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Indian Cycling

dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
edited August 2018 in Pro race
A schoolmate of mine has published a piece on Indian cycling, tied to the Asian Track Cup currently being held in Delhi. Thought I'd share it... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/cycling/Bicycle-dreams-The-changing-face-of-Indian-cycling/articleshow/49858447.cms

It's an awesome country to cycle and you'd think potential for some riders to emerge in the face of all sorts of challenges. Wonder if the emergence of lycra clad IT-wallahs scene in Bangalore could kick start something.
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  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    Nice piece. Deborah has been a rising star for a couple of years now. Couple of medals in the Asian cycling championships in the juniors a couple of years ago. Seem to remember that she with another girl, Manorama, was also offered to train in South Korea by their federation after that performance.

    There's also that fellow from the Specialized Kynkyny team that went to Belgium for criterium racing. Naveen John, I think. Well to do person, unlike those listed in the above article. Though, success for him would be more CK Nayudu than Kapil Dev...

    Pune is also a well growing region for leisure cyclists. That said, as with all sports, would say it's the rural areas that are key to having a sustainable base and quality pool of talent too.
  • ManOfKentManOfKent Posts: 392
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19746361#p19746361]dish_dash[/url] wrote:
    A schoolmate of mine has published a piece on Indian cycling, tied to the Asian Track Cup currently being held in Delhi. Thought I'd share it... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/cycling/Bicycle-dreams-The-changing-face-of-Indian-cycling/articleshow/49858447.cms

    It's an awesome country to cycle and you'd think potential for some riders to emerge in the face of all sorts of challenges. Wonder if the emergence of lycra clad IT-wallahs scene in Bangalore could kick start something.
    Bangalore is a sprawling city with crowded and poorly-surfaced roads. Cycling is popular as a form of transport, but on single-speed bikes designed to withstand potholes. I saw no signs of a lycra culture when I was there.
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    Thanks for the info Wombly Knees. Didn't know about Specialized Kynkyny or Naveen John.

    A couple of interesting relatively recent pieces on them here:
    http://cyclingiq.com/2015/06/17/revisited-indias-specialized-kynkyny-cycling-team/
    http://cyclingiq.com/2015/06/18/revisited-indias-specialized-kynkyny-cycling-team-part-ii/
    http://cyclingiq.com/2015/06/18/naveen-john-diary-bangalore-to-belgium/

    Challenge as ever seems to be funding. Wonder if a Qhubeka style approach might take off in India? Though I don't see many corporates backing cycling (over cricket, football etc) at the moment.

    ManOfKent - when were you in Bangalore? Admittedly I don't think its crawling with lycra, but there does seem to be a developing scene with at least a couple of dozen riders out on some swanky bikes... As soon as you get out most Indian cities the roads get a lot quieter and much more pleasant to ride. Both Pune and Bangalore have the additional advantage that countryside around them is quite attractive to cycle in...

    The existence of a shop like BumsOnTheSaddle suggest there is a road cycling scene. They were able to courier a 11speed Sram chain up to me when I was recently out riding in the North...
  • ManOfKentManOfKent Posts: 392
    I was in Bangalore in August, on a business trip to the Whitefields area. That's a village that's been swallowed up into the ever-expanding city, without any sign of town planning or recognisable infrastructure. I did see something on the company's internal messaging system from a keen cyclist and perhaps if I'd ventured further afield at the weekend I might have spotted some roadies. As with London and other large cities, getting out into the countryside is probably something of a faff, not least because traffic jams in Bangalore can strand people for hours.

    Relative to parts of India, the climate in Bangalore is temperate. Cycling must be pretty hard in some other areas which see extremes of weather.
  • BikeRadarAdminBikeRadarAdmin Posts: 909
    It would be awesome to see another Qhubeka type scene emerge. Let's not forget Froome started out on mountain bikes in Kenya etc... So infrastructure shouldn't be a determining factor.

    Only needs one wealthy business man/group of friends to become obsessed with the sport and chuck some money into it.
    BikeRadar Communities Manager
  • Richmond Racer 2Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749320#p19749320]ManOfKent[/url] wrote:
    I was in Bangalore in August, on a business trip to the Whitefields area. That's a village that's been swallowed up into the ever-expanding city, without any sign of town planning or recognisable infrastructure. I did see something on the company's internal messaging system from a keen cyclist and perhaps if I'd ventured further afield at the weekend I might have spotted some roadies. As with London and other large cities, getting out into the countryside is probably something of a faff, not least because traffic jams in Bangalore can strand people for hours.

    Relative to parts of India, the climate in Bangalore is temperate. Cycling must be pretty hard in some other areas which see extremes of weather.



    The name Bangalore and the phrase 'town planning' have never been acquainted

    Just got back from Mumbai, saw one cyclist in a Giant jersey riding in Bandra around Lands End. Cannot imagine how anyone rides a bike unless they have to, there
  • rick_chaseyrick_chasey Posts: 67,500 Lives Here
    Big cities not ideal for road riding?

    Who knew.
    _
  • Richmond Racer 2Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749662#p19749662]Rick Chasey[/url] wrote:
    Big cities not ideal for road riding?

    Who knew.


    And we moan about London...
  • rick_chaseyrick_chasey Posts: 67,500 Lives Here
    You might.
    _
  • Richmond Racer 2Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749669#p19749669]Rick Chasey[/url] wrote:
    You might.


    I dont. Dont ride in London.

    You're in a picky mood. Heading into the recruiting dead zone of Dec?
  • rick_chaseyrick_chasey Posts: 67,500 Lives Here
    I am in a bad mood. Nothing to do with work.


    Apols.
    _
  • Richmond Racer 2Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749681#p19749681]Rick Chasey[/url] wrote:
    I am in a bad mood. Nothing to do with work.


    Apols.


    No worries
  • TheBigBeanTheBigBean Posts: 18,485
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749659#p19749659]Richmond Racer 2[/url] wrote:
    The name Bangalore and the phrase 'town planning' have never been acquainted

    I think town planning and being good for cycling are not correlated.
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    As I said, the Indian countryside has much nicer cycling that in Indian cities. The only city that has been 'planned' is Chandigarh and that was in the 60s so little provision for cycling. I wouldn't want to drive in Mumbai, let alone cycle! In the Ghats or Himalayas, I'm there!
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    So found Naveen's blog now. Interesting read on some actual road racing in India...
    http://www.naveenjohn.com/

    ManOfKent, check out the racing on Bangalore roads!
    11018662_612332908867047_4123356591868247093_o.jpg
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749659#p19749659]Richmond Racer 2[/url] wrote:
    The name Bangalore and the phrase 'town planning' have never been acquainted

    Just got back from Mumbai, saw one cyclist in a Giant jersey riding in Bandra around Lands End. Cannot imagine how anyone rides a bike unless they have to, there
    It's because people who've grown up in certain traffic conditions can handle it. People say similar things about driving in India. Yet so many do.
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19749806#p19749806]dish_dash[/url] wrote:
    As I said, the Indian countryside has much nicer cycling that in Indian cities. The only city that has been 'planned' is Chandigarh and that was in the 60s so little provision for cycling. I wouldn't want to drive in Mumbai, let alone cycle! In the Ghats or Himalayas, I'm there!
    Mumbai has one of the best planned suburbs, Navi Mumbai. Nice place to live in in comparison to Mumbai. Hardly a cycling hot-spot, though.

    But you know cycling as a sport has a long way to go when you see a road race on a December morning in Pune and only a week later do you see in the papers that it was indeed the national championships.
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    Slightly OT as this is track, but Deobrah Herold doing well. Up to fourth in the UCI individual 500m rankings - just above Katy Marchant and Juliana Gaviria (older sister to Fernando)...

    She's got the sort of back story that Frenchie would have loved.
    Deborah, a 20-year-old from the Andamans, is the biggest name in the current Indian squad and her story is one of inspiration, for when the devastating 2004 tsunami hit Port Blair, a nine-year-old Deborah had to spend over a week stuck in a tree until help arrived.

    TH21CYCLING_2628443e.jpg
  • andy_wrxandy_wrx Posts: 3,396
    23643415631_203b252e61_b.jpg

    I'm actually in Bangalore right now - this was the Outer Ring Road on Friday morning : it's a bit quieter at the weekend but still not good.

    Can take a couple of hours to do 5 miles (literally !) and the road surface is awful. Pollution is heavy too.

    Lots of people are riding motorbikes or scooters to get through traffic a bit quicker, but I've only seen one bike, a heavy clunker thing parked-up.

    Out in the countryside is doubtless better, but if you live in the city, you'd have to get there - and if you live in the countryside, you'd have to endure this traffic to get in to work...
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    Just seen that Naveen John is now a member of Australian CT team, State of Matter Racing.

    Regarding the Outer Ring Road, it's one of the major roads in Bengaluru... Not surprising that it's overcrowded. Just need to avoid the main roads.
  • Paul 8vPaul 8v Posts: 5,458
    I was listening to the radio last night and they mentioned the problem with the roads. Not sure you'd want to ride a road bike on them!

    http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/india/dee ... 32472.html

    https://www.change.org/p/shri-nitin-jai ... mmediately
    Road
    MTB
    NEW Cross
    Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    The petition is rubbish, to be fair. Local roads come under there purview of the municipal corporation, or State Govts, not the central government. And that is ignoring the efficacy of online petitions, especially here.

    Tenders are censored ... But, despite all the bad roads, there are roads where cycling is fine. Just have to avoid the main roads. Bengaluru is one of the worse cities road wise.
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    From across the border but this is a wonderful little summary of the first Tour de Mohamad held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (what was nwfp), up on the Afghan border.

    https://youtu.be/T3AALXuEyhw
  • BikeRadarAdminBikeRadarAdmin Posts: 909
    That looks awesome!
    BikeRadar Communities Manager
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    Didn't know of this, and would've expected the nwfp and fata regions to be the hardest to host a sporting event in.

    Quick search returned this, unsurprisingly
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/887570/tour ... nish-line/
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    Naveen John and Arvind Panwar racing the time trial world championships. We're winning the worlds, I tell you.
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    wombly knees wrote:
    Naveen John and Arvind Panwar racing the time trial world championships. We're winning the worlds, I tell you.

    :D At least they can handle the heat!
  • wombly_kneeswombly_knees Posts: 657
    Yes, and given him being a Bangalore-an, the only issue I see is him liking the roads so much that he covers every inch and effectively does an extra lap to fall five minutes behind.
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    So... Naveen John came in at 55th - 7mins 48 down and Arvind Panwar a few positions lower and 13 mins down...

    FWIW both the Pakistan riders came in about 16 mins down
  • dish_dashdish_dash Posts: 5,464
    Thought this photo of Naveen was Frenchie-esque..

    10013955_430273440451918_1690367341_n.jpg
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