It is an activity that has increasingly caught the fancy of Goenkars over the past few years. It is now not unusual to see an individual or groups of cyclists pedalling frenetically as they all cycle to their respective destinations. On weekends of course it takes a life all its own with large groups of cyclists covering a large number of kilometers.
Last Sunday as the country celebrated Independence Day, the state’s largest cycling group Xaxti Riders organised a long ride. A record number of 500 men, women and children participated in 75-km and 30-km Fun Freedom Cycling Rides.
Sameer Nadkarni, President Xaxti Riders said “This unprecedented participation has fulfilled our dream to inspire both young and old to take to cycling for fun and fitness”. He said the group which had started in 2017 with a couple of riders was now the biggest cycling club in Goa. He said there were more than 300 members with 100 riding regularly. Most of the riders were from Margao and they were all passionate riders. He said the objective was to motivate people to take up cycling for healthy living. We want people to be healthy. It helps them fight the pandemic, cycling it can be confidently said has helped all our members.”
Dr Sujoy Das has been a passionate cyclist for fifteen years. He said “ I used to cycle alone but then five years ago Samir Nadkarni started Xaxti Riders and changed the profile of cycling. He said the group was organising events like the Xaxti 75 which was very helpful in popularising cycling.
On Sunday, around 100 members of the navy were present to participate in the event. “We are extremely happy and privileged to be associated with Xaxti Riders for this impressive cycling event,” said Chief Guest Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil, Flag Office Commanding Goa Naval Area, after flagging off the 75-km ride from Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. “We would most certainly and wholeheartedly participate in such sporting events in future too.”
The 30-km Cycling Ride was flagged-off jointly by Guests of Honour, former Indian Cricketer Mohinder Amarnath and founder of Verna Industries Association, Nitin Kunkoleinker, from Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.
Pradip da Costa, president of Verna Industries Association (VIA) was equally supportive. “This is the silver jubilee year of the Verna Industries Association,” he revealed.
“We felt that one of the ideal ways to celebrate it was to collaborate with Xaxti Riders and promote environmentally-friendly and health-promoting cycling activity.”
For the first time ever, nearly one of every four riders was a woman or a child. “It was seven to seventy-nine,” says Nadkarni of Xaxti Riders. “Our youngest rider was Rylan D’costa (7) and the oldest, Retd Wing Commander Ajit Guglani (79). In addition, the 77-years-old Admiral Arun Prakash, former Chief of the Naval Staff and a veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak War, also completed the 30-km ride,” informs Nadkarni.
The rides were conducted in strict adherence to Covid Safety Protocols, whereby the riders were flagged-off in batches of less than 100.
Moreover, wearing a face mask and producing a vaccination certificate was mandatory for every rider. A healthy state moves ahead faster and one can only hope more people get onto this bandwagon and cycle their way to a healthy future.
