Meet the ardent fitness enthusiasts of Chandigarh

Dr Sunaina Bansal has formed a cycling group with over 1,000 members; Gursimran Sidhu lost 14 kgs by running; Naveen Tanwar recently rode his cycle till Jalandhar

Back in 2016, Dr Sunaina Bansal, a gynaecologist, read an article that Denmark was the happiest country in the world primarily owing to its culture of cycling.

In August, around 150 docking stations were built in Chandigarh where over 1,250 bicycles were made available for public to use under Chandigarh Smart City.

Immediately, she bought a cycle and started pedalling to her workplace and In 2017, she formed “Cyclegiri”, a group to promote cycling as a mode to get fit. It now has over 1,000 members and organises cycle rides and spreads awareness about achieving fitness through cycling.

“I make it a point to use my cycle to go to the hospital I work for atleast four times a week. Chandigarh has many cycle tracks and is an ideal city for long rides.We have also tied up with Chandigarh administration and traffic police on several occasions and organised cyclothons,” said Dr Sunaina.

Till last March, Gursimran Sidhu, 39, who is the construction business, led an unhealthy lifestyle where he was constantly travelling and bingeing on junk food. Contracting Covid-19 forced him to think about his health and fitness, which led him to join a group of friends who would run 10km-12km everyday to remain fit.

“I had put on lot of weight and wanted to shed it. I started running 10-12km every day and ate healthy for a few months. As a result, I lost 14 kgs and now, running is part of my life,” said Gursimran.

Naveen Kumar Tanwar, an income tax officer, became an avid cyclist during the time the pandemic started. As all gyms were closed, he bought a cycle and would go for long rides on every morning. “I started cycling vigorously last year. I enjoyed it so much that I would cycle every day and on weekends, I planned long route rides. As a result, I lost almost 15 kgs of weight and developed a wonderful hobby. I have cut down on the using my car and last weekend , I even cycled to Jalandhar,” said Naveen, 41.

With availability of municipal corporation parks, open gyms and the administration-run multi-purpose complexes, there are ample facilities in the city for residents to use. In August, around 150 docking stations were built in Chandigarh where over 1,250 bicycles were made available for public to use under Chandigarh Smart City Limited. Under this scheme more docking stations are to be built with more bicycles to be made available in the future. The city has around 200-km cycle tracks.

“We used to conduct many marathons in the tricity before the pandemic hit. But, at the individual level, people are running every day to remain fit. We plan to organise a marathon soon, after things improve,” said Chetan Wadhwa, co-founder of NGO Chandigarh Runners.