Congratulations to Om Mahajan to be the first and youngest ultraycyclist to ride India S-N in the youth (under 18) category on a Standard bike.

Om completed the entire 3574 Km miles in 8 days 7 hr 38 min = 17.91kph- Amazing!

RIDER’S SUMMARY

FASTEST JOURNEY FROM KASHMIR TO KANYAKUMARI

RIDER’S NAME: OM HITENDRA MAHAJAN

It was 13th of November. I was at the Lal Chowk under the Historic clock tower in Srinagar for the flag off of my cycling expedition from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Me, my crew and the people and fellow cyclist from the Jammu and Kashmir mountain biking and hiking association were there to show their love and support at the time of flag off.

The expedition was flagged off at 6:22 am IST from there. The atmosphere was chilly with temperature ranging from 0 to 4 degree Celsius. Battling the cold, I started riding. After a riding of around 80kms, I encountered a 20kms climb which was followed by a similar climb after 50kms. After making through all the major climbs, I stopped after a total distance of 440kms near Jalandhar for a sleep break where I slept for around 1 hour.

The next day was pleasant but the topography was a rolling terrain due to numerous flyovers.  Then the next challenge I faced was while crossing Delhi which was due to the fog which reduced visibility and also the air quality index of Delhi is unhealthy.

Further I faced a challenge while crossing Gwalior in Madhya radish where I had to ride through heavy rains. Now from here until Nagpur, it was a patch of elevation gain. Also, in the day time the heat used to be a lot. I managed to ride smoothly until Nagpur with a slight of knee pain which started the third day itself.

I reached Nagpur in around 5 and a half days. Reaching Nagpur was quiet encouraging as now onwards only half the distance was remaining. I continued pedalling and kept the spirit high.

Then on the seventh day I had to reach Bangalore which sat at an altitude of 900mtrs and I was at an altitude of 200mtrs. And I had to gain all this elevation in just a span of approximately 215kms. It was going to be a lot of climbing and unfortunately at the same time the place was the hottest of all the expedition.

With high temperatures and strong cross head winds the difficulty was high. But I was determined to keep riding. The same night I felt really sleepy and experienced hallucinations. Somehow, I managed to cross Bangalore and slept at Hosur.

Then it was just around 650kms left. I kept the motto high and rode further and faster. I hence reached Cape Comorin, The Southernmost tip of India in Kanyakumari in a total elapsed time of 8days, 7hours, and 38minutes as reached there at 2:00pm IST on 21st of November.

It was a hell of a ride with a lot of saddle soreness, sleep deprivation, tanning, knee and ancle pain and a lot of suffering but it was worth it.

I did it because I wanted to test my endurance capabilities and was successful.