Jaipur granny excels in 1,540km UK cycle race

JAIPUR: She is 57, but she pedals with the steely enthusiasm of a teenager. Renu Singhi became the first ever Indian woman to complete the gruelling, 1,540km 'London-Edinburg-London' (LEL) cycle race in the UK within the designated time earlier this month.
A time limit of 128 hours was fixed for LEL, considered one of the most challenging cycling events in the world. Singhi completed the race, in which nearly 1,900 cyclists from across the world participated, in 124 hours and 32 minutes, adding one more feather to her impressive cycling crown and proving yet again that age is just a number.
Singhi's love story with the handle and pedals is barely six years old. "When I went to buy a bicycle for my grandson some day in 2016 or 2017, something inside me cajoled me to purchase one for myself. Being a woman from a traditional Marwari family, taking up an outdoor activity like bicycling and that too at this age was not easy for me. But my husband Shashikant Singhi and sons Rahul and Mayank helped me turn a normal activity into a passion," said an elated Singhi at her home in Jaipur.
"I wanted to break the glass ceiling and to show that age and family must not come in the way when a woman works hard to live her passion. If just ten women can take inspiration from my passion and success, I shall feel my purpose has been achieved," added Singhi.
In LEL, held between August 7 and 12, India had the highest participation, of 172 participants, after Britain. The participants had to reach London after cycling 1,550 km across the United Kingdom, starting from the capital of England, through Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland," said Singhi.
Her long list of achievements in the past six years includes achieving the status of Super Randonneuer (SR) five times by cycling continuously for 600 km (100km, 200 km and 300km). In the international cycling ride 'Paris-Brest-Paris' held in Paris in August 2019, she cycled 1,220 km in 92 hours. She also cycled for about 420 km from Srinagar to Leh in October 2021.