OdishaPlus Bureau
While the 2014 expedition had only 10 members, the 2022 cycle tour comprised of 22 cyclists.
Twenty cyclists led by senior IPS Sanjeeb Panda completed an adventurous expedition by pedalling the difficult terrains from Manali to Leh via one of the highest motorable passes – Khardunga-la- situated at 17,982 ft above the mean sea level (MSL).
The cyclist team from Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club (BCAC) are euphoric at the gruelling cycling feat. This is the third triumph over the terrains. The BCAC first successful expedition was in 2014. They did it again in 2018. While the first expedition had 10 members, there were 13 in 2018. But the 2022 ride comprised of 22 members.
“As a citizen of the state and a stakeholder transforming Odisha, it’s a matter of immense pleasure to popularize cycling in the State through this adventure cycling in the Himalayas” says Sanjeeb Panda, IPS and President BCAC-cum-Team Leader of this expedition.
The expedition started on August 8 from Manali and negotiated through six mightiest passes over a period of 10 Days to complete the tour.
However, Aug 17 was the D-day was as the team pedalled up for the ultimate adventure of reaching the top of KhardungLa, the highest pass, and successfully conquered it.
During their adventure cycling in these extreme terrains, the BCAC cyclists promoted the message of Peace and Friendship along with a grave concern – #Only_One_Earth.
As a touching gesture, the cyclists unfurled the National Tri-Colour on August 15 at the peak of TanglangLa (17582ft) and recited National Anthem, along with the visitors on the pass.
Manali-Leh-Khardung-la route has been a dream for all cycling enthusiasts. The ride is gruelling and adventurous as the route traverses through many high mountain passes and winds in the valleys. Low concentration of air and oxygen level along with many adverse climatic conditions make the Manali-Leh-KhardungLa route one of the toughest and most adventurous roads of the world.
For which, this route is considered as one of the toughest routes of the world and rated as an extreme highway by Nat-Geo Adventure.
The roads were challenging with continuous elevation profiles, mix of tarmac as well as glacier-fed kutcha roads. For any adventure lover this is a highly challenging adventure and a lifetime achievement. This is why MLK is a route being preferred by adventure enthusiasts around the world.
The team covered six high-altitude passes during their travel of 550Kms over the Mighty Himalayas, viz: Rohtang Pass (13050ft), BaralachaLa pass (16150ft), NakeeLa Pass (15547ft), LachungLa Pass (16616ft), TanglangLa Pass (17582ft), and KhardungLa Pass (17982ft).
At some times, the cyclists have to carry their bicycles over their shoulders to cross the washed-away roads due to intermittent land-slides and mud-slides.
It being an unpredictable terrain, the cyclists have to face three (03) seasons in a single day, and some days hit with hailstorms, severe cold waves, rains and highly UV-affected heat.
The cyclists stayed in their self pitched tents in the cold desert without the facilities of electricity and telephone.
The Contingent members were: Sanjeeb Panda, Ajay Nanda, SibasisMohanty, GangadharNayak, Srinivas Sahu, Bibhu Prasad Kar, Manoj Kumar Prusty, ManasRanjanGauda, UdaynathMahakud, Harish Chandra, SibaSankarSenapati, Dr.Akshay Kumar Sahu, Dr.RanjanPattnaik, Ranjit Kumar Sahoo, PravasaRanjanChinara, Ramesh Kumar Sahu, Kumar Devadutta, AkshaypadmaMohapatra, Sandeep Das, and Santosh Kumar Rout.
Tags: #Cycliststory #IndiaCyclist #Travelstory #AdventureClub #BhubaneswarCyclingAdventureClub #IPSSanjeebPanda