The blue mountains beckon cycling enthusiasts again as the 11th edition of the Tour of Nilgiris (TfN) gets all set to roll on December 9 from Mysuru. Over 110 intrepid riders from India and abroad will embark on a 950 km sojourn around the pristine Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve across the Western Ghats, winding through three states — Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. TfN 2018 has also seen a spike in foreign participation as 29 international riders — including six women — from 13 countries have entered the event this time.
Starting from Mysuru, the tour will travel through Hassan, Kushalanagar, Sultan Bathery, Udhagamandalam (Ooty), Kalpetta before returning to Mysuru for the finish on December 16. On the fourth day, en route from Sultan Bathery to Ooty, riders will climb the Kalhatti Ghat, a notoriously tough, steep sequence of hairpin bends.
The eight-day tour will take riders through breathtaking terrain, offering a myriad natural sightings across different topographies including coffee and tea plantations, three wildlife sanctuaries, and mountains. Cyclists will get to taste the unique regional cuisines each region has to offer and capture in their lens the beauty of the Nilgiris Biosphere as they pedal across the rolling terrain.
“The Tour of Nilgiris is all about experiencing nature on a bicycle,” says Deepak Majipatil, Co-Founder of the Ride a Cycle Foundation, which conducts the event. “Every edition of the TfN has etched a memory in the riders’ minds and they crave to come back to experience that joy again.” Majipatil is particularly pleased with the increase in the number of foreign riders. “There are seven cyclists from Denmark, four from the US, three each from Australia, Germany and the UK, two each from Belgium and Canada and one each from Austria, Greece, Malaysia, the Philippines and Poland.”
The list of renowned cyclists includes Kiran Kumar Raju, the current National MTB Champion, Naveen John, the current Indian road-racing champion, and Alexi Grewal, an Indian-American who became the first US rider to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling in 1984. There are also those riding for charity, for organisations such as the Kenneth Anderson Nature Society, the Sita Bhateja Speciality Hospital, the Iksha Foundation and the Vidyodaya School.
The tour offers every rider a unique challenge, and the chance to take his or her passion to a new level. Kiran Kumar Raju sums it up well. “The Tour of Nilgiris was a stepping stone to my cycling career. I began as a volunteer and later began taking part as a rider and I love coming back for the varied challenges and the unique and wonderful experience it offers.”