26 riders from city head for Paris-Brest-Paris

Srinagar Colony: "It's about how far can one push his limits of body and mind," says Krishna Kunam, who runs a software company and is also a long-distance cyclist, who is all set to take part in the 19th edition of Paris Brest Paris (PBP) Randonneur.

Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) is one of the oldest amateur bicycling events in the world, a cycling tradition that started in 1891 and takes place every four years. It is conducted by Audax Club Parisien (ACP), based in France, which requires cyclists to complete a distance of 1,200 km within 90 hours - starting from Paris to Brest and then back to Paris. This year's PBP will have close to 7,000 participants from 75 different countries.

To qualify for the race, cyclists have to complete a series of qualifying rides known as 'brevets' which are organised by more than 80 countries under the aegis of ACP.

Any cyclist who completes 200 kms in 13.5hrs is regarded as a randonneur and to qualify for PBP, one has to complete a Super Randonneur series in a calendar year.

It is a series of brevets of 200kms, 300kms, 400kms and 600kms cycling to be completed in 13.5hrs, 20hrs, 27hrs and 40hrs respectively. "It is not a race against anybody but with time." says Rajeev Kalva one of the ride responsible for Brevets in Hyderabad.

In India, these brevets are organised by the body Audax India Randonneurs which is currently headed by Divya Tate in Pune.

Any cyclist can participate in a brevet by contacting their local or nearby cycling group/clubs likeHyderabad Randonneurs, Mumbai Randonneurs, Bangalore Randonneurs, Madras Randonneurs, etc

Out of the 335 Indians participating this year, 26 cyclists are from Hyderabad Randonneurs, which has been organising brevets for more than 7 years, headed by Mr. Muralidhar Nannapaneni. The participants had come together for the official Paris Brest Paris jersey launch of Hyderabad Randonneurs at the Jubilee Hills Club on Sunday.

"We have to endure a variety of weather conditions. France is currently experiencing a heat wave. There are also high chances of extremely cold downpour with a lot of headwinds and crosswinds and temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius.

The cyclists have to keep riding day and night, so that the control cut-off times are not missed, says Rajesh Krishnamaneni, a business owner and one of the strongest riders in Hyderabad Randonneurs.

The other participants include Krishna Kunam,Pradyumna Penmatcha, Rajesh Krishnmaneni,Sunder Kumar, Gautham Narne, Sadananda Reddy, Hemanth Sai Chandan, Jeetendar Dadvai, Dr. Nagaraj Mandula, Dr. Narendar Mareddy, Sanjay Yadav, Karthik Vuda, Gautham Reddy, Siddharth Bachloo, Sunil Kumar,Vamseedhar Bezawada, Prasad Raju, Vishal kant, Deep Chandra Sharma, Dr. Bhavani, Pavan Chakravarthy, Raja Sabareesh, Chaitanya, Navin Kommukuri, Shashikiran Tirumala and Prithvi Krishna.