Mangaluru: A 13-member cycling team from Pune, 10 among them women, which is on a mission to spread the message of nature conservation, reached Mangaluru on Tuesday.

Members of Mangalore Bicycle Club (MBC) accorded them a warm reception before interacting with them about their experience. While the eldest of the members is 70, the youngest is 35 with many being doctorate degree holders. Leaving Pune on December 19, the cyclists rode through Satara, Kolhapur, Belagavi, Kalaghatgi, Ankola, Murdeshwar, and Udupi before Reaching Mangaluru.

They would pass through Payyanur, Koyilandy, Guruvayur, Edapally, Alapuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram before ending the ride at Kanniyakumari on January 3, traversing about 1,500 km in 16 days.

Concerned over the increased levels of air pollution, the group thought someone should come forward to create awareness about the use of non-motorised transport as well as increased use of public transport to bring down pollution levels, said Jayanth Laxman Deodhar, a retired banker with the group. Arresting pollution levels is possible if one adopts to cycling and hence the group members decided to set an example before the public, he said.

The group included five women and two men who are above 60 and all members come from different walks of life. Their common interest, however, is to conserve nature. They would ride about 100 km each day during the period, he said.

Nirupama Shrikrishna Bhave, 69, is a retired HoD, Mathematics, Pune University; Deodhar, 62, a retired bank manager; Nayana Agharkar, 55, works for MTNL, Mumbai; Jayashree Sanjay Pandit, 57, State government employee; Suneeta Nadgir, 70, retired teacher; Kavita Joshi, 41, Ph.d. in Physics; Ekadashi Kolhatkar, 52, homemaker; Anagha Paralikar, 35, advocate; Sheela Pralikar, 65, advocate; Ajit S. Abhyankar, 60, visiting professor; Aparna A. Mahajan, 65, homemaker; Shamala Chandrashekar, 54, techno-lega consultant, and Chandrashekar Venkataraman, 54, industrialist.

MBC general secretary Ganesh Nayak stated in a release here that the interaction with the group was highly informative, which should be passed on to others.

Club president Donal Menezes felicitated the riders.