Naima Madlen Diesner and Laxmi Magar had crossed their teens when they began riding cycles at racing championships, but their sporting career has since risen by leaps and bounds. On Saturday, the two professional bikers were in a rugged belt of Kerala to prove their mettle yet again at an international event.
The cyclists from Germany and Nepal find the wintry weather pleasant at the venue of MTB (Mountain Bike) Kerala that is hosting its sixth edition in Wayanad district along the Western Ghats. Though the conditions are sunny and breezy, the racers say the track along the Priyadarshini Tea Environs is challenging.
“There is a stretch of more than one km where the climb is really steep,” notes 31-year-old Laxmi, ahead of the MTB race on Sunday. “I biked around yesterday. Great ride, nonetheless tough in certain stretches.” Naima, a 29-year-old medical practitioner in Gottingen of scenic Lower Saxony district, says “The ground here in Wayanad is dry and strewn with loose stones. There are ups, downs and curves. One has to be really careful while speeding up and negotiating turns.”
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MTB Kerala, where the participants take a specified number of rounds along a 4.8-km track criss-crossing rolling tea gardens, is the country’s pioneering cycling event. Listed under the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), the apex organization for cycling bodies the world over, the 6th edition is being organised by the Department of Tourism.