Over 1,200 riders take part in cycle wari

Pune: The Pune-Pandharpur-Pune Cycle Wari was organized by the Indo Athletics Society in collaboration with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) over the weekend gone by.
More than 1,200 cyclists, including PMC staff, participated in this event. They covered a distance of 500km from Pune to Pandharpur and back on their cycles.
“This was the sixth year of the cycle wari.Last year, due to the Covid pandemic, around 170 people took part. They cycled to Pandharpur through rain in the night. This year, the event was held on a much larger scale as Covid restrictions have been lifted and many devotees wanted to participate,” said Gajanan Khaire from the Indo Athletics Society.
The cyclists took off from Bhakti Shakti Chowk at 3.45am on June 17, with participants joining in at Nashik Phata and Noble Hospital, Hadapsar, and headed to Pandharpur via Uruli Kanchan, Bhigwan, Indapur and Tembhurni.
Encouraged by the turnout, PMC’s Cycle Club is planning to organise this event on an even larger scale next year. Suresh Pardeshi, coordinator of the PMC Cycle Club, told TOI, “We had planned an event like this in 2019. However, it was then discontinued for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year as well, we collaborated with the Indo Athletics Society. But next year we will plan the cycle wari on an even larger scale. We will invite all the cycling enthusiasts in the city to join in on the devotional route to Pandharpur.”