John Gwite's Long Ride to the Finish Line

John Gwite came fifth in the Race Around Poland, the fastest time recorded by an Indian rider

- Shail Desai

At the peak of the pandemic, John Gwite discovered the joy of riding a bicycle. Short rides around his neighborhood in Delhi kept his mind fresh. A few weeks later, he hit the highway towards Dehradun and once he was back home, he realised he had pedalled 250km, solo and self-supported.

"I really enjoyed the freedom, the freshness of the outdoors each time I sat in the saddle. I was hooked on long distances," Gwite, 48, says.

That journey culminated in his longest ride in June—the Race Around Poland, a 3,600km course with a staggering elevation gain of 33,000 metres that runs through the wilderness of the Tatra Mountains. Gwite, who moved from Manipur to Delhi two decades ago, finished fifth in the men's under-50 category in a time of 9 days, 21 hours, the fastest time recorded by an Indian rider.

"The main target was to finish and then if I could push, I wanted to do it in 10 days. I could have been a lot faster, but I'm quite satisfied given the problems I encountered," he says.

Building on the distance was a gradual process for Gwite. Though riding solo was what he enjoys most, he became a familiar face during the brevets organised by Delhi Randonneurs, starting out with his first 300km ride in November 2020 and pushing it to 1,200km over the next year and a half. In 2022, he finished the London-Edinburgh-London (1,500km) ride and the following year, the Paris-Brest-Paris (1,200km) event.