In Kerala there is an association named - Kerala Bicycle Riding for the Deaf. It's chief is Henry Sunny. ISH News had broadcasted a video about their 1st cycling event. Their 2nd cycling event for the Deaf was held in October. It's objective was to promote fitness & positivity. People wanted to have a cycling competition. They then raced from Thrissur to Kodungallur covering 50km. I will now tell you more about this. Henry decided to host the 2nd event but needed the Thrissur Police's permission for the race. Henry and his wife went to submit an application for the same. The police were stunned that the event was being held the 2nd time and gave permission. However they imposed 2 conditions. Only those who have taken the 1st dose or those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to participate. Wearing of masks, sanitising hands & social distancing was mandated.

Henry accepted the conditions and the police granted permission for the event. Henry then created 3 groups.

The 1st group consisted of 4 male leaders. The 2nd group consisted of 14 volunteers. The last group consisted of 10 men who were responsible to ensure the peloton stayed on course. Henry had a discussion with the 3 groups and decided upon certain policies. The policies that were announced were the time, distance, date, venues, etc. There were more than 60 applicants. After going through all their details, Henry shortlisted 45 participants.

This is because some were not vaccinated and some did not have cycling experience. Out of the 45, there was a group of 35 male riders who rode at moderate speed. There were 5 men who were high speed skilled riders and there were 5 women who participated for the first time. Sadly only 30 individuals participated because some had urgent commitments, some were sick or stuck in the rains. Of the 5 women only 2 participated due to personal reasons. There were 28 men and 2 women. The participants arrived at Vadakke in Thrissur at 4:00am. The leaders & volunteers handed out colored jerseys. They even handed out cycle headlights and checked all the cycles.
 

At 5:00am the race was flagged off and the 5 expert cyclists were the first to ride. At 5:15am the 23 riders rode and at 7.30am the 2 women rode. The peloton rode all the way to Kollungalad. The 5 riders were the first to reach at 7:00am. The second group of male riders reached by 8.15-8.30am. The 3rd place was the well known Muzirris Lakeshore Park and the women reached there by 8.15am. The 3 winners among the men were, In first place came Zharaful - sign name - from Palakkad. In second place was Emmanuvel from Ernakulam. Third place was secured by Anu from Ernakulam. Prizes were sponsored by Goal Successful.

They run a tourism company in Kerala and offer guided car tours. They also host quiz contests.It is run by a Deaf team based in Kozhikode, Kerala. They gave cash prizes worth Rs 7,500, Rs 5,000 and  Rs 2,500. They also gave a gift. In appreciation of the women who participated for the 1st time, they were given an equal cash prize and a gift. The green jerseys were also sponsored by Goal Successful. Henry is very thankful to them.

Other individuals sponsored participation certificates for everyone and medals. The association is very grateful for this. Cyclists had travelled from a long distance to participate in the race. The cycles had to be transported by cars, trains, etc. However there were 2 boys who had a unique experience. Ameen Siddique rode all the way from Malappuram to Thrissur. Then when the competition started he rode from Thrissur to Kodungallur and back covering a distance of 284 km! Cheers to his hard work! Rahul K.R who is also from Malappuram rode all the way to Thrissur and from there to Kodungallur. He was supposed to make the return journey, however because of a severe knee pain. He had to return in a car. He covered 192km. Cheers to both of these boys for their resilience.

From 9:00am to 1:00pm participants were given various snacks. Everyone returned home between 2pm to 3pm. Krishnanunni's - sign name - water company sponsored water bottles for the event. G. Sunil Kumar, Shihab and Joshy all provided funds for the events. Henry is very grateful to them. There were other donors as well but they chose to remain anonymous. Henry is thankful to them as well. In Kodungallur, there is an association named, Kodungallur Sports Club of the Deaf & Arts - Sign name. When the participants reached there the association was very happy and helped them. Henry is grateful to their support as well. Many participants did not have cycles of their own and had to buy them on rent. Since they did not know which is the best cycle, Zharaful, who has a lot of knowledge about cycles, gave guidance on which cycles to select. The association is grateful to him as well. The KBRD logo was created by Jiju - sign name. KBRD is grateful that he designed a logo that is perfect for the cycling event. The 3rd cycling event will be held in Ernakulam in 2022 . Dates will be announced soon. The fourth event will be held in Malappuram or Palakkad. A vote will be held to decide the starting point and the decision will be announced soon. To see more pictures of the event you can visit this instagram link and look at the pictures.

Tags

• Deaf
• Kerala
• Cyclist
• Bicycle
• Thrissur
• Henry
• S

Advertisement