BENGALURU:From gullies to heritage sites, this group helps you explore Bengaluru on pedals. Once a month, the team will help you pedal and tread your way to the sites that will give you a taste of how Bengaluru was in the 1700s.
Bengaluru By Cycle, started in September last year, will host its second edition of ‘Sultan Tour’ on February 11 in association with Unhurried, a city group that organises open walks. Bengaluru by Cycle was initiated by a couple Raghu G and Shobita K after the duo attended a cycling event in Delhi.
Though they hosts a daily cycling tour called ‘Pete Tour’ that aims to introduce the city through ‘gullies’, the ‘Sultan Tour’ is specifically for visiting Tipu Sultan’s palace and armoury and is a combination of pedalling and walking.
“We wanted to try a different route because our usual route is the Majestic and the KR Market area,” says Shobita Raghu, co-founder of Bengaluru By Cycle. The idea was to make Bengaluru’s heritage sites prominent and known to Bengalureans. On the first edition of the ‘Sultan Tour’ held on January 7, there were only two participants, a couple from the US, who were on a vacation to the city. “It just seems that outsiders are more interested in knowing the city,” Shobita adds. However, the organisers decided to host the second edition and the response is much better than the first time, they say.
Shafia Khan who moved to Bengaluru from Mumbai four months ago says, “I found Bengaluru By Cycle on the internet and ever since my first trip, I have been regularly participating in the tours because knowing the city is what I want to do,” she adds, emphasising that she is looking forward for the ‘Sultan Tour’.
Huberlant Marie, a Belgian, wanted to keep her sports spirit alive. The city traffic discourages it, but getting to cycle was enough for her. “I love to cycle and meet people. When I participated in the tour for the first time, I got to see the city in the early morning which was surreal,” Marie says.