AND SHE WON!
Cycling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in mere 11 days 22 hours and 23 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fighting with adverse weather conditions, sleep, exhaustion, and many more challenges, Preeti has completed the K2K expedition successfully!
Total Travel on Days 11 & 12 : Approximately 350 Kilometers
Total cycling time : Approximately 40 hours
Total travel : More than 3676 Kilometers
Mission completed in 11 days 22 hours 23 minutes
Route : Shoolgiri – Krishnagiri – Kaveripattnam (Bypass) -Thoppur – Omalur – Salem (Bypass) – Paramathi – Kaveri River Bridge – Nanjaipugalur – Manmangalam – Vedasndur – Dindigul (Bypass) – Tirumangalm – Allampatti – Sattur – Kayathar – GangaiKundan – Tirunelveli (Bypass) – Anjugramam – Karunapuram
States crossed : Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana State, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamilnadu
On Day 11, Preeti is yearning to reach the seashore of Kanyakumari…. The journey from Malur to Madurai and Madurai to Kanyakumari certainly wasn’t a piece of cake…
Three years back Preeti has done the K2K Route (with a group of cyclists) in 17 days 17 hours and 17 minutes… this time she’s aiming to complete it in 12 days and she has completed it in 11 days 22 hours 23 minutes…!
When cycling in a group, there are other cyclists who provide immense support, there’s fun and laughter and basically, the feeling of being in a group is extremely important. Cycling solo is a completely different ball game… It requires a lot of courage, strength, willpower, and most importantly self-belief.
The 5 elements of nature – Earth (the roads and the unseen events happening), Wind (head winds, tail winds and cross winds), Water (the need of it to prevent dehydration), Fire (the heat hampering the speed) and Space (the uncertain conditions) – all have presented Preeti and the team with their own set of challenges…. But Preeti has overcome them in her own exceptional way…
Preeti has been cycling continuously without any major breaks for rest… she took a lunch break on Day 11 and kept moving… night fell…around 10:30 pm, the Tamilnadu Police Patrolling van spotted her… like earlier times they too were pretty surprised at the fact that Preeti had taken up this expedition for spreading awareness about organ donation… they were speechless.
At 11 in the night, Preeti took a small nap and at 2 she was back on her cycle… The Rotary Club of Madurai (East) and the Rotary Club of Madurai (West) felicitated Preeti in the morning where she spoke about her vision behind the mission … This was her last major break … after 13 continuous hours of cycling, she had started to feel the exhaustion taking a toll but now she wasn’t ready to wait till she reached Kanyakumari… The team took all efforts to keep her well-hydrated… they kept giving her small portions of food so she wouldn’t feel drowsy after eating… Nowhere in the way did she ever complain of anything being impossible….
The team was making her take small breaks of 5 minutes after a certain distance was covered to make her feel less exhausted… The team was pushing her to complete the mission on the night of Day 12 itself… If they had rested for more time the sun (heat) in the morning would be hampering Preeti’s performance… she took a very small nap of 30 minutes around 11 in the night and she hopped back on the cycle….
In the next 4 hours and 30 minutes, the team took maximum efforts to keep Preeti going… At times even making her walk with her cycle for a few minutes… They ensured she kept moving ahead…!
In the 12 days of very long distance cycling, extreme temperatures ranging from -8 degrees to 35 degrees celsius, changing weather conditions, the ascend and descends of the terrain, knee pain, and many more challenges were faced by Preeti…. This mission is a very challenging one… and completing it in 12 days is a huge achievement in itself… yet Preeti’s feet are firmly on the ground… not even a small hint of ego for achieving the impossible… this is an extremely rare situation!
When as what were her feelings during the expedition .. did she feel exhausted… did she have any doubts about completing the mission…. To this she replied… the first 3 days were good in terms of covering maximum possible distance but the forth day was a challenge… she had covered very less distance than what was planned… that’s where she felt a bit of fear… and bit of tension… She left no stone unturned to ensure the successful completion of her mission inspite of multiple challenges that came her way…
To keep her morale high …. In the very last few kilometers of the expedition the team literally had to push Preeti to the finish line… extreme exhaustion was taking a toll on her…
The moment everyone was waiting for had now come….
Our star also had risen and was shining with the rising sun in the morning…..
If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride, and never quit, you’ll be a winner! The price of victory is high but so are the rewards. You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win!
Original Blog By : Kavita Pipada
English Translation By : Girija Shirurkar