• Ultra cycling: Kol professor pedals 3,700km in 21 days
    Times of India | 16 October 2025
  • Kolkata: Abhishek Tunga, an ultra-marathon runner and a professor from Kolkata, completed a 3,700 km trans-Himalayan journey on a cycle from Ladakh to Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh.



    The expedition, monitored each day by the World Ultra Cycling Association (WUCA), concluded on Monday night when Tunga pushed the last pedal at General Bipin Rawat Dwar in Arunachal Pradesh.

    The entire journey—kicked off on Sept 23 from Leh— took 20 days and 17 hours as he gained an elevation of 17,056 meters. "I never regretted my first pedal and will never forget the last one," Tunga said over the phone. "The 430 km stretch from Leh to Manali is daunting as the oxygen level is low.

    While I moved, I crossed Rohtang La Pass, Baralacha La Pass, and Lunglacha Pass. It was difficult to maintain the speed on the cycle," he recounted.

    He decided to cycle during the night while he slept during the daytime due to heat in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. From Uttar Pradesh, he crossed the border near Nepal. "In Nepal, it started to rain. I entered Bengal and was supposed to move towards Assam via Sevoke Road. But roads in North Bengal were flooded and I had to take a detour," Tunga said.

    In Arunachal Pradesh, Tunga had to negotiate a very steep climb.

    In Lucknow, the cycle broke down, and he spent the entire night repairing it. "When I was in Tinsukia, I had to be hospitalised," he said. Each day, he sent photos of locations with time and date stamps to WUCA. "There was a handset being tracked through an application," Tunga said.
  • Link to this news (Times of India)