Surti woman completes cycle expedition to Spiti Valley in 8 days

SURAT: For a housewife and a mother of two children, who recently started cycling, it was a tough challenge to embark on cycling expedition to India's most rugged hilly terrain in Himachal Pradesh. Ajita Italia, has become the first Surti woman to successfully complete cycling expedition from Manali to Spiti Valley in just eight days.
Ajita, 36, was part of a 23-member group that took up a challenging 331km cycling expedition to Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh.The expedition was organized by the city-based Life Cycle Group (LCG) on July 12. She was the only woman member of the group.
While three group members could not complete the expedition as their health deteriorated at the altitude of over 3,000 metres, the rest including Ajita, successfully completed the challenge riding over 331 kilometres from Manali to Tabo crossing to the Spiti Valley.
Talking to TOI, Ajita said, "I started cycling health reasons just few months ago and joined the LCG club for better understanding. They offered me to join them in the Spiti Valley expedition. I never knew it was going to be the toughest rides ever for me."
Sharing her experiences, Ajita said, "At the altitude of 3,000 metres, your body becomes heavy and you crave for oxygen. Many a time, I could not breathe while pedalling on the rugged terrain. But then my yoga and pranayam techniques saved my life. Around 60% of the route was rugged and it was full of gravels and stones."
"I did this for my husband and my kids. My mission was to spread message among women and young girls to take up cycling to improve overall health and stamina. Now, I am planning to go on yet another expedition to Arunachal Pradesh."
Yogesh Patel, captain of the LCG said, "The route from Manali was quite good and the cyclists enjoyed the first day. It was after we moved further and crossed the Rohtang, the cyclists started complaining about the challenging route full of landslides, streams and rivulets. We have crossed more than 50 streams walking in the cold water."
"Spiti Valley is not good for cycling expedition and very few adventurers visit this place. This is first time that a woman has successfully crossed to Spiti Valley," he added.