Two members of the Udaipur Cycling Club and proud recipients of the Iron Man title, are embarking on a Cycling Pilgrimage to the Ram Temple at Ayodhya on 17 February.

The duo, Jitendra Patel and Rishabh Jain are cycling and fitness enthusiasts and have a large assembly of feats to each of their credit. Their journey will be flagged off from the Hanuman Temple in Surajpol at 5am on 17 February. While Rishabh holds the distinction of being the first Iron Man from Udaipur, Jitendra is the second Iron Man from the City of Lakes.

Their first stop will be after a gruelling 300km at Kota on 17 February. One day 2, i.e. 18 February they will cycle a distance of 230km from Kota to Shivpuri. On 19 February, they will leave Shivpuri early in the morning and after covering a distance of 327km, they will reach Kanpur. The final leg of their journey will be from Kanpur to Ayodhya, a distance of 220km, at the end of which they will reach Ayodhya on 20 February.  The duo will be accompanied by a support car, which will carry their luggage apart from spares like extra wheels, tubes, lights, etc. Their target is to reach the Ayodhya Shri Ram Temple in time for the darshan on the morning of 22 February, which is the 1st month anniversary of the inauguration of the Shri Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

Who is Jitendra Patel

Jitendra (34) hails from Udaipur and is a fitness enthusiast. He holds a plethora of endurance feats, which include the Western Austrila Iron Man finisher in 2019 and the India Book of Records holder for being the fastest cyclists to ride on the Golden Traingle (Jaipur - Delhi - Agra) covering a distance of 683km in 28hours. He has also participated in the Paris-Brest-Paris, which is the world's oldest cycling event, where covered a distance of 1071km in 75hrs. He is also a running enthusiast and his feats include Chambal Ultra Trial Run of 84km which he completed in 11 hrs among a dozen other achievements.

Speaking to Udaipur Times, Jitendra said that he is an ardent devotee of Lord Hanuman and his motivation for this journey is none other than Lord Ram. The transition of Jitendra from being a heavy man to Iron Man is very interesting and motivating. Being a sportsman in school days, Jitendra put up extra weight over the years of marriage. So much so that he weighed 95kgs in 2016. He embarked on a fitness journey and began walking up Neemuchmata. He holds a record of walking up Neemuchmata 21 times in one day. Jitendra took upon himself to attempt the Iron Man challenge and for this he began training under Shankar Thapa, who has three Iron Man and one Ultra Man records to his credit. Once when buying a cycle for his son in 2019, he joined the cycling club, participated in daily cycling rides with this group, took professional training under Amit Samarth from Nagpur. The rest is history.

About Rishabh Jain

Rishabh Jain, a fitness trainer, became the first Iron Man from Udaipur in 2018. He participated in the Malaysia Iron Man and added this feat to his name. Rishabh has been a fitness enthusiast since childhood. His mantra is to beign the day with exercise. Rishabh has transformed this passion into his profession and for the last 18 years, he has been delivering the fitness mantra to his fellow Udaipurites, through his fitness studio and adventure club.

His feats include the Langkawi Iron Man, cycling from Manali to Leh to Khardungla in 10 days, has cycled from Delhi to Mumbai (1450km) in 5 days, cycled from Udaipur to Jaipur in 24hrs, cycled from Udaipur to Vaishnodevi (1400km) in 5 days. He holds a number of marathon records to his credit as well. Both Rishabh and Jitendra are the doyens of fitness in Udaipur.