In a time when the whole world is reeling under the effects of Coronavirus, a contingent of Indian para cyclists led by Aditya Mehta set out in their quest to prove there is nothing impossible as they set off pedalling from Kashmir with a charity mission to raise money and create awareness about para-sports across India.
Aditya Mehta is also India’s first-ever international medal winner in para-cycling and the entire expedition was his brainchild.
Also, a part of the expedition were Asian para-cycling championship bronze medallist Harinder Singh and Asian Games track cycling bronze medallist Gurlal Singh, both of whom had lost limb at the frontline while defending the country at the borders. They were accompanied by the country`s only female para cyclist, Tanya Daga and others.
“A journey for awareness, a journey against Corona,” says Aditya –
The expedition called Infinity Ride K2K 2020 — a brainchild of Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF) — was a journey of 45 days beating chilly weather, riding bicycles through difficult terrain and amid challenging circumstances due to the pandemic and concluded with the 30-member team arriving at their final destination — Kanyakumari.
HGL Day 43/43:
Today's ride was more of a joy ride, with a lot of stopovers for photos. Beautiful day & quite scenic.
Team #infinityride2020 reached the Vivekananda statue by the beach at Kanyakumari to culminate the ride & were given grand welcome.@AdityaMehtaF @BSF_India pic.twitter.com/PRW4x4q0a1
— Aditya Mehta Cyclist (@Adityacyclist) December 31, 2020
Team #InfinityRide2020 is at its final destination.
The grit, fun & madness of 43 days, 3800 + km has reached its finale- Kanyakumari!@AdityaMehtaF & @bsf_india collaborate for one of the most challenging rides to spread awareness & raise funds for #Disability & #parasports pic.twitter.com/u6vGY8l7ns— Aditya Mehta Cyclist (@Adityacyclist) December 31, 2020
The sixth edition of Infinity Ride was flagged off on November 19, 2020, from Srinagar. All through their journey, they interacted with several NGOs, specially-abled schools while connecting over virtual meetings and also met employees of an inclusive cafe chain to explain and empower people about para-sports and how it has changed their lives.
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“I had cycled the same terrain all by myself six years ago in 2013 where I had faced immense challenges both mentally and physically but the love and support that I had received from everyone on my way back then gave me the confidence to start Aditya Mehta Foundation.
“And now after so many years of our initiatives, my strong 30-member riding team embarked on this difficult journey despite the severe challenges owing to coronavirus,” said Aditya Mehta
“We hope our awareness ride will encourage people to join and support our mission to find India`s best para sporting talents,” he concluded.
When asked what keeps him going, he replied: “The love for challenges.” Nearly 1,500 medals are up for grabs in grabs in the Paralympics. Mehta’s mission is to build a dream team for the contest.
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