Bangalore-Madikeri Cycling ride - 21 Nov - 24 Nov 2013

The members of International Fellowship of Cycling Rotarians Bangalore RID 3190 (IFCR Blore RID 3190) cycled from Bangalore to Madikeri (Coorg) from 21 Nov-24 Nov 2013. During the journey the members got engaged with men, women, children on creating polio awareness and also interacted with Rotarians of RI dist 3180.

The road from Kushalnagar to Madikeri was passing through ghat section and memorable & challenging ride and left us with a feeling of satisfaction once we reached the top. 

Following were the participants at the ride:

Participants for Bangalore-Madikeri cycling ride - 21 Nov to 24 Nov 2013
S.No.	Name	Rotary club
1	Rtn RG Bhat	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
2	Rtn Srinivas Kumar C	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
3	Rtn Ramu Nimmalapudi	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
4	Rtn Ajay Bansal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
5	Rtn Prasanna	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
6	Rtn Sandeep Mittal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
7	Mrs Bindu Mittal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
8	Rtn Bharath Poovaiah	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
9	Rtn.BR Sridhar	Rotary B'lore South
10	Rtn.M R Loknath	Rotary B'lore South
11	Rtn.Chandrashekar HM	Rotary B'lore North West
12	Rtn Shripad Annigeri	Rotary B'lore Central
13	Rtn Mahesh Iyer	Rotary eClub
14	Rtr Roshan Naveen	Roadtractor Club of Bangalore South

Itinerary for the ride: 

DAY	WEEK	From	To	Approx Kms
Day-1	Thursday	B'lore - Panchamukha Ganesh Temple, Mysore Road	Srirangapatna	108
Day-2	Friday	Srirangapatna	Kushalnagar	95
Day-3	Saturday	Kushalnagar	Madikeri	35
Day-4	Sunday	Return by bus to Bangalore
			Total Kms	238

FORMATION OF IFCR

Since the time I had organized on behalf of Rotary Bangalore Whitefield Central (RBWC) club long group ride from Bangalore to Chennai & Pondicherry (12th Jan to 17th Jan 2013) there was lot of pressure on me from my fellow Rotarians to form IFCR i.e., International Fellowship of Cycling Rotarians for RI District 3190.

Participants at IFCR charter meeting-21.7.2013

Formation of IFCR would call for lot of ground work, communication, meetings and above all commitment. But since RBWC had to take lead in the district, being a member of RBWC I had to take the baton of formation of IFCR.

Accordingly, first charter meeting of IFCR convened by RBWC was held at Fortune Hotel, Whitefield, Bangalore on 21^st July 2013 well attended by Rotarians of many other clubs who were enthusiastic cyclists. The meeting went off well and an ad-hoc committee of IFCR was formed. Members present for the meeting unanimously chose me as the President. 

As charter President of IFCR, my immediate task was to draft a constitution for IFCR and also get the bank account opened so that the IFCR gets a shape & structure. After lots of study, exchange of views, sharing of experience by Rtn Prithvi Raval (founder President of International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians) on 29.7.2013 I prepared draft constitution for IFCR and rolled out to all members for their views and consideration.

We then had a meeting on 1.9.2013 in Century club, Cubbon Park, Bangalore. At this meeting draft constitution was taken up for discussion threadbare and after lots of deliberation final draft was made.

Meanwhile, bank account was also opened in Nationalised Bank so that members could pay their membership dues.

Meeting on 1.9.2013 at Century club

Since the time of formation of IFCR we have been having monthly rides of 50-60 kms in and around Bangalore. One long tide is planned in December 2013 from Bangalore to Madikeri (Coorg).

Monthly ride photograph

Monthly ride photograph

Cycling-Bangalore-Chennai-Pondicherry-12-17 Jan 2013

Dear friends,

Most of you are aware, hitherto, I had always gone on solo bicycle ride from Bangalore to interior parts of Maharashtra to Nasik, Mumbai, interior parts of Tamil Nadu to Kanyakumari for long distance cycling. For the first time I had a chance to lead a group of 12 member from Bangalore to Chennai and Pondicherry. The journey was meticulously planned and all the logistic arrangements including foods & beverages were made with the involvement of a professional event organizer. There was a support vehicle following us to provide technical / emergency help besides stocking our luggage. We started off from Bangalore on the morning of 12th Jan 2013 and via Mulbagal, Chittoor and Kanchipuram reached Chennai on 15th Jan 2013 and via Mahabalipuram reached Pondicherry on 17th Jan 2013 covering a distance of around 500+ kms in 6 days. 

The purpose of cycling was to spread the message of Peace thru' service enunciated by Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka. During this week long journey, the group met thousands of ordinary people, students, business people, housewives and other sections of community en route, through impromptu roadside meetings and structured discussions with students at various schools and shared with them the need to pitch in a way one can to help improve community living. This event was flagged off by Rotary District Governor  (RI Dist 3190) Rtn Badri Prasad on 12^th Jan 2013 from outside ITPL complex in Whitefield.   

It is pertinent to note that most of the members were freshers for long distance cycling. Despite initial hick up they managed to stay on and successfully completed the journey safely. It was an exciting, memorable & challenging journey. It was heartening to note that one member who had complained about leg pain on first 3 days was seen ahead of many others during later part of the journey. What was really satisfying for me was his comment on reaching Pondicherry " Bhat sir! What happened to my leg pain? How is that it got vanished?" To this I replied " You have killed that pain. Pain was really not in your legs but was in your mind and you attacked the root cause"

We made return journey by bus leaving Pondicherry on 18^th Jan evening & reaching Bangalore on 19^th Jan 2013 morning.

This ride gave me an opportunity to experience & differentiate between solo ride & group ride. In solo ride you are on your own; you can stop whenever and wherever you want as neither you have to wait for any body nor some one has to wait for you. At the same time in solo ride, you are alone to handle any issue that may crop up during the journey. In group ride, there are other members to help you out besides support vehicle following the group to provide all necessary support. 

List of participants-Cycling-Bangalore-Chennai-Pondicherry- 12 Jan - 18 Jan 2013
S.No.	Name	From	Age
1	RG Bhat	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	60
2	Srinivas Kumar C	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	33
3	Ramu Nimmalapudi	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	39
4	Ajay Bansal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	37
5	Prasanna	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	32
6	Sandeep Mittal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	50
7	Mrs Bindu Mittal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central
8	Devansh Mittal	Rotary B'lore Whitefield Central	16
9	Rtn.BR Sridhar	Rotary B'lore South	41
10	Rtn.M R Loknath	Rotary B'lore South	51
11	Rtn.Chandrashekar HM	Rotary B'lore North West	40
12	Roshan Naveen	Roadtractor Club of B'lore South	25
13	Arvind Shekar	Non Rotarian	21