Abbreviation BDCyclists Type Cycling Group | Established May 2011 | |
Motto Riding for recreation, health, and sheer fun Founder Mozammel Haque and his friends Purpose Cycling, Healthy lifestyle and Community service | ||
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. The main objective of the group is to promote cycling in Dhaka in order to help ease pollution and traffic congestion in the city. The group states, as one of their goals, that they aim to convert 5% of the car owning crowd of Dhaka to cycle commuters.
Contents
Activities
The group organizes about three bicycle rides every week, titled Bike Friday, BDC Nightriders and Josshila Saturday. About 250 cyclists joins the Bike Friday event. On 24 January 2013, BDCyclists organized its 100th Bike Friday. It also organizes the Critical Mass, a cycling event that is held every month in 300 cities around the world. To promote cycling, BDCyclists arranges cycling lessons every Saturday morning in Dhaka known as the BDCyclists Beginner’s Lesson. Other than the weekly cycling events the group organizes yearly rides to celebrate the national days such as the Independence Day (স্বাধীনতা দিবস), Bengali New Year Day (পহেলা বৈশাখ) and Victory Day (বিজয় দিবস). 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. Inspired by BDCyclists, many people in the country, especially in the urban areas are now commuting by cycling.
National and international media
News about BDCyclists has been published and broadcast in national and international media. BBC and Al Jazeera have also featured BDCyclists. 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. BBC presenter Mark Beaumont wrote about his meeting with the group on the blog of Queen’s Baton rely. 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. The drama has been aired on several TV channels in Bangladesh.
Longest single line of bicycles (moving)
BDCyclists is the holder of the Guinness World Records for 'Longest single line of bicycles (moving)'. BDCyclists made this record on 16 December 2016 (Victory Day of Bangladesh), when 1,186 cyclists rode their bicycles in a continuous single line in Dhaka, Bangladesh.