User:Ashok Patnaik

Dr. Srinivas Gokulnath (Born: 08/11/1980) is an Indian Ultra-cyclist who has the distinction of being the first cyclist in the country to complete the Race Across America (RAAM). He is one of the four Indian cyclists to participate in the RAAM. He cycled for 11 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes to cover 3,000 miles (4,900 km), across 12 states and climbed 1,70,000 vertical feet to complete the RAAM in 2017. With an average speed of 10.86 miles an hour, Srinivas reached the finish line. Only 9 out of the 44 racers, who qualified, completed the race. In September 2014, he cycled from Leh to Kanyakumari in 15 days and 17 hours that earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records.

Early Life and Education Born and brought up in Bangalore, he did his schooling at Bangalore, and MBBS from Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College, Bangalore. He then joined Indian Army and was commissioned in Army Medical Corps (AMC). He did his post graduation in Aerospace medicine at Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM, Indian Air Force).

Career He was commissioned to Army Medical Corps (AMC) on 12 Apr 2005 and later posted to different places in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also served in worlds highest battle field, Siachen Glacier. After his post-graduation in Aviation medicine in 2012 he was posted to Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. During his post-graduation studies, bicycle was the only means of transportation for Srinivas. He was an active member of the Bangalore Bicycle Club. Often, he used to go for cycling with the members and eventually kept on increasing the distance of his ride and pushing his own limits.

On being posted to Srinagar, the availability of training places became limited. But with the strong determination that he had, Srinivas trained himself daily for hours in the 3 kms which was available for training. He trained himself to extract the best out of him. The results of which paid off soon.

Achievements •	Apart from being the only Indian cyclist to complete the RAAM, Srinivas sealed his place in the Limca Book of World Records after cycling for 15 days and 17 hours to reach Kanyakumari from Leh.

•	In 2015 and 2016, he participated in Deccan Cliffhanger (a qualifier race for RAAM), an annual 460 kms Ultra Cycling Race from Pune to Goa and ended up qualifying for Race across America

•	He became the first cyclist from India to complete the Race across America in solo category.

Performance in RAAM 2016 In 2016, Srinivas decided to participate in RAAM. Fortunately, at the same time, he got a transfer from Srinagar to Nasik, which gave him a good exposure for better training. He underwent hard and organized training for long hours. Later, he participated in the race. But, after 10 days and 21 hours, he discontinued the race, as he was falling short of a days time.

Preparation for RAAM 2017 After registering for 2017 RAAM, he trained alone and also with experienced racers. He also had a coach with whom he trained for 10 months. His crew chief also came forward to train him. All these made him ever stronger and confident.

Srinivas confronted personal, professional and financial problems to deal with. He considered all these difficulties as challenges. Dealing with these challenges made him sharper and more focussed. While training, he always visualized and kept the focus on the finish line. After 11 months of hard training, he went to America to participate in the race again.

Challenges in 2017 RAAM During the race Srinivas was primarily on fluid diet. The preparation costed him around Rs 15-17 lakhs that he managed with loans and some help from friends. The race started on 13 June 2017. Srinivas’ focus was on the finish line. He had a strong team with a good plan to support him. The race was divided into 54 time-stations and till the 5th time-station, he was in the top 10. But, by the time he reached 9th time-station from 5th, he dropped to 27th position due to dehydration.

To make him stronger, the team came up with a strong discipline and intent and made sure that Srinivas gets an input of 8,000 to 10,000 calories and 16 to 17 liters of water. It was decided that he would take small breaks at every time-stations. Everything was executed in a disciplined manner. As a result of this, he became stronger by the time he reached 16th time-station.

As he believed in himself more during the race, he gained more confidence to peddle aggressively. He became more aggressive in the second half of the race, which happens rarely in such competitions. And soon he grabbed eyeballs of the media and the other contestants.

He finished the race in 7th position, after 11 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes and created history by being the first Indian to finish the race in solo category.