The Great Malnad Challenge 2020 is back with a bang. The Great Malnad Challenge 2020, India’s toughest off-road cycling challenge will witness cyclists who are passionate about off road cycling participating in this challenge. This is the 11th edition of the Great Malnad Challenge series, GMC 2020, which starts from Chikmagalur and goes all the way to Kundapur from November 28 to December 4, 2020.
Experience a bicycle ride worth every stroke of the pedal in the midst of scenic locales. The Great Malnad Challenge MTB ride has been attracting cyclists from across India and abroad for over a decade now. The seven-days, 500 plus kms journey passes through some of the most remote and scenic locales of the Western Ghats and gives the cyclists a unique perspective on the ecological relevance of the region. Some of the sites will include the famous temples like Horanadu Annapoorneshwari, Sri Mookambika Kollur, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve, Kudremukh Wildlife Division and more.
Intrinsic to this adventure bicycle ride, is the emphasis laid on local cuisine where a cyclist friendly menu greets the cyclists at all meals. Local breeds of cereals, millets, vegetables prepared by the local cooks in their customary style keeps the cyclists nourished through the trip. The cyclists also get a chance for sightseeing in the evenings, from places of worship to scenic locations and heritage sites. The GMC trail is replete with little known places hidden in some rarely visited recesses of Malnad and is sure to get any avid traveller or biker all excited.
This annual MTB pilgrimage is also a gathering of ‘serious’ MTB cyclists to exchange ideas and best practices. Bikes costing from twenty thousand rupees to seven lakh rupees regularly make their appearance at the ride. The daily post-ride gathering of cyclists is a cacophony of cycling jargon, which would be melodious music to the ears of the ‘pedaling-inclined’. Deliberately scheduled during the post-monsoon season, the GMC trail is at its greenest best, with streams and rivulets cascading across the landscape in full glory. The weather is expected to be ‘cycling-friendly-cool’ and very often, even the harshest sunlight will be filtered by ample foliage. The early morning part of the ride, in the early morning fog, is an experience that can only be… well, experienced! The 2020 Great Malnad Challenge is limited to only 30 cyclists owing to the new norms of safety and social distancing.
GMC 2020 is proud to announce K Kiran Kumar Raju – Cyclist, three times National MTB Champion as their mascot. KKR, as Kiran is fondly called, with his vast experience in MTB cycling has been an inspiration to many a GMC cyclist over the years. Besides KKR, there will also be other popular cyclists at the GMC 2020 too. The Malnad Tour on Bicycle is now in its 11th edition and is an initiative by the Madhuloka Group and ICYCLE, to spread awareness on cycling to save the environment, specially the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are a biodiversity hotspot, a storehouse of natural treasures found nowhere in the world. They are natural watersheds and are sources of water. They form the catchment area for a complex river system that drains almost half of India’s water. UNESCO has declared the Western Ghats as a Cultural Natural Heritage Site in 2012.
This year the cyclists will be carrying these social messages for a cause on their Great Malnad Challenge expedition. Some of the slogans seen will be –
One tree can make a million matches, One match can destroy a million trees.
Don’t destroy the greenery and don’t spoil the scenery. Save Mother Earth.
Western Ghats – a biodiversity hotspot, a storehouse of natural treasures found nowhere else in the world.
Western Ghats are natural watersheds and are sources of water.
Western Ghats form the catchment area for a complex river system that drains almost half of India’s water.
Forests are Natural Oxygen Bank! Protect Forests of Western Ghats!
UNESCO has declared the Western Ghats as a Cultural-Natural Heritage Site in 2012.
Plant a tree, plant a tree, so that next generation can get air for free.
Don’t make Trees rare, we should keep them with care.
Save the trees, save the Earth. We are the guardians of nature’s birth.
A plant a day keeps the flood away.
If the present generation cuts down trees, their children will have to pay the fees.
The Great Malnad Challenge is not only for sport enthusiasts but for everyone who cares about their environment.
When: November 28 to December 4, 2020.
Where: Flag off from Chikmagalur on 28th November morning.
ICYCYLE…ICONTRIBUTE
https://www.greatmalnadchallenge.com/
