'The Republic Ride - 2012', India's biggest corporate cycling event was organised here in Hyderabad at Gachibowli Stadium on the morning of Republic Day. More than 4000 bicyclists from well over 50 MNC companies such as Mahindra Satyam, Ascendas IT Parks - The V and CyperPearl, Invesco, BSA, ADP, Deloitte, GE, ADP, GMR, Infosys, CA, Wells Fargo, Invesco, Diebold, Thermo Fischer participated in The Republic Ride.
-- The Minister of Information Technology, Government of Andhra Pradesh Mr. Ponnala Lakshmaiah flagged off 'The Republic Ride - 2012', India's biggest corporate cycling event here in Hyderabad at Gachibowli Stadium on the morning of Republic Day. More than 4000 bicyclists from well over 50 MNC companies such as Mahindra Satyam, Invesco, Ascendas IT Parks - The V and CyperPearl, BSA, ADP, Deloitte, GE, ADP, GMR, Infosys, CA, Wells Fargo, Invesco, Diebold, Thermo Fischer participated in The Republic Ride. Earlier, the minister hoisted the national flag and addressed the gathering and said that the state government is to start separate cycling tracks in select places like Kondapur, Madhapur etc. in city to ensure safety of bicyclists like in many western countries and encourage bicycling culture in city. Stating further, Mr. Lakshmaiah added that IT department has created 1.8 millions sq. ft. new work area for IT companies in the last year. He complimented Atlanta Foundation for organising such a massive cycling event. He assured IT industry any kind of help from the Government and said that his department is one click away from their laptop.
Mr. Deenanath Harappanali, Chairman and Founder of The Atlanta Foundation welcomed the gathering and thanked them for making difference for themselves and as well to the underprivileged children by their participation.
A Hyderabad based trust, The Atlanta Foundation along with prominent industry forums viz NASSCOM, ITsAP, TiE and AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce in India) and with the support of the Hyderabad Visitors Convention Bureau (HCVB) and the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) organised the India's biggest ever corporate cycling event, The Republic Ride - 2012 on the occasion of the Republic Day. They have also adopted it as their annual event.
Such rides are being organised regularly every year on Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanthi for the past three years. These rides are born out of our passion for cycling and education. The Republic Ride provided a unique cycling experience with a chance to make a positive difference to those who really need it. This year event is sponsored by Ascendas IT Parks - The V and CyperPearl, Mahindra Satyam, Invesco, ADP, BAS. The ride, which began in 2009 with 189 riders, has gone on to receive the record number of 4000 bicyclists this year. These cyclists rode the different distance options of 100 kms, 50 kms, 10 kms and 5 kms depending on their personal capacity. The riders pedalled through Nanakramguda (ISB Road), Osman Road / Langer House Road, Himayat Sagar, ICFAI Business School (Shankarpally Road) and reached back to Gachibowli to the finishing point.
The event was flagged of at dot 7 AM as announced and bore a festive look with bicyclists attired in shorts, respective company T-shirts, helmets, etc. Right from 10 year old kids to 67 year oldies participated. Mr. Marri Lakshma Reddy, 67 years old and another K. Seetharamaiah, 65 years participated with a lot of enthusiasm shoulder to shoulder with the youngsters. They are frequent bicyclists, and participated in similar events of 100 and 200 kms in the past. Riders of different genders and age groups were seen actively participating in the ride.
Along with the ride, a cycling carnival was also held with several cool cycle based games like Roulette, Hook 'em, Paar 3, Ring O, Toollaverid, Wheel of Fortune. Several IT executives were enjoyed those games. There were food stalls, and plenty of activities like the Flag Me! Contest where over 100 flags of 100 different countries were on display. Hundreds of riders and school children took to guessing the flags. Those who guessed the maximum flags would be announced the winner and will walk away with prizes. Results of which will be announced later.
Ascendas IT Parks - The V and CyberPearl.Ascendas hosted rest stations, emergency vans and support vehicles for the event, besides being the official co-sponsors supporting the event. Ascendas IT Parks - The V and CyperPearl gave away a trendy bicycle to a lucky winner.
Nearly 1000 school children participated in Flag Me contest, English Vocabulary Contest based on the Atlanta Foundation's educational content and the finals of the inter-school quiz contest. There were a plenty of activities for kids with a kids ride edition, a written English vocabulary test, inter-school quiz contest. The Final of Interschool English Contest were also held.
This year a special Kids ride edition was also arranged. Hundred of kids actively participated. The cycles required were provided free by Atlanta Foundation.
The Cycle Dealers, Distributors, Importers of bicycles such as Orbea, The Bike Affair, Ride 2026 Bikes, Yellow Jersey had set up stalls displaying a variety of bicycles starting from Rs 9000 to Rs 4.2 lakhs! The information of Mountain, Road, Hybrid, Folding and Kids Bikes, accessories, spare parts, clothing etc. was made available. Information of Cycle Tourism, Cycling Events was also available for the information of the participants. A costliest Mountain Bicycle - Trek Elite 9.9, a 2010 model was on display. This light weight bicycle weighed only 6 kgs. It is made up of Carbon Single Mould. The entire cycle was a single frame without any joints. Currently these bicycles are sold well in cities like Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai. Hyderabad is now slowly catching up said Ms. Shilpa Shah, a local distributor of the imported bicycles.
Mr. Sami Makki, a pioneer in mountain biking in India from Pune also had a stall displaying Ride 2026 bikes. Ride 2026 are the importers and distributors of Bicycles, Parts, Accessories and Clothing. Ride 2026 Bikes started as a club in 1996 in Pune, pioneering in mountain biking. It was founded by Mr. Sami Makki promoting mountain bicycling, doing demos of mountain bikes and events.
The Bike Affair is the company promoted by Mr. Krishnendu Basu and Gokul Krishna. Who until recently worked as Software Engineers in IT companies. Now resigned to start a bicycling company to create awareness about bicycling, organising bicycling events for fun, counselling people on various bicycles, etc. We at The Bike Affair also rent out bicycles of various makes from anywhere between Rs 250 to Rs 450 per day. They are the dealers of Trek, Ridley, Cannondale, Orbea, Bianchi, Schwinn and Btwin bicycles. Our vision is to promote cycling as an enjoyable experience. Our advices and suggestions will be honest, backed by your own experience as cyclist informed Krishnendu Basu. We also offer professional services and maintain bikes. Also organise outbound corporate cycling events like The Lake & A Trail, On The Rocks, Jungle Rides and Ananthagiri Biking Trips etc added Gokul Krishna.
Speaking about cultivating bicycling culture in the city Krishnendu said bicycling was our hobby. But, now it has become a profession. Bitten by cycling bug they gave up jobs to start a cycling company, which according to them they have done for job satisfaction. And added that if cycling has to grow big in city we need to create more "No Car Zones", increase parking areas, introduce cycle stands. The mere Cycling Track is not going to help cultivate cycling culture. It has not worked in Pune. And it is occupied by vendors now. Instead while creating special cycling tracks, we must also encourage people to cycle to workplace. Unfortunately nobody tries cycling to workplace and keep complaining about it. Let them try seriously, he said. They also planned to organise a Cycling to Work Week in near future. They suggested that government should plan to have a special venue for cycling events.
Sudha Cars also displayed giant bicycles which were a major attraction.
We enjoyed participating in the Flag Me Contest. Vexillology - study of flags is my passion informed D. Sravanthi, 8th class student of Meridian School. Pavithra and Pravalika both from Vikas Concept schools said it is fun and quite rare to see hundred plus national flags of different countries at one place. It is very novel, we both enjoyed participating in the same, they informed.
Mr. Vinith of ADP said he is participating in the event for fun. We have a Happy Club and all of us are participating to enjoy together. Mr. Ravikanth another participant who is participating for the first time said it helps to keep fit. Cycling is a good habit and I want to cultivate, he informed. Ms. Kavitha of Thermo Fischer said that by her participation she would like to support Atlanta Foundation which trying to generate funds to support the education of underprivileged children. Ms. Taposi from GE said, cycling is a group activity. Together we came to enjoy, she said, Mr. Rajeev of GE said, the Government must set up a special venue for Cycling Events to encourage the cycling habit.
Hearing impaired children of Ashray Akruti, a school and a support organization for hearing impaired children demonstrated Self Defence Techniques. Weapon Handling and Knife Handling techniques taught to them by their trainer Mr. Babu. Speaking on the occasion Mrs. Shashikala, Principal of the school said they have about 165 hearing impaired children who are taught such a very useful life skills. Mr. DPK Babu, Director of Ashray Akruti said they have also introduced Multi Media skills training to hearing impaired senior students. The proceeds of The Republic Ride 2012 go to Ashray Akruti, school.
The participation was based on a nominal registration fee. The funds generated from the event will be used to support the education of under privileged children. The goal is to raise awareness and funds for the education of under-privileged students, such as - Anjaiah Nagar Government Primary School near Hi-Tech City and Ashray Akruti, (a school and a support organization for hearing impaired children).
The results of Vocabulary Contest, Learnasium English Contest, Learnasicum Scholars 2012, Flag Me will be announced later.
The Freedom Ride 2009 raied Rs 30lakh for Akshray Akruti in 2009. The Republic Ride - 2010 along with ITsAP raised more than a crore for the flood victims of Andhra Pradesh. The Republic Ride - 2011 donated 400 cycles to underprivileged students. It also works to promote cycling for better health and greener environment.
Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire
Notes to Editor
About Atlanta Foundation: The Atlanta Foundation promotes career enhancing educational programs for underprivileged students. It sponsors, implements and executes educational programs that create meaningful career opportunities for students who otherwise lack such support. It's targeted programs meet specific needs and aspirations of indentified communities around the world. The Atlanta Foundation uses the "Learnasium" program to deliver these specifically designed world class contest unsing technology and augmented by sending trained teachers to engage with these underprivileged students in the classrooms to impart learning.
Learnasium-Educational Program: Learnasium is a holistic K-12 education program that provides world-class learning framework, platform and testing components. A "Learnasium" certified high-school graduate would be an educated and enlightened individual in the trust sense of those words and would be an asset for the society as a whole. The Learnasium framework outlines 7 areas that are absolutely essential to master, if a 12th grade student is to be ready for higher studies and focus will be on the English Vocabulary. The Learnasium platform provides content, tools, and other resources to study and master the subjects outlined in the framework with necessary depth of knowledge while discovering the joy of learning. The Learnasium Contests put the students' and mentors' efforts to test and provide metrics that truy reflect the stage of progress of a student against necessary mile-stones.
Atlanta and Cyclin Events: The Freedom Ride, The Republic Ride and The Peace Ride are the unique events borne out of passion for cycling and education.
Seasoned riders cherish the liberating and exhilarating experience of recreational cycling and they are only too eager to introduce the sport to those who are new to cycling and to those who are interested in taking up cycling for a variety of reasons. Concerned citizens share a similar enthusiasm in spreading the benefits of education, especially to those who lack a natural support system and environment for good education. Atalanta's rides bring the two passions together to harness the indomitable human spirit for a noble goal. Whether you are a cycling enthusiast or a concerned citizen or both, The Freedom Ride, The Republic Ride and The Peace Ride offer a great opportunity for you to make a positive difference.
For more details Log on to www.atlantafoundation.org
For more information, please contact:
Ramchandram Dhannaram (Managing Partner) (L) 0091-40-23241484