Cyclist successfully finishes the fastest ever ride of the Himalayas

Austrian cyclist Jacob Zurl (26) successfully finished the fastest ever ride of the Himalayas in 38 hours 40 min. 

Here is his brief report in his own words.
"Because of the heavy rain in Manali we started on Monday (August 4th, 2014.) at 11:00 am in Manali - Main Bazar. I reached the Khardung La at 1:40 am.

It was harder than I ever thought. To cycle for so many hours in such high altitude is real extrem and very difficult for mind and body. Every hour my support crew measured my oxygen saturation and three times it was the lowest ever. So my support team decided to do a short stop. They also thought that my body wouldn't handle the thin air over that many hours and that he would have to stop the record attempt. I really want to thank my girlfriend, Greta (who studies medicine), who made the decision that he can go on.

The road was so bad - maybe only 50% was asphalt - and at the end my arms and my ass hurt so much."

He did his ride without stopping for sleeping while dealing with extreme temperatures, the poor / no road surface, freezing streams, slush and thin air of high altitude. Jacob was attempting to do this in less than 48 hours - a journey that is usually completed by experienced cyclists in two weeks!

Location: Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India

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