While New Town has wide enough roads, a British cyclist in town last week felt the cycling lanes here were sometimes inundated by pedestrians, forcing cyclists onto the main road.
Luke Grenfell Shaw is a cancer survivor who has taken up the challenge of cycling from his hometown Bristol all the way to Beijing. He has already covered 28 countries in the last two years and was in New Town on Saturday to cover a distance with local cycling enthusiasts and to share his story of not letting the disease put an end to his dreams.
“I loved cycling in New Town,” Luke said after traversing 10km with members of the group Cycle Network Grow (CNG). “It’s beautiful and the roads are wide enough to accommodate cycling lanes. The other city in India where I saw such tracks was Chandigarh. The only issue was that at times pedestrians were taking them over.”
Since Luke was cycling early in the morning he didn’t encounter cars parked in these lanes, a persistent complain by regular cyclists of the area.
“On my journey I’ve seen countries like the Netherlands, Germany and France using raised partitions to block vehicles from entering or parking on cycling lanes. They are effective,” he said. New Town too has started building such raised partitions. Luke did not, however, have a suggestion to keep pedestrians out of them.
Salute to cancer beater
At Luke’s felicitation ceremony, Hidco managing director Debashis Sen mentioned the cycling lanes. “Our township has 50km of cycling lanes, a vibrant cycling community as well as three cancer hospitals so we were happy to host Luke when we found out he was here,” he said. “We are also hosting the event under Biswa Bangla Gate, Bengal’s gateway to the world, and hence perfect for hosting such a global visitor.”
Also present was the British deputy high commissioner to Calcutta, Nick Low. “I am touched by the warm reception extended to Luke,” he said. “I can’t imagine such an event at 6.30am on a February morning in my own country, where it would be dark and foggy now. But Luke’s is a tale of determination and inspiration that deserves to be heard by all.”
Luke poses in front of Biswa Bangla Gate
Tale of survival
Luke was diagnosed with stage four cancer at the age of 24. To make matters worse, his brother died in an accident at around the same time. “It got me thinking. I was the one with cancer but he died. I realised how unpredictable life was,” he said. “We all have dreams but most of us plan to pursue it after buying a house, getting married and sending the kids off to college. But the truth us that we never know what tomorrow brings and postponing our dreams is a sure-fire way of making sure they never turn to reality.”
Luke always loved cycling and in a bid to stay physically strong and mentally positive, pursued it even during his treatment. Then on January 1, 2020 he headed out on his dream ride. “I took a tandem cycle — named Chris after my brother — and have had about 250 people ride with me thus far, some of them cancer survivors. I wanted to ‘share’ the ride with others on the bike to help overcome the stigma that some countries — including India — still have about the disease.” The journey is also a fundraiser for cancer patients.
The rider has had myriad experiences, including the time his brakes over-heated on a down-hill ride in Kyrgyzstan and he had to jump off the bike, sustaining minor injuries. Or the time when the Romanian chocolate he put in his mouth tasted like chalk. “My sense of taste had gone and I had – you, guessed it — caught Covid!” says Luke, who self-isolated for some days in November 2020 before continuing his journey. He also flew back to the UK to get his vaccines as and when eligible.
He’s on the last leg of the journey now, with just Bangladesh and China left to cover and shall get going as soon as his visas get approved. “In Calcutta, I visited the Maidan, Victoria Memorial, saw the Writers’ Building but the most beautiful site in India was Khajuraho with its sculptures,” Luke says.
Cycle lanes for all
Nearly 150 cyclists had gathered that day and were enthused by Luke’s tale of determination. They also seconded his observations on cycle lanes. “These lanes aren’t perfect as they weren’t in the master plan. They reduce the width of motorable roads in certain stretches. As a cyclist, I have to veer out of these lanes every 200m to dodge a pile of construction material, a parked toto or a squatting hawker,” said Ashish Bajaj, founder and president of CNG.
The raised dividers for cycle lanes, riders said, were broken in several places. They didn’t use the lanes while riding with Luke either, since traffic was low.
On the other side of the coin, Bajaj is also a runner and says the cycle lanes are the only place to do so. “The main road has cars and the footpaths are uneven. I understand cyclists find it difficult but where else do we run?”
Have you found the perfect cycle lane in any other city or country? Write to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in
