Media Release
Mangaluru, Nov 28: Mangalore Bicycle Club (MbC) had its second full night ride covering a distance of 200 km league starting on November 27 from Ladyhill and finishing on 28 morning.
It was a special ride for all the 15 riders and three support crew of the MbC who participated with great enthusiasm. Even more special was that 13 members completed it in full style with their energy levels high up all through. It was a memorable 200 km ride for Gururaj Patil, Joel Fernandes, Madhukar, Raj Muranal, Srikantharaja, Sunil Mendes, Sunitha Mendes, Venu Vinod, Wilfred Pinto, Rohan and Ganesh Nayak even though it was not their first ride, but for four of the participants namely Dijaraj Nair, Madhura Jain, Aakash Agnihotri and Joseph Pereira it was their maiden 200 km ride which made it all the more special. The three support members Gaurav Prabhu, Ashwath Rai and Amoga Vigram were with the team throughout the ride refuelling them with refreshments and inspiring them to keep pedalling to complete the league.
The 200 km league has been an initiative of MbC since the last 3 years and this year they made it a very unique, memorable, exciting and enjoyable experience for their riders by making a few of these as full night rides.
As a club, which believes in safe and enjoyable riding for their members, they wanted to ensure that everything was planned right from the beginning as is the case of any of their rides, be it short or long rides. The support crew members played a very important role in ensuring the safety levels and keeping the riders energetic and motivated the whole night. Support vehicle with bicycle rack in case of emergency and breakdown, first aid kit, snacks, fruits, water and crew were an indispensable part of their plan and ride.
The starting point was Ladyhill circle and the plan was to ride till Kundapur and return to Mangaluru by 9 am with a few regrouping, refreshment points in between. Every stopover point and responsibilities of each rider and support crew members were jotted down. All the members went through training regularly for a week to improvise their endurance and build up stamina.
The members met on Saturday November 27 night at Ladyhill circle. Post clicking a group picture, they all set out on their ride.
They followed lead and sweep method ensuring no rider was left behind at any point in time and no rider was ahead of the group. It was made clear to all the riders to ride together in the group.
They rode on NH 66 till Padubidri and then took a detour via interior roads joining Katapadi and then back on NH66 until they reached Kundapur. The detour route was refreshing with good scenic views despite it being night.
All this could not have been possible without the support crew who were extremely helpful throughout the ride and ensured all 15 riders completed the task with ease. They very well knew what exactly was required to make their attempt successful as they are experienced riders themselves and kept motivating all the riders throughout the journey.
To them cycling is adventurous, fun, a lifestyle statement, building relationships and fitness. Such rides are a life long experience and end up building permanent relationships. The ever dedicated and motivated riders of the club keep them on their toes and inspire them to keep planning and bringing up unique and innovative challenges which keeps them active.