The Smart City – Bhubaneswar is all set with vibrant colors to welcome around 800 athletes from 45 Countries for the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship – 2017, which is scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium from 5th to 9th July 2017. The government machinery is on high-spirit to make this a grand success, although preparation time was merely 90 days. After Jharkhand quit from organizing such grand event, Bhubaneswar stepped into to take this challenge and make this happen as the 3rd Indian city to host Asian Athletics Championship – 2017.
To make this event popular across the country the government machinery is on full throttle. When the city is hosting such a grand event, we the Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club also came forward to promote the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship in our own unique style.
A team of 15 Cyclists of BCAC (as our club is popularly known) came together on a Sunday morning to pedal down the roads, all the way till Munduli Barrage. We started exactly at 6AM from the Club House (behind Bhubaneswar Club) and road through Governor’s House till Kalinga Stadium – the venue for this extravaganza.
We halted at Gate No.3 of Kalinga Stadium to take a few snaps with the national flags of all participating nations, welcoming the athletes. After a brief halt, we moved through Jaydev Vihar, Kalinga Hospital, Infocity Square, KIIT University, Nandan Kanan, Barang, Trishulia, Shri Shri University, Gopalpur to reach Munduli barrage. We have prepared a banner in support of Team India and have made the banner visible while we ride in the peloton. After reaching Munduli, we savored some local snacks and discussed with people about the upcoming Asian Athletics Championship – 2017.
We returned via Siddheswar and Police Firing Practice Range, where we met with the grandson of late Mayura Mausa (Peacock Man) – Panu Behera, who is looking after the Peacocks in the wild by feeding and nursing them. Kanhu (the grandson) discussed with us, how he is struggling to take care of the peacocks and we were fortunate to see some wild peacocks in the firing range. We returned through the same route to the club house covering a distance of 68 kms.
It’s not always about only cycling for BCAC! We always try to support various causes and events with our cycling expeditions. We wish all the very best to the Athletes of Team India and especially those from Odisha like Duti Chand, Amiya Mallik, Srabani Nanda, etc. We will be looking forward to the winners and many more Asian Records in this event. At the same time, we welcome all the international delegates and athletes to our own city – Bhubaneswar.
Author : Author : Santosh Kumar Rout, (Content writer by profession and cyclist by passion. Always ready to ride 24 * 7).
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