How five friends built Hyderabad’s Bike-O-Holics cycling community
HYDERABAD: Like many great stories in Hyderabad, this one began with a ride to Charminar. One morning, five friends from Nallagandla pedalled through the city’s waking streets to the iconic monument. Somewhere along those winding kilometers, inspiration struck, why not make cycling a daily ritual? That simple idea, born in early 2022, blossomed into Bike-O-Holics, a vibrant community nearly 400 strong, hosting epic 150-kilometer rides, championing charity cyclothons for children battling cancer, and even rallying a competitive badminton team.
“We completed four years yesterday,” says Priya Langote, one of Bike-O-Holics’ five core members, speaking with quiet pride. A director at Accenture by profession and a passionate cyclist by vocation, Priya is the fifth person to join the group.
The group’s momentum was immediate and infectious. Within just two weeks, their numbers swelled to 25. Daily rides of 20 to 25 kilometres forged both fitness and friendship, while weekends saw their ambitions, and distances grow. Soon, they set their sights on the holy grail for cycling communities, the century ride.
“We did our first century ride to Singur Dam, over 120 kilometres return. Twelve of us completed it in one go. We were really proud,” Priya recalls. That achievement emboldened the group to aim higher, eventually tackling BRMs, Brevets de Randonneurs Mondiaux, a European-origin endurance format in which cyclists complete 200, 300, 400, and 600 kilometres in a single year to earn the coveted Super Randonneur (SR) title.
Manoj Bitla, one of the group’s founders and lead cyclist, has earned the SR title three consecutive years in 2023, 2024, and 2025. He is now preparing for the LRM, a gruelling 1,200-kilometre ultra-distance challenge. Bike-O-Holics can already count over 20 BRM finishers in its ranks, with more training actively.
Gran Fondo Koheda: Their proudest moment
If one event encapsulates what Bike-O-Holics has become, it is the Gran Fondo Koheda, held on 25 January 2026. With 178 registrations and 155 riders turning up on the day, the event saw cyclists tackle 137 kilometers from Hyderabad to Koheda Hill and back, including a challenging uphill stretch on a route described as scenic and demanding in equal measure.
“Not a single person came back without a smile,” says Priya. “We were super happy. It was not easy, people were returning in the afternoon heat, but they were very, very happy.” Each finisher received a medal and certificate. Breakfast arrangements, full sag support, and a well-planned route made it feel, by many accounts, like a professional event.
The Gran Fondo came just months after another milestone, the Tour of Ananthagiri on 14 September 2025, a 100-plus-kilometre ride through the rain-threatened Ananthagiri foothills. A midnight weather update gave organizers the go-ahead, 70 riders completed the route.
Cycling with a cause
Bike-O-Holics has never been content with riding for its own sake. For the past three years, the group has affiliated with CanKids, an NGO supporting children with cancer, converting every kilometre pedalled into a monetary contribution to the charity. “They share a video thanking us, and seeing the smiles on those children’s faces, that’s the satisfaction,” Priya says.
Most recently, 30 members joined a cyclothon organized by Arete Hospital for cancer awareness in February 2026, with Priya serving as a cycling ambassador for the initiative. The group has also supported road safety campaigns and responded to approaches from hospitals and health organizations.
Bike-O-Holics is also a certified member of the Fit India movement, the national fitness campaign initiated by the Government of India, and officially uses the Fit India logo for its Sunday cycling rides. The group was felicitated alongside badminton legend Pullela Gopichand at a Fit India cyclothon event in Hyderabad earlier this year.
The engine behind all of this is five people who, by their own admission, complement each other almost perfectly. Manoj Bitla is the performance anchor, the elite rider and founder whose SR achievements set the bar. Priya Langote manages communications, people connections, and social media. Meherkanth and Srinivas Kalaburgi contribute on the design side, creating the group’s logos and visual identity. Sampath Uppala, the newest core member, and himself an SR finisher last year, handles operations, jersey launches, Google Forms, and ride logistics.
“Nobody governs alone. It is a unified way of working,” Priya is emphatic. Crucially, all of it is free. The group accepts no membership fees, takes no funds for operations, and asks nothing of participants beyond showing up on time and cycling together. Sponsors are welcome to contribute jerseys or breakfast, beyond that, Bike-O-Holics runs entirely on passion.
Women on wheels
One of the group’s points of pride is its female membership. Over 30 women cyclists are active Bike-O-Holics members, a number that surprised even the founders. Among them is Shelly Pandey, who became the group’s first woman SR finisher last year, completing 200, 300, 400 and 600-kilometre brevets in a single season.
Priya herself has a personal goal in sight, completing her first BRM by year’s end. She is candid about the challenge, she manages an asthmatic condition, but equally candid about what cycling has given her. “I’ve lost almost 25 kilograms in two years. I’ve seen the difference in me. Without cycling, I can’t stay,” she says.
The Bike-O-Holics membership is, by Priya’s estimate, about 90 percent from the IT industry, software engineers, senior developers, data analysts, designers, and account managers. It is a demographic well acquainted with screen-bound stress, long hours, and the peculiar loneliness of office-from-home routines. Cycling, for many, is the antidote.
“When we meet up daily, we connect over chai. That relieves the day’s stress. When it comes to cycling, everybody is equal, we don’t look at designations,” Priya says. The group’s Instagram reels, humorous, vibrant, and community-flavoured, reflect this spirit, an open invitation to swap Sunday mornings on the sofa for early morning rides with friends.
What’s next
The group is already planning the Tour of Anantagiri II, this time, opening registrations nationally and targeting at least 200 participants from across India, each riding in a custom Bike-O-Holics jersey. The Tour is planned for mid-August 2026, following Independence Day. The Gran Fondo Koheda will return in January 2027.
The larger vision is integration into India’s national sports and fitness infrastructure. “We want the Sports Authority of India to associate with us for community activities. We want 50 SR finishers. We want to support any NGO or sustainability initiative that comes our way,” Priya says.
Four years after that inaugural ride to Charminar, Bike-O-Holics has evolved far beyond a cycling club. It is now a movement for health, a platform for charity, a thriving social network, and, above all, a daily reminder that some of life’s best moments begin at 5 a.m. on a bicycle, in the company of those who choose to show up.
