7 doctors among 19 from city pedal to Khardung La

Ahmedabad: Dr Manish Rawal, a city-based medical practitioner, had no words to express his feelings when he finally reached to the Khardung La top, one of the highest motorable roads in the world, on his bicycle on August 22. “The feeling was so overwhelming that I cried at that moment,” he said.

The reason was, Rawal and 17 others had no prior experience of adventure sports or endurance cycling. The journey of about 570km from Manali to Leh on bicycles took them 10 days, traversing altitude from 2,050 metres at Manali to 5,359 meters at Khardung La.

“It all started with a discussion on trekking and adventure sports with Gaurang Shah, the only experienced member in our group who had scaled Mount Kilimanjaro and had been to Mount Everest base camp. He motivated others and slowly the group got formed. We practised for about four months, riding 30-35 km daily, before embarking on the journey as we got the bicycles and equipment from Delhi,” said Rawal.

Gaurang Shah, 55, a city-based businessman and adventure sports enthusiast, said that the first nine days were fine but Leh was difficult as the last 39km had gradiant of 20 degrees. “More than physical endurance, it is the mind game where you keep pushing boundaries,” he said, adding that one also has to prepare for lower air pressure at high altitudes.