Cycling in India

Cycling in India
Country India
Governing body Cycling Federation of India
National team India

The history of cycling in India dates back to 1938. The Cycling Federation of India takes care of the sport. Cycling is unknown as a professional sport in India but popular as a common recreational sport and it is a good way to keep fit.

Mountain biking

Mountain biking is becoming a popular sport. For the last six years, MTB Himachal has been organized regularly by HASTPA, an NGO. It is attended by a number of national and international participants, such as Indian Army, Indian Air Force, ITBP and a number of young and energetic MTB individual riders from cities like Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Chandigarh. Last year, the government of Sikkim (Department of Tourism) introduced its own MTB race with South East Asia's biggest prize money. The second edition saw 48 professional participants from across the globe.

Road Cycling/Touring

The Tour of Nilgiris is a major non-competitive & non-commercial touring event in South Asia that covers 1,000 kilometres in under 10 days.[1] The Tour of Nilgiris (TfN), India’s first Day Touring Cycle Ride, was born in the December of 2008 with the twin objectives of promoting bicycling as an activity and spreading awareness about the bio-diversity, flora and fauna of the Nilgiris.

It soon grew into something a lot more, with an eclectic riding community in 2008 wanting to take part in. The community soon got together, chalked out plans, figured out a route and realized they would need a framework to support such a large group of people, got sponsors on board to mitigate costs as well as popularize the Tour and the Cause of popularizing Cycling as a viable and sustainable means of travel. Ever since its first edition, the TfN has stayed true to the Community of Cyclists in India by being a Tour for the Community, Of the Community and By the Community. It has grown in size, stature and visibility. From 40 riders in the first edition, its grown to 100 cyclists in 2013.

The tour has grown bigger & the routes tougher, allowing cyclists to test their endurance, enjoy the biodiversity of the Nilgiris covering 3 southern states in India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala). For the racing aficionado's, there are racing segments on the tour with colour coded jerseys, recognition and prizes. TfN as its lovingly called is pushing cycling to new frontiers with more and more interested cyclists, applying for the tour. The tour has acquired quite a name, and currently about 25% of registrations are selected for the tour by the organisers.

India has put forth its foot in randonneuring events. These are conducted under the aegis of Audax Club Parisien and are now done across India with 15 clubs doing brevets every month. Brevets begun in India in 2010. 200, 300, 400, 600, 1000 & 1200 kilometers events are conducted regularly as per the global calendar.

References

  1. ↑ admin, on 30 May 2010. "The Tour of Nilgiris". The Tour of Nilgiris. Retrieved 1 August 2010.