Mountain bike rally flagged off

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 19

As many as 100 cyclists took off from the historic Ridge for the eighth edition of Hero MTB Shimla rally which was flagged off by Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Ram Subhag Singh on Friday. The rally is aimed at encouraging people to aspire for a “plastic-free tomorrow”.

Though the race will start Saturday from Dak Bangla, Mashobra, cyclists covered the prologue — a 25-km route from the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies through Sanjauli, Dhalli and Mashobra — to spread the message on Friday. The youngest participant is 14-year-old Hukum Singh from Kullu and the oldest is 63-year-old Vijay Mittar from Ludhiana.

Ram Subhag Singh was accompanied by athletes from the Special Olympics cycling team of Himachal Pradesh. The team includes Raghunath Singh and Shubham Lunar, both of whom were selected for the Abu Dhabi 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games, where they won laurels for the country.

Mohit Sood, president and race director, HASTPA, said the race this time has seen participation from over 100 cyclists from six countries — India, Nepal, UK, Japan, Germany and Columbia — and 15 cities. The maximum number of cyclists is from Gurgaon and Shimla, he added.

“The weather in Shimla has been mystical. The trails on prologue were extremely fun to ride on. We get good support from locals, which is heart-warming,” says Vidit Paliwal, a cyclist from a Gurgaon-based cycling group.