Celebrating the 75th Independence Day of our country, Hastpa along with 42 riders of the Shimla Cycling association participated in a 30 km cycling ride from Nav Bahar, Shimla to Daak Bangla Village, where the riders planted around 100 saplings of various kinds for a greener better healthier tomorrow. Riders from all age groups, youngest being 11 years and the eldest at 62 years participated in the ‘Pedal and Plant Ride, which saw great enthusiasm and sense of festivity and patriotic fervor amongst the participants, who waved the tricolor on their cycles. The route for the ride was Nav Bahar – Sanjauli – Dhalli –Mashobara – Talai – Daak Bangla.
Parvik aged 12 a young cyclist from shimla said, “This is a very good initiative as we are able to inculcate a sense of pride about our nation and also give a message of a green nation, healthy and fitter youth on this historic occasion of the 75th Independence Day.”
Asmita another young rider aged 17, said it is a great opportunity to meet like minded cyclists who believed to work for a better future and would continue to come back for such initiatives.
Rajesh Gupta, aged 62, retd govt servant and an avid cyclist said that he is in love with the concept of cycling and firmly believes that this is the future which needs to be supported as it can lead to tremendous health benefits, good clean environment and lesser dependence of fossil fuels for our daily chores.
“The main aim for organizing this ride is to give the youth of the city a sense of purpose and channelize their energies in the right direction for a better future , which we have tried and succeeded,” said Happy Sharma, Shimla Cycling Association.
“We are at Hastpa have been working for the last 16 years to promote the culture of cycling / mountain biking for a better tomorrow and this is part of our aim to make Himachal clean and green, and one of the most sought after popular destinations for cycling. We firmly believe that Himachal has the best natural ecosystem to promote this sporting activity for tourism sports and fitness and with this idea we aim to put cycling as a core activity in and around Shimla and would continue to work towards making our state the most popular cycling destination of the country by identifying and developing the trails circuits around the state,” Mohit Sood, President Hastpa stated.
