The North Karnataka cyclists pedalling their way to glory

Tarun Nayak’s father - Vittal of Muttaladinni village in Bilgi taluk, Bagalkot - mortgaged a part of his one acre groundnut cultivation land to buy a Rs 50,000 cycle for his son over a year ago.

But 13-year-old Tarun won both the gold medals on offer at the cycling event in the State Mini Olympics, by riding a borrowed cycle from a senior cyclist worth Rs 3 lakhs as the one he owns doesn’t support the superior speed he competes at.

Gayatri Kittur, who picked up two silvers in the girls section, rides a Rs 50,000 cycle bought by her farmer parents by taking a loan. Bronze medallist Mahesh Badiger’s carpenter father from Jamakhandi saved enough to purchase a second hand cycle, originally a lakh, at half the price.

The three cyclists were part of team Bagalkot that finished on top with 17 points followed by Vijayapura in second spot at the two-day event at the State Mini Olympics which was held on the NICE Bangalore Mysore Expressway.

“Such sacrifices are common among cyclists from Bagalkot and Vijayapura,” said Anita Nimbargi, former cyclist and DYES Bagalkot coach. “Parents who are mostly small-time farmers go to any extent to support their kids. Because they believe that a medal at the State or national-level is a sure shot bet for a government job that will settle their children's lives,” she added.

The twin districts (Bagalkot-Vijayapura), renowned for their cycling culture, collectively took home 9 of the 12 medals on offer from two events - individual time trial (10 kms) and mass start (20 kms) for boys and girls.

If owning a cycle is one hurdle crossed, honing their skills on deadly state and national highways remains a recurring battle each day. “We practice with a lot of fear as our training happens on the Hubli bypass road with 40 riders of various age groups at 5.30-8.30 am. Every second, we are all risking our lives,” said Anita.

While the popularity and talent pool kept scaling new heights since Balgalkot’s Chandrappa Mallappa Kurani won the first road cycling medal for Karnataka at the 1978 nationals, infrastructural facilities to avoid such difficulties have largely remained absent.

It has been almost 8 years since the then government gave a nod to construct a velodrome in Vijayapura. Blaming technical mistakes by the contractor during construction, Raju S Biradar, president of Karnataka Amateur Cycling Association, said that the work has once again resumed and will be completed within the next six months.

A former national medallist himself, Biradar assured that the framework of the sport in the State is pedalling towards development.

“The DC of Vijayapura recently made a 5km road zero traffic zone from 6-9 am everyday for our cyclists to practice. I hope all the other districts with a strong cycling community will do the same apart from requesting the government to help set up velodromes in Bagalkot, Gadag, Belagavi and here in Bengaluru that will be a gamechanger for the sport,” said Biradar.