HE PEDALLED for 1300 kms to Prayagraj and back to Nagpur in three-and-a-half days. The holy trip cost him just Rs 4,000! Dr Amit Samarth, world renowned ultracyclist from Nagpur, achieved a rare feat after he took the holy dip at Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and savoured memories which would remain with him forever. “I wanted to be there to experience this once in a lifetime moment and decided to do a solo trip to Prayagraj on bicycle. It was a memorable trip,” said Dr Samarth after returning back to Nagpur, a few day ago. Dr Samarth rode through Kamptee and then straight towards Lakhnadon. He moved slowly as he was carrying more than 10 kgs extra luggage weight on his cycle. “My average speed was of around 23 to 24 kmph.

 

I have done more distances than this multiple times but this was different (650 kms to Prayagraj).” Dr Samarth savoured the entire journey and called it as a celebration of humanity. “It was celebration of humanity on the roads with hundreds of people moving towards Prayagraj to celebrate Kumbh Mela. It was unbelievable to see such a huge crowd moving together towards Prayagraj from hundreds of kilometres. Just ocean of humanity moving towards Kumbh,” Dr Samarth narrated. With few breaks in his journey, Dr Samarth faced a few problems like his cycle got punctured near Rewa. “From Maihar, I had another 200 kms to reach Kumbh and after crossing Rewa bypass, my cycle got punctured. I had breakfast and then repaired the puncture and moved ahead. Around 20 kms before the destination there was huge traffic pile up. But being on the cycle helped me to get through the traffic. I was able to navigate through small gaps in between different vehicles, although it still took some 1.5 hrs to cover the last 15 km distance. I reached Kumbh on February 15 at around 3 PM,” he said.

 

“I took my cycle all the way to the ‘sangam’ and did my holy dip and offered prayers. Same day at 9 pm I started my return journey to Nagpur. “I had made a promise to complete full pradakshina of devotion. So, I started back and covered some 25 kms towards Rewa, had dinner and took a home stay for 4 to 5 hours. I slept at around 11 PM and got up 3.30 AM on Feb 16 and started again my journey towards Nagpur with around some 625 km left to cover. My target for the day was to reach Jabalpur by night, which was some 350 km away,” Dr Samarth narrated how he planned his return journey. “I covered the hilly terrain from Jabalpur to Lakhnadon and reached there at 5.30 AM. I passed through Seoni at around 9 AM and then reached Khawasa where I had breakfast and started for Nagpur.

 

I reached Kamptee and my cycle got punctured again just 15 km away from the city. It tested my patience, I repaired the puncture and progressed towards Zero Mile of Nagpur where my family members were waiting for me. “Finally I reached Zero Mile at around 3 PM on Feb 17 completing my memorable journey in 3.5 days. The total amount of money spent was only around Rs 4000 in entire trip. The experience was mind blowing,” Dr Samarth concluded.