Time for cycle sharing starts-up in India

Cycling in and around Goa is it a possibility? The response  i got was overwhelming. Most of the city dwellers went the extra mile to dwell on the benefits of cycling and the cycling groups they have joined. The village folks on the other hand, said cycling on Goan roads with the increase surge is traffic is  not an advisable thing.

Further, my friends from the coastal belt, who have been into cycle renting business bemoaned the fact that the trade  is no longer a lucrative every since renting of two wheeler bikes has caught  on the fancy of local and international tourists.

I had two days to kill in Amsterdam, and what better way than to pick up a cycle and off you go. I cycled along parks, street markets, taking in the sights. Riding lazily; not because I wanted to, but it had been years since I had cycled. This is late in the afternoon. Anyway, not long after, I was exhausted. So I stopped to get something to eat. Leaving the cycle resting against a wall. And while I was picking up food, and I am sure it was a burger, I noticed this group of four kids. Before I could realise it, one of them just darted towards the cycle, picked it and off he went. I ran after him but Jesus, I was slow and tired and just couldn’t catch up. I remember walking that day till my thighs hurt.

The kid literally just picked up my cycle and left. Me running behind him, arms flailing htat was three years back. Peter my local guide said that around 50 percent cycles are stolen or never returned.

He went to say that on account of parking fees for cars people in the city preferred cycles and two of them – one for long drives and the other for city travel.

But the cycle concept is yet to take off in Indian cities and towns.

It’s time to explore into the world of cycle-sharing startups in India and how to retrieve the lost bicycles which is the biggest headache of the trade.

Clients aren’t returning cycles they are supposed to. So cycle-sharing start-ups in India like Yulu have they got a future in India and more specifically in Goa.

That is the reason Yulu have a team of "bike screeners" whose job is a combination of retrieving, cleaning, and maintaining the rides. Yulu also has a contract with a security firm they call upon when getting a cycle back is "difficult,” and the company files police complaints hoping to "deter repeat behaviour." Yulu isn’t alone. 

Yulu's vision is to reduce traffic congestion by providing a scalable, affordable, efficient and clean solution for the first mile, last mile, and short distance commute. We strongly believe that short commute mode can be made more Efficient, Affordable and Green, thereby ensuring that future generations will have a healthy environment to live. We want to replace big personal vehicles with a smaller form factor that does not require fossil fuel.

They are using IoT technology to create a vast network of shared dockless bicycles that can be rented easily by a user-friendly app in pay per use business model. We are a mission-driven company based out of India with a solid founding team and big ambitions. At Yulu we believe that every day is a mission and success is exciting when its attained with fun and as a team. If you want to solve the problem of traffic congestion, reduce pollution, positively impact the society, let's have a conversation to partner in our journey to shape a new India for our future generations

India is a strange country for any regular cycling endeavour, but cycle sharing startups, both Indian and Chinese, are making a go for it. All of them believe that outside of China, India is the largest market, on the cusp of exploding. And whoever gets this market first has a several billion dollar+ opportunity. The Chinese market is just a few years old but is expected to reach $3.8 billion by 2019. What’s not to like? We could be here in no time. Rolling in money.

But what works in China will not work in India or successful concept of cycle-sharing in Europe is not feasible for Indian conditions if we explore the cultural and practical aspect of cycling. Like, where does one even begin with our kind of infrastructure?

Caitan says, I want to ride my bicycle in Goa

Caitan says, I want to ride my bicycle

 

"I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bicycle. I love my bicycle. I love my bicycle."

These oft-repeated words are on the lips of Caitan Lawrence Fernandes, who has made cycling his favorite mode of transport. He does not say it as eloquently as his smoothly turning bicycle wheels. His bicycle has taken him from his residence in the village of Veroda, Cuncolim, to different places in Goa. His bicycle has made him explore many different places.

Caitan is in his early forties and cycles to his two other loves: football and music. Music is now his bread and butter. He is called on regularly to play his bugle at village feast novenas. 

Village brass bands playing at feast novenas have become scarce over the years, and Caitan is one of the few musicians trying to maintain this Goan legacy. He also stands in on drums for the brass band as needed.

He also sets the fireworks going at feast novenas, but one incident almost claimed his life. He became engulfed in out-of-control fireworks once during the Ambelim feast. Fortunately, he came out of the agony and pain to live another day and to cycle his way through Goa.

The scars of the fire are evident on his lips and face. The first accident was not demoralizing, but rather made him more determined and stronger.

Caitan has faced many tragedies in life. Losing his wife at an early age, leaving him with responsibility for young children was one such tragedy he has faced down through an iron will.

Football is his love and cooking his profession, which has taken him to the Gulf. His neighbor and another native of Cuncolim, Avertano Furtado, played the role of Good Samaritan. Furtado's catering company in Kuwait gave Caitan his first professional break in the culinary arts. (Incidentally, Furtado, in the 80s and 90s, helped many a Goan make a living in the Gulf through his company.) Thereafter, he served on oilrigs based in Singapore and in Dubai.

Caitan played football with other boys in his ward, but his love for the sport, in this socceroo heartland of Goa, is profound. Argentinean football legend Diego Armando Mardonna is his all-time favorite.

Among current Indian footballers, he likes Sanvordem-born Alvito D'Cunha. An intent Vasco Sports Club fan, Caitan adores the older generation of footballers.

Recalling one incident he would not forget in a hurry, he narrated that at one Rovers Cup tournament at Mumbai he could not manage to get a ticket for a match between Mohan Bagan and Dempo at Cooperage. Left with no alternative, he climbed a nearby tree to have a glimpse of the final match. The police were spoilers for Caitan, as they landed a few lathis on his back before he was brought crashing down to the ground.

Caitan affirms that he has been a frequent spectator at matches at the Nehru Stadium at Fatorda, on the outskirts of Margao city, and adds that only once was he given a free pass for a match by a fellow spectator.

A deeply religious person, whenever he travels on his cycle to Panjim, the capital of the state of Goa, he attends mass and then proceeds to his onward destination. The stop is at Verna for mass, and while returning from Panjim, he has lunch at Cortalim. He also makes it a point while returning from Panjim to garland the Cross at Bambolim, an important beach resort in Goa.

His cycle trips have taken him as far as Borim and Cancona, at the very extreme ends of Goa, and to Sanvordem and Sanguem, the easternmost point. He also makes it a point to cycle his way to match venues in Salcete wherever the Cuncolim intervillage team plays.

"Franky Pereira is my favorite Cuncolim player, and so far I have traveled to Majorda, Benaulim, and Curtorim to watch the intervillage matches, not forgetting my bicycle rides to neighboring villages," he points out with pride.

Bicycle rides have become far and few between with the advent of other modes of transportation between Goa's villages and towns. Caitan is one of the rare breed who continues his daily activities by bicycle as his mode of transport