Bangalore Cycling Marathon-2014

Vodafone cycling marathon 2014 was creating a buzz for the past few months and the day finally arrived.  The event had four categories with the first one called the passion ride: a 40km ride.  It was basically setup as a prelude to the elite cyclists’ ride of 60km.

Riders in the passion ride wanted to have a crack at the elite race which was solely restricted to members of the cycling federation of India. The riders in this category were close to 2000 and the organisers had in fact closed registrations for this category a few days before and even announced cash prizes for the top five finishers owing to the response for this category.

The Green ride : 20km

The third race in the event after the passion ride and the elite race. This category probably had the highest participation and look at the ocean of cyclists for this event.

I rode as part of my group (Go Green Go Cycling). The green ride and the fun ride were for spreading awareness and spreading some joy and they surely did.

The saytrees group were innovative in their approach but were probably the only group riding for a cause, maybe we had a Say No to diabetics group as well.

In total, the event was a success from the organisers point of view, Vodafone indeed took it to the next level, seamlessly integrated their marketing with the event and included a bit of social activity  (Facebook page and the social plug-in ; a social membership card which indicates there is more to come from the telecom giant).

As always there is something that could have been better, the green ride and the fun ride could have been better managed, i heard the fun ride was curtailed owing to piling traffic around the area.

Some high points

• Bangalore Traffic Police: A kudos! Well organised in terms of handling the traffic around the heart of the city. Traffic around the course was diverted,but the tipping point did arrive and that caused a delay in fun ride, the last ride of the event.
• Cyclists: Close to 5000,if i read the details right. Do we have a community of 5000 active riders in Bangalore?? This is the true spirit of Bangalore. We surely rose to the occasion.

Signing off with a warning, with this phenomenal craze for cycling in the city and the ever increasing purchasing power of the IT capital, we are going to be fleeced the next time around at the Bike store.  I’m sorry, but maybe we are already paying too much for cycles and accessories.