Pokhara Cycle City campaign gains thrust

POKHARA, Jan 27: Pokhara city has long been drawing tourists with its lakes, snow-capped mountains and adventure sports such as paragliding and rock-climbing. Now, it is all set to acquire a new adjective, as a cycling city.

The places on its outskirts with immense potential for tourism are still in shadow due to lack of publicity. So the city has started a ´Cycle City campaign´ for the promotion of Pokhara´s rural beauty. [break]

The campaign to turn Pokhara into a cycle city is gaining momentum, thanks to the enthusiasm of local youths, businessman, industrialists, doctors, actors and others. Recently, a group of local youths initiated efforts to recognize cycling as a form of adventure tourism after registering an organization named ´cycle city´.

A few years ago, the number of cyclists in Pokhara was very few. The number has gone up substantively of late. The youth group, which frolicks with bicycles in tours packages - Cycling Fun Friday and Cycle Tour - organized every Friday and Saturday, has registered the organization for the promotion of ´cycle tourism´.

The new organization also aims to mitigate the increasing pollution in the city. Realizing the benefits and potential of cycling tourism, Kaski District Development Committee recently carried out a survey for a 115-kilometer cycle route around Pokhara.

“People are really interested in cycling. After the setting up of Cycle City, the number of people taking membership has been increasing day by day,” said Kamal Mohan Koirala, the chairman of Cycle City. “The numbers of cyclists in Pokhara recently crossed 300,” he added.

Cycle City members have been cycling inside the city every Friday and reaching out to the villages in the outskirts on Saturdays. “It is not only us members who go for the cycling,” said Cycle City secretary Prakash Bajracharya. “Tourists visiting Pokhara and well-wishers have also started cycling to various tourism sites in the city,” he added. He informed that the aim of Cycle City is to reach out to the villages from the city, experience the idyllic environment and enjoy original Nepali food.

Cycling in Pokhara is considered beneficial in terms of health also. It is likewise beneficial for the economic condition of rural societies.

Ganesh Thapa, a local businessman, said that he gave up his motorbike and started peddling his bicycle and this turned has out to be a remedy for the knee pain from which he had been suffering for long. Another local businessman, Om Gautam, was fed up with obesity. He started cycling on the suggestion of a friend and was able to shed 14 kg.