Cyclists to be flagged off for 100km ‘Populaire’ ride

NAGPUR: In what could be a first of its kind cycling event in the city, more than 100 riders will be flagged off form Zero Mile on Sunday morning at 6am for a 100km ride organized by Nagpur Randonneurs. The ride, called ‘Populaire,’ has been organized to prepare riders for brevets, which are long distance cycling events.
The minimum brevet distance is 200km, to be covered in 13.5 hours.‘Populaire’ is half the distance, to be covered in approximately 7 hours. The ride would be flagged off by Madhavi Khode, additional commissioner, tribal development. Khode herself is a rider.
The route for the ride is Zero Mile-Pagalkhana Chowk-Koradi-Saoner bypass-50km point and back.
City’s municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar, IPS officer Deepali Masirkar and more than 20 women will participate in the ride. A significant number of doctors, businessmen and students will be among the 100 riders. Riders from Chandrapur, Warora and Wardha are also participating in this event.
It is a timed ride with check points every 25km. They will get water, bananas and volunteer support at every check point. Breakfast will be served at the 60-km point. Provision for a backup vehicle has been made and riders can avail of it services by paying 300.