The Amazing Bicycle Race (video)

The massive increase of cyclists in the last few years owes a lot to the efforts of the biggest cycling community in Bangladesh, BDCyclists. With their regular events, awareness for bicycle safety and a growing online community, BDCyclists have attracted the youth to a mode of transport which is fast, efficient and environment friendly.

Friday, July 31, the community organised a bicycling event which was the first of its kind in Bangladesh. Inspired by the popular TV program, Amazing Race and an earlier game, 'Bike Pirates' which was held in Dhaka on 2011, the Amazing Bicycle Race was a great success.

Despite the name, the event was more than just a race. Combining elements of puzzle games, conventional races and even awareness programs, the Amazing Bicycle Race saw the participation of 29 teams with 3 members each.

On the day of the event, Dhaka witness unceasing rain from the night before and the roads were largely empty. The event, which was to start at 6:30am was pushed back by an half an hour, but the enthusiasm of the organisers and the participants made sure that everyone was present at Manik Mia Avenue and ready to kick off.

The game was held in stages and all involved the use of cycles in one way or another. From being given clues and finding out where the next stage is going to be held, to raising awareness for using helmets to other cyclists, the game tested the intelligence, endurance and team work for the participants. The awareness part of the game was particularly interesting as each team managed to convince 3 cyclists each on the road to wear helmets.

At one stage, team had to try to play football and score goals – all while riding a cycle. At the end of the day, the participants went away drenched in rain, covered in mud and a smiling face.

"I am doing this for the experience since this event was the first of its kind in Bangladesh," Kafil Wara Rafid, a class 11 student of St Joseph Higher Secondary School said while speaking of the event.

At the end of the day, with 62 points accumulated through the 11 stages, team BIKEVenture won the event. BIKEVenture consisted of Foysal Mohammad Shaan, Monir Hossain and Shahjalal Numan.

Girls too participated in the event. Team Ophelia, the all girls team which completed the race won an honorary prize at the end of the day.

Fahmida from the team said the experience was awesome for them and mentioned that the event reminded them of childhood games they used to play.

Trailing by 11 points, Team Clipless was the first runners-up. At 48 points, Trivuj was the second runners up of the competition.

The prize for the champion team won three LED Televisions. The first and second runners up won 3 Action Cameras and 3 Stereos headphones respectively.

This was largely a learning experience for the organisers, and they are committed to organise the next season of the Amazing Bicycle Race in the January of 2016, said Race Manager and BDCyclists Moderator, Fuad Ahasan.

Epic Challenges organised the event as the Event partner and BDCyclists was the host. Members of BDCyclists acted as volunteers to make sure everything went smoothly. The event was sponsored by Sony Action Cam.