Professor Pedals 1700kms in Himalaya’s

Tag : cycling, Himalayas, India

 Day by day, people are achieving their dreams of climbing Himalayas. But a 34 year old professor, Ganesh Nayak from Manipal Institute of Technology, has made headlines through his unique adventure journey. His ways of climbing will make you take a back seat.

Ganesh has been always fascinated by the Himalayas with the belief that a change in lifestyle would help him quit smoking. He started cycling about three-and-half years ago. Returning from his second cycling expedition to the Himalayas on July 5, he spoke to Bangalore Mirror. He said, "There is no bigger challenge than going to the Himalayas. I previously went on an eight-month cycling journey between August 2014 and February 2015 from Srinagar to Kathmandu, and back home to Manipal, covering about 7,000 kilometers in all. One reason to go back was that I could not cover the Spiti Valley section over Kunzum La to join the Manali-Leh Highway that is often counted as the most adventurous road in the world.”

Talking about the current journey "From Leh, the road heads west to reach Srinagar, finally falling in altitude to below 5,000 feet. So it was basically a 1,700-km all-mountain trek with eight high-altitude passes. The trek started on June 22 and ended on July 5.”

He researched and found not many people had frequented this stretch. "After landing in Chandigarh, I pedaled towards Shimla. From there I covered Narkhanda, Pooh, Kinnaur and Spiti. Dropping 1,700m, riding through pine forests was quite an experience. Overall, the trip was all about great food, friendly people, exotic birds, crazy winds but mostly immersive riding through difficult terrain," he said.

On recollecting some of his favorite regions, he said the town of Tabo boasted of a century-old Gompa, with spectacular frescoes, considered the Ajantha of the Himalayas. "In one particular stretch, we got hit by bad weather. We had to ride through hailstorms, to reach Leh. Four high-altitude passes, many thunderstorms, finger-numbing cold and seven straight days of riding the treacherous Manali-Leh highway is very memorable," said Nayak.

Nayak hopes to raise awareness for Human Powered Endeavors at the Manipal Institute of Technology that is promoting cycling through his journey. He states that as a teacher, he hopes to inspire the students. Cycling is a very clean form of transportation.

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