6-year-old cycles his way to record, covers 108 km in 5 hrs

He achieved this landmark without any professional training and has become the youngest cyclist to achieve this feat. Rian used a 16-inch MTB children’s cycle. He began cycling about a year ago. The pandemic allowed him the time to cycle for long hours and the roads also remained free. Cycling on his tiny machine since January 2021, his journey to being a high-achieving cyclist is something beyond imagination. Rian’s inspiration is his mother, Commander Gauri, also a solo cyclist. She had trained Rian the proper way as part of their daily schedule.

“In the age of social media, we do not see many people, especially, children, active in sports and fitness. After I stepped out, Rian also joined me and it slowly became an everyday thing. We start off at 3 am and he would cycle along the OMR route up to Mahabalipuram with me. Though we are new to Chennai and have come here from Delhi, people along the cycling routes helped us and the infrastructure is also to be appreciated,” she said.

His stamina and speed are commendable and his dedication to cycling is very strong. He is not only keen to go cycling in the morning but also takes care of the servicing of the cycle on his own. Admiring his passion and dedication, the World Book of Records, London, included him in its Kids edition-2021. “We were not thinking of any particular record but we noticed that he was having great stamina. He started off with few kilometres and over time, he could do 20 to 50km. He can now easily cycle about 100 km,” said Commander Animesh Kumar, father of Rian Kumar.

When he hit 100 km, we looked up to see if there were any records in this field. We then thought of registering it on the World Book Of Records London as Rian had cycled the longest in record time, he added. Rian’s parents say they did not pressurise Rian for any records and his own interest and dedication took him to this height. They hope that children would be encouraged to participate and be good at sports and outdoor activities, taking Rian’s example.