Army men finish super-high altitude cycling expedition

A team of 10 army men have successfully completed a 700 km cycling expedition in super-high altitudes across the Great Himalayan Range along the Indo-China border.
Defence Chief Public Relations Officer T K Singha said today that the team led by Captain Navjot Thakur from the army's Striking Lion Division in Kalimpong braved sub-zero temperatures, sleet and rarified atmospheric conditions and cycled above altitudes of 5000-metre for three weeks.
The expedition was flagged off on June 30 from 5,885 m high Khangjakma situated in the Tibetan plateau.
The team pedaled across nine important mountain passes, eight of which are not connected by motorable roads, on their 18-gear Indian bicycles.

"The route selected for the expedition is one of the toughest mountain cycling expedition attempted not only in India but the entire world. Limca Book of Records has been approached to confirm the same and accord due recognition to the expedition," Singha said.
The team, which comprised eight army personnel from Lightning Streaks Battalion and a junior commissioned officer besides Thakur, returned to Sukna camp in north Bengal yesterday.

At 4,297 metre, Nathu La was the only motorable pass through which they traversed. The others included Khungiyami La, Sese La, Bamcho La and Chulung La - some of them above 5000 m in height.

"At several places we had to lift our bicycles and trudge across the icy road blockages. The freezing temperatures and rains also made our task that much more difficult," said Thakur.
He said the team members had practised for nearly three months building up strength and stamina for pedaling in hill conditions.
The expedition followed the alignment of Teesta river from its origin to approximately the point at which it enters Bangladesh.
A distance of 237 km was off the road along treacherous mountain tracks, he said.