VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Cycle Club is slowly and steadily gaining popularity in the city, as evident from the growing number of people participating in the weekly programmes organised every sunday.
Cycle club general secretary Satyanarayana says cycling not just helps in maintaining health and decreasing pollution, but is pure fun as well.
Satyanarayana says the club was started with the intention of educating people, especially youth about advantages of cycling. “Cycling does not pollute air, so it is eco-friendly. It provides a physical exercise to keep oneself fit and healthy. Moreover it helps in addressing traffic problem, if the college going students use them instead of all cars and bikes,” he says.
Avid cyclist himself, Satyanarayana says it is not that people are unaware of the benefits of the cycle. It was most preferred means of transport to schools, colleges and even offices and factories not long ago. “But preferences have changed and more faster transport is being sought. But at what cost? Should health be the price one has to pay for such choice?”
In fact, it was an observation made during his cycling trek in Himalayas in 2009 organised by the Youth Hostels Association of India, that prompted him to set up a cycling club, which finally materialised in February this year. “Since then the response has been overwhelming. During my cycling trek in Himalayas I found that about 40 people, who were taking sleeping pills, stopped using them during the 15-day trip,” he says.
When he consulted his friends JVV Brahmaiah and Murali from Wanaparthy, they suggested the idea of a club to promote cycling. It is said the human body has to exert energy in a day that is equivalent to the energy used for walking 40 km to stay fit and healthy.
While he was scouting for a place to start his cycling club, management of PB Siddhartha college in the city accorded permission to use its grounds during Sundays. Since February, the weekly cycling rallies commenced with more and more people from all walks of lifecoming to participate.