Hyderabad Bicycling Club
The Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) is a bicycling club for riders in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded by Krishna Vadi in 2007, which has now emerged as the World’s largest Cycling Club on meetup overtaking the Denver Front Range Cycling Club, USA to achieve the same under the mentorship of HBC Chairman, DV Manohar. It has grown six times in the last three years to reach the present membership strength of over 7500 members and 2800 members on Facebook . Hyderabad Bicycling Club is a not for profit organisation registered under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act . It's Bike Stations at Gachibowli and Necklace Road have transformed the city, resulting in more and more people taking to cycling.. The club organises regular bicycling events in and around Hyderabad, broadcasting their upcoming and past events on Meetup, Facebook and a closed Facebook group. UN Habitat agreed to partner HBC in its unique initiatives to promote cycling in India. HBC is a Founding Member of World Cycling Alliance and Associate Member of European Cyclists Federation. HBC tied up with GHMC, Hyderabad Metro Rail, TSIIC and the Traffic Police to promote "Cycle to Work" initiative in a big way  in Cyberabad area to substantially reduce vehicular pollution and traffic congestion there. Members. The club comprises expatriates, NRI's who have relocated their base to India and local "hyderabadis" who have the passion for cycling. The club is open for people of all age, profession and sex. Anyone can easily join on the meetup website. The former organiser of the club was Shay Mandel, an experienced cyclist who has been cycling internationally for more than twenty years. Under his patronage, the club grew to a very large group of people, who now ride regularly every week. They get technical lessons  on biking, bike maintenance and other useful tips from the organiser. Shay stressed the need of a balanced cycling regime, including power, endurance and speed building rides. Currently the Hyderabad Bicycling Club proudly boasts of over 2000 Members from the Twin Cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad and its suburbs. The Hyderabad Bicycling Club in association with the GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation - Govt. of Telangana) has set up its own "hbc Bike Station" on the Necklace Road, having 30 Hybrid Bikes, 30 MTB Bikes, 10 Tandem Bikes, 15 Road Bike and 15 Kid Bikes. These bicycles can be used by any  person with a nominal rent per day on the necklace road. Chapters. As Hyderabad is a big city, the club has two chapters - the HITEC City Chapter and the Secunderabad Chapter. Each chapter has a few ride-leaders who organise at least one ride a week. The riding starting point varies for each ride, and is designated on the club's meetup website. Media coverage. The activity of the club and its members have been regularly covered in the media. Following are few of the mentions: Events. Enduro Adventure race. Enduro is the only adventure race held in India, which  combines various activities of cycling, trekking, rowing, orienteering and river crossing. This race is one of the most difficult races held in India, where less than 40% of the participating teams are able to complete the race successfully. The race mandates a team of 3 members, with at least one female member. HBC had sent 3 teams for the adventure race, namely: All the HBC teams successfully completed the race. Cross-Country Cycling race. HBC conducted the first ever cross-country cycling race in Hyderabad on 29 March 2009. Held in the picturesque background of Hyderabad Central University, the race  attracted 30 participants, covering a distance of 15 km in 3 laps. The race trail included flat roads, muddy tracks, rocky mountains and water crossing. The motive of the race was to promote cycling amongst people, to voice the concern for the ailing environment and to raise awareness about maintaining fitness in the sedentary lifestyles. The race attracted people of all ages, profession and sex, and was a huge success.