Indore cyclists eye Guinness record

Indore Cycling Association on Sunday attempted to create a Guinness world record of maximum people participating in a cyclothon, by gathering 1,700 cyclists. The previous record is held by Scotland that marked a participation of 800 participants.

Indore Cycling Association on Sunday attempted to create a Guinness world record of maximum people participating in a cyclothon, by gathering 1,700 cyclists. The previous record is held by Scotland that marked a participation of 800 participants.

People participate in cyclothon in Indore on Sunday. (Shankar Mourya/HT photo)

Organised by Kailash Vijayvargiya, President of All India Cycling Association, the event was a cyclothon-cum-treasure hunt competition, wherein more 47 teams participated.

“Some teams had 48 participants, whereas others had 39. We have attempted a world record, as the current Guiness Book of World Records has a registered record of 800 cyclists. We had around 1700 participants,” said Shibbu Verghese, one of the organisers.

The event also happens to be the first cyclothon-cum-treasure hunt, as claimed by Verghese. “This is for the first time that such an event has been organised. It’s the first of its kind event,” he added.

Although there have been no injuries marked in the event and precautions were taken for the safety of riders, BJP MLA Ramesh Mandola fell while cycling. “He (Ramesh Mandola) fell due to a pebble that came his way. Otherwise, no injuries have been reported in the event. We made it mandatory for all the cyclists to be equipped with safety gears,” said Verghese.