I just want to keep cycling
“What I like about cycling is the wind. When you’re riding at 25-30kmh and the wind blows through, it’s cooling and nice – it’s the best feeling.” He then reminisced about one of his most memorable trips. “This was when I cycled from Chiang Mai to Mae Hon Son in Thailand where we climbed a steep slope. The gradient was 20 degrees and conquering those hills was unforgettable.”
Speaking about unforgettable, one item that Dr Nabil is sure to remember would be his Garmin GPS whenever he is touring. “With a good GPS, you can cycle anywhere in the world.”
WHEELS OF HOPE
Having 65 offices worldwide is not easy, but we asked how far he has influenced his staff to pick up this sport, “I would love to see my staff pick up cycling, but I am not there physically all the time so it depends on the country managers and how they encourage the staff. Our offices in Houston and Reading have more active cyclists.”
Recently, VELOSI sponsored the Wheels of Hope charity cycling event in Malaysia. “I was inspired by the BP MS150 (British Petroleum Multiple Sclerosis 150) in Texas. The ride covered 180 miles over two days, from Houston to Austin, Texas. Team Velosi had 29 participants made up of staff from all over the world, and everyone at the office worked together to raise funds for donation.”
The Wheels of Hope is a similar charity cycling program where we will raise funds for the underprivileged. In June 2014, 250 participants completed a 192km ride from Putrajaya to Melaka. Donations collected benefitted the Children of Tomorrow, Myanmar. Encouraged by the success and positive feedback from the public, VELOSI aims to make this into a bigger event with more participants in 2015. Dr Nabil believes in empowering and helping people gain self-sufficiency and independence. He hopes that many more will be encouraged by his actions and continue to support charity event such as this. “It would be good to one day achieve the same number of participants as BP MS150 which was about 13,000 riders last year.”
At the age of 62, Dr Nabil has travelled the world and made many friends along the way. When asked about his retirement plan, “I just want to keep cycling”, was all he had to say.
