Cyclist Amit Samarth creates world record by completing 1035-km distance from Delhi to Nagpur in 39 hours

Impossible is nothing for Dr Amit Samarth as the Nagpur cyclist created yet another record in long-distance cycling on Sunday.

Amit Samarth set a world record by cycling from India Gate, New Delhi to Zero Mile, Nagpur in 39 hours and 1 minute. Samarth completed the distance of 1035-km between the national capital and center of the country in a record time of under 40 hours.

Samarth is one of India's top cyclists and the Bicycle Mayor of Nagpur. He began his journey from India Gate at 1 am on Saturday. 40-year-old Samarth reached Zero Mile, Nagpur at 4.01 pm on Sunday to the applause of a big crowd. Samarth rode his cycle non-stop without a single-minute sleep during the course of his tough mission.

The World UltraCycling Association (WUCA) will officially declare the world record in a couple of weeks after going through all the details of the race. Three members of the WUCA were monitoring the ride throughout. They will submit their inputs to the world governing body of cycling.

I was planning to complete it in 36 hours but it took longer because of the tough route: Amit Samarth

It was almost non-stop cycling from Delhi to Nagpur without any sleep breaks for Samarth. He took breaks to change clothes or his cycle. He literally had food on the bike itself.

“When we planned the mission, I thought I would complete it within 36 hours. However, it took me 39 hours and 1 minute to reach the milestone. It was perhaps the toughest race I've had in my career so far. There were many challenges along the way. The condition of roads, traffic behavior of people on the road and different weather conditions made it really difficult for me. Unplanned breaks and some uncontrollable factors on the way also consumed a lot of time,” said Samarth.

Samarth used Scott Plasma 6 RC, one of the fastest and most technologically advanced cycles in India. It is a triathlon-specific bike and will ride with no breaks.

Samarth said the target was to finish the race as quickly as possible but without compromising the safety of the entire crew team.

Amit Samarth reached Zero Mile, Nagpur on Sunday evening to a warm applause from the crowd

“I never compromised on safety. In fact, safety was paramount for all of us. It was also important to follow all the traffic rules on the way. Every minute was crucial for us but not at the cost of breaking traffic rules or compromising on the safety factors. The weather was difficult as I went through a lot of changes along the way. When we started it was extremely cold in the night but during the day time it was pretty hot,” said Samarth.

The entire ride with Samarth was live tracked on www.amitsamarth.com. During this record-setting cycle ride, Team Amit Samarth managed to fund-raise nearly Rs 1 lakh for India Pedal Cycling City Nagpur Project. It aims to generate more money to create awareness about cycling in the region.

Teamwork and partnerships key to my success: Samarth

Indian Oil was the title sponsor for this India Gate, New Delhi to Zero Mile, Nagpur (1035-km) cycling record attempt. Samarth thanked the petroleum giant company for their support.

Amit was crewed and navigated by highly trained crew members including his wife Mukul Samarth. Milind Pariwakam was the chief of the dozen-member crew team. Other members include Sheetal Kolhe, Bhushan Deosarkar, Vivitt Walve, Adwait Yamsamwar, Rajasi Sengupta, Arushi Nayak, Sudhir Baldota, Bhavesh Patre, Vishwas Naitam and Dilip Warkad.

Samarth, thanking everyone for their support, said:

“I would like to thank all my sponsors and crew members for their help. It was a perfect example of team work. It shows that teamwork and partnerships are key to any success. I owe all my success to the dedicated and passionate crew team. The entire journey of 39 hours went in a flash. It was intense and challenging. Lots of planning and research went into the process to make it successful.”

He said the most difficult phase of the journey was a patch of around 120 kms in Madhya Pradesh near Seoni. He added:

“Lot of climbs and bad conditions of roads have made my task pretty difficult. There were three long ghats on the way which consumed a lot of time. That phase was so challenging that I thought about whether I would be completing the ride within a specified time of 40 hours. After overcoming that period, I increased the pace and managed to reach within stipulated time.”

Samarth planned well and one of the strategies was to complete the 300-km distance within 10 hours which he managed to do. Ride director was Jeetendra Nayak, who has been his crew chief in Race Across America, Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme and Ride Across India.

Samarth had created the World UltraCycling Record in February 2021. He cycled 6000-km on the Golden Quadrilateral Highway of India in 13 days, 9 hours.

Samarth is actively involved in promoting cycling on a day to day basis. He has trained hundreds of people for running marathons and doing cycling and ultra-cycling events successfully.

Samarth is the director of Miles N Milers Endurance Sports Academy. His academy is actively involved in training people for marathons, triathlons, cycling and ultra-cycling in Central India and across the country.