A BIG BIKING COMMUNE INITIATIVE
CHENNAI’S BIKING COMMUNITY GIVES FITTING FINALE TO ‘SPICE ROUTE ODYSSEY’
- 5 Internationally acclaimed motorcycle adventure bikers
- 3000 kms, 10 days,10 cities, meeting over 500 Indian bikers
- Two Women bikers on the ride to encourage women bikers
Chennai, 14th, November 2019: The 10-day Spice Route Odyssey, organised by Big Biking Commune, reached a grand culmination today in Chennai with the team of five avid, global motorcycle riders – Declan McEvoy, Karolis Mieliauskas, Deepak Kamath, Veena Shetty, Mandeep Merwah and Simas Suminskas – touring along the west and southern spice and coastal regions of India from 5th November in Goa. The team travelled through Mangalore, Bangalore, Mysore, Kochi, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Trichy, Pondicherry and finally reached Chennai today. The entire route plan was interwoven with pitstops for photo opportunities at various locations as well as meet and greet sessions with bikers in many of the locations, wherein the riders shared their learnings and imparted road safety and riding tips, whilst encouraging more Indian bikers to step out and try new riding routes. Local riders and bike clubs in Goa, Mangalore, Bangalore, Kochi, Madurai and Kanyakumari had a lively interaction with the bikers.
As a fitting finale to the ride, the buzzing biking community of Chennai met the team this evening to meet and listen to their experiences on this ride and lauded them in a manner that is bespoke of Chennai’s culture and warmth. The bikers’ meet was held at the Haddows Club in Nungambakkam with the participation of more than 100 bikers from different bike clubs as well as solo riders. The entire ride, organised in collaboration with Royal Brothers, clocked 3000 Kms ride criss- crossing the spice corridor across west and south India.
On the way the riders captured the magic of the Spice route in South India and opened up opportunities for new ways to explore destinations on a motorcycle.The Spice Route Odyssey is a first-of-its-kind ride by Big Biking Commune, one of the largest aggregator platforms for the motorcycle community in India, under their WOW rides.
We had an overwhelming response to this unique initiative that we undertook, looking at the growing motorcycling culture and bike rides in India. We wanted to give the local biking community a flavour of International rides. With the Spice Route Odyssey, we brought the best names in International biking community to share their experience and motivate the local bikers to think of biking beyond borders, to step out of the comfort zone and explore the world. The riders thoroughly enjoyed the entire tour and got to experience a varied section of bikers as well as local culture along the route. Our WOW rides is a step in that direction and we have lined up many more such interesting and unique rides planned in the coming days,” said Arun Kumar, convener, Big Biking Commune.
RIDERS PROFILES-
DeClan McEvoy-
An Adventure Motorcyclist from Ireland, Declan goes by the motto – Dream the impossible and live the dream. He has conquered the Tuktoyaktuk on the Canadian Arctic to the Magadan in Far Eastern Russia to the Svalbard’s. Declan has been associated with the RoSPA (Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents) and is an instructor in advanced riding skills and safe riding practices. Journeyed across 68 countries and has lived in Ireland, Australia and the USA. He is held in high esteem in the biking community and is respected as a peer, mentor and inspirational motivator for bikers across the world.
Karolis Mieliauskas-
An inspirational Speaker & passionate Biker fondly known as the Coldstride, he has managed to go to the coldest spot on the earth on a motorcycle in February 2019. Plans to go around the world in 40 days in a motorcycle. Believes that his consciousness is so wide that constant cognition of it is one of the most important things in life
Deepak Kamath-
Popularly known as the Adventures of Armstrong on the social media, Deepak is a true enthusiast and an avid biker by heart & has been riding for the past 30 years. Known as the only Indian biker to have ridden on all 7 continents including from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, the Trans-Siberian ride, Round the World ride, he has done it all long before others began to follow his footsteps and match his records. Having clocked over 500000 kms across the world, he is also a motivational speaker and has helped many budding bikers in finding their true calling.
Simas Suminskas-
Being an avid hardcore motorcycle enthusiast, he is also an Art Director, Book Illustrator and Founder of Linija-Vilnius. His artworks speak for itself and are a collective visual masterpiece. He is a passionate photographer and pursues film photography which he follows till date.
Veena Shetty-
Veena Shetty, an entrepreneur & avid biker by passion has been riding since 2000 and has
travelled on motorcycle across the Rann of Kutch, Bhutan, North East, Ladakh, Kanyakumari to Kashmir and other major parts of India. She recently rode the Golden Quadrilateral route & took on the unexpected challenges while on it. She founded the Roaring Riderz club about 3 years ago, focusing on riding passionately, keeping safety, respect and solidarity for one another. It holds workshops to train its riders to fix their own bikes and be less dependent on the roads. She stands tall as an inspiration to many young women especially who want to take up biking as a passion & as a sense of empowerment to explore and experience newer geographies.
Mandeep Kaur Merwah-
Mandeep Kaur Merwah aka Mandy redefined the logic of learning how to ride a bike. She took to the road on a motorbike at the age of 45 & has now grown to spearhead a training
academy that trains women to ride motorcycles. Mandy has explored many locations on a variety of motorcycles. She is equally passionate about art and painting. She paints and restores cherished pieces of furniture, transforming them into beautiful works of art.
For more details, please contact sound@bigbikingcommune.com
