Ponkunnam: Pedaling more than 47 km a day for 89 days sounds like a freakish idea. But when one gets down to doing it, it is a formidable challenge that needs not just endurance but also deep-rooted inspiration.
Four college youths from Kerala found out what it takes to complete such an ardous task when they decided to cycle from the backwaters of Kerala to the Indus river valley in Jammu & Kashmir.
Inspired by photography and adventure, four undergraduate students of St. Joseph's College of Communication in Changanassery, Kottayam, -- Suryanarayanan and Jerin from Ponkunnam and Anto P. Devasya and Jinu Thomas from Alleppey -- crisscrossed 15 states in their journey from Alleppey in Kerala to Khardung La, the highest motorable road in the world which is 18,380 ft above sea level, covering 4,200 km in 89 days.
Enroute, they camped in tents on roadside. But setbacks were in store. Suryanarayan's cycle was hit by a vehicle at Panipat, Haryana.
He injured his leg and was admitted to a hospital. Like true friends, Jerin and Anto stayed back with him while Jinu set out to complete the task.
Jinu found help from his friends Arjun who joined from Kerala after hearing about the news and Babusagar from Manali.
After three weeks in hospital, Suryanarayan was back in shape to complete the journey, which he did with Jerin and Anto. All of them returned home by train.
