Bengaluru banker’s 4,000-km cycling endeavour to promote healthy living

BENGALURU: With an aim to spread awareness on healthy living, Bengaluru-based investment banker Sachin Deva is on a mission to cycle about 4,000 km from Khardung La pass in Ladakh to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

He arrived in Bengaluru on Thursday. Sachin was the vice-president at the investment bank Goldman Sachs in Bengaluru, until he quit his job last month to pursue this trip.About three years ago, he began to use a bicycle to commute to and fro from work  — even though the distance each way was 10 km.

Glad that he adopted this change, he now wants more people to follow. Another incentive for Sachin was the wish to leave behind a better world for the next generation, rising out of his love for his four-year-old daughter, who has her own bicycle. Sachin began his journey on September 7 from Khardung La pass — located at an elevation of 5,359 m.

The initial part of his journey involved riding in freezing temperatures and in an atmosphere of low oxygen content. “We experienced rainfall and even snowfall at one pass. But I continued to ride," he said. Sachin faced a different challenge as he got down to the plains from the mountains. “From minus 1 degree Celsius , the temperature was suddenly 44 degree Celsius,” he said.  

He said people’s reception upon hearing his initiative was positive across the country replete with memorable encounters. “At a village called Harrai in Madhya Pradesh, my bicycle broke down. To my pleasant surprise, the entire village turned up to help,” he said.

He said, “The idea is to spread the message that this is a healthy way to commute. If I can ride 4,000 km, I’m sure people can ride 10-15 km a day. Traffic already is the biggest problem in Bengaluru, and it is also best suited for the growth of the bicycle culture.” He added that if enough people adopt cycling, the government will be urged to create more infrastructure for cycling.

In this endeavour, Sachin was supported by Vivek Verma, his friend and a former Major in the Indian Army. "If you can change yourself then slowly a movement will begin and the administration will have to change,” he said.Part of the trip was sponsored by Yulu bikes. He now plans to reach Kanyakumari in two days, where his daughter will join him.