Bangladeshi Cyclists

Bangladeshi Cyclists

The logo contains stars, a cyclist riding a bicycle and the group name in abbreviated form. The rider bending forwards implies that the rider is on the move towards a unique destination.

Logo of Bangladeshi Cyclists
Abbreviation BDCyclists
Motto Riding for recreation, health, and sheer fun
Established May 2011
Founder Mozammel Haque and his friends
Type Cycling Group
Purpose Cycling, Healthy lifestyle and Community service
Location
Mission Promote cycling as a mode of transport to reduce traffic congestion and carbon footprint
Website bdcyclists.com

Bangladeshi Cyclists (Bengali: বাংলাদেশী সাইক্লিস্টস) or BDCyclists is a cycling group in Bangladesh. The group was started by Mozammel Haque, a software developer, and his friends in May 2011.[1] The main objective of the group is to promote cycling in Dhaka in order to help ease pollution and traffic congestion in the city.[2] The group states, as one of their goals, that they aim to convert 5% of the car owning crowd of Dhaka to cycle commuters.[3]

Activities

The group organizes about three bicycle rides every week, titled Bike Friday, BDC Nightriders and Josshila Saturday.[4] About 250 cyclists joins the Bike Friday event.[5] On 24 January 2013, BDCyclists organized its 100th Bike Friday.[6][7] It also organizes the Critical Mass, a cycling event that is held every month in 300 cities around the world.[3][4][8] To promote cycling, BDCyclists arranges cycling lessons every Saturday morning in Dhaka known as the BDCyclists Beginner’s Lesson.[4][9] Other than the weekly cycling events the group organizes yearly rides to celebrate the national days such as the Independence Day (স্বাধীনতা দিবস),[10][11][12] Bengali New Year Day (পহেলা বৈশাখ)[13] and Victory Day (বিজয় দিবস).[14] Besides the weekly and yearly cycling events, the group organizes several social and community events throughout the country, such as the 64 Good Acts or the Eid Mubarak Ride. During the "Eid Mubarak Ride" members of the group distribute gifts to the underprivileged, especially underprivileged children in Dhaka on the morning of Eid Day.[15] Inspired by BDCyclists, many people in the country, especially in the urban areas are now commuting by cycling.[16]

National and international media

News about BDCyclists is published and broadcast in national[9][17][18][19][20][21][22] and international media.[12][23][24][25][26][27][28] BBC and Al Jazeera have also featured BDCyclists.[29][30] BBC mentioned that the group has ambitions to create Dhaka's first cycling lanes. Journalist Saad Hammidi wrote a column in The Guardian's Bike blog about the activities of the group.[3] BBC presenter Mark Beaumont wrote about his meeting with the group on the blog of Queen’s Baton rely.[2] A producer in the country has also made a drama based on the dream of BDCyclists, titled Cyclewalar Shopno or The Dream of a Cyclist.[31] The drama has been aired on several TV channels in Bangladesh.

See also

References

  1. ↑ BDCyclists. Available from http://bdcyclists.com. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 Mark Beaumont (October 17, 2013). "Queen's Baton Relay: Reclaiming the streets of Dhaka". BBC News. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Hammadi, Saad (June 20, 2013). "The humble cycle making a comeback on Dhaka streets". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "BDCyclists". Tunza Eco Generation. June 29, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  5. ↑ "ফেসবুকভিত্তিক সংগঠন বিডি সাইক্লিস্ট গ্রুপ". Zoom Bangla. September 19, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ "বিডিসাইক্লিস্ট-এর বাইক ফ্রাইডে". Prothom Alo. January 25, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  7. ↑ "100th Bike Friday Celebrated: The Bicycle revolution taken to the next level". BdChronicle. January 29, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  8. ↑ "More than 200 cyclists joined a 'Critical Mass' ride". The Daily Star. October 29, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Learning the balancing act". The Daily Star. September 15, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  10. ↑ "BDCyclists Independence Day Ride 2013". The Daily Star. March 26, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ মনোনীত সদসা বাড়ছে. Prothom Alo. March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Photos of the Day: March 26, 2014". The Seattle Times. March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  13. ↑ Amira Ehsan (April 10, 2014). পহেলা বৈশাখে "বিডি সাইক্লিস্ট" গ্রপের রগলি. Newsnext Bangladesh. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ Rahman, Mizanur (December 21, 2013). "Victory Ride by BDCyclists". New Age. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Bringing joy to those who need it". New Age. August 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  16. ↑ Quaium, Ridwan (July 14, 2013). "Cycling as a safe transport". The Financial Express. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  17. ↑ "If you can’t beat em, join em!". The Daily Star. June 11, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Cycling Towards Independence". The Daily Star. May 5, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Riding Safely: Lessons to Learn". The Daily Star. September 1, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  20. ↑ "BDCyclists introducing ‘night rides’ around town". The Independent. March 19, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ride for the environment". New Age. June 29, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Some pertinent concerns about cycling". The Financial Express. August 24, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  23. ↑ "The humble cycle making a comeback on Dhaka streets". OneWorld South Asia. July 1, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  24. ↑ "To beat epic traffic, many Dhaka residents take to cycling". Khabar South Asia. July 15, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Die neue Fahrrad-Community von Dhaka". Heise. April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Fahrradboom in Bangladesch: Mobil durch den Moloch". Spiegel Online Reise. April 15, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  27. ↑ Uta Linnert (March 2014). "Durch Dhaka rollt eine Revolution". fairkehr. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  28. ↑ Uta Linnert (July 30, 2014). "Durch Dhaka rollt eine Revolution". taz.de. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Queen's Baton Relay Bangladesh's cycling revolution". BBC. October 23, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  30. ↑ Chowdhury, Syed Tashfin (April 8, 2014). "Revolution on two wheels gets Dhaka moving". Al Jazeera. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  31. ↑ Youtube. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyVO_by9pqc. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, December 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.