KOCHI: On most mornings when Haseeb Ahsan steps out of his house in Indira Nagar in Bengaluru at 9am, he would pull out a Bergamont Grandurance 6 cycle. He used to travel to the Amazon office at Yeshwantpur, a distance of 15 km by metro. But lately, he prefers the bicycle. One day, his neighbour asked him about the change.
“I am training,” said Haseeb. “I will be going on an eight-country, 10,000km journey for eight months, with two of my friends. We aim to reach the Olympics Village in Tokyo.”
Apart from cycling, Haseeb wakes up at dawn and goes for long-distance runs, and hits the gym during evenings. His colleagues, Kochi-based Clifin Francis who works as a teacher, and Mumbai-based Dona Jacob, who is employed in the IT industry, are training as well.
Both Dona and Clifin have done long-distance cycle rides earlier. In 2015, Clifin hitchhiked across Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Last year, he rode from Dubai to Moscow, to attend the football World Cup. It was during this trip that he met Haseeb, who had come to watch the tournament from Bengaluru.
As for Dona, she is stationed as the technical head of a leading Indian software company in Mexico. She has backpacked across Mexico and Guatemala and cycled 1000 km around Cuba.
For Haseeb, this is his maiden adventure. “In life, there is always a first time. I am going on this journey because I want to take a break. I am taking this time to contemplate my priorities, maybe a change in career. I have an MBA but I like writing. In short, I want to clear my head.” he says with a smile.
Clifin and Dona plan on starting from Kochi on December 15 and will travel through Bengaluru, Vishakapatnam, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China and finally reach Japan. Haseeb will join them a month later.
“We are planning to ride around 100 km every day. Three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. After a day of cycling, we will take a day off and visit popular spots.”,” says Clifin.
During their journey, they will gather wishes for the Indian Olympics team. “We are carrying an Olympic poster signed by people we meet along the way, from multiple countries. When we reach Tokyo we would like to hand it over to the Indian team,” says Dona. The Olympics will be held between July 24 and August 9 2020.
The trio will also be holding a photo exhibition in Tokyo with pictures and videos from their trip.
Regular updates of their adventure will also be available on their Instagram handle, @snails.on.wheels.
The trio will also work with NGOs to give talks on mental health, the importance of gender equality, women’s empowerment, and the importance of girls’ education in rural India. Other subjects include breast cancer and the need for regular check-ups.
The team is expecting a mix of sunny, humid and rainy weather along the way and hot summer in Japan.
For Haseeb, this journey is also a way to revive his passion for physical activities. “I was an athlete as well as the captain of my college football team in Kochi. I gave up everything in the past few years. That is something which happens to us Indians, we tend to drop physical activities altogether. I want to urge people to restart regular exercises, as it is closely connected to our mental make-up. It relaxes and calms the mind, helping us perform better,” he adds.