Kabir Rachure The Superman of Indian Cycling

An ultra cycling race that runs over 3,000 miles (4,828km), with a cutoff time of 12 days to get to the finish.

- Shail Desai

It means riding about 400 km on average each day, a constant battle between mind and body. That is RAAM, or Race Across America, which many consider among the toughest tests in the world for an athlete's capacity for endurance under normal weather conditions.

The race runs across the entire breadth of the continental US through four time zones - from Oceanside, a small town on the Pacific in California on the US west coast, to the docks overlooking the Atlantic in Annapolis, Maryland, on the country's east coast. Fatigue, sleep deprivation, extreme weather, and the steep ups and downs of the undulating inter-state highways are among the many factors that add to the level of difficulty the cyclists have to navigate in their quest to finish the race under the mandated time limit, which many of them don't, despite years of preparation.

This isn't a stage race like the Tour de France, where a cyclist can put his feet up at the end of the day. At RAAM, one sleeps only when required, eats when necessary, and takes a shower break if needed because the clock never stops ticking. Neither does the competition-every second counts.

It is not surprising, then, that RAAM has drawn only the grittiest of cyclists worldwide since it was first conceived in 1982. Each of them must have completed specially designated long-distance endurance qualifying races in their own country before being allowed to participate. Mumbai-based Kabir Rachure is the only Indian with the bragging rights of finishing it thrice, a rare feat even by global standards. And unlike most other international cyclists who attempt RAAM, he is not a professional athlete. He has a day job in the Bombay High Court as a lawyer.