Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club Completes Himalayan Adventure

Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club Completes Himalayan Adventure

Bhubaneswar Cycling and Adventure Club (BCAC), a team of 20 members led by police officer Sanjeeb Panda, recently completed a gruelling cycling adventure covering one of the toughest terrains on the route of Manali-Leh-Khardung La (MLK).

The cyclists, who started from Manali on August 8, went through six high-altitude passes during their travel of 550 km in the Himalayas — Rohtang Pass (13, 050 ft), Baralacha La Pass (16,150 ft), Nakeela Pass (15,547 ft), Lachung La Pass (16,616 ft), Tanglang La Pass (17,582 ft) and Khardung La Pass (17,982 ft).

On August 17, the cyclists pushed for the ultimate adventure of reaching the top of Khardung La – highest pass of the expedition and successfully conquered it.

During their journey, the BCAC team promoted Peace and Friendship along with a pressing concern — #Only_One_Earth. The cyclists unfurled the national tricolour on August 15 on Tanglang La (17,582 ft) and recited the national anthem with visitors on the pass.

It was a very challenging expedition as the roads were challenging with continuous elevation profiles, a mix of tarmac as well as glacier-fed kutcha stretches. At times, team members had to carry their bicycles on their shoulders to cross the washed-away roads due to intermittent landslides and mudslides.

The cyclists faced three seasons on a single day — hit with hail storms and severe cold waves at one stage, then rains and even highly UV-affected heat. In the uninhabited cold desert, the cyclists stayed in self-pitched tents with no electricity or phone.

“As a citizen of the state and a stakeholder transforming Odisha, it’s a matter of immense pleasure to popularise cycling in the state through this adventure cycling in the Himalayas,” said IPS Sanjeeb Panda, President of BCAC and the expedition team leader.

The successful BCAC team:

Sanjeeb Panda, Ajay Nanda, Sibasis Mohanty, Gangadhar Nayak, Srinivas Sahu, Bibhu Prasad Kar, Manoj Kumar Prusty, Manas Ranjan Gauda, Udaynath Mahakud, Harish Chandra, Siba Sankar Senapati, Dr. Akshay Kumar Sahu, Dr. Ranjan Pattnaik, Ranjit Kumar

Sahoo, Pravasa Ranjan Chinara, Ramesh Kumar Sahu, Kumar Devadutta, Akshaypadma Mohapatra, Sandeep Das, and Santosh Kumar Rout participated in this Cycling Adventure of BCAC in the 3rd edition of MLK in 2022.