UP man breaks Guinness record for longest motorbike ride in country

The Guinness World Record for the longest motorcycle journey in a single country was broken in Bengaluru on Monday by Gaurav Siddharth, a 23-year-old from Lucknow.

After riding through 14 states, Gaurav broke the record of 78,214 kilometres held by American Danell Lynn, on a trip from Jayanagar to Vidhana Soudha, flagged off from the residence of veteran freedom fighter, H S Doreswamy.

But Gaurav is not done yet. He aims to go to the remaining states and Union Territories and end the journey in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in April 2017, clocking a total of 1,20,000 kilometres.

A 4,750 kilometre bicycle ride from Kashmir to Kanyakumari which he undertook in early 2015 inspired him to take on the more challenging adventure of riding all around the country.

Gaurav recalls one interesting story after another, hardly pausing for breath, saying that there are so many incidents to narrate that he might have to write a book at the end of it.

He describes the contrasts he saw in Rajasthan where in a village called Wadia, girls are openly sold off into sex work while 150 kilometres away in Piplantri, 111 trees are planted for every girl born. A man with a message, through his Make-in-India themed ride, Gaurav is trying to be an example for others.

“I want to encourage people to use indigenous products as far as possible.” he said. Besides his Hero Impulse bike, he uses homegrown app Highway Delite to find mechanics, restrooms and petrol pumps on the road and Alphatrack GPS for tracking.

His mother, Radha Bisht, is always tracking him, making sure that he does not ride too fast and that he is on the right path. “I taught her to use WhatsApp before I left. Now she sends pictures of Hanuman to me every morning.”

Having covered all the seven north-eastern states and five in central India, he will now be covering 8,000 kilometres in Karnataka, travelling to Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikkamagluru and Murdeshwar among other places.

The reality he has seen on his journey to remote parts of the country has inspired this psychology student and UI designer to become an IAS officer. “I have lived in a city all my life. We used to shop for vegetables from supermarkets and malls but now I have seen the situation of farmers first-hand.

“We have a lot to learn from those who live in villages. They don’t have basic facilities yet they don’t protest. They make the most of what they have,” Gaurav said.

Having already burnt 2,000 litres of petrol so far, Gaurav agrees that his longest ride will leave behind a big carbon footprint. “I want to try and reverse that so I am inviting suggestions from people on how to do it.”