Cycling has numerous health benefits and it can improve the physical as well as mental wellbeing of a person in today's hectic life if pursued regularly in daily life.
This was stated by 26 year old cyclist Sonam Rana who recently completed his 1,400 kilometres journey from Dehradun to Leh in 12 days on a bicycle. Rana who works in the Youth Welfare and Prantiya Rakshak Dal department in Dehradun stated that he basically hails from Harshil in Uttarkashi district.
He started cycling in the year 2019 after he was transferred to Dehradun. He mentioned that he initially started cycling to stay fit but then he started enjoying cycling which later turned into a passion. Sharing about his cycling journey, Rana said, "I have started all my main journeys from Dehradun so far. My first three journeys were to Kedarnath temple, Manali and Nainital from Dehradun and each was completed in two days. I also recently travelled to Leh in Ladakh from Dehradun covering about 1,400 kilometres and explored various destinations. I explored Chitkul village, Spiti Valley and Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh during my journey to Ladakh. I even visited Komic, the highest village in the world, the highest post office in the world in Hikkim village and the highest bridge in Asia, Chicham Bridge in Himachal Pradesh."
Apart from using a bicycle to travel to distant destinations, Rana said that he also rides a bicycle in his daily life to travel locally.
He asserted, "I ride my bicycle to stay fit and travel in local areas too. I ride it to go to my office rather than using a motorcycle. I cover at least 40 to 50 kilometres daily on my bicycle and about 100 kilometres on weekends. Cycling is the best way to stay fit physically as well as mentally and people should pursue this practice in daily life."
However, he also stressed that cycling on the main roads of Dehradun sometimes feels risky due to which many feel reluctant to travel by bicycles locally.
"Though the trend of people cycling in Dehradun has increased in recent times, construction of cycling tracks on roads will help and motivate more people to use the bicycle regularly. This will also motivate parents to allow their children to use cycles to go to schools," said Rana.
