We look at all the ingredients that need to come together, for an epic experience like this to come together successfully.
Let's take the rider's perspective first.
To average 300+ km every day for about 12 days is not an individual effort. The rider needs a slew of people with people who bring in specific skills.
- This is a race, so the rider has minimal material on them and on the bike. They need someone to handle the pack, prepare and hand them everything they need for 12 days on the road. Starting with their food and hydration
- The whole race is conducted through vehicular traffic. So the riders need a vehicle following them, and shielding them from traffic incidents. They need someone to drive this accurately, a few meters behind them, and adjust according to their changes of speed. This requires precision and constant attention on the rider
- If they are tired and want to revisit an earlier decision to ride in the dark, or to rest ahead of schedule, they want a sounding board to listen to and advise them on when to push forth and when to listen to the body and rest
- They might not be as hyperaware of changes to body temperature, changes in energy level etc., as they are pushing themselves hard. They need an external voice to periodically evaluate physical fitness
Now, on to the crew:
Let's get the banal out of the way, such as getting time off of two or more weeks from your work and other commitments to go and support another person in their dreams to ride across India.
Mobility: Driving across the entire country. Highways, bad roads, through cold nights and windy evenings and boiling hot afternoons. The crew lives in that vehicle for the entirety of the race.
Nutrition and hydration: Tracking these for the rider constantly is a must. As they get progressively tired, they won't have a sharp awareness of what they have eaten or drunk. Their crew needs to monitor and manage this.
Physiotherapy support: Being able to help stretch tired muscles, energise them, and help them back on the bicycle is a key skill.
Emergency First Response: Being skilled in CPR, having a comprehensive first aid kit.
Weather management: Keeping track of weather changes as they moved, making sure of changes in gear for the rider, layering and accordingly shifting relevant food and hydration strategies.
Routing and terrain management: While the route is mapped by the RAIN team, figuring out the team's strategy suited to the rider is very personal and needs to be customised, and then revised live. On days with big elevation gains, or on days with bad road conditions or unfavourable weather conditions, mileage would drop. Therefore, the crew and rider have to align on pushing on good days to buffer days where mileage would drop. The route never allows for an approach of steady 300km per day. Planning the mapping and routing to suit the rider; identifying when to ride in the day or night, depending on the rider's comfort and weather conditions. For instance, it is relatively easier to traverse the central Indian terrain and the Deccan plateau when the sun is down, but when coming down from the Himalayas or traversing Punjab and Delhi in the cold of late February, it is a better call to rest in the chilly nights and ride in the day time.
Rest management: Deciding when and where the rider rests; taking turns to rest in the moving vehicle, themselves, making sure there are vigilant eyes on the rider 24 x7.
The crew has their own endurance event happening in parallel, while providing support and care for the riders. The choice of crew-mates is therefore crucial to success.
The crew also shoulders the riders' mental fatigue. They have to carry their physical fatigue themselves, but their emotional journey is one. The crew takes on, earths the stresses and tensions of the riders, their doubts, fears, uncertainties, and fills them up in return with assurances, confidence and love. Yes, love! Watch where Atul says of his friend, that he has fed him with more love than his own wife.