Impact Stories

23-year-old Parth Karkar's passion and determination to make it in cycling is an inspiring tale. His innate drive and love for cycling was so strong that he smilingly faced every obstacle that came his way. An engineering graduate from the reputed LJ College of Engineering, his dream was to represent India on a global stage through sports. A resident of Nikol, he went to his school on a cycle. His school was far, but even with that distance he chose to not only go to school on his cycle but also to his tuition classes.

When he heard about the competition named Ahmedabad Cyclothon in 2013, he got excited as a class 10 student. The competition was for anyone above the age of 18. So he decided to start working towards participating two years later, when he would be eighteen and eligible. He researched on different kinds of cycles, different kinds of races for different distances, non-gear cycles, gear cycles and so on. The cost of high end cycles came to Rs 50,000 which were typically used in races. This proved to be expensive for his family. His father worked as a supervisor in a factory while his mother was a senior nurse in a government hospital. Their paltry incomes even when pooled weren’t enough to buy this.

So, after a lot of research, he went on to prepare himself with a non-gear cycle race as cycles without gears proved to be affordable. He was fiercely working on his dream all alone with studies. Through participation in different private cycling competitions, he learnt about different helmets, costumes and how to prepare for the race. Meanwhile, he was told that this was an expensive sport and didn’t have a future in India. He was also advised to buy a non-gear cycle costing Rs 10,000. His parents were not inclined to spend that much on the cycle but he didn't budge. He asked monetary help from his friend's father and took responsibility to pay him back. Being a good student himself, he took up tuitions and started earning Rs 2,000 per month. Eventually, he repaid the amount.

Then the training began. Parth had a habit of covering 30 kms daily while going for tuitions and school. So, during his vacations, he also practiced to cover the same by riding his cycle to Gandhinagar. After passing class 12, he enrolled at the LJ College of Engineering. Again, it was very far from Nikol so he could continue his cycling regimen. The competitions made him research further on training, sleep cycle and diet. In 2017, he participated in a competition of 50 kms race where after 25 kms his cycle crashed but he still managed to complete the race He was so engrossed in cycling that he changed his college schedule. He stopped going by cycle to the college and missed a few lectures as he used to practice in the morning sessions. His tuitions were on and so his earnings were stable. His parents were of the idea that he is good in studies and can make a mark in education but he has different plans for him. Meanwhile, he bagged 2nd position in a private puzzling cycle competition. This boosted his confidence and motivated him to make contacts. He got a coach through a friend and he some online coaching all free. So, while his peers were busy having fun in life, his revolved around cycling, studying and tuitions.

He feels his brother supported his passion a lot. Recently, he for the first time went for a race outside city in Indore. He bagged a decent position. He has prepared well for one of the races but he couldn't finish the race due to his ill-health. He then appeared for Cycling Federation of India race in Delhi and secured fifth position. Parth also went to Kurukshetra in Haryana and secured 18th rank. The lockdown hit hard in 2020. He was looking for sponsors to have a Time Travel bike and after efforts, he could get them. To upgrade his diet, he had to spend a lot of money on it. He needed power meter in road bike while training but it cost a lot. Meanwhile, one of his well-wishers who had been through his thick and thin introduced his achievements and passion for cycling to some employees at InfoAnalytica Foundation. The foundation had a scheme “Adopt an Athlete” and they were impressed by the young Parth, the immediately provided him with a power meter.

Infoanalytica Foundation is now planning to help him in making him avail a power trainer too. He is now 23. He now participates in an elite open category in nationals. He now aims to come between first and third position. It will help him to represent India in South Asian or Asian Championship in 2023. He is remotely working as a software developer and utterly grateful to InfoAnalytica for supporting him in his dream. In his words, his family has realised that he has a true passion for cycling. His brother had gifted him prototype of cycle which is hanging on the wall while one enters his home. It shows that Parth and cycling are inseparable.