For his 60th birthday, yet to arrive in November, a cycling enthusiast, Gagan Khosla, chose to treat himself with an early birthday gift as he chose to have a road trip on a bicycle all his way from Ladakh to Kanyakumari in less than a month.
It means he will be covering approximately 4,000 kilometers on a bicycle, at the age of 60 years.
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A hardcore health enthusiast, Delhi-based entrepreneur, Khosla, caught up cycling about a decade ago, and in his first year of cycling, he biked down from Leh to Delhi. However, he revealed that he had never assumed traveling from Leh to Delhi on a bicycle.
Khosla commenced his tour, that would finally take him over 13 states on 21st September and is currently cycling on the roads of Hyderabad. He alleges that his adventure has always been an eye-opener and also the wonderful countryside he has observed all the way.
Khosla also alleges that the experience of riding a bicycle is a humbling one in multiple ways. He quoted: “I came across a German biking couple in Ladakh. Over a conversation, I discovered that the lady had covered 28,000 kilometres or basically cycled across the world in a span of four years. It made me feel very small.”
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According to Khosla, crossing five of the world’s highest passes are also one of the cherishable memories. “The highest one is Khardung La Pass situated at 17700 feet was incredible,”
“Cycling in the mountains was quite a challenge due to the sparse oxygen in the air. Temperatures were below sub-zero and it was snowing at the passes. Once I hit Chandigarh, everything changed. It got really hot as the temperature suddenly came up to 40 degrees, and was another challenge altogether,” he quoted in a report.
Khosla was casually suffering from hypothermia but he recovered soon.
However, Khosla is not venturing this journey alone. He is being continuously followed by his friends who graduated from Scindia School, Gwalior with him in 1974. They are tracking Khosla in an SUV and also recording his trip.
They also have engaged a cook for the drive, so that Khosla can pick healthy meals without bothering about roadside food.
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Khosla, along with his friends, is also attempting to establish Rs 1 crore in order to spread awareness about malnutrition and some other major issues.
According to Khosla “Life only a mind game. I feel that we all have desires. And we can fulfil these desires. It’s a matter of acquiring a skill, and resolving ourselves to commit to it completely. You tell yourself, that you are not going to give up, and if you really mean it, it will be done. You can’t let it just go. You can’t let anything bother you, not the heat, not the road, nothing… it’s single-minded focus.”
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Khosla rides almost 170-180 kilometres a day. While traveling to Hyderabad, he said “I was riding about 230 kilometres in a day. “It was very hot. I may have shrunk a little.”
With just 1,300 kilometres to go, Khosla who will turn 60 on November 25th , is hoping to meet his deadline. He looks forward to returning to Delhi, to his wife after the successful conclusion of the journey.