Indian Army’s Lieutenant Colonel Bharat Pannu created a Guinness World Record of the fastest cycle journey from Leh to Manali by covering the distance in 35 hours, 32 minutes and 22 seconds. Lt Col Bharat Pannu earned two world Guinness World Records for his fastest solo cycling. Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2019: Indian Army’s Col Sarfaraz Singh, Son of Olympic Hockey Legend Balbir Singh, Selected For Prestigious Award.
Lt Col Pannu created the first world record when he cycled from Leh to Manali on October 10, 2020, in just 35 hours and 25 minutes in October last year. Prior to his journey, he received training for 20 days. The Indian Army officer embarked on the journey on October 10, 2020. Colonel Ranveer Jamwal Scales Mount Vinson in Antarctica to Become First Army Officer to Climb Seven Highest Peaks Across All Continents.
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“This record has never been attempted earlier and I got a cut-off time of 40 hours to get into the record books. The terrain was unforgiving, 40% of roads in bad state and the low temperature at night tested our grit to reach the finish point within the cut-off,” the Indian Army officer said on his website. Major Vikas Shukla Creates History by Climbing Three Highest Peaks of South America – ‘The Triple Crown’.
He added, “It was very challenging to hold the handlebar straight due to the freezing temperatures and braking on the downhill sections was actually dicey. The route has 04 high altitude passes (Taglang La, Nakee La, Lachulung La and Baralacha La) highest being at the height of 17,480 feet and the cumulative elevation gain of 29,200 feet.” The Indian Army officer had to take the longer route via Rohtang Pass as the Guinness authorities had not permitted to take the newly constructed Atal Tunnel, which would have reduced the distance by 40 km.
Lt Col Pannu created a second record when he cycled the 5,942-km-long ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ route in 14 days, 23 hours and 52 minutes. The corridor connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The event started on 16 October 2020 from India Gate in New Delhi.
In July last year, the Indian Army officer finished third on the leaderboard at the first edition of the Virtual Race Across America (vRAAM) 2020. The RAAM is a 5000-kilometre transcontinental race from the West Coast to the East coast of the United States of America.
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