First go at cycling will forever be green in memory

A child’s first go at the pedal and the balancing act couldn’t be livelier than in the verdant and pollution-free Sunday ambience of Cubbon Park. The roaring response to the initiative by the Horticulture department and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) to rent out bicycles is proof of this. 

The ban on entry of vehicles into the iconic garden on Sundays brought in morning walkers and those keen on dog shows and cultural activities in hordes. The borrow-a-cycle initiative, introduced in June last year, is drawing parents keen to teach a trick or two to their children in riding their first vehicle. The park has thus turned a popular weekend family getaway.

One can see a long queue of parents and children near the band stand in Cubbon Park, waiting for their turn to get the cycles.

Parents from faraway areas cannot bring bicycles with them to the park to teach cycling to their children. The borrow-a-cycle initiative has come in handy for such parents. On an average 300 to 500 people use this service every Sunday. A private agency manages the borrowing point where 50 cycles are available.

Cycles are given out for half-hour rides by taking the proof of identity of the parents, between 6 am and 6 pm.

“We have been visiting the park since the introduction of the bicycle service. My children are now able to pedal around the park independently. This is a routine for us every Sunday,” said Sunita, a mother of two children from Rajajinagar.

“The park is the best place to teach cycling to children on Sundays as it ensures their safety from speeding vehicles as entry of vehicles into the park was completely banned from morning to evening,” said Nagaraj Halebidu of Indiranagar.

No less than 8,000 people have utilised the free cycle service since June and the demand is only soaring, said a person at the borrowing point. Children say that the department should introduce multiple borrowing points at the park by adding more cycles so that the waiting time comes down.