Ehsan Fazili/Srinagar

Adil Teli who has become the proud holder of World record of the “fastest Kashmir to Kanyakumari cycling Journey” said the journey wasn’t easy and but for his mother’s pep talk over phone he had thought of quitting it on the seventh day.

Adil Teli, 23-year-old youth from Narbal, Budgam, central Kashmir, had embarked on a Kashmir to Kanyakumari journey on his bicycle in eight days, covering a distance of 3,600 kilometres to set the Guinness Book of World Record.

He admitted on the 7th day of his journey, he had thoughts of quitting. “After the extreme pain due to swollen knees, I had thoughts of quitting but I talked to my mother who motivated me to continue and at last I beat the Guinness world record”, Adil says.

Today he is one as “the fastest Kashmir to Kanyakumari journey on cycle” record holder.

Adil, who started his journey from Lal Chowk at 7:30 am on March 22 after being flagged off by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir Pandurang K Pole, hit the target on the eighth day plus 1 hour and 39 minutes on March 30.

Speaking about his achievement, Adil said that it was not an easy task and involved a lot of training. He also faced several health issues making, at times, difficult for him to continue. "On March 22, I started my journey of dreams. That day it was raining all day from Srinagar up to Punjab and that made my journey very difficult,” an emotional Adil said.

The Citation by the Guiness Book of World Records

The young Cyclist faced several health issues during the entire journey but his determination made it easier for him. “I faced several issues during this travel. After the 7th day of my journey, my body started showing signs of weakness. My knees started to swell with extreme pain making it difficult to pedal but I only kept the goal of beating the Guinness world record in my mind,” Adil said.

The Cyclist praised the J&K Administration for their timely support for embarking on this prestigious journey. “I am grateful to the J & K Administration for their timely support, especially the divisional commissioner, Kashmir, who arranged to let him travel through the then under construction Banihal-Qazigund Tunnel for this journey.”

He adds that the administration also provided him help on the risky and landslide prone areas of Srinagar-Jammu highway during the trip. 

Speaking about how cycling became his passion, Adil said, "From 2014, I had been representing Jammu and Kashmir at the national level championships and this amplified my interest in cycling”, Aadil says. He adds that the 2019 cycling expedition from Srinagar to Leh made him passionate about cycling. Somewhere down the journey it felt motivated to try more in cycling.

On his preparation for the journey, the young cyclist says that the Srinagar-Leh cycling expedition motivated him that he can beat the Guinness Book of World Record for the fastest Kashmir to Kanyakumari journey on cycle. “The Srinagar-Leh cycling journey changed my way of cycling and I got more passionate about this sport. It motivated me to beat the Guinness World Record,” Adil says.

“I planned for this journey for almost a year and went outside J&K for training for six months. During the training period, I used to do cycling of 600 to 700 km per week and after that I applied for the Guinness World Record in November 2020 and it was accepted in February 2021”.

On his family's support, Adil said, "My parents have been my inspiration and they have supported me throughout.

To the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, Adil said they must abstain from drugs and take sports as a career. “Youngsters should take sports as a career and they should take part in sports activities which will make them healthy and proud.”