Riding his Rs. 12.5 lakh carbon made 6 kg. 20 gear American bicycle at 80 Kms per hour speed, Mumbai based 53 year old cycling champion Vinod Punamia is a man on a mission “Wheel to Heal.”

On Indian Republic Day, January, 26th he started his bicycle journey from Gate way of India in Mumbai to reach India Gate in Delhi nearly 1400 kms away on January 30th which is Martyr day. This means nearly 300 kms daily.

On his way to Delhi, Vinod was in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. He didn’t enter into the city as he wanted to quickly go towards north after a brief halt at Sardar Patel ring road based Royal restaurant.

Talking to DeshGujarat, Vinod said he enjoyed cycling over Gujarat’s roads. “Narendra Modi has built Gujarat’s roads very well. I particularly enjoyed Ahmedabad-Vadodara Express Highway. If get permission, I would like to do cycling on this highway at 140 km speed. In fact this would be my next mission after completing ongoing Wheel to Heal task,” Vinod said.

Vinod however mentioned that he didn’t get smooth road on Vadodara-Surat part of the highway in Gujarat due to ongoing road widening works. This made him half an hour late compare to his pre-fixed schedule.

An entrepreneur who runs business of imitation jewelery in Mumbai, Vinod Punamia has broken many records in cycling. He cycled faster than Deccan Queen, the Mumbai-Pune fast train and made a record.

Talking to DeshGujarat, Vinod said he regularly practiced for “Wheel to Heal” mission on Mumbai-Pune highway daily in night. When asked whether he gets tired after long hours of cycling, he replied “70 km of cycling is just warming up.And then I enjoy.”

Vinod’s convoy has four cars including one ambulance. There are 20 people in his team to help him including his coach, communication operator, specialized mechanic, couple of doctors etc. One vehicle works as his pilot car. He rides just behind this pilot car at less than one ft distance. Driver of this car is himself a cyclist. He instructs Vinod through eyes and body via rear mirror. Vinod is always attentive to this rear mirror while cycling. Another vehicle keeps three stand-by bicycles and spare wheels inside. One more vehicle keeps a bike inside.

Vinod traveled 325 km distance from Mumbai to Surat in a day on January 26th. He halted at Surat for a night and next day after 350 kms cycling reached Himmat Nagar in north Gujarat via Vadodara and Ahmedabad. At four places in Gujarat he was greeted and heartily received by common people.