For the first time in our country a biking game was held on June 19 in Tashkent region. The organizer of the event was a group of young people from the Youth Environmental Network of Uzbekistan, with our support.
The UN team is finishing - our guru Jamshid Maksumov
The aim of the game is promotion of the bicycle as an environmentally friendly transport and the source of health. Due to the fact that cycling infrastructure in Tashkent is not developed at all, it was decided to hold the game outside the city, where there are less much cars, which are the main opponents of the bicycles.
But all started from Tashkent. The teams gathered in the park behind the Museum of Arts, it was explained to everybody how they must play, and six teams each consisting of six riders, including both boys and girls, accompanied by co-drivers (also riders) started the game. The game began from the Politotdel's stadium, and passed around in Yukori Chirchik district. The distance of the cycling game was 42 km, and the teams had to solve 12 tasks on environmental topics and try to win. The teams started after answering tricky questions. Those who answered first could start riding. If a team won the next contest – it would be the next to start.
Each team got the task at the starting point, with a map and description of the task which they had to perform. The teams had to find a point, to solve a riddle, to answer the task question and call the dispatcher to give the correct answer. Just fulfillment of the previous task, the team received the following one. And so it was repeated 12 times.
The participants were afraid of neither the June heat, nor tricky tasks, nor fierce competition for prizes. And the prizes were worth fighting. Winners received a bicycle, Red Fox sleeping bags were for the second place, for the third place it was a Shimano carbon rod. Of course, the game was not built on people's ability to ride a bike quickly, but on knowledge of the material on the nature theme, wit, and unity of the team. Bicycles were used only as a means of transportation.
The whole game was invented by three persons - Andrey and Alexander Maleevs and Rustam Murzakhanov. Exactly owing to them, this game has become a reality. An interesting fact is that initially there were not so much interested people. But then the number of applications exceeded our plan and we even added one more team in the game.
Bicycle has become an effective solution of typical urban problems in many countries of the world. It provides mobility of the residents, improves health, unpretentious in operation, no noise, emits no air pollutants and does not need much space. It was not for nothing that in 2005, according to the survey of public opinion in Britain, the bicycle was acknowledged as the greatest technological invention since 1800. More respondents voted for bike than for any other inventions, taken together.
Tashkent has all the features for the development of cycling - we have a favorable climate, which allows us to use a bicycle as urban transport during 9-11 months of the year, it has relatively flat terrain and many green areas.
Unfortunately, in Tashkent, many people do not dare to use the bike for safety reasons. In the city the traffic is dangerous, there are neither bicycle path, nor parking places for bikes. Car owners often do not consider bicycle riders as full-fledged participants of road traffic.
GEF Small Grants Programme has decided to support this game, as the promotion of clean transport is directly linked with the problem of reducing emissions. In addition, everything always starts from in a small scale. Everyone must start with himself/herself. If each resident at least for one day would abandon the car in favor of the bike, it would mean a lot. And as soon as people will think about their roots, how important the nature is and how we are responsible for its safety, such small but good things in relation to the nature will take place with a person on a regular basis. Today, a bike is used only for game. Tomorrow it could become a normal transport. And probably something else like saving of energy will join the bike. And so on. And if that will happen regularly, then we can assume that we have achieved our goal. We hope that this game has set thinking at least the participants about why we conducted this game. We are very glad that everybody liked this game. All the guys expressed their desire to have more such games, and participate in them. We hope we can organize this in the future.
According to the results the first place was taken by the team “Be-Bikers”, the second – by “UN joint team”, and the third one by the team “Free of Motors”.
Winners of the game: Be-Bikers team
Attention! To all participants of the game! To all co-drivers of the game!
Soon we will gather all the teams for awarding ceremony. We also will be happy to hear your comments on the game. Later we will inform you about the time. Please, watch the updates of this page
