Last month at 36th National Games of India, hosted in Gujarat, our very own Sudarshan Devardekar not only participated in cycling competition but also stood 7th in the road race. What simply started as a fun ride to commute turned into serious sport for Sudarshan. The sheer discipline, dedication and hard work that Sudarshan puts in this sport is impressive and inspiring! Read on to know what his success mantra is and what his regime looks like while he excels at the work he does in Rapid Circle.  

How and when were you introduced to racing?

I started racing around 2016. 

Anecdote: I used bike for commuting and used to log the rider on Strava. Eventually as I got faster, I ended taking all KOMs on my route. (In Strava there is concept of segment. It can be any path say from point A to point B. There is a ranking for who is fastest on each segments. The fastest one gets King Of Mountain title.) One of my rides had 7 KOMs. The riders in Pune were skeptical, and asked me if I was logging my travel in a motorbike, ha ha! 

One day, I planned to go on training ride with group of trained cyclists and I kept up with them at VO2 max session (a parameter that indicates maximum oxygen consumption capacity of the body). I was asked if I want to join the team, and that’s how I joined Pune Wolfpack. 

I have been a fan of cycling as a sport since kid, so was familiar with the tactics and working of racing which eased me into racing. Also playing the Pro Cycling Manger computer game helped me develop the love for racing. 

What keeps you going?

Exploring the highest level I can go to. Currently I am the Maharashtra State Champion, and have posted 5 top 10 results at National Championships and National Games. Pushing the envelope for me is to be on the podium at the National Championships. Period. 

How does your practice routine look like?

It is planned on weekly basis. The training load is somewhere around 10-18 hours per week, with one day off per week. Apart from one bike training, my training also includes 2 gym sessions per week. 

Can you mention some of your biggest achievements in racing? 

To name a few: 

Winning SugarFree Cyclothon Ahmadabad – Feb, 2018 

Maharashtra State Championships – 2021, 2022 

Every top 10 at National Championships- 2020, 2021 

National Games 2022: 7th Road Race, 10th ITT 

Winning Mumbai-Khandala Ashok Khale memorial race – Jan, 2018

Can you describe your role and the work you do at Rapid Circle?

I am currently working as a Developer at LeapDNA as a part of Innovation Lab. This includes working with C#, PowerShell, managing pipelines in Azure DevOps. Azure resources that we use include Azure Durable Functions, Web Apps, Storage Account, SQL Server, LAW, etc. I am also a part of a client’s Most Confidential project where I am helping build GitHub workflows. Focus has been on migration of Azure DevOps pipelines to GitHub, and deploying the GitHub Runner infrastructure. 

How do you balance your work and passion?

To be honest, I don’t think I balance it well. With the amount of time spent on work and training, I get very little time to do other things. Also, I have to manage with lesser amount of sleep. Plus there are other hobbies too where I wish to spend more time on. I also enjoy my work thoroughly so it is difficult to maintain the balance but I give my best. 

What message you would like to give to budding cycling enthusiasts? 

Bikes are fun. You move faster in traffic, you don’t have to spend on fuel, you get/stay fit and healthy, you makes city streets more liveable, lower carbon emission, what’s not to like? If you are into racing, ride a lot and train properly.