All About Grit

What does it take to cycle for 1,000 kms, non-stop, for 41 hours? Amit Samarth, one of India's best ultra-cyclists, shares his gruelling Chennai-Nagpur non-stop ride, and surviving on 50 bars of chocolates, 25 sandwiches, and litres of vanilla ice cream, all on the move

- Murali k Menon

On March 17 this year, Dr Amit Samarth cycled from Marina Beach in Chennai to Zero Mile, Nagpur. He rode non-stop (barring a few breaks to change his riding gear), completing the 1,131km ride in 41.46 hours. The 42-year-old, who is a public health professional with a Masters from Johns Hopkins School of Public, Baltimore, pedaled mostly along the country's eastern coast, passing through the towns of Nellore and Ongole in Andhra Pradesh, before advancing into the arid Deccan plateau, through Miryalaguda and Hyderabad to Adilabad, and then to Nagpur.

Samarth, who averaged 27kph during the ride, describes it as one of the toughest he's ever attempted. Coming from a man who has, among others, finished the 5,000-km Race Across America (in 2017 he became the first Indian to finish the race) and 9,100-km Trans-Siberian Extreme under his belt, that is saying something. The Chennai to Nagpur ride is the second in a series of World UltraCycling record-setting, city-to-city rides that Samarth is aiming for. In February last year, he rode non-stop from Delhi to Nagpur and in September, he set another world record by riding the Golden Quadrilateral in about 13 days.