London-Edinburgh ride gives 53-yr-old CA new fitness goals – Times of India

While freedom and fellowship are the biggest takeaways of cycling, seasoned biker Raghvendra Jhala found himself setting new fitness goals after an “unforgettable” biking expedition from London to Edinburgh in 2017. An elderly woman rode alongside Jhala for nearly 30 minutes. “I thought she was tired and looking for some company. So I slowed down to match her pace. Half an hour later, she looked at me and said, ‘I think you are okay now’, and sped away,” the seasoned biker said, recalling the “eye-opening” experience at London-Edinburgh-London BRM.

“It was then that I realized she was the ne keeping me company because I looked weary. The way she sped off gave me a complex and I realized how fit senior bikers were,” said Jhala. tered accountant’s first international tour and the experience changed his perspective towards fitness and encouraged him to participate in more rigorous sporting events.

“The 1,400-km ride was tough as there was a lot of climbing and even the weather was wet. But during the race, I learned that global fitness standards are quite high and even elderly sportspersons are focused on keeping themselves fit,” Jhala, 53, told TOI.

That realization pushed him to test the limits of his endurance and he began participating in Ironman triathlons.

Recently, Jhala completed Ultraman, one of the world’s toughest triathlons, in Australia.
“It’s a three-day event where the participant has to swim 10km, cycle 145km in 12 hours on the first day and 280km on the second, and run 84.30km in a double marathon on the third day. I completed the challenge,” said Jhala.

He still can’t believe that what started 12 years ago as a leisure activity with his NRI friends in Vadodara is now something he cannot do without.

“We used to ride 15km ini tially. I loved the activity and gradually started riding long distances before participating in professional events,” Jhala said.

He clocked 150km in Rajasthan in 2014, 1,000km in a Vadodara-Dwarka-Vadodara event, 1,200km in a VadodaraJodhpur-Vadodara event and 1,000km in Pune-Bengaluru race.

—Text by Tushar Tere