Chennai, Sep 15 (IANS): The 'Bike Festival of India National Safety Ride' -- a cross-country expedition undertaken to promote responsible biking and the use of helmets -- reached here Monday after covering more than 3,500 km across India.

The 'National Safety Ride' is an initiative under the ambit of South Asia’s largest bike festival, the Bike Festival of India (BFI), which is being organised in association with Rhiti Sports Management and Event Capital.

The BFI 'National Safety Ride' is the longest safety ride in the country till date and was flagged off by Indian cricketer Ishant Sharma in New Delhi Aug 31.

It has already journeyed across the cities of Delhi, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vapi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Ooty, Mysore and Kochi before reaching Chennai.

Participant riders stopped in these cities to visit iconic locations, while interacting with the biker communities and encouraging safe biking especially the use of helmets.

From Chennai, the riders will head towards Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Behrampur and Bhadrak, before reaching Kolkata for the final leg.

From Kolkata, the riders will move towards Dhanbad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Noida, Chandigarh and then terminate the journey back at New Delhi.

The BFI National Safety Ride will cover a distance of 8,170 km in 30 days.