Video: Detachment in the middle of a competition

About the author:

Nirbhasa is originally from Ireland but currently lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an enthusiastic multi-day runner, having completed four times the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race - the longest race in the world.

Tejvan Pettinger has been racing for the Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team for many years, winning many time trials and hill climb races around Britain. After many years of trying, Tejvan won the UK National Hill-Climb championship in 2013. In the video, he relates how he trained really hard to reclaim the title in 2014. He ended up finishing fourth, but the important thing was the experience of detachment and being 'in the moment' that he felt during the race itself.

Related article: Reflections on 4th place by Tejvan

Selected articles - more articles

About the author:

Tejvan organises short-distance running and cycling races for the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in his home city of Oxford. He is also a very good cyclist, having won the National hill climb championships in 2013 and finished 3rd in the National 100 Mile Time Trials in 2014.

In the late 1970s, Sri Chinmoy and members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre participated in the Pepsi 24 hour bicycle race around Central Park.

In 1977, 135 members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team completed 22,530 miles (36,258 kilometres)

In 1978, Pragati Pascale placed first in the women's race. Ashrita Furman came 3rd(*) - completing 405 miles in 24 hours, after little training. Sri Chinmoy set his best distance for a 24 hour bicycle relay - completing 230 miles.

(*) This impressive achievement inspired Ashrita to go and break a variety of Guinness World Records, incluing amongst 400 other records - the longest distance balancing a milk bottle on his head (80 miles).

Many years later, Ashrita also set a Guinness World Record for the furthest distance cycling underwater.

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Sri Chinmoy Cycling Challenge 2024

The Sri Chinmoy Cycling Challenge is an opportunity for people to get involved in GLOBAL CYCLING EVENTS and log their efforts to target a specific cycling distances. It is equally meant for excellent cyclists and amateurs – all cycling enthusiasts are warmly welcomed. You are asked to set your personal goal according to your present capacity and to do your best to achieve this goal. With Sri Chinmoy Cycling Challenge you are sure that somewhere else in this vast world of ours there are others who are joining you and cycling alongside with you in the spirit of oneness and friendship. After each event, the names of participants and their results are published on this web site.

Sri Chinmoy Cycling Challenge grew out of the 27-Hour Cycling Relay that is happening every August since 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2011 we realized that there are many people who live too far and cannot come to Zurich with their bicycles to participate. Therefore it was decided that in 2012 additional participants will be allowed to cycle in other places during the 27 hours of the event and their cycled distances will be added to that of the participants in Zurich. We also had the first global Week of Cycling in Otober 2012.

In April 2013 we organized for the first time a Month of Cycling and in May/June 2014 we dared a 50-Day Cycling Challenge. Since 2015 the global Month of Cycling always happens in June.

There are nowadays two global events under the umbrella of Sri Chinmoy Cycling Challenge: June - the Month of Cycling and the 27-Hour Cycling Relay (usually at the beginning of August).

In the years behind us the number of participants and the distances have constantly increased. Every year more and more cyclists are joining and having fun cycling together all around the globe. In Sri Chinmoy's spirit of continuous self-transcendence, we invite you to participate this year and transcend your previous results. Be in your heart, enjoy your cycling!

Results from previous years