Rohitesh Upadhyay Udaipur – The Guinness World Book of Records Holder

A very recent achievement of an individual goes to show that Udaipur is no short of talent on any platform. Rohitesh Upadhyay a celebrated Sportbike Freestyle Riding extreme athlete has registered his name in Guinness World Book of Records! The title that he actually holds is by the name of Longest no Hands motorcycle wheelie. The trick he had to perform is one of the most difficult wheelie types in the sport more profoundly known as Sportbike Freestyle Riding (SFR) which is also commonly misquoted as bike stunting. The feat involved him to pull up the front wheel in the air and after stabilizing that posture he had to let go both the hands off the handlebar. Maintaining this pose in a straight line for the longest distance possible without tripping over or touching the motorcycle by his hands was the constraint. It is as daring to look at as it is to understand the complexity behind it.

The target distance given to Rohitesh was 89m while maintaining that posture as the elder record holder, AC Farias from Brazil had done. However, Rohitesh maintained the posture for a good 567m which is almost 6 times the outgoing world record! That magnanimous length was achieved by him after years and years of practice.  

For the record, Rohitesh is the same guy who was in news last year for the same title of ‘Longest No Hands Motorcycle Wheelie’ which was then recognized by International Book of Records and Golden Book of Records. Though then he could only reach a length of 125 meters because of logistic and venue limitations. This time though he was determined to go more length before submitting to Guinness World of Records.   

Watch him in the April Hall of fame of Guinness World Book of Records at 0:15 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YB-4B3E1W4&t=6s

One can try to understand how tough this gig was by the fact that it stood unbroken for 17 years until Rohitesh managed to do it! This not only makes it one of a kind feat but potentially the only Indian in this field to today have a Guinness World Record to his name.

Check out his entry in the Guinness world book of records here: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-no-hands-motorcycle-wheelie

Rohitesh has a career spanning over a decade behind him and of course these merits speak volumes about him. Getting candid with him gave us an opportunity to ask what he had to say about this feat to which he replied, “I am glad that I could raise the name of India and my city Udaipur to new levels with my record. It took me years to practice the record and then break the same.” He also said, “I wish people recognize this as a serious skill and something more than entertainment. Also, I hope I can say to the youth of today to keep this activity off the streets as it is not only illegal but absolutely dangerous for both the rider and the road users.” 

It’s so good to hear a positive news during these times. Now of course, having a Guinness World Book of Record adds the biggest feather to his cap (rather helmet). It’s so amazing to see how he coming from a humble background has raised the Indian flag up high in the world today and is shining as a star from the city of lakes. His feat is not just limited to the fact that he done brilliantly for Udaipur but whole of India on a global level. Kudos to that and more power to him!