 "Mountain riders")
Devendar Thakur doesn't quite know at what stage cycling, which was an intrinsic part of his daily routine, turned into a passion. "I used to ride quite a distance through mountainous stretches to play basketball," says the 22-year-old from Pangi, a remote, tribal area in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.
Like him, Shiven Sharma, a shy lad from Lahaul Spiti, would cycle long distances in the Himalayas, often racing downhill.
This experience of riding across the mountains has led them to become the first Indian cyclists to participate in the tough TransAlp Mountain Terrain Biking challenge, the oldest such event in the world. The race, to be held between July 17 and 23, will be divided into seven stages and will take 600 teams of two riders each across four countries, covering a distance of over 520 km and touching an altitude of 17,736 metres.
"Most of the race takes place in the Austrian backcountry where the terrain varies from dirt track to single track, which is in some ways similar to that of the Himalayas," says Mohit Sood, founder and director, Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association, or HASTPA, which has been training the duo in Shimla for the race.
Sood first came across Thakur and Sharma at the Hero MTB Himalaya Race and MTB Shimla Race, two mountain biking events that HASTPA has been organising for the past several years. After observing their cycling prowess, Sood, in collaboration with Hero Cycles, decided to form the Hero Action team in 2012 with them and three other proficient mountain bikers. The idea was to train them for world-class events. "We tested the team when deciding who to send for the TransAlp MTB, and these two had the best timings," says Sood.
Special emphasis was given to developing extra core and upper-body strength, agility, endurance and mental strength. Special UT Pro Series bikes, with carbon frames, were imported for the race. "We have also tied up with a studio in Germany to help us with the simulation of cycles and body profiles. This will help us make subtle changes to the body of the bike," explains Sood.
"It's going to be tough competing against more than 1,000 riders from across the world, out of which at least half are professionals or serious amateurs," says Sharma.
Both the mountain bikers feel that they have come a long way since their childhood jaunts around the Himalayas. "Back then, I didn't even know that there was a formal sport discipline called mountain biking," says Thakur.
Now they wish to upgrade their status from amateurs to professional mountain bikers. Thakur has his sights set on the 2017 Asian championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. "There are many categories of mountain biking - trail riding, mountain downhill, freeride, dirt jumping and more - but my style is cross-country and I will focus on that," he says.
His ambition to tackle international races is shared by Sharma. "Even though I am studying mechanical engineering at Kurukshetra (Haryana), I would like to take up the sport professionally," says the 21-year-old.
He doesn't compromise on his training schedule even when he is away from the HASTPA training camps. "I ride for 15 to 18 hours a week, hit the gym once or twice to build core muscle strength and go for a run," he says.
The two hope to learn as much as possible from other bikers during the TransAlp challenge and use those insights while preparing for other events.
Like him, Shiven Sharma, a shy lad from Lahaul Spiti, would cycle long distances in the Himalayas, often racing downhill.
This experience of riding across the mountains has led them to become the first Indian cyclists to participate in the tough TransAlp Mountain Terrain Biking challenge, the oldest such event in the world. The race, to be held between July 17 and 23, will be divided into seven stages and will take 600 teams of two riders each across four countries, covering a distance of over 520 km and touching an altitude of 17,736 metres.
"Most of the race takes place in the Austrian backcountry where the terrain varies from dirt track to single track, which is in some ways similar to that of the Himalayas," says Mohit Sood, founder and director, Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association, or HASTPA, which has been training the duo in Shimla for the race.
Sood first came across Thakur and Sharma at the Hero MTB Himalaya Race and MTB Shimla Race, two mountain biking events that HASTPA has been organising for the past several years. After observing their cycling prowess, Sood, in collaboration with Hero Cycles, decided to form the Hero Action team in 2012 with them and three other proficient mountain bikers. The idea was to train them for world-class events. "We tested the team when deciding who to send for the TransAlp MTB, and these two had the best timings," says Sood.
Special emphasis was given to developing extra core and upper-body strength, agility, endurance and mental strength. Special UT Pro Series bikes, with carbon frames, were imported for the race. "We have also tied up with a studio in Germany to help us with the simulation of cycles and body profiles. This will help us make subtle changes to the body of the bike," explains Sood.
"It's going to be tough competing against more than 1,000 riders from across the world, out of which at least half are professionals or serious amateurs," says Sharma.
Both the mountain bikers feel that they have come a long way since their childhood jaunts around the Himalayas. "Back then, I didn't even know that there was a formal sport discipline called mountain biking," says Thakur.
Now they wish to upgrade their status from amateurs to professional mountain bikers. Thakur has his sights set on the 2017 Asian championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. "There are many categories of mountain biking - trail riding, mountain downhill, freeride, dirt jumping and more - but my style is cross-country and I will focus on that," he says.
His ambition to tackle international races is shared by Sharma. "Even though I am studying mechanical engineering at Kurukshetra (Haryana), I would like to take up the sport professionally," says the 21-year-old.
He doesn't compromise on his training schedule even when he is away from the HASTPA training camps. "I ride for 15 to 18 hours a week, hit the gym once or twice to build core muscle strength and go for a run," he says.
The two hope to learn as much as possible from other bikers during the TransAlp challenge and use those insights while preparing for other events.