Meet The Two Men Who Just Cycled 5883 Kms From Bombay To Bangkok

5883 kilometres - that is one heck of a stretch whether you’re flying, boating or driving. Now picture pedaling that distance over bumpy roads and rocky ascents across seven states and three countries.

Even Lance Armstrong in full-steroid-mode would look at that route and say, “God damn, that’s gotta be tough.” Now imagine two fun loving dudes, Vijay with a year of cycling training and Prashant with two years, saying ‘why don’t we beast this route from Bombay to Bangkok?’ You might call that audacious.

No matter what you call it, 62 days of soaking in the beauty of South East Asia and letting out all the bull shit of city life is the kind inspirational material The Audacious Project is made of. The Project describes itself as a series of events that challenge the human potential, which is as apt a presentment as you can get. At the core of it are Aanchal and Prashant, two lovely people keen on having fun, challenging themselves and inspiring others in the process. As Prashant puts it, “Aanchal and I are married to each other and to the concept of The Audacious Project. “

The Audacious Project’s latest accomplishment, the ride from Bombay to Bangkok, has really put them on the map. As Prashant and Vijay pushed through some of the most demanding and beautiful landscapes, Aanchal captured this expedition through a series of photographs that bring this breathtaking journey to life. Honestly she clicked so many stellar photos we struggled to select our in-article images. If you are photographer or just love great photography check out Aanchal’s photo-journey through seven Indian states and three countries on Aanchal Dhara Photography or The Audacious Project’s facebook page. But enough from us, read the in-depth interview of The Audacious Project’s ambitious and amazing adventure and bookmark their facebook page to keep track of their upcoming adventures.

HG: How did the idea for this journey come up?

Prashant: “In early 2015, Aanchal and I sat down to make an honest list of the things we were most passionate about. We had only two rules – The list had to exclude anything related to our professions (Aanchal is a photographer and I’m a filmmaker), because we were already passionate about these. The second, more important rule was that the list should have things that we have little or no experience in. That’s the only way we saw ourselves growing from our experiences. We realized that most of the things on the list were very offbeat and required us to move far away from our comfort zones. When we shared some of our plans with our close friends and relatives, we usually got the ‘Are you mad’ response. It made us realize that our ideas required a certain sense of audacity…so we decided to call our brand The Audacious Project where we now create and execute events that test the human spirit and push us to achieve what we never thought we could.

Two Feet & A Dream, was the first project under our brand. It was Aanchal’s 582 KM journey on foot from Andheri (Mumbai) to Morjim Beach (Goa). Around the same time, we were already thinking of the next project. I had just bought a road bike a few months before, and we began to form a rough plan for a cycling project. Many months later, in mid-2016 we were still toying with the idea of various routes, trying to lock down on one that excited us the most. In June 2016, I read a newspaper report on how it’s possible to drive to Thailand from India because of the Indo-Myanmar friendship treaty, between our Governments. As total road trip lovers, I started to tell Aanchal how much fun it could be to drive to Thailand instead of taking a flight like we always do. She turned around and excitedly said, ‘Why don’t you cycle to Thailand.’ In that flash of inspiration, we had found our route. We called it ‘Sixty Days Of Wonder.’”

HG: Which Indian state was the most beautiful to ride through?

Prashant: I’m sure the states we rode through look different in different seasons, but for our riding month of March…we would give that honor to Orissa. The trees had blossomed reds and yellows, the fields were lush green and we would always look forward to the sunrise on the horizon…it was always magical. For these reasons, Orissa became quite the favorite for Aanchal and Srijan (our Cinematographer)…and so our stoppage time for shoots was probably at its highest there. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for Orissa’s roads….which were only good in patches. Some days they were bad continuously for 50-70 kilometers…making it hard for Vijay and me on the bikes.

HG: Which was the most difficult Indian state to ride through?

Prashant: “For different reasons, it would probably not one, but two states – Maharashtra & Manipur (our first and last state in India). Maharashtra was hard because we experienced extreme temperatures right off the bat. In fact, our very first day was a blistering 42 degrees Celsius. In contrast, early mornings would be really cold (11-12 degrees). We had earlier planned to take it easy for the first ten days, giving our bodies time to adjust to the rigors of the road…but the punishing temperatures didn’t help at all.

Manipur, was so much better in terms of weather…but we really had to battle the harshest road conditions. For us, the 140 kilometers between Kohima and Imphal was a day we’d rather forget. It was one of our hardest days…constantly bouncing over mud and stones, almost unable to bear the pain of sitting on the saddle, hour after hour of riding that was both slow and arduous…just waiting for the day to finish. And then there were the climbs - intense and steep…especially to the border town of Moreh. We actually spent only 2 riding days in Manipur before we reached the Myanmar border…but they would definitely qualify as one of our most demanding.”

HG: Most demanding part of the trip?

Prashant: We had timed our project such that we’d start in late winter and end late spring/early summer, giving us a window of temperatures that were neither too hot, nor too cold. But unfortunately, this year turned up the heat many notches. So, the hardest and most demanding part of the trip was definitely the heat. It would affect both our performance and our mood. Around Day 44, we reached the beautiful city of Bagan in Myanmar and immediately realized the difference in temperature. From that point on, till the end of our journey…we had to completely change our riding strategy to adapt to the heat. We began riding really early at 3 or 4 am, trying to cover as much distance as we could by 11 am. Then we’d park ourselves at a highway restaurant while it baked at 40+ degrees outside…coming out to ride the remaining distance at about 4 pm. This did mean that we finished late and started early everyday, giving us much less sleep than our bodies needed…but it was the only way. We had no choice but to push through.

HG: What was the longest cycle trip you guys completed before this endeavour?

Prashant: In the cycling world, both Vijay and I are newbie riders. I started road cycling 2 years before the Bombay to Bangkok project and Vijay started just a little over a year before. But that was actually a deliberate decision. At The Audacious Project, we like to create personal challenges that genuinely push our limits and take us far out of our comfort zone…both physically and mentally! If we were already seasoned endurance cyclists, the challenge would be limited. Our idea is to create a challenge that we have little or no experience in, that scares the living daylights out of us. Then we find a way to plan and train for it and finally we just go for it…taking it head-on one day at a time. That’s what we did for both Aanchal’s walk from Mumbai to Goa, and now again for the cycling project. Of course, that doesn’t mean we simply throw ourselves in the deep end without a clue about what to do. Vijay and I trained for 6-8 months before the project, cycling long distances and getting our bodies fitter with regular sessions for strength building and flexibility, parallel with a closely monitored nutrition program. Closer to the start date, we were simulating the same riding distances as we would face on the project. So, while we had not attempted long endurance events before our project…we did train well for our project and felt strong and ready at the start line.

HG: What advice would you give other cyclists attempting this behemoth of a journey?

Prashant: I’m not sure one big journey allows us the license to give advise, but we can definitely share some of our experiences that may help others in the future:

It’s Really In The Mind:

We like to call our projects ‘audacious’ because they take us completely out of our comfort zone. It’s almost always something we have no prior experience in. So, one can train sufficiently, pour over the logistics and it’s difficulties over and over again, but at the end of the day, nothing will go according to plan. And that’s when it really matters how strong one is mentally. We didn’t expect any rain throughout our project and carried no rain gear…yet we were lashed with storms in Orissa & Assam. None of the forecasts showed temperatures beyond 35 degrees…eventually we rode 1/4th our distance in 40 degrees or upwards. And clearly, our riding experience did little to indicate that we were ready for a journey this long. As Vijay liked to say, “let’s just take it one day at time”. We did just that, and it really helped because it broke the journey into small chunks and mini victories. That way we remained positive throughout and also enjoyed ourselves without worrying too much about the magnitude of the task ahead.

It Takes Discipline:

Vijay and I really had to build a new lifestyle around our journey. Once we consulted our physiotherapists Dr, Nikhil Latey & Dr, Sakshi Bali, and our nutritionist Mihira Khopkar…we realized very early on that a life on the road will require a completely different mindset. We needed to wake up at 3 or 4 am everyday, eat correctly to be able to start riding by 4.30 or 5 am, stretch before and after every break we took from riding, maintain our prescribed diet at lunch and dinner, ensure that our morning weight matched our evening weight by keeping a tight control on hydration, count the amount of proteins and carbohydrates we were eating, check in and out of highway hotels every single day, also pack and unpack everyday and finally try and get between 7-8 hours of sleep every night (although 5-6 hours was the best we managed). All this was a complete flip from our regular city lives but there was no way around it. If we were to mount a serious attempt, we had to stay totally focused and follow the plan. And this entire task was Aanchal’s responsibility. She was in charge of our daily schedule and all the logistics. So, what we eat, when we eat, how we recover, hotels we stay at, etc…were closely monitored by her. She was also in constant touch with our team back in Mumbai to update them and receive any feedback they might have for us.

Pack Right:

This one is really critical. A 2-month project needs a lot of stuff but a lot of stuff can also be a pain when one needs to pack and unpack everyday, carry and load the luggage onto the support car and unload again at the end of the day. Our experience from Aanchal’s walk project was a great learning ground for us. So this time we counted every walnut, every almond and every multi-vitamin tablet that we carried with us…precisely to the needed amount. Then we added a little extra to that as a buffer and that’s how we managed out packing. Fortunately, Aanchal and I are both light travellers…so is Vijay because of his mountaineering background… so keeping the packing minimal was easier for us. Then we also had shooting equipment, both for photography and video. We actually bought some new equipment that was more lightweight than our regular equipment…every kilo counts!

Carry A Distraction:

As exciting as a journey like this can be, it can also be really exhausting. We were on the road an average of 18 hours everyday and that did take a physical and mental toll on us. Aanchal carried lots of movies and TV shows that we could see on our break days, Srijan (our Cinematographer) would focus his spare time on his love for Instagram, Vijay would write a blog and I was directing the film on our journey, documenting it with the help of Srijan. It was pretty exciting to sit together and see the footage on break days and make a shoot plan for the next few days.

HG: How do you keep your morale up with 140-150 kms long rides everyday?

Prashant: I think it really helps when one has a partner in crime. I had two – Aanchal in the support car and Vijay on the road! Vijay and I are very competitive and so, if he’s decided to ride really fast on a particular day, then I have to keep up the same pace…or if I’m climbing a steep hill without stopping to catch my breath, then he’ll do the same. We pushed each other to be better cyclists and the friendly competition kept the mood lively and fun.

This journey passed through 7 Indian states and 3 countries…so there was so much variety and culture to absorb. We were always having animated conversations about our experiences. We also had a lot of fun with our local guides and drivers in Myanmar and Thailand – leaning the local language, their customs, trying totally different food and also some sightseeing. So just the variety of this journey kept our spirits up.