saw this Renu SinghiA grandmother in her fifties from Jaipur, became the first Indian woman to complete the 1540 km cycle challenge within the stipulated time limit of 128 hours and 20 minutes, while Arun Kumarasamy’s (40) from Chennai was the first Indian to reach the finish line . In 102 hours 25 minutes.
His secret was altitude training in Ooty and Bengaluru with his coach, as well as spending as little time as possible at the control points. “I slept four hours for the entire ride. The terrain was rough and it was really hot. But it was a complete scenic route which was awesome and I reached Scotland at sunset,” Kumarasamy said.
Indians made up the third largest participant in this year’s LEL, with a record 117 starting the challenge. The remainder expired outside the stipulated time – eg Tamil Actor Arya – while the others give up and take the trains back to London.
Parthiv Patel (38), an orthodontist from Baroda, was the last person to complete it in the stipulated time with an additional time of one hour and one minute. When he reached the Humber Bridge at 12.30 he was three and a half hours behind schedule – by which time it was closed – and had to wait for it to reopen at 5 a.m. Later, Patel made up for the lost eight hours and rode fast to reach the finish line in time.
Cyclists had to pedal up and down in mountainous areas in temperatures of up to 40 degrees and in remote areas with no shops, and many had to knock on the homes of locals or flagged vehicles to ask for water. Had to show
Bengaluru’s Mohan Subramaniam (51) slipped on the gravel while landing and fell on his bike, cutting his knee after cycling 1,100 km. A volunteer took him to the hospital, after which he had to abandon his ride and go back to London by train.
Rohan Sharma (39), a businessman from Delhi, finished in 119 hours and would have been exhausted had it not been for developing shyer’s neck en route, a condition where the neck muscles are so tired that She can no longer support her head. A medic at one control point told her it was dangerous to continue. But giving up was not an option and after cycling following hand signals behind the cyclist, Sharma took Velcro strips from his friend’s bike and tied his neck so that his head remained up and he could see traffic.
Ratna Kumar (36), who runs Ratna store in Chennai, finished in 120 hours. “The difficult part was the height which was never ending,” he said. But his wife Janani inspired him over the phone and prepared Chicken Biryani for all the Chennai riders at the endpoint and midpoint.
Delhi’s Garima Shankar (43) was the last known rider to complete the route, finishing two-and-a-half days on Monday. “Even when people told me you were out of[the]race now, I wanted to go ahead and pedal and experience the British countryside. It was an experience of a lifetime,” she said.
Organizer Daniel Webb said, “LEL 2022 was a vintage edition, with no small part from the participation of volunteers and riders from India.”