Nagpur, Sept6
In a historic first, more than 225 cyclists from across the country are participating in a 200km brevet organised by Nagpur Randonneurs on September 12.
The brevet to celebrate 100 years of randonneuring in the world will be flagged off by municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B, who is also a participant.
A brevet is a minimum 200km self-supported ride held on a pre-decided course with checks, to be completed within a specified time limit. Other brevet distances are 300, 400, 600, 1000 and 1200 km.
The September 12 ride will start at Samvidhan Chowk at 5.30 am sharp and will go up to Peepalpani beyond Pandhurna. Riders have to return to Samvidhan Chowk by 7 pm.
Apart from Nagpur, riders from Mumbai, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Jalgaon, Amravati, Chandrapur, Akola and Washim are participating in the brevet. The riders include 12 women.
The participation in Nagpur is the fifth highest in the country after Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi and Chennai. Of the 83 randonneuring clubs in India, 59 are participating in centenary celebrations. Of these, 12 have registered 100-plus participation and 6 200-plus.