Everester from Gujarat cycles to London via 16 countries for climate change awareness

Accompanied by her coach Nilesh Barot, who piloted the cycling expedition in a vehicle through the route, Kumari arrived at the Swaminarayan Temple in London on Sunday evening. The duo met climate experts in several countries and planted over 1,100 trees in various locations, including Paris.

While many parts of the journey were challenging, Kumari highlighted the glass ice roads in Russia. The duo also encountered icy paths in Poland, where local rules prevent cyclists from driving on main roads.

Nisha Kumari and her coach Nilesh Barot arrived at the Swaminarayan Temple in London on Sunday evening. (Express photo)

Kumari said she stuck to her meditation routine and morning workouts for mental and physical endurance. “I could cycle about 100-130 km per day. Since both my coach and I are pure vegetarians, we also relied on self-cooking apart from using some of the dry resources we had stacked from India. Given my training and experience in scaling Everest, I was able to complete the expedition as planned. Also, I had a burning desire to reach the finish line I had set for myself.”

Initially expected to arrive in London by the end of November, the expedition was delayed by 45 days while crossing from Nepal to China. Barot said, “Although we had planned the route earlier, some permissions had to be taken locally on arrival. The Ministry of External Affairs handed out the necessary letters, and local Indian Embassies in all countries extended complete support to us. From Vadodara to Nepal, the Gujarat Police facilitated support from other state police teams, and we had security throughout our journey within India.”

Kumari and Barot are expected to arrive in India by the end of January after completing the formalities for shipping back the vehicles. “We will fly back to India from London, but now that the tiredness is sinking in, we are meeting locals for our continued mission on climate change and then planning the logistics of bringing back my cycle and the pilot vehicle to India by sea,” she said.