Army officer, fellow set record by pedalling across Himalayas

BY VISHAL GULATI Manali, Nov 1 : An Indian Army officer and his fellow have made their way into the Guinness World Records by covering the arduous 427-km long rugged and inhospitable terrains of Himalayas from Leh to Manali by paddling on their cycles by braving harsh climatic conditions with snowfall, extremely low oxygen and temperature.
They are Col. Vishal Ahlawat and Sepoy Ravi Kumar of the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME Corps) who made a world record by covering this stretch in record 31 hours and 45 minutes on one of the toughest mountain bike expeditions in the world.
The challenge was to finish the expedition in 40 hours to make it into the Guinness World Records.
After crossing three high mountain passes in the cold deserts of Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir — Tanglangla Pass (17,480 ft), Lachungla Pass (16,620 ft) and Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) — they reached the picturesque resort of Manali on October 31 at 11.15 p.m.
The duo started their journey from Leh at 3.30 p.m. on October 30. They were riding Trek Sports V bikes.
They avoided the Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) and used the 9.2-km-long Atal Tunnel, beneath the majestic pass, to reach here.