The cycling expedition, which kicks off on November 20 from Ahmedabad, will cover the distance in 50 days, touching non-descript villages where retired soldiers have turned farmers, and major cities like Vadodara, Mumbai, Pune, Belgaon, Hyderabad, Viyaywada, Chennai, Kanya Kumari, Trivandrum, Mangalore, Mysore before ending at Bangalore on January 10.

According to Col B N N Rao, second in command of the unit, this is the first time that an army regiment has undertaken such a long cycling expedition on its own steam. ``The men will cover up to 120 km in a day, taking a break every seven days, and be back on the roadthereafter,'' he said. On whether the trip would be too gruelling, he said, ``All the men are volunteers for the event and we are thinking of it as a good adventure activity.''

``Our basic aim is to maintain contact, enquire about the well-being of widows and ex-servicemen, assure them that they are still part of the family and convey major problems, if any, to the higher authorities. Throughout the expedition, we plan to cycle from 7 am to 1 pm, rest in the afternoon and then continue from 4 pm to 6.30 pm,'' says Capt Rawat. The idea came from the Commanding Officer of the regiment Col NRK Babu, who wanted it to be a celebration of the Raising Day of the unit that has just gone by and also an occasion to remember retired soldiers.

The cyclists will be carrying mementoes for all ex-soldiers of their regiment. Preparations have already begun and a daily cycling routine of 50 km is being slowly increased to build up the stamina of the men. Cycles were chosen as a means of transport because they were themost economical and south India as the route because it is a Madras Sappers unit, said Col Rao.

ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation, the GIDC and the GNFC are sponsoring the expedition which will be flagged off by Maj Gen VK Jetley, General Officer Commanding, 11 Infantry Div, at 10.30 am on November 20.