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This quartet of enthusiastic cyclists rode from Delhi to Mumbai in just 6 days!

Emphasizing the importance of environment protection and a healthy lifestyle, these adventure junkies took on an enervating cycling expedition from Delhi to Mumbai and are now planning to ride for a cause

This quartet of enthusiastic cyclists rode from Delhi to Mumbai in just 6 days!
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While most of us lead the same old monotonous lives everyday, the prospect of taking an interstate cycling trip might seem like a maniacal run. However, the same deal appealed to a bunch of four cycle riders — Arun Varma, Antony R. Julian, Amitoj Singh and Subhash Arora who took on a hard ride from the national capital city to the financial capital, trailing 1,480 km on their bicycles and passing through Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra in just six days, calling it ‘The Great 5 State Ride' (G5SR).

Amitoj Singh, an IT Consultant, had been having sleepless nights ever since he signed up for the ride. His dream to do four-figure journey attained peace when a cadre expressed interest in his liking and joined him in the journey across five states.

Sharing their experience with Bombay Times, IT Professional Arun Varma, who had been postponing the calling for a while finally took on the escapade and challenged the limits of his mental and physical endurance. “I cannot think of a better getaway idea to detox the stressful urban lives we all live.”


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Hitting off the plan


The gang had gone for a short, intra-city ride earlier in June 2017 where they chalked out their plan for a Delhi-to-Mumbai trip. “Since then, there was no looking back and the rest is history,” says Singh.

Even the chilly winter temperature could not keep the group from embarking upon their journey on December 15, morning as they pedaled off from Rashtrapati Bhavan.


Gearing up for the ride


Coming from different backgrounds of professions and age groups, the cyclists have come a long way, from following a daily training routine religiously to completely keeping away from late night partying, drinking and spicy food. Amitoj tells how he would cycle as early as 3:00 AM to balance their hectic schedules and social commitments, “We also took part in cycling events stretching beyond 200 km which was a sort of reality check.”


The ‘returns’ of the trip

Antony R. Julian, an advocate, recalls the warm experience of the camaraderie they shared as a team as he says, “I’ve made the best memories of my life with my boys. We all stuck to our commitment and completed the ride.”

“Persistence, mental strength, planning and preparation, being headstrong at the times of adversities- there was so much to learn from the trip. The entire feeling of realization from believing anything is possible when we put our heart and mind in something to being focused and agile was beautiful,” says Arun who started cycling back in 2010.

The trip ended at Gateway of India, Mumbai on December 21.


The path ahead

The group engaged with people during the dozen stopovers everyday during their ride to impress upon them the benefits of cycling. Antony revealed that they will also speak to stakeholders as most people are friendly and curious to know. “We also have standees, stickers and publicity material for highlighting the issues among the people,” he adds. The group also intends to publicise its activities having tied with ‘Pass It On’ - an NGO for underprivileged children and reach Out with a hope that the public and Government will support using bicycle on a large scale through such initiatives.

Subhash Arora, 51 and the oldest in the team, started out at cycling as a means to stay fit but now it has become a full-blown life goal for him. He aims to travel across other states on India and motivate more such people for such pursuits.

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