Preeti Maske – India N-S attempt – Feb 12-14, 2024

Record attempt:  Kashmir to Kanyakumari fastest Cycling Expedition by a Solo Female ( N- S India) under 50 years.

Name of Rider: Preeti Dattatraya Maske (Pune, India)

Start Date and Time – February 2nd,  2023

At 08.02 am

Start Location:  Clock Tower, Lal Chowk, Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India

End Date and Time: February 24, 2023 at 06:25 am

End Location: Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu state) beach next to Vivekananda Rock Memorial.

Time Taken : 11 days, 22 hours, 23 minutes

Rider was flagged off on February 12th, 2023 on the morning at 08.02 am by Baba Firdous –  President J & K of a Non Government Organization – (NGO),  Global Strategic Policy Foundation Pune ( SPPFP).

I wanted to ride this route as it is very scenic, high altitude  mountainous route. This is highly challenging, one of the most famous route starting from India’s Northern snow clad city Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir state) and finishes at India’s Southern tip –  Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu state).

I closed my expedition at Kanyakumari near

Vivekananda Memorial, popularly known as “Sunrise Point”.

This expedition from Sky to Sea covered 12 India states  a distance of 3,720 kms (appx.).

I have used 3 bikes:

 1. Specialized carbon road bike.

 2. Biyanchi semi carbon road bike, and

3. Mountain Terrain Bike (MTB) in Srinagar only as there was snowfall and rainfall, rough roads due to land slides and slush on the road.

For GPS tracking of my rides, I used Garmin 955 Solar and Garmin 735 Tri watch.

I started amidst freezing temperatures, snowfall, biting cold in Srinagar & in Kashmir and as I moved to the plains, the temperatures were hot and weather humid with head and cross windy conditions.  Managing high temperature variations was challenging. I was able to finish strong and injury-less.

The elevation gain in this expedition was about 16,850 metres. It was challenging because of elevation, extreme cold biting conditions,  road closure and landslide in Srinagar and Kashmir regions.

Im happy to complete such an arduous expedition alongside spreading a message for a noble cause of Organ Donation awareness. I want dedicate this ride to women like me who dare to dream something different and want to achieve unbelievable tasks in life.

Riding continuously for 18-20 hours a day with minimal breaks lead to sleep deprivation.  As I moved to the plains in hot temperatures,  I changed the strategy – to taking longer sleep breaks in hot afternoons at road side dhabas (small restaurants) and riding all through nights with shorter (45 minutes – 1 hour) short power naps at Petrol Pumps enroute.

My ride was smooth with negligible techinical bike issues and was lucky not to have a single puncture.

I must add, that the route – National Highway  (NH 44) has very smooth surface of mostly tar roads and is 4 to 6 lane safe highway.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Preeti Maske

+91 937 123 3184

Pune, India