Cyclists ride to promote fitness and charity in the city

With an aim to promote fitness and social cause, the cycling group in the city have come up with a unique initiative. The cyclists from the Ghatkopar Cyclists Club (GCC) not only cycle daily but also count the number of kilometers they cycled and contribute a certain amount for a social cause based on the total kilometers ridden monthly.

The GCC group was formed in August 2015 by four cyclists, Rahul Vala, Pankit Faria, Rhushabh Garodia and Naresh Gupta and has over 225 active members now.

Speaking about the charity initiative named ‘GCC Miles’ they started a month ago, Rhushabh Garodia, said, “We have been thinking to start such an initiative from past three months and finally in November we started with the cause. We have planned that on the second weekend of every month we will be initiating a charity event. Over 50 participants come daily for the ride. At the end of the month, the riders calculate the number of kilometers they cycled and donate Re 1 or Rs 2 per kilometer.”

The cycling club has members from different parts of the city and daily organise cycling rides of around 35 kilometers. On weekends they ride up to 70 kilometers. “This initiative aims at promoting fitness and contributing for a social cause,” added Rhushabh.

Another member of the group, Nigam Shah, said, “During our first charity initiative we managed to collect Rs 13,000 in a month. Our first event was organised at an orphanage in Chembur in the second week of November. We aim to organise various social activities every month.”

During weekdays, the GCC travels around 35 Km in Chembur, Wadala, Dadar, Thane, Worli. On weekends they ride in outskirts.