Friday, June 02, 2006

Indian Autorickshaw Challenge 2006


A few months back, we hosted a mock intra-team Olympics at work around the time of the Winter Olympics at Torino. One of the events that I organized was an autorickshaw race down MG Road, with a teams of three in ricks and nav teams of four cracking puzzles to figure out where the pit stops were. I'll need to get around to blogging about that at some point, but then the reason for this post is - I just read about a large auto rickshaw rally being held in Tamil Nadu over a 937km stretch from Chennai to Kanyakumari. While the concept sounds fascinating, you wonder if a rick can actually make it that far without breaking down. According to the FAQs on the site, "It is common for these 3-wheeled vehicles to break down, especially older models. However, they are easy to repair and as locals drive autorickshaws throughout India, there is no short supply of repair shops or autorickshaw mechanics. For the most part, if your autorickshaw breaks down during the course of the event, you’ll be able to fix the problem yourself, and you will be orientated with your autorickshaw prior to the event. Think of it as a covered bicycle with a fuel-efficient lawn mower engine or a golf cart on Nitro." Lawn mover engine! :-)

The rally includes a dirt track race at the beginning (perhaps to sieve out the faint hearted early), and then proceeds on to the lovely coastal cities of Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry. From there, riders head to the heartland of Thanjavur and Madurai, cities with some of the oldest temples in the south. From Madurai, its a brief stop at the coastal town of Tuticorin and the waterfalls of Courtallam before finishing off at the southern most tip of the country - Kanyakumari.

To read more about the rally, visit their website. And oh, this is the first time they are organizing the event ever, and they are looking out for sponsors. In my opinion, this is safe bet for corporate sponsors and I can see this gaining visibility over time.

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