Pune: Unstoppable retirees, aged 53 to 79, cycle 3,444 km across 8 states in 30 days

The youngest in the group was Monish Chakraborty (53) while the oldest was Adv Gautam Bhinganiya (79). The other team members were Sanjay Katti (67), Mukund Chiplunkar (71) and Shankar Kengar (65), who retired as a superintendent of police, his last posting being at Sambhajinagar.

Bhinganiya, who retired as a food scientist with the Maharashtra government, took to cycling seven years ago. While yoga was his go-to exercise initially after retirement, he began cycling short distances of 2-5 km when he found his granddaughter’s bicycle lying unused in the house. However, on joining the Young Seniors group which conducts daily rides across the city, he began doing longer and adventurous rides like the recent expedition.

Chiplunkar, an IITian who retired as a chemical engineer, says his reason for taking up cycling was to stay fit and be an asset to society.

Talking about the expedition, he explained that the group set off without even a support vehicle. “We would travel light with our luggage kept on the panniers of the bicycle, stay in hotels close to the main roads and take a break every hour. We would have lunch only after cycling 100 kilometres,” he said.

Chiplunkar says the expedition passed off without any untoward incident. “In fact, we were overwhelmed by the kindness and support offered by people all along the route. The high point of our trip was our participation in the Dev Deepavali celebrations in Varanasi on November 15,” he says.

Starting from India Gate in Delhi, the cyclists traversed through some of the country’s most historic and culturally rich regions as they covered Mathura, Agra, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, Durgapur, Kolkata, Sambalpur, Raipur, Bhilai, Nagpur and Sambhajinagar.

Katti, who conceptualised the ride, believes that these endurance trips are all about pushing boundaries and inspiring others to live healthy. A former deputy general manager at Mercedes Benz, he says the Young Seniors group, which was started around 12 years ago, goes on daily morning rides of 40-50 km.

“We have around 80 members in the group, including women. On an average day, 15-20 members participate in the rides. Our long expeditions in the past have been Kolkata-Kanyakumari (3,000 km), India from west to east (3,870 km) and Kashmir-Kanyakumari (3,930 km),” he said.