“TFN is a great way to enjoy the beauty of the Nilgiris. Looking forward to scale as much during the trip.”

Rajagopalan Babu, 39, is an entrepreneur and CEO of Enteg Infotech. He enjoys trekking and electronic gadgets (he mailed this profile from his Blackberry, naturally). He has been biking for the last 6 months. More than distance or speed what matters to him is the journey and experience of biking. He plans to use his Trek 6000 for TFN.

“TFN to me is `Tour, Fun and Nature’”

Tour - I tour to build endurance, confidence, learn and spread awareness
Fun - Its fun riding in a group, enjoy after ride events and getting to know people
Nature - Opportunity to explore, understand, appreciate and conserve”

Vasanth Ramaswamy aka Vaz, 34, is an IT Professional working with HCL, Chennai, for more than a decade and is passionate about automotive electronics. He is interested in adventure sports and done paragliding, horse riding, trekking and cross country skiing. He likes to jog and bike in the woods, plays badminton and table tennis and enjoys cooking. He has biked in all seasons in Germany during 2004 and 2005. His favourite mountain biking area is the Black Forest region. He is planning to ride a Trek 1.5 for TFN. He uses a Hercules ACT 105 (MTB) for his local ride and commute. He hopes to ride in all stages of TFN and complete the tour.

“Cycling is revolutionary, pun intended!”

Shantanu Gogate, 28, is a self-confessed ‘cyclopath’ who resides in Pune. In addition to cycling he is an avid trekker, rock-climber and loves cross-country running. He will ride his Trek-6000D for TFN and he owns two other cycles which he uses to ride within the city. Yearning to make a trip down south for a long time since he has never been there, when the call of Nilgiris (and prospect of authentic filter coffee) came along it was a no-brainer for him to jump on the saddle. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engg. and works for a semiconductor company. Shantanu has toured the highest passes of Ladakh with 25 others on cycle a few months agao to promote the use of cycling and is hoping to spread the bug further by way of TFN.

“Ride Long and Ride Hard”

Ignatius Chenchinfa, 22, was born and brought up in Bangalore and has been here ever since. Have had done plenty of long-distance rides and has been loving it. He is hoping to have a lot of fun on the TFN and says he is very lucky to know so many people who ‘Love Cycling.’ He is looking forward to meet the other riders.

“When my friend sent me the TFN link, my first reaction was `Lets Go’…I cannot miss this. You know cycling is a pseudo feeling. If you are cycling everyone says you are doing a good job, at least you are not polluting. But they really don’t try to do the same.”

Naveen Shetti, 25, is a SAP Technical consultant. He has prior experience as a trainer for ABAP and is presently working in ACS. He owns a Trek 4300D. Other than cycling his hobbies include lots of adventure like trekking and rafting. He likes to visit new places during his free time. He is interested in politics.

“The Nilgiris are one of the few biodiversity hot spots in the world and one of the last few green patches in India.  What better way to see them than on a human-powered, non-polluting bicycle?”

Prahlad Dinesh Kumar, 42, is software professional from Bangalore.  After putting in 9+ years at Infosys, he is at present with eLitmus.com a smallish but dynamic firm in the HR space.  He has always been keen on physical fitness and in fact discovered cycling just after running his first half-marathon. He likes reading, blogging when the mood overtakes him, photography and music.  Having wheeled through and fallen in love with the beautiful Western Ghats many times on his Enfield A 350, he is looking forward with a great deal of anticipation to returning there  - this time at a more leisurely pace via TFN.  He has a Trek 6000.

“I am very excited about TFN and hope to catch up with a lot of friends.”

Sukhdev Muralidharan, 11, studies in class 6 at Cambridge Public School. He lives with his parents and sister. His hobbies include cycling, reading and watching TV (don’t we all love that?) He loves all sports and takes part in track events at school. He has a Specialized Hard Rock gear bicycle. He is planning to do two stages of TFN. He is a very special rider on the Tour of Nilgiris and we are certain, will be an inspiration to everyone else.

“Come, let’s ride.”

Nilesh Dhumal, 24, is better known in the riding community as “Nelly”. He rides, as he says “from the heart”. Beat that. Although Nelly rides BMX, MTB, XC, road, he is best known for his stunts. But most of all, as he puts it, he likes to “ride, ride, ride…” Professionally he is a rider and a bike technician working with Red Rooster Racing. Nelly is always willing to assist others manage their bike problems and is happy to help (you know whom to turn to on TFN now!) when he can – which is when he is not on a bike.

“The limits are in our heads, not in our arms or muscles. Challenges are soul’s incessant call for us to recognize the greatness inside ourselves. So, are you ready to soar?”

Renu D Arora, 43, is a doctor by profession who gave up Anaesthesia and founded ” Bangalore Prenatal” in 2002. She is a practicing Lifestyle Physician and a Pre-natal and a Post-natal consultant. Renu is also a certified CPR trainer with a passion for sport. She loves running and does at least 45 km a week, yoga, horse riding, trekking, and cycling. She owns a Raleigh Explorer.

Renu loves writing poetry and has a huge collection of 30 years of work and plays the saxophone in her spare time. Renu’s soul’s passion is oil painting and she is a self-trained artist who has done lots of commission work in the past. She dreams of one day doing a one man show.

Dattatreya Pandit Patil, 37, is a grape farmer and passionate cyclist from Sangli. He believes cycling is good for health, good for the environment and good for national integrity and peace! And it is not empty talk. He has been running a district cycling association for more than a decade in Sangli where he trains children of ten years and above for state and national-level competition. He also conducts camps every year in which they go from Sangli to Gangotri or Kanyakumari! No fees are charged - he tries to find sponsors or cycle lovers to help out. Strange as it may seem, he is up at 2:00 am everyday. Half an hour of warming up and he’s out on his cycle and has put in a hundred kilometres by five in the morning. Then the kids arrive and he puts in another fifty with them! By eight in the night, he is ready to doze off – many times, during supper. He hasn’t had any medication in the last 25 years and attributes it to his cycling. And stranger still, he does all his cycling barefoot! He rides a Colnago road racer and a Merida- MTB.

When he is not cycling or passing his cycling knowledge to his wards, he loves to swim in the two rivers near his village.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

Samim Rizvi, 39, specializes in long distance endurance cycling. He rides a specialized Tarmac 2007 edition. The major event he has participated in is a 1100 kms run from Bangalore to Mumbai in 22 days @ 50 kms a day and cycled back the distance in 5 days @ 220 kms a day. Samim turned pro on Oct 15th 2007. The major up-coming event in his life is a 1200 kms ride in 60 hours or less as a qualifier for the Race Across America, Paris-Brest-Paris and Boston-Montreal-Boston. Samim has been competing in various National and International races. He is looking forward to being a part of TFN with utmost eagerness. This event, he says, is going to revolutionize the cycling scene in India.

Venkatesh Shivarama, 39, was a Karnataka State cyclist from 1991 to 1996 and has represented the state for many National championships. He has been the Indian cycling team manager for the 2007 tour of Thailand and has represented India at the Asian Cycling Confederation meets. Venkatesh is the coach of the Bangalore Cycling Club that has won the Singapore Cycle race. He also runs a bicycle shop in Bangalore, which stocks several quality international brands. His first bike was a Colnago Master. He now owns 4 Colnagos and has two MTBs — Kona and Merida.

“My hair rises in excitement at the very mention of the word - Nilgiris. I have explored almost every inch of that awesome range on foot and now, an opportunity to bike there and with so many other nature and fitness enthusiasts…AM I DREAMING???”

Anil Bapat, 34, is a System Architect at Airvana Networks. He’s extremely fond of nature and has spent a considerable part of his life roaming the jungles in the Western Ghats, Nilgiris, Himalayas, California and Quebec. Having done a ton of mountain biking in California, he’s keen to plug into the biking scene in Bangalore and feels TFN is the perfect event to meet like-minded people. He’s also deeply involved in real time embedded systems, programming, amateur theater, and the works of Jiddu Krishnamurti. He will be riding a Merida TFS 100 V on the tour.

Rashi Gupta, 24, is a chemical engineer from IIT Delhi and has been working with Shell Technology India for the last two years. She is a person of many varied interests and recently took up cycling as a hobby. She will be riding a Merida Matt Sub 5 on the TFN. She is passionate about dance and puzzle solving, and has a fascination for Rubik’s cubes. She is also an intermittent reader and is currently going through the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

“Let’s save the world, one cycle at a time.”

Joshine Antony, 27, is a Personal Fitness Trainer by profession. She is one of the internationally certified trainers in India. Joshine started cycling when she found it difficult to hit the gym often and discovered that cycling was a good way to help reduce pollution. She will be riding a Trek 4000 for the TFN. Traveling is her biggest passion followed by trekking. Joshine is an ex-long distance swimmer and has done a national triathlon in the past. She says the Tour of Nilgiris is the best place for her to push her limits again after many years.

“To some extent, we are all labeled by what we’re able to achieve. But more importantly, we are defined by what we attempt.” – Scott Tinley

Avinash Pant, 35, is a marketing professional with 12 years experience in the FMCG space. He picked up the love of cycling in Atlanta, USA where he lived for a few years. Though he has both a road bike and a mountain bike, his real love is road biking - going really fast and climbing hard whenever the opportunity emerges in flat, flat Gurgaon. His hobbies have a wide range - adventure sports, soccer, basky, Triathlons, playing musical instruments, photography, cryptic crosswords…the list is truly endless. He is really excited about doing a smaller version of his favorite sporting event The Tour de France!

“A friend sent me a link to TFN. My reaction was - a bunch of Bangalore bike crazies organizing a 900km tour of South India?! - where do I sign up ?!”

Mani Harihara, 47, is a softwareologist, living and working in Silicon valley, CA. He will ride a Miyata 912 on the Tour of Nilgiris. The other bikes he owns are a Trek 1200 and a Trek 520 MTB. It all started with a 7 mile commute to work, and he has been bike-hooked since. Seven miles led to centuries, a California Triple crown and the prestigious ‘PBP ancien’ title last year. He also recently finished an iron distance triathlon. In his spare time, he tries to read (currently - ‘It’s not about the Bike’), and hang out with friends.

“919 kms in 7 days!! I knew I wanted to do it as soon as I saw it. It is going to be a great learning experience to take up something of this magnitude and test oneself to the limits of endurance.”

Sankar S, 26, is a software testing analyst working with Infosys. He got hooked into long distance and endurance biking when he joined a group of bikers in Chennai. He is a movie buff and sporadically sketches when the mood gets the better of him. He likes to travel and trek. He currently owns a Hero Atom and is weighing out his options on a road bike.

“It’s the journey that matters; the destination is elusive ….and TFN is just the journey. I am ready to capture the beauty and the hardship of the journey in my memories.”

Ravi Ranjan Kumar, 31, is an engineer by profession. He will be riding a Merida 901 Road Racer for TFN. He also owns a Trek4300 MTB. Ravi is interested in running and has done a couple of marathons. The fastest run he has ever done is 10 kms in 42 minutes.

“Enjoy the scenery in the company of like minded people doing a fitness activity.”

Madhu Avasarala, 50, is a RFIC, Analog and Mixed Signal design Engineering. He will do the Tour of Nilgiris on his Merida 901. He also owns a Trek 4300 MTB. Madhu’s interests include philosophy, art appreciation such as music, ballet, etc. He is into long distance running and does 100 km runs, etc.

“Doing the nearly 1000 kms bike ride is like a dream and a test. It is to understand if you have it in you to pursue a goal that seems challenging and impossible at the onset.”

Ramanathan.V (Alias ‘Ram’), 26, is working as a Management Consultant with KPMG, currently looking at the infrastructure and industrial sectors for a living. He owns a Hercules bike, which he uses for his daily commute to office. He is relatively new to the endurance biking domain and is looking at acquiring a road bike (Merida / Trek /Firefox ?). Ram is a certified Rock Climber and an avid traveller. Ramanathan has always been interested in cycling and has participated in amateur cycling competitions and events. There was an immediate bond when TFN opened up vistas to make cycling a sport from a pure transportation avenue. Ram supports the cause of ‘cycling to work’ he has done it himself over the past 6 months. He has drawn inspiration from Lance Armstrong, his most admired sports personality.

“Tour of Nilgiris is where everyone who says ‘I can do it’ is a winner.”

Kaushik Iyer, 24, is an HR professional with the Tata Power Co. Ltd, Strategic Electronics Division (www.tatapowersed.com), with close to 4 years of experience in HR. Kaushik is not bookish or studious. As of now he has just one love – his Trek 3700 but he soon plans to add a road bike to his fleet. Kaushik is an enthusiastic Fresh Water Aquarist who currently has 3 tanks of which the latest, he says, is humongous. He is also an avid PC Gamer and loves to go out bowling or playing carom when he has nothing better to do.

“The bicycle is a curious vehicle; its passenger is its engine.”

Yogendra Joshi, 29, is a content specialist who rides a Firefox Road-pro 0050.

“The best way to experience this (Nilgiris) and other wonderful places is on pedal power. Am I up to it? If I am, this will open up a whole new world…”

Sameer Shisodia, 34, is software professional who modestly says he plays a few chords on the guitar, does quite a few kilometres on his mobikes, and likes reading and writing poetry once in a blue moon. He rides a Merida MATTS SUB-40V.

Rajesh Nair, 34, is a documentary photographer based in Washington DC, USA. He is the author of Parallel Dimensions, a photographic documentary about traditional architecture in Southern Italy and Bhutan. He owns and rides several top bicycles one of them being the 60th Anniversary Limited edition Ferrari Colnago. He plans to ride his Specialized Tarmac Pro for TFN. Nair has also played drums for several bands in the US and India. Other interests include Windsurfing, Swimming and Trekking the Himalayas.

“The symphony of dripping sweat, aching muscle, lush green and our metal body parts (a.k.a. cycle)…… pure ecstasy”

Sudhir P, 23, is a scientist under construction, doing his PhD in Neuroscience at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore. He’s an active amateur photographer and a sporadic photoblogger (http://roastedphotons.blogspot.com). He is also involved in teaching kids science through fun activities, through a foundation called the ‘inspire science centre’ started by his brother. He’s freshly into exploring the world around with his few-months-old Merida Crossway 10V. Having done a few long rides (100 km+, including a 362 km ride to Yelagiri), he’s just itching for a sinfully blissfully l-o-o-o-n-g ride. He has also run a couple of half marathons, marathons and ultramarathons (75km+).

“A true enthusiast would look for the right balance of Nature, an effort on the body to Strive for, and an opportunity to showcase the Beauty of it all to the wider society. I think the Tour of Nilgiris is just the right package! For someone willing to push his limits, it can’t get better than this. Go for it!!”

Sharath Raju, 25, is a zealous IT professional with over 2 years experience in corporate sales. He is currently an Account Manager with Hewlett Packard India. He is an upcoming model. Truly adventurous by nature, he has undergone numerous treks across south India, and rafting expeditions in Uttarakhand. He is a certified Scuba diver. Fitness is his forte, while he cycles 100+ km over weekends; he also jogs regularly within the city. He will be riding a Merida 880 Road bike for the TFN, and also owns a Trek 3700 MTB. Reading is his favourite pass time and music keeps him going.

“It is for sure going to be an encouraging, educative and exhilarating experience with mother nature and friends in the wild.”

Badrinath V Sastry, 30, Badri as he likes to be called is a software professional with Wipro Technologies, Bangalore. An avid nature lover, he likes to take part in any nature friendly outdoor activity. His hobbies include teaching, trekking and travelling with ‘love for driving’ supplementing it. He has successfully completed several state level and national level trekking expeditions including the Himalayan routes. He is also taking part in the National level Biking expedition in Goa in December 2008. He will be riding a Trek 4300 for TFN.