It was 7.30pm and B Srinivasan was on day five of his solo cycle ride from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. He was pedalling on a highway cutting through dense forests in Madhya Pradesh. “There was not a soul in sight,” remembers the Chennai-based cyclist. There were trees on either side of the road and there was hardly any vehicular movement, save a car or two that zoomed past in a flicker. He knew there were chances of encountering wild animals, he says, adding “I just cycled on.”
Luckily for him, he got through with no animal encounters, and went on to finish the expedition, covering 3,677 kilometres in 14 days. The ride has been certified as the fastest solo unsupported cycling expedition from Kashmir to Kanyakumari by India and Asia Book of Records.
Srinivasan started his ride on February 12 this year at Srinagar’s Ghanta Ghar. Challenges began right on day one. “The temperature was -4 degrees Celsius and I thought my palms would warm up as I rode,” he says. But that did not happen and within 15 minutes, Srinivasan’s hands were frozen. “Soon, I could not even feel my fingers,” he says. He then reached a cantonment where an Army personnel lent him a pair of gloves.
