Mangaluru: Cycling stalwart and a senior member of Mangalore Bicycle Club Kishan Bangera clocked 10,000 kms in 138 days of continuous pedaling in this calendar year, on Thursday, May 18.

He is a cyclist everyone looks up to for inspiration and guidance, not just in the club but the whole of the city, and is affectionately called 'Guru' in all its sense.

His passion for sports is nothing new, at the age of 17 he was engaged in body building and at 18, he became the university champion.

He was a gold medalist at the inter-university level and also bagged the titles Karnataka Uday, Karnataka Kishore, Bharath Uday, Bharath Kishore, Bharath Kumar, Karnataka Kumar, Karnataka Shree, Bharath Shree and Bharath Shresht. He was selected to represent India in the Mr World competition in Japan, however, due to passport issues and financial constraints he could not make it for the event.

He joined railways in 1988 and is currently the chief ticket inspector and deputy station manager commercial at Mangalore Central Railway Station. He started his cycling journey around four years back to get fit and for a healthy lifestyle. His level of interest in cycling increased when he watched Tour de France in 2013 and has been pedalling since then, which resulted in a lot of change in his lifestyle and fitness after a break.

Moreover, he has inspired many to take up cycling on a regular basis. When it comes to cycling for Kishan and his partner Dony Menezes who is the current president of Mangalore Bicycle Club, they have always been encouraging themselves and cyclists around to be regular. Last one year saw a break and cycling took a back seat due to his hectic work schedules and health issues of a family member. But he could not resist his temptation to restart his passion for a long time.

Thus beginning of this calendar year, he set off on his new mission of pedalling every day despite whatever hurdles come his way. And on May 18, 2017, he successfully completed 10,000 kms milestone on his pedal, which is an average of 72 kms per day. He is the first one from the Mangalore Bicycle Club to qualify for MbC Ultra Distance Club 2017 and he completed the annual target of 10000 kms in just five months.

His objective through this mission was to achieve overall fitness and discipline in his life. He always said, “Being regular on a bicycle is any day better and satisfying than being faster on it”.

He has shed close to 14 kgs in those 138 days of cycling along with controlled healthy diet plan. Besides his weight loss, he has gained a total synchronisation of his personal, work and fitness space through this disciplined approach and dedication. For the month of May, he was ranked No 1 in India for Gran Fondo challenge and ranked No 3 in India on distance challenge launched by STRAVA. When all club members congratulated him on this great feat, he said, "This is just the beginning. I aim to cycle all 365 days of this calendar year thereby creating a record." Thus, requiring no more justification as to why people from the cycling fraternity refer him as 'Guru'.

For all his achievements, he is grateful to his wife Sushma Kishan who is also a fitness freak and his son Ansh Bangera for their continuous support in achieving his fitness goals.

Kishan has been a great asset to Mangalore Bicycle Club and he will remain to be. Hence, the club will launch their next big initiative ‘Guru-Shishya Training Program’ based on the success story of Kishan Bangera.

Kishan Bangera has agreed to adopt a specific number of disciples and train them for a period of 30 to 45 days starting July. This training will encompass cross training and overall fitness of the person including his diet plan, sleeping pattern and not just physical fitness.

The club is are sure this will instil dedication, discipline and regularity for anyone being part of this program. More information on this programme will be rolled out shortly.

Interested may contact Mangalore Bicycle Club on 8095202022 or email us at mangalorebicycleclub@gmail.com to know more details on this program.