Endurance Cyclist Lt. Col Bharat Pannu is all set to challenge himself yet again by competing in the toughest races in the cycling arena, Race across America (RAAM) 2022. This year the race will commence on June 14th, 2022. The cyclists will cover a distance of 3038 miles (4889 km).
The Race across America or RAAM is an ultra-distance road cycling held across the United States. RAAM is one of the longest endurance events in the world.
Armyman Bharat Pannu is all set to race across 12 states from West Coast to East Coast. The race starts from Oceanside, California, and ends at City Dock, Maryland. The race is considered to be the toughest as the cyclists will have to cover three major mountain ranges (Sierra, Rocky, and Appalachian), and cross four of America’s longest rivers (Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio) and the Great Plains. Also, through the iconic American landmarks such as the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, Monument Valley, Great Plains, and Gettysburg. The cut-off day to complete the race is 12 days.
Pannu will be competing in Scott Plasma, Foil, and Addict RC.
Bharat Pannu is attempting the 4890 km race with a simple plan of riding for maximum time with minimum off-saddle time. He is looking forward to finishing the distance in under 12 days. This race has been in his mind since 2017 after he had finished his 2200 km Race around Austria. Since then he had done all his cycling training keeping in mind the mighty RAAM. Riding long distances on training rides has been his routine. His weekly distance goal has been over 600 – 800 km depending upon training loads.
Lt. Col Bharat Pannu is an aeronautical engineer and hails from Rohtak, Haryana. He is employed with the Indian Army since June 2005. Armyman Bharat Pannu has already three Guinness World Records to his kitty, one for fastest solo cycling, from Leh to Manali, a distance of 472 km in 35 hours, 32 minutes, and 22 seconds and his second record is 5,942-km-long ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ route, which connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. He bagged his third Guinness World Record by cycling across the country from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh in 9 days 7 hrs & 5mins covering one of the most difficult terrines and a phenomenal distance of 3800 km to set the new record.