Anand Vanjape has been an avid cyclist for over 10 years now and has been encouraging people in Pune to take up the activity for its various health benefits ever since. However, it was a chance encounter in 2019 that pushed him to take this passion for pedalling to an altruistic level. In May 2021, he started ‘Pedal Mission’, an initiative aimed at donating refurbished cycles to those who cannot afford transportation. “Pedal Mission is refurbishing not-in-use old bicycles, which are collected from different housing societies in Pune, Panvel and Mumbai and given to the needy people in slums or tribal areas, on a first-come-first-serve basis,” Vanjape, a freelance commercial designer, explains.

In less than three months, the Kothrud resident — who used to run a cycle shop from 2016 to 2020 — has already collected more than 300 bicycles in Pune and 56 in Panvel. In total, he has donated some 500 used, spruced up bicycles. Students in rural areas and daily wage workers are among those who have been benefiting from the initiative.


Anand Vanjape has donated around 500 bicycles since he started collecting them from different parts of Pune, Panvel and Mumbai. Photo Courtesy: Anand Vanjape

Cycling for the cash-strapped
Vanjape isn’t approaching the project as a short ride, he has his eyes set on the long-distance race instead. The path for this was laid in 2019 when a father and daughter visited his cycle shop, hoping to sell an old bicycle and buy a new one. “I told them we did not pay for old cycles but convinced them to donate theirs to me. Someone who needed it picked it up the very next day. It was meant to be,” says Vanjape.