ONE thousand bicycles and riders on the East Coast Demerara Road Sunday  afternoon ,September  26th .
This is what the organizers of the Big Ride 2010 are seeing in their mind’s eye as they finalize arrangements for the second annual fitness event this year.
The Big Ride is on!
The Big Ride is being staged by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Guyana Cycling Federation.
Members of the public, young, old and not so old, ordinary men, women and children, school children, residents of  villages, members of sports clubs, of private and public sector organizations , even kiddies, are invited to and are expected to participate in a bigger Big Ride this year, the only requirements being that they must have a bicycle, like from Big Ben to BMX,  must be able to ride same, preferably without falling off, from University of Guyana Public Road, Turkeyen, to the Carifesta Sports Complex, a relatively  short distance, thereby demonstrating and celebrating their physical fitness while at the same time promoting  a lifestyle of exercise  as a means of maintaining sound health  in body and mind, the organizers said.
Minister Dr. Frank Anthony explained that the event is a component of a programme being run by the Ministry entitled “Fit for Life.”
“We want to use Big Ride to demonstrate the beneficial effects of physical exercise on health; to get all Guyanese, young and old, to understand that they must exercise  if they want to live a good and healthy  life.”
The Theme of the Big Ride 2010 is “Ride on; Live Long”.
The Minister disclosed the date for the event and the route and other details during a planning meeting at the Ministry’s Boardroom Wednesday last.
He said, “While planning the first Big Ride, that was last year, we envisaged having about 200 people with their bicycles. Over 500 people participated. This exceeded our expectations. This year we have set ourselves an ambitious goal: that is we want to get 1,000 riders and we feel that we can achieve that because a lot of people have bicycles at home : Big Bens , Mountain Bikes, BMX whatever. A lot of people ride during their daily normal chores. You have bikes at home.
All you have to do is bring it out and ride. Come out, ride and participate and encourage people in the area to ride and participate.
We would like everybody with a bicycle to come out; have fun.”
“Even the media people,” he quipped.
He added: “We want to stress this year, like we did last year, that Big Ride is not a race, not a competition. It is just a ride, everyone riding at a relaxed pace until we reach the destination,” the Minister said.
The Big Ride starts at 17hrs and the route is from Turkeyen to the Carifesta Sports Complex on Carifesta Avenue, where riders will congregate and participate in a presentation and prize giving formality.
Minister Anthony disclosed that everybody can participate but the Ministry has a preference for groups.
These groups are expected to register with the Ministry and there will be prizes for participation.
“But there is nothing stopping anybody from coming out and getting registered as an individual,” he added.
The Ministry will give prizes to, among others, the village with the most riders, the organization with the most riders, the best uniformed group, the largest youth group and the Government Ministry that brings out the most riders.
Registration forms can be downloaded from the Ministry’s Website or obtained from the Head Office in Water Street.
Registration closes on Friday September 24th.