The Wheels of Fortune
PRAVIN PATIL
In April, this year, Starkenn Sports partnered with Pune Riverside Round Table 105 to conduct a cycling rally, Pedal 3, to create awareness and raise funds for schools in drought-affected Maharashtra villages. Pravin Patil, 42, MD and CEO of Starkenn Sports is determined to promote a culture of cycling in the city, he’s organised a number of cycling experiences, the biggest one being Syclovia, popularly known as Sunday Sunshine Rides. In December 2013, Patil held the first cycling event in to create awareness about cycling as the "single solution" to counter the ill-effects of issues plaguing urban India. "The per-square-foot and carbon footprint of a bicycle is much lower than the commonly used modes of transport in urban India," he says.
Racing Ahead Recently, Giant Starkenn sponsored India’s first professional cyclist Naveen John; they gifted a bicycle to Sandesh Uppar, a 19 year-old national level champion who hails from a small village in Karnataka and also sponsored Pune girl Rutuja Satpute who won the bronze medal in Asian Cycling Championship in Bangkok.