Completing 1200 kilometres of cycling in 88 hours of Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) Randonneur 2019, 33-year-old cyclist Ashutosh Vyas from Indore is the first person from Madhya Pradesh to complete the prestigious race held in Paris from Aug 18 to 22.
An equally popular cycling event as Tour De France is the Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) Randonneur that was started in 1891 (older than Tour de France). In this year’s edition, over 300 riders from India participated, and three of them were from Indore.
To qualify for the event, riders have to complete a series of brevet rides, organised across the world under the regulations of Audax Club Parisien, the organisers of PBP. Brevets are long distance cycling events starting from 200 km onwards, with time limits
Vyas, Dr Raju Keswani, Manish Jain, and Manoj Mishra had qualified in the event. Keswani and Jain participated in the event, but could not finish the event and were eliminated.
Vyas is the only rider from Indore, who has completed the event from the state. “The route had significant increase in elevation and drop. The total elevation is about 11,566 m, well above Mount Everest,” he shared.
Vyas, a businessman by profession, found his passion in cycling for fitness and environment with Indore Super Charger group in Indore.
During the event, he had to face extreme change in temperatures and challenges. “I had my phone with me, and I was regularly motivated by group members and received their blessings, which helped me in pedalling on,” Vyas shared.
Participants are expected to complete 1,200 kilometres within limit of 90 hours, which requires riders to have an overall speed of 13.3 kilometres per hour. “I had an overall speed of 13.7 kilometres per hour, which is fairly good, so I completed the event about 1.5 hour earlier than the limit,” Vyas said.
He completed the event in 88 hours, 28 minutes and 20 seconds. “One of the biggest challenges other than the altitude is the changing weather condition, as the day temperature was over 30 degree Celsius and night temperature hovered around 3 degree Celsius,” Vyas said.
Further, participants as in all brevet events, had to work on self-sufficiency. “We could buy supplies anywhere along the course, but support by motorized vehicles is prohibited except at checkpoints, where I had some preparation by previous brevets in Indore,” Vyas said.
Celebrating his success in the city as the success of Indore, cyclists in the city prepared special graphics and e-greetings for him.
An equally popular cycling event as Tour De France is the Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) Randonneur that was started in 1891 (older than Tour de France). In this year’s edition, over 300 riders from India participated, and three of them were from Indore.
To qualify for the event, riders have to complete a series of brevet rides, organised across the world under the regulations of Audax Club Parisien, the organisers of PBP. Brevets are long distance cycling events starting from 200 km onwards, with time limits
Vyas, Dr Raju Keswani, Manish Jain, and Manoj Mishra had qualified in the event. Keswani and Jain participated in the event, but could not finish the event and were eliminated.
Vyas is the only rider from Indore, who has completed the event from the state. “The route had significant increase in elevation and drop. The total elevation is about 11,566 m, well above Mount Everest,” he shared.
Vyas, a businessman by profession, found his passion in cycling for fitness and environment with Indore Super Charger group in Indore.
During the event, he had to face extreme change in temperatures and challenges. “I had my phone with me, and I was regularly motivated by group members and received their blessings, which helped me in pedalling on,” Vyas shared.
Participants are expected to complete 1,200 kilometres within limit of 90 hours, which requires riders to have an overall speed of 13.3 kilometres per hour. “I had an overall speed of 13.7 kilometres per hour, which is fairly good, so I completed the event about 1.5 hour earlier than the limit,” Vyas said.
He completed the event in 88 hours, 28 minutes and 20 seconds. “One of the biggest challenges other than the altitude is the changing weather condition, as the day temperature was over 30 degree Celsius and night temperature hovered around 3 degree Celsius,” Vyas said.
Further, participants as in all brevet events, had to work on self-sufficiency. “We could buy supplies anywhere along the course, but support by motorized vehicles is prohibited except at checkpoints, where I had some preparation by previous brevets in Indore,” Vyas said.
Celebrating his success in the city as the success of Indore, cyclists in the city prepared special graphics and e-greetings for him.