Adil Teli is a 23 year old cyclist from Narbal, Budgam who entered his name into the Guinness Book of World Records, after pedaling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in just 8 days, covering a distance of 3,600 kilometres.
His epic quest began at 7:30 am on 22 March, 2021, flagging off from Ghanta Ghar, Lal Chowk. Eight days, 1 hour and 39 minutes later he was at Kanyakumari and with the record for the fastest journey from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on cycle to his name.
For Adil breaking this record and the journey was no easy task. Weather, fatigue, injuries all challenged his resolve to register his name in the Guinness Book of World Records, but Adil emerged from this challenge victorious and with the record in his firm grasp.
In 2013, he represented Jammu and Kashmir at the national level for the first time. After that, his interest in cycling only kept on increasing.
After completing his schooling locally Adil went to Gandhi Memorial College in Srinagar. There he gained support from the college staff including the Principal. The college then became his first sponsors as Adil took the first step towards cycling as a profession buying a sports cycle.
In 2019, Adil participated in a non-stop cycling event where he cycled between Srinagar to Leh and covered a distance of 40 kms in 26 hours. This was the foundation for his desire to to pursue the record which was held by Om Mahajan.
Adil began training but there was a huge obstacle in his path and that was the lack of sponsors as most of the training equipment was quite expensive. It also required physiotherapist, nutritionist, cameraman, a documentary maker needed in the journey.
One of his friends then introduced him to a sponsor which motivated Adil to continue his path to greatness. He went to Amritsar where he met Rajesh Kaushik, who trained him for the journey.
Pursuing his post-graduation from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, the institute provide him with the physiotherapist.
After months of training he applied for he Guinness world record in November last year and at the end of February his application was accepted.
Teli trained for six months at the university. He would train four hours every day, six days a week, taking complete rest on the day off. His weekly schedule: cycling 250km each on two days; 100km each on two days; and 60-80km on the remaining two days.
Gym sessions for building strength and muscle endurance, where the focus was on legs and upper body, were done twice a week and core exercises once a week.
On March 22, he embarked on his quest with his family and friends present at the flag off, his mother had tears rolling down her cheeks, an image that would inspire him to finish the journey in record time.
Braving the weather as it was raining on that day, Adil made it across Kashmir, but then had to bear extreme heat as well with blisters, sunburns on his thighs and other body parts made the task cruelly hard. But the image of his teary eyed mother kept him going.
Even when Adil had second thoughts about pursuing this record he talked to his mother who continued to push him.
Eventually on March 30 around 9 am Adil Teli had made history. He had completed this challenging task in record time, beating the previous mark by over 6 hours. He was greeted on his return by his mother, again with tears in her eyes, but this time crying with happiness.
Adil now has further records in his sights and hopes to bring more laurels and honors to Kashmir. He says sports should be given its due regard in Kashmir and boys and girls should look to sports as a career seriously and aim to become successful in their field.
The record breaking cyclist also says instead of indulging in other futile activities, youth should focus their energy on sports and other avenues which will be beneficial for them.
Apart from this he also stresses the need for cycling in daily life as a healthy means of transport and suggest regular cycling to keep fit and maintain good health, as it is a proper workout for the body.
Adil Teli’s achievement is massive and deserves all the recognition, with hope that he will continue to break further records in cycling and attain great success.