BELAGAVI: Eleven friends including three advocates will begin a cycling expedition from Belagavi to Tirupati to spread awareness on Covid-19 and offer prayers to Lord Venkateshwara for an early end to the pandemic.
The cyclists will kick-start a long arduous 780 km journey on December 13 and are expecting to reach the Tirumala hillock in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh within a week. They will cycle till Tirupati and then walk for over 25 km to Tirumala. This is the first long journey of this group of young cyclists. The team is headed by a local advocate Basavaraj Osi.
The cyclists will peddle twice a day, in the morning and evening hours covering 100-130 km taking a break in the afternoon. “Eeverday we will start cycling at 5:00 am and end at 11:00 am. Yet again we resume the journey at 4:30 pm and continue till 8:00 pm in night,” said Basavaraj Osi.
He said there will be a car that will travel ahead of the group with their luggage, portable gas stove and ration. “We are cooking our food and will not be visiting any eateries. To prepare breakfast and lunch we will find good places, some already identified. To stay in the night we have made arrangements with marriage halls and community centres,” said Sudam M Kadamba.
Interestingly, the cycling journey will not end at Tirupati. After darshan, the group will cycle to Bengaluru to catch a train. The team will be moving to Bengaluru as there are no trains from Tirupati to Belagavi. This means the nine persons will cycle for about 248 km which adds up to a total of 1,028 km.