Bhubaneswar: A group of 20 persons pedalled their way from the city to Puri, a distance of almost about 68km, to be a part of rath yatra and use the festival to brand 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup scheduled in the city in November.

Members of the Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club undertook the journey on the day of the festival on Saturday, and at present, are camping in Puri to take up the branding activities.

Wearing helmets and similar T-shirts, the cyclists continued their steady pace through the rain. Throughout the journey, they kept together as a group, so that passers-by could notice them. "I was surprised to see them moving in tandem. I get so anxious that I chased them and asked the reason of their journey," said Dibakar Sahoo, a watcher near Pipili.

The members, who started their journey from Bhubaneswar in the early morning on Saturday, reached Puri late in the afternoon and had the glimpse of the Lord as the three chariots had just started their journey from the Jagannath temple to the Gundicha shrine on the other side of the Grand Road.

The club members said they had undertaken such journey in the past, but this one was different from the previous journeys since they were pedalling with full power to catch a glimpse of the deities. According to them, the journey was more emotional and exciting as it was meant to meet the Lord and the huge crowd at the car festival.

Club member Gopal Krishna Sahu said Lord Jagannath gave them the power to pedal so long and at one go.

"Jagannath rath yatra is famous globally, and we are here to talk to the people from around the world and invite them for the hockey world cup," said Sahu.

He said more promotional activities would be taken up for branding of the world cup throughout the nine-day festival. "The primary aim of the journey was to promote the hockey event. But, we all had a great experience to take such an initiative at the place of Lord Jagannath," he said.