The Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) a 1,200 km cycling event, to be completed in 90 hours, is a test of many things: a rider’s ability to pace himself, his physical readiness, mental strength, and planning. Karthik Prakash, along with about 40 others from India, finished this year (official data is still awaited on numbers). To qualify, riders should have completed a Super Randonneur brevet series (200 km, 300 km, 400 km, and 600 km in a year).
In 2014, Karthik took to bicycling after a friend from school, Amandeep Singh, got him on a bike. “He was doing 60 km, when I was struggling to do 5,” says Karthik, who started with the aim of weight-loss. He soon felt the tug of competitiveness and joined the Delhi Cyclists club, an informal group of cycling enthusiasts that does rides both within and out of the city. After his first 200 km, from Delhi to Panipat and back, the club celebrated. “They encourage you, and celebrate every small victory.” The 27-year-old began to dream of a ‘big’ challenge the next year, first attempting the Race Across America (RAAM) qualifier and then the London-Edinburgh-London (LEL) — 1,400 km with an elevation of 11,128m. He didn’t complete the first, and though he managed the second, it wasn’t within the 117-hour cut-off time. In between, he participated in Desert 500, from Jodhpur to Pokhran and back, with a podium finish.
“But I learnt from both,” he says, of the sleep and nutrition-deprivation challenges, and tackling the weather and the incline. “For LEL I was better prepared physically, but for the PBP, I was more strategically prepared.” He cites the example of the time spent at time stations, where participants come to log in. “You can end up wasting an hour, if you decide to eat there or go to the loo.” Instead, he carried enough nutrition and was happy with food handed out to him by the residents of villages between the two cities. “I memorised the layout of time stations, and did a visual recce of the event, because once you’re riding, you’re not mentally stable — you may be going without sleep for many hours.” He’d take a nap of two hours after every 400 km and power naps of 10-15 minutes at night.
His other realisation from previous attempts was about equipment and riding gear, which he says are all-important in an ultra ride (anything over 200 km). “You need speed and comfort, both. You’re riding in 5°C, with headwinds and some sunny days, so you need to have a good windcheater, not heavy sweaters. Plus, you need a bike that reduces vibrations from the cobbled roads,” he says, adding that by the end of the event people have numb hands and feet — he just had mildly numb fingers.
It’s apt that he’s ‘selling’ a good bike — Karthik is the area sales manager for Trek, the 43-year-old luxury cycle-maker that entered India in 2017.
To get his body in the zone, he did rides from Delhi to Dalhousie and back, and Delhi to Jammu and back, besides hill training rides on the Dehra Dun-Missourie stretch in the month preceding the event, so his muscles would pick up the cue. He went off sugar and oily food to bring down his weight. He also avoided caffeine, so that when he used it during the event, it’d have a greater effect.
His next goal: to finish the Alpi 4000 — cycling 4,000 km across different terrain, starting in Italy in 2021. And some day soon, the RAAM.
