Indian bikers aim for the sky

The adventurous trio is led by Chandan Lahiri and comprises the Cooper brothers Burgess and Sarosh. All three are previous world record holders in endurance motorcycling. In fact this is Chandan's third world record attempt. "We love traveling around the Himalayas, whether it be the moonscape of Ladakh, the verdant forests of Arunachal, Himachal and Uttarakhand, or anywhere around our gorgeous country. Once we hit the road, distance is never an issue, the high we get with such trips is unexplainable," shares a pumped up Burgess Cooper.

The current world record for the highest altitude reached by a motorcycle is 20,406 ft 9 inches and is held by Roland Hess, German Hess, Johan Janko and Giovanni Sanguedolce achieved on the world's highest volcano Ojos del Salado, on March 19, 2008 on Japanese motorcycles.

The trio now aims to better the mark by making the attempt on a 22,000 ft peak in Ladakh to beat the previous record. "This attempt is special. We three Indians will ride Indian motorcycles and ride up an Indian peak to better a record set by Europeans riding Japanese motorcycles up a mountain in South America. This is an effort by Indians, for Indians. We feel extremely proud to be citizens of this great country," says Chandan Lahiri. And the team will dedicate their effort to the country by hoisting a very large Indian tricolour at the summit of success ? the flag measures 24 ft by 16 ft and is one of the largest Indian flags!

"We are aiming the journey not the peak. Our go getter attitude and passion for such excursions are just the right supplements for the trip," says Sarosh Cooper. This journey would certainly create a space for India and Indians in the history books and on the way create a string of records.

On the return leg, the trio will also set a new Limca World Record of the fastest traverse of twelve passes in excess of 15,000 feet altitude. This mammoth journey at extremely high altitude is expected to take about 30 hours and will be the third part of the OutThere Adventurers Trilogy, adding to the two previous world records they possess of the fastest traverse on the high mountains.

As Chandan Lahiri says, only those who risk going too far can possibly know how far they can go. We are sure that Team OutThere will provide a shining beacon for others to follow, emulate and get inspired by. After all, India and Indians are truly everywhere.