City duo pedals 1,450km from Delhi to Mumbai

NAGPUR: Sachin Palewar, 36 and Devnath Pillai, 50 from the city together completed a journey of 1,450 kms from New Delhi to Mumbai on bicycles within a span of six days.
The journey was organized by the Delhi Randonneurs. 20 other cyclists also participated in the event and the journey was flagged off from New Delhi on December 17, 2016.
Their route took them via Gurgaon, Jaipur, Udaipur, Surat and Vapi before arriving in Mumbai on December 22, 2016.
Palewar, an IT consultant conceded that the journey was very demanding. “This is the toughest thing I have ever done in my life and it is a big boost for my confidence. Not everyone can climb the Everest but everyone should find their own Everest and climb it,” said Palewar on completing the journey. Palewar has participated in a brevets spanning 200, 300, and 600 kms.
A journalist from Sweden had also participated in the event and as Palewar said, she was an inspiration in the entire journey. “She was a very strong contender and used to be at the front of the pack. Her confidence to pedal on kept me going,” he said.
The duo had to average 250 kms each day between each overnight stop for five days. The stint on the final day to Mumbai was 160 kms which was another challenge in itself, Pillai describes.
Pillai, a marketing professional commutes from his home in Mankapur to his office in Hingna on his bicycle daily. Although he owns a motorcycle, he rarely uses it and prefers to cycle everywhere. Pillai is a single parent and the scale of the challenge did not deter him. “I wanted to succeed for my daughter more than anything,” he said.
Both cyclist experienced fatigued by day three of the journey with Palewar developing saddle sores. Despite the odds they soldiered on and successfully completed the journey.
(Reporting by Mohnish Nelarwar)