I was always fond of physical activities that make you strong as I believed in the famous saying “those physically strong will remain mentally strong”.

I got fillip for my desire to be strong when I stepped into a residential college for Graduation in 1977 wherein sports is part of  assessment. Thus, picked up running and cross country and by God’s grace am continuing to do running/jogging since then. Icing on the cake was me joining the Indian Air Force which has given me enough opportunities to keep myself fit. One of the greatest moments of my prime youth was beating Team Zambia at Air Force Academy in Cross country. 

Having participated in Hyd 10K for six years in a row, Delhi’s Rath Marathon for three years and Mumbai marathon for three years, I thought why not  try the 100K Cycling, though didn’t have much of cycling practice except during schooling days. My determination to try it out at this age (49 Yrs) and prove a point for myself got  the encouragement from  my team members at Mahindra Satyam BPO. While everyone said  to try only 50 KMS, I said to the team – Folks lets stay together and do it(100 KMS).  Quickly I got into organizing “Team Mahindra Satyam” and the required logistics.  I brought the passion to the level where all five of us from Mahindra Satyam spend our own money to buy the Hercules MTB with 18 gears. On seeing the electrifying atmosphere and the kind of cycles at NOVOTEL on the D-day, I felt ready for the ride of a life time.

I began my ride with my team but by the time we negotiated ORR,  two of my team members were out of my sight and they stayed that way throughout. While I did well till third rest station manned by my own Co, the ride from there to Chevella and to Sankarpalli has been the difficult one with the road climbing with no sign of decent. The last 30  kms were the toughest for me to ride  probably because I did not master the gears, there were head winds cutting down the speed  and by then body started telling me that only your will take you forward. Then I found two of my team riders joining me. We spoke about it at Avaya rest station and said to ourselves – if we have done almost 75 KMS without practice, we are not going to give up now and pressed on and romped home.  Though the timing was not to my liking, I am happy that I did it. When I think about it today, it’s like a dream passed thru and I can’t imagine I did it. I feel so good when my colleagues tell me that – at 49 years of age doing cycling for 100 KMS continuously for 7 hours is awesome.

I would like to convey my gratitude to Atlanta Foundation for pushing me into this. Also  to  my team mates  and the companies who sponsored of the rest stations for their kindness, without whom it would have been impossible for me  to complete the ride.