THE DREAM RIDE- K2K (KHARDUNGLA TO KANYAKUMARI)

The Bike, an amazing machine was befriended 08 years back. It has always supported me in simple living. Since i was posted to Bangalore between 2009 and 2012 the passion for long distance cycling was growing gradually within , events like RAAM( Race Across America) were inspiring. Thereby, this machine did sow a dream within me to ride Khardungla to Kanyakumari around 04 years back,since then started to work on it. Many of my friends , family and colleagues were not optimistic about this venture. The general issues that would be discussed when i share my plan with them would be sponsorship, expenditure, credentials, professional support crew and training aspects. Until the beginning of this year (2014), i was relying on a few close friends who had shown some seriousness towards sponsorship and training aspects. There were few cyclists who were all excited in the beginning to be a rider in this ride but never showed that commitment consistency and discipline towards the conduct of the event in the long run. So kind of lone feeling started creeping in as far as the event is concerned.


Since the beginning of this year around Feb 2014, i made up my mind to go ahead with the plan through self funding. I had some savings in my provident fund for this event which did bestow some kind of confidence. Now comes the creation of the support team and look out for a support vehicle for the ride. Simultaneously my communication with Limca book of records revealed that the existing record is 18 days 17 hours, so this ride was a race against the time. I did try to talk to people who had undertaken this ride but the response from the team leader was not very professional and was very sketchy about the whole event. 

I was disappointed but went ahead and was planning to do it in the RAAM style. I understood that if i have to break the existing record i need to race against time and therefore i need a support team. Finding a professional support crew was beyond my reach. So i had to create a support team from nowhere and train them with the required skills. I asked my medical assistant about he being a part of the medical team and could he spare his annual leave for this event, he spontaneously agreed. From then onwards i trained him on basic physiotherapy skills, showed him many relevant you tube videos. I advised him to learn driving a four wheeler, as i could also utilise him as the driver of the support vehicle. Since then he was very positive and he did started to learn driving the four wheeler. 

One of my buddy who was with me since feb 2014 was curious about my bikes and used to give a helping hand every now and then, gradually i notice that he has acquired the basic bike mechanic skills. Sensing this i requested him to be a part of the team, he again spontaneously agreed for it. So now i had to look out for a support vehicle, i was finding it difficult to find some one who could be with us all through the route and had to come back again to kashmir. But the villagers in and around the campus came to know about my plans and more over being a doctor these people knew me for two years, which worked in my favor and finally i was happy to meet a young 22 yr old kashmiri with his Tata 207. He volunteered without any hesitation. Along with him there was another porter who also wants to be with us. I decided to take all four along. We customized the vehicle with new frames, inverters, banners and national flag.


Until the second week of June i was the lone rider and then i got a call from Rohan who came to know about my plan through different sources wished to be a part of it as my co-rider. I explained to him about the event being self funded and we should be pooling in resources and work out the event. He was affirmative and did stick to being with me all time. So now we have a support team and a co-rider and an awesome feeling.


The Training: As i was posted to kashmir, the movement outside the army garrison was prohibited. The perimeter of the garrison is around 3.8 km and whatever that i have to do is within this 3.8km. I was used to doing 50 km, 100 km, 150 km of cycling by doing multiple loops within this 3.8 km. It is monotonous, boring but there was no other choice. I did this for approximately 2 years. When i was on leave to bangalore from Nov 2013 to Feb 2014, i clocked 4000 km, all thanks to the brevets in Bangalore. Rohan my co-rider stays 12 km in a different garrison and we were unable to meet each other because of the restrictions. We used to interact on a daily basis on mobile phones till we met in Leh on 29 Aug 2014.


I approached wheel sports venky, RRcycles Rakesh for their support for the ride. They did their bit which was a big boon for the team. Giant Starkenn also got involved and were very supportive. All of them helped us by providing the necessary bike accessories for the ride. We were also fortunate to find some financial support from State Bank of India.


On 28 Aug 2014 at 0300 hours we loaded our support vehicle,left for Leh from srinagar. A distance of 400km to be covered and one major zozilla pass to be crossed. Usually people take a days halt at kargil or dras, but we made it in 16 hours, with one stop at Dras for Break fast, the idea was to minimize the expenditure en route. Reached Leh at 1830h. Stayed at 5014 ASC Bn.


At leh, we acclimatized for less than 03 days, which is less than adequate. Rohan joined us on 29 Aug . We rode to Pathar sahib and back, Air force station Leh and 14 Corps HQ. Met people who were ready to support us logistically. Every inch of pedalling would make us breathless and gave a sense of what is installed for us in days to come


On 01 Sep 14, we started to descend from Khardungla top to Leh, an amazing experience. We pedalled back to Leh and stayed for few hours there. We were flagged off by 14 Corps HQ on 02 Sep at 04000h from Hall of fame at Leh






ME AND ROHAN










ACCLIMATIZATION AT LEH
































THE K2K TEAM AT PATHAR SAHIB











DESCENT FROM KHARDUNGLA TOP











DAY 1 ( 02 SEP 14): LEH - PANG

182 KM, 0400 H - 2230 H

MAJOR PASS: TANGLANG LA, 18,000 FT

WEATHER: RAIN AND SNOWFALL

EXHAUSTING

ACUTE MOUNTAIN SICKNESS, HYPOTHERMIA AT THE PASS











FLAG OFF AT HALL OF FAME







KARU













RUMTSE













BASE OF TANGLANG LA















RAINING ON ASCENT
















SNOWING ON ASCENT













SNOWING ON THE TOP







Add caption








DAY 2 ( 03 SEP 2014): PANG - SARCHU

80 KM, 0830 H - 1700 H

MAJOR PASS: LACHUNG LA, 16,500 FT

NAKI LA, 16,000 FT

RAIN AND SNOWFALL

GREAT DESCENT,

BITTEN BY GERMAN SHEPHERD AT SARCHU TRANSIT CAMP
















































































































DESCENT FROM NAKEELA























TREKKERS ALONG THE ROUTE











DAY 3 (04 SEP 2014): SARCHU TO TANDI


130 KM, 0400H-1800H


MAJOR PASS: BARLACH LA


RAIN AND SNOWFALL






























































































DAY 4 (05 SEP 2014) : TANDI - PANDOH,

ROHTANG PASS,(14,000 FT), VERY BAD ROADS

RAINING , VERY POOR VISIBILITY

DANGEROUS DESCENTS











































DAY 5 (06 SEP 2014): PANDOH – CHANDIGARH


202 KM


0100 H – 1830 H


SWARGHAT HILL WAS THE MAJOR HILL EN- ROUTE


VERY BAD ROADS, POTHOLES ALL THROUGH THE ROUTE


THE GRADIENT IS STEEP AND LOT OF TRUCKS PLY ON THIS ROAD


AFTER THE DESCENT THE ROAD GETS BETTER TILL CHANDIGARH




HAVELI CHAIN OF RESTAURANTS

















































DAY 6 (07 SEP 2014): CHANDIGARH – DELHI


270 KM


0400 DAY 6 (07 SEP 2014): CHANDIGARH – DELHI


270 KM


0400 H – 1830 H


AMAZING ROADS


DELHI TRAFFIC IS A SHOCKER


AMAZING ROADS


DELHI TRAFFIC IS A SHOCKER



















































DAY 7(08 SEP 2014): DELHI – AGRA


230 KM


0500 H – 1800 H


GREAT ROAD











































DAY 8 (09 SEP 2014): AGRA – JHANSI


250 KM


0330 H – 1800 H


WARM WELCOME BY 144 AD REGT


DONT BE SURPRISED, THE ROADS ARE GOOD
















































DAY 9 (10 SEP 2014): JHANSI – NARSINGHPUR


350 KM


0300 H- 2230 H


FLAGGED OFF BY SENIOR ARMY OFFICERS


GOOD ROADS


CYCLED THROUGH SAGAR


STAYED IN A HOTEL AT NARSINGHPUR



























































DAY 10 (11 SEP 2014): NARSINGHPUR – NAGPUR


256 KM


0600 H – 2230 H


PASSED THROUGH CHINDWARA, VERY SCENIC


VERY TOUGH ROLLING CONDITIONS


STAYED AT AIR FORCE, MAINTENANCE COMMAND




















DAY 11 (12 SEP 2014): NAGPUR – ADILABAD


318 KM


0400 H – 1800 H


VERY BAD ROADS WORSE THAN ROHTANG


STAYED AT NCC, ADILABAD






































DAY 12 (13 SEP 2014): ADILABAD – HYDERABAD


322 KM


0400 H – 1830 H


ROLLING TERRAIN






























































































DAY 13 (14 SEP 2014): HYDERABAD – GOOTY





306 KM


0430 H- 2230 H


VERY BORING, BANGALORE IN VISION









































































DAY 14 (15 SEP 2014): GOOTY – BANGALORE





264 KM


0500 H – 1830 H






































DAY 15 (16 SEP 2014): BANGALORE – SALEM


210 KM

0400H – 1500H

STAYED AT NCC SALEM FOR FEW HOURS


















DAY 15 (16 SEP, 2000 H) – DAY 16 (17 SEP, 2200 H): SALEM – KANYAKUMARI


470 KM


CYCLED THROUGH SECOND LARGEST WIND ZONE OF ASIA ( MADURAI – KANYAKUMARI)


WITNESSED THOUSANDS OF WIND MILLS IN THAT STRETCH


VERY STRONG CROSS WINDS AND HEAD WINDS ,


VERY DIFFICULT TO PEDAL


FINISHED OUR RIDE AT VIVEKANANDA ROCK


MIXED FEELING AT THE ROCK


SURPRISED BY ROHANS MOMS PRESENCE THERE


FINAL ATTESTATION AT THE POLICE STATION

























































































































































We stayed at the PWD guest rooms at Kanyakumari and next morning took some photos at the rock


Assimilated all the data and we complete the ride in 15 days 22 hours. Completed the log book for limca records, shared photos and videos of 14 GB size.


The previous record in this route is 18 days 17 hours


So thereby we set a new limca record.


Rohan flies back to Delhi


We drove down back towards Bangalore and then further to srinagar


To conclude this was one amazing dream ride, which involved a lot of planning for almost 4 months. An amazing amateur support team who displayed utmost determination and perseverance which made this event a great success.


Proud to Serve with Indian Army.














Why did we do it?


Across the country, from kids to elderly, were curious to know about this event when we passed by them. They were surprised to know such an adventure. Many waved at us and many did show the thumbs up sign, many clicked photos and videos with us and the support team.


Give a thought, how many people in our country would wave at strangers on road?






Our sole objective was to inspire people and ourselves to grow stronger by pushing the limits of their capabilities. I hope we achieved our objective.










We the team K2K, Sincerely believe in dedicating the ride to those affected by floods in Kashmir and to those armed forces personnel who are involved in relief operations.


We incidentally have set a new limca record in this route and is verbally confirmed by the editor of the record book , we have broken the existing record which was 18 days and 17 hours. The new record in our name is 15 days 22hours.


MY SUPPORT TEAM WHO WERE THE BACKBONE OF THIS RIDE ARE

1. GUNNER J MARIYA DASU

2. NAYAK SARVESH KUMAR

3. MR ZULF

4. MR RATH






It was sheer hard work by my support crew which made event successful






OUR SINCERE THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE, WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL TO THE KIND OF SUPPORT YOU HAVE RENDERED TO US:





1. Col Dushyant singh

2. Col Gurdeep singh, SM

3. Brig Nilendra Kumar

4. Maj Gen SK saini

5. 15 corps HQ

6. Troops at Shalateng garrison

7. Col Animesh

8. KFSR

9. STATE BANK OF INDIA, FRUIT MANDI BRANCH, J & K

10. MR DK KAUL

11. GIANT STARKENN

12. 1998 BATCH MATES OF Dr BR Ambedkar Medical college

13. MR PRASUN

14. FRI, CIF (K)

15. All the Porters at employed at Shalateng garrison

16. Villagers all around the garrison

17. Col K J singh

18. Col Gurvinder singh

19. Col KK Sharma

20. 39 FD REGT

21. SQN LDR Guru

22. 14 Corps HQ

23. Lt Col Badoria

24. Col Yarnal

25. SBI, Leh Branch

26. Wheel Sports

27. Venkatesh wheel sports

28. Sumeet

29. Balu

30. RR cycles

31. Rakesh RR cycles

32. OC Transit camp , Sarchu

33. Capt Robin,

34. OC Transit camp. Tandi

35. Maj Rahul

36. Signal Regt, Chandimandir

37. OC Transit camp , Pandoh

38. Rohans Family

39. EME Bn, Agra

40. 144 AD Regt

41. Col PK singh

42. Sqn Ldr Basavraj

43. NCC Adilabad

44. AF station Gwalior

45. 47 Bde

46. Col Ashok

47. Hyderabad Cycling club

48. Lt Col Jayaraj

49. Lt Col Ajay singh

50. NCC Salem

51. Finally to all those who wished us good luck all along the route