Five years ago when Rajkumar Khot got himself a simple single gear bicycle to commute to office in Bengaluru never had he realized that this small shift to cycling will change his life and his lifestyle.
Rajkumar recently completed the first edition of “ISAN2020″ 2024 km long-distance endurance LRM cycling event organized by Audax Club Isan. Which he completed in 156 hours 25 minutes of the allotted 202 hours.
In the past 5 years, he has cycled across all the south Indian states, including the Indian coastal region and most part of India on cycle including the entire Western Ghats, Aravalli Hills and made cycling friends across India covering more than 65,000 km on Cycle till date.
He has completed 6 Super Randonneurs series (200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km is a Super Randonneur series), and four 1000 kilometers brevet rides, completed the 1,240 km prestigious International cycling event at France, Paris Brest Paris, PBP 2019 August. Completed the International Iron man 70.3, held at Goa.
Hailing from Malabad village in Athani Taluka, Rajkumar Khot finished his schooling in his village and then did his M Tech in Bengaluru and is currently working in Pune. He says that Cycling has changed his life for the good.
Speaking to AAB he said – Cycling is a stress buster for me, it has become a mode of transport, I stopped looking at it as a fitness activity, riding a bicycle is like meditating for me, it has become an integral part of my daily activities, after every ride, I feel cool, composed and disciplined, confident in whatever I do, this two wheels simple machine has become a real motivator to go early to bed and get up early in the morning and motivation to excel in professional work.
Before getting into cycling, I was very narrow-minded, lonely, bankrupt, unhealthy, unsatisfied with a regular job; there were hardly any hopes of achieving anything in life.
To be frank, I was not able to afford to sustain in Bangalore and to travel in BMTC every day (college-home-college).
By profession, I am an Engineer and on the personal front, I am a cyclist, fitness freak and adventurous guy. Driven by a passion to explore, a traveler, a friendly, simple and self-motivated person I enjoy cycling to new places and exploring different cultures. Reading, blogging, and photography are my hobbies, he adds.
He has been commuting on cycle most of the time and saved precious time personally converted several bikers or Car commuters into cyclists. Further sports and cycling is an opportunity to meet many like-minded people and share each other’s experiences.
Rajkumar said Being a vegetarian, he had the additional challenge of having to manage his food/nutrition as there was limited availability of vegetarian food on this route in Thailand. He had carried homemade food and ready to eat food like upma, poha from MTR for the duration of the ride to get through the challenge.
In the near future, he plans to participate in LEL, London Edinburgh London 1500Km cycling event, Trans Am Bike Race 6000km cycling event across America, Full Iron man Australia and many more international events.
On the ending note, Rajkumar said the worst place on earth is Hospital, the worst food we take is medicine. Let’s all take care of our health so that we suffer less in our day to day life and at old age. He who has health has hope and he who has hope, has everything. So, take care of your body, I am an independent, self-made and courageous person ambitious in personal and professional life, positive about every aspect of life.
