of `2.
To get the opening password, the member has to sms the lock ID of the bicycle. The cycle racks of the club are located in 12 major centres - Kaloor, North and South Railway Station, Padma, Menaka, Kacherippady, High Court, Boat Jetty, Panampilly Nagar, Kadavanthra, Thevara and Vyttila.