Home

10%

Indian Oil Race Across India

Kashmir to Kanyakumari, RAINing extreme endurance

By Veloscope

October 9^th, 2024

Spanning a subcontinent

An audacious dream: A Race Across India. Teams of solo and team riders to traverse Kashmir to Kanyakumari on bicycles.

What does it take to participate in the toughest bicycle race in India?

What does it take to organise the toughest bicycle race in India?

What vision, determination and operational excellence will rise up and match the determination and sheer endurance ability of the athletes?

Hold on to your hats, get yourself a snack and a drink and settle down. Here is the beautiful story of the first edition of what promises to be an epic race in the years to come.

Magic number 3651

It all began when Dr. Amit Samarth imagined the joy of doing a Race Across INdia: the K2K (Kashmir to Kanyakumari) route within a time cutoff. A road race like no other, with the competition ultimately being with oneself.

His next thought was, "What if we open this up for anyone wishing to experience this?"

And so, it came to be. The team that acted as his crew for RAAM and his other races came together. Over weeks of planning, brainstorming, proposing, discarding ideas and inviting input from others with expertise in the spaces of bicycle racing, endurance events etc., Race Across INdia was born.

From there on, it was full speed ahead to the first edition of RAIN! The goal: Attempting all fully supported ride of 3651km.

Here are the pioneers who answered this call to adventure:

A dozen solo riders, each of them with their inspiring story.

Three of them are differently abled, this included the only woman riding the pilot version of the race: Shubham Das, Dheeraj Kalsait and Geetha Rao. This edition saw one rider, Bobba Reddy, in the senior category - who had a crew consisting of people playing these roles for the first time!

There were four teams of relay riders. Of these, one team consisted of two riders and the other three had four riders each. This is a different kind of family and bonding!

Each rider's story is so spectacular that you'd be moved, inspired and excited to get on your own bike and ride!

Hop on then, and let us take you on a journey of 3651kms with each day marking a new adventure.

The Energy of India - Indian Oil

The title sponsor for this race was Indian Oil, the largest energy giant of the nation. Without them, this event simply wouldn't exist. Sponsoring an event of such a magnitude, providing the strategically chosen petrol stations as the 12 Time Stations, with rest and recovery facilities, they served as the main lifeline of the event!

The humming engine of the racers

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.

Crew extraordinaire

There diversity of choice of crew in this race was astounding!

Take, for instance, Bobba Reddy, the only senior category rider, whose choice consisted of a rookie crew assembled for this race, with no prior experience. What an unusual and learning experience this would have been for them!

Or take Manish Saini, whose crew consisted of his wife and two sons. He made his Race Across India into a learning experience for his children, (or as his wife says, "practical exams") and live-streamed the role-modelling of resilience and endurance for them.

What is common for all crews is the need for stratefyand planning is involved at every stage. Not just the route mapping, support vehicle readiness, stocking up on essentials, terrain-based daily coverage targets, but also nutrition and hydration strategies created ahead of the race to be tweaked or elements discarded to meet the realities of the road; meeting challenges like minor injuries & physio support, rest and recovery plan, and a dozen other factors have to be managed by the team and the rider. All of this is down to the crew in the car, who are on an endurance event of their own, following their star rider.

The specially abled

What a strong start to the race when, its pilot edition boasts of 25% of its solo riders from the specially abled category.

Shubham Das rode spectacularly to (Spoilers here!) an open category podium! Can you imagine the mental stamina needed to be able to pull something like that off!

Dheeraj Kalsait, who is never without a smile and a hand wave that pushes away all serious questions about ability, who just decided that he wanted to prove to himself and to the watching world that a person with one functional arm and leg can pull off an accomplishment like this.

Geetha S Rao, medalist at Asian Road and Para Cycling Championships, para-triathlete, super randonneur, and ultra-cyclist, the only woman participant, signed up to push herself yet again. Her athletic journey is the stuff of raw inspiration.

The Flagoff

The flag-off event was intense for various reasons. First of course, was the support by the Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council & Administration was tremendous. There is no doubt that sports is a force for good, in that it inspires. From the stands come the champions of tomorrow. The largest fanbases of all sports all over the world are made up of amateur sportspeople and weekend warriors. Sports has the power to unite differing viewpoints and life experiences under the shared experience of watching the sportspeople in their endeavour of giving their best. Human resilience in action works like nothing else, to allow us to set aside differences and cheer on. Given this role of sports, it was particularly great for the RAIN team that it got flagged off at Srinagar. This was the only location where roads were cordoned off for the race start, to allow the riders to leave city limits minus traffic. It allowed for spectators to see these brave hearts set out in pursuit of Kanyakumari, powered by just their will.

For the riders and crew, once racer kits were received, the bicycles were inspected, and support vehicles were inspected for fitness on the road, the stage was set for the big start.

The press hour also made for a great opportunities for the riders, crews, and race organisers to exchange life stories and form the kind of friendships that would be talked about for years.

The good folks at CRPF supported the race by managing traffic for the business 90km route. They cordon off the roads for riders to safely pass by. Once this leg of the race was done, the riders went through 24/7 road and highway traffic, with their crew vehicles.

The CRPF support in identifying the landslide prone areas and recommending avoiding these came as a lifesaver, quite literally.

Map Vs. Terrain

The riders and their crew would have made the shift from looking at the map, and see the small white triangles at the top of the country that signify the Himalayas, to actually standing in the shadow of the giant, and being awed by it.

The race was off to a majestic and solemn start at Srinagar with the snow-capped mountains of the Zabarwan range standing sentinel. Rains followed, which, at 5,200 feet are the combination of wet and cold, and started the riders off on a strong sense of "challenges ahead".

Passing quite close to the Chenab river, which literally translates to moon river, and pedalling down towards the Shivalik range, our riders perhaps picked up and preserved some of the romance of the road.

The great traverse, that would require a total elevation gain of 18,000 metres was on!

Single-minded determination

Please meet yet another individual in our inspiring line-up. Atul Kadu. Living up to his name of being determined, Atul wanted to prove the point that to get on the bicycle and go is key. That the type of bike one owns, the gear being used - or indeed, gears themselves, are incidental to an effort like this. And so, he raced across India on a single speed bicycle. That's right. The 18,000 feet elevation gain through the race? All done without the option to shift down a gear and coast a little. Atul's mantra seems to have been, "No gear, no problem"

Here's the best part: He came third in the Solo category with a time of 9 days 21 hours and 4 minutes!

Passing by the pind

Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ambala. The legendary hospitality and warmth of the state of Punjab was up next among the experiences for the riders and their support crews. With temperatures averaging 13 degrees Celsius in the daytime, and dropping a few points at night, February is relatively a cold month in this geography.For riders battling it out in sun, wind and by the moon, this is a relative boon. The crew might have dreamt of stopping at one of the many dhabas dotting the landscape here, but they would have to work around the rider and their needs.

Eye in the sky

Making this race pioneering and unique was live tracking the riders via a stand alone app created by Anirudh, the Tech Lead for the race. Using this, the race organisers, family and well-wishers could follow progress.

For the first edition of a race, this is a tremendous feature, with the potency to make the event a source of inspiration for millions of viewers in the upcoming editions.

Supporting that closer home, and closer to our hearts, was the livestreaming on social media. The presence of a storyteller, recording many moments of heroic effort by riders, their crew and support teams made the race human, powerful and unforgettable!

Capital gains

Approaching Delhi and the third official time station, the landscape gave way to the plains, the temperature climbed just a little and the riders counted down to crossing through to the next. You can see Dhiraj here in the morning, headed to the checkpost, layered up, confirming that it is quite cold, indeed!

First past the Time Station here, Dr. Amit Samarth riding to raise funds for the Akshaya Patra foundation had already set a lead of about 3+ hours.

The leading team was ADCA (Aurangabad Dist. Cycling Association) Warriors, followed by Amravati Riders, followed by Maha Police Cycling Squad.

Vocal for the local checkpoint volunteers

The dozen checkpoints that dotted the race were located at IndianOil petrol stations. They were entirely operated and managed by local volunteers from Srinagar to Delhi, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Hosur, to Pondicherry, who had heard about this incredible race and volunteered to give their time across multiple days. From being there for Dr. Samarth, Mahesh Kini, Shubham Das, the ADCA Warriors, the Maharashtra Police, to Geeta Rao, they witnessed the journeys of all the athletes and took away all their goodwill for selflessly giving generously of their time and energy.

A monumental love

Crossing Agra, the riders might well have been reminded of their love for the sport of cycling, for endurance experiences, and indeed love for this beautiful country that they are traversing from one end to the other.

Here in the Gangetic plains, the weather in the mornings was still relatively cool, but beginning to heat up in the afternoon towards the mid 20s. Coming from cooler climes, the riders would have to start making shifts in their ride/ rest patterns. Many would not use the entire daytime to ride. They would use the peak of the afternoon to rest, while the crew vehicles tank up, manage repairs, get supplies etc. and restart at evening, possibly riding into the night hours.

Sporting partners

It pays to have technical partners with first hand experience of endurance sports.

The race's hydration partners, Fast & Up provided the riders with not just electrolytes but also all the nutrition, recovery and rebuilding that are needed for an endurance effort of this proportion. Vijayaraghavan Venugopal, the Founder & CEO of Fast & Up is also a sub 3-hour marathoner, and that means he understands the needs of the endurance athlete, from lived experience.

T-10, the apparel partners are also pioneers in the industry, making technical apparel for multiple sports, and helmed by a triathlete himself, Vineet Agarwal.

The Chambal and Jungle experiences

As the riders pass through the centre of the country, past Gwalior, Sagar, Jhansi, Seoni (the jungle where Mowgli, Bhagheera, Bhalu and gang lived in the famous story), and towards the next check point of Nagpur, for many riders, the mid-point of the race time is approaching. While the tree cover through large tracts of this region would help in reducing temperature, the fact that daytime temperature would increase the heat levels on the tarmac, riders would still prefer to use the midday noon to stay off the bike, and optimise for cooler parts of the day to make up on the planned miles.

The mid-point of the race is here, but fatigue and tiredness is not at the mid-point. Riding multiples of 100kms on back to back days means that tiredness compounds massively.

To get up, get set and get going becomes a massive act of will.

The unseen support teams

There are as many bicycle technical glitches as there are rider's glitches. As the rider gets physio, nutrition and rest, the bicycle needs some TLC also. The team in the car has folks trained to help with these.

Of equal support is the race advisory team. For Race Across India, this team comprised of absolute giants.

Bikey Venky, arguably the most well-known name in the amateur bicycle riding community, so famous that his real name is less known compared to his "bicycling name". A veteran to bicycle races in multiple avatars, from frequent podium finisher at races in India and abroad, to organiser to mentor and coach. His always calm voice of reason would have been a welcome addition to the organising team. This is also a powerful example of how the community is always willing to support and lend as much support as is asked.

Dr. Hitendra Mahajan, endurance cyclist with multiple awards and recognitions that include a Mount Everest summit after riding his bicycle from Mumbai and then starting his trek.

Marc Poland, RAAM finisher and champion in his age cat; WUCA board of director, and a name to reckon with in the North American cycling endurance world.

Meera Velankar, tenured randonneur, triathlete, finisher of the golden quadrilateral and Kashmir to Kanyakumari routes, has mapped the country with her cleated foot.

Yoginder Singh Yogi, who is a tenured super randonneur, organiser of cyclothons, and keen participant at many high altitude cycling races.

The great Deccan traverse

Hyderabad, Kurnoor, Anantapur, Krishnagiri, Bangalore, Krishnagiri, Salem, Dindigul, Madurai... as the daytime temperatures begin to soar, the distance between the riders starts to span more and more. Leading the pack for the 4 people team are the ADCA warriors. Rapidly chasing them solo is Dr. Samarth!

The temperatures in the Deccan plateau are rising with each day, and as the landscape turns from the trees of the plains to the dramatic rocks of the Deccan, the riders plough on.

We are now down to the last leg of this very exciting and first of its kind race!

The silent engine

Before we shine the spotlight on the finish line, let us look at the organising team of superstars. The enablers of the start line, and every point that led to this long and exciting line drawn across the length of India. The organising team consists of:

Vivitt Walve: Crew boss extraordinaire. The wind beneath Dr. Samarth's wings, as he made history as the first Indian RAAM finisher, and crew chief for various other races, making sure he knew how to make this one meet all WUCA standards and make this a safe and memorable race for all, through unending traffic throughout the 2+ weeks of the race's span.

Jeetendra Nayak: The other part of the twin cylinder support for Dr. Samarth, crew chief, and brings his years of business acumen to the strategy and planning of a race of this logistical complexity.

Dilip Warkad: A super randonneur himself, Crew chief for a dozen races, in charge of route recce, time station management, race marshalling. Anyone who has organised an endurance event knows that this person has crunched the most miles in service of the race.

Mukul Samarth: Creative Head for the race, brought her experience as an endurance cyclist and as crew and as the significant other of Dr. Samarth, to ensure warm and supportive rider experiences through the race. No small feat this, as she would've been doing a parallel endurance event of her own, on the support vehicles.

Arushi Nayak: The person with the enthusiastic energy that you would have followed on the race socials, doing live reports from multiple rider accounts as well as from the Race Across India account, sharing human stories of tremendous courage.

Atul Bhojraj: The PR and press machinery ran smoothly, thanks to his expertise. He managed to get the race to be an interest sparking event for non-cyclists across the country, who followed these brave hearts K2K.

Ravindra Paranjape: Another cyclist and activist of cycling to commute, an enthusiastic Master of Ceremonies, he played a crucial part in the marshalling process as well as overall event coordination.

Anirudh Pandya: The force behind the app that made live tracking of all riders possible. Homegrown strava, here we come!

Dr. Amit Samarth: The country's first RAAM finisher, holder of various World Records in endurance cycling, this was his way to give back to the community, by enabling a race on home ground, at a fraction of the cost, with a world-class experience.

This team truly took the Indian credo of by the people for the people, that has been the hallmark, definitely of Indian endurance events for the past dozen years, into the maiden Race Across India. This will doubtless make the K2K route the #1 on every rider's bucket list.

In the windmills of your mind

The last leg of the race! Racing towards the end of the race, and towards the sea level, the riders might have been expecting the elevation decline with great hope. However, the element to not ignore is the fact that they are passing by Tirunelveli district, which is one of the windiest regions in the country, as evidenced by all the windmills you've seen in the finisher videos.

Headwinds and crosswinds would have been there to welcome riders as they took the last 150km in this gruelling race!

"...and don't stop till your goal is reached" - Swami Vivekananda

Approaching the finish line, as the dusk of the race is on the horizon, one can see both, the tiredness in the way riders are slumping on the bicycle, and the electric charge of the knowledge that their end goal is so close at hand.

This paradoxical experience, which builds resilience, gives us the courage needed to deal with change, uncertainty and loss, is what every endurance athlete of every stripe chases. For this handful, who set out from Kashmir a few days ago, it was one more life lesson, earned.

6 days 23 hours and 39 minutes

A record so blazing, it seems impossible. Dr. Amit Samarth crossed the solo riders finish line with minutes to spare for a week to get over. (Makes us wonder what we did our week!)

Wonder aside, this is what commitment to a cause and to oneself looks like. This story will be told and retold for years among endurance cyclists and will become the stuff of legends, inspiring generations of riders to come.

Team 2 fast + 2 furious?

The ADCA warriors apparently declared war on the roads, finishing their race at the blazing time of 5 days 18 hours and 50 minutes. Someone check what is special in the water in Aurangabad. Or is it sheer team work, putting in the miles and trusting the process?

Winners all!

Mahesh Kini rode to second place at 8 days, 19 hours and 59 seconds. You can see him with a few kilometres to go, riding off the saddle as often as not, riding strong, with form that may mistake you into thinking he's just warming up for a ride, not as if he's been on the saddle for over a week.

Atul Sadu, the single-speed demon (yes, you read that right. He rode a single speed K2K!!) gained himself the solo 3rd place.

While Geeta, riddled with injuries, could not complete the race within the cutoff, her courage and conviction transcended the finish line. You can see her equanimously talking about the difficulty of days 1 and 2, riding those elevations as a para-athlete, getting up after falls, having mechanical failures of the bike, and carrying on.

RAIN RAIN come again?

One of the purposes of endurance events is to invite more and more endurance athletes into its fold. The riders of this first edition would want to experience the same again, with bigger goals. The podium folks might want to defend their time. Newer riders would want to experience this epic journey for themselves, surrounded by their dream crew. The many live-streamed videos of rider and crew dancing mid-race, or singing together and just having a great time with each other will get many minds a-dreaming.