“Every brilliant experiment, like every great work of art, starts with an act of imagination.” – Jonah Lehrer
When you start to talk about Naveen John, this is probably the quote that fits his journey in cycling the most. Growing up in Kuwait and roaming around shopping malls, the sport of cycling remained alien to him for a long period of time.
In fact, while pursuing an engineering degree at Purdue University, Indiana, the reason behind taking up the sport was simple: to get healthy and enjoy the social aspect of it.
“During college in the US, is where I found the sport of cycling. Collegiate cycling in the US is sort of this low-pressure, yet competitive environment. So I got into cycling in the US mainly for the social aspect, and also I was super unhealthy, almost 100 kilos when I got into college. Cycling was a way to get fit, get healthy, take control of my health again, but also kind of for the social aspect,” said Naveen to India Today.
And cycling was never the dream for Naveen. In fact, it was far from it.
“Cycling was never a childhood dream. Getting into sports was never a goal of mine. It was more of a hobby, and it’s sort of slowly evolved into something more than that,” said Naveen.
But like many others, once he got a taste of the competitive side of cycling, the hobby quickly started to take over. Still, the dream of being a national champion was never on his mind. He was happy with his tryst with cycling in the US. But all that changed with a small bet—a harmless joke that was supposed to remain in his imagination and never take shape.
“The seed for that was planted by a friend of mine in college, who jokingly said it would be cool if I went back home to India and try to win a national title and see how good I am in a country of billion people,” said Naveen.
Now, he was left with a choice: pursue his master’s or go for his cycling side quest. The aim remained the same—win one national title and head back to the US.
“And so, 2012, I was kind of faced with the decision of finishing my master’s in engineering versus going back home to chase this sort of side quest. I decided to go full in for the side quest and came back to India in 2012 to try and win my national title. Just one national title. It took me about two years to win that first one, but that was the start of my journey in Indian cycling,” said Naveen.
Little did Naveen know that this bit of banter with his friend would end up shaping his whole life.
Now, nearly 14 years after coming to India on his side quest, Naveen has become a legend of the sport in the country.
KAAM KARO
Naveen became the first rider from the country to sign with a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Continental team. Known for his strength in time trials, he has claimed the national title nine times in the discipline. His most notable season came in 2017, when he secured double gold at the National Championships, both for time trial and racing, before adding international accolades with a strong showing at the 2019 South Asian Games.
Yet, what truly cemented the legend of Naveen was a small clip titled ‘Naveen John Did The Double.’ It has since gained a cult following among cycling enthusiasts.
The video is a simple one from the 2017 Road Nationals in Jamkandi, showing Naveen ramping up the pace during a race when another rider slips into his slipstream to take advantage. Spotting it, he twists around in the saddle and lets him have it, repeatedly shouting, “Kaam karo!” until the rider backs off. Just to make his point, Naveen then lightly ushers him forward, forcing him to take the lead.
Naveen said this is exactly the work ethic needed to succeed in the sport, where there is no margin for error or excuses. And he says, if you want things to happen, make it happen rather than hoping for destiny.
“In racing, if you want the result, you have to put in the work, no excuses. There’s no sitting in. It’s a mantra that I’ve always followed while racing bikes, uh. And, in the Indian context, we often wait for things to happen, and so Kaam karo is a reminder to get the work done and make things happen,” said Naveen.
Adding to this is something called the Belgian mindset he adopted during his time in Belgium. The rule on the track is simple: keep attacking till no one can follow you.
But for him, the mindset is all about passion—something he saw within the sport in Belgium. The love for it, almost like how it is with cricket in India.
“In Belgium, cycling isn’t even a sport where you make a lot of money. There’s a pureness to the passion for bike racing in Belgium. And so what Belgium taught me is love for the sport.”
“They don’t think of it as work. It’s almost like it’s a passion. That’s the mindset I sort of adopted, and I try to live it every day, you know, I have a hashtag. In my head, it’s never a debate whether I ride my bike every day. It’s everyday riding. I count the number of days that I don’t ride my bike. I don’t count the number of days that I do. So that’s sort of the Belgian mindset that I try to adopt every day,” said Naveen.
NO OLYMPIC DREAM?
So, when you’re a national champion in a sport, the next goal is always aimed at going big on the international stage. For cyclists, the Tour de France and the Olympics would be the first two that everyone would aspire to achieve.
But not Naveen. While it may sound surprising in this day and age to not have Olympic aspirations, he has his reasons—rooted in the gap he has observed between Indian talent and the rest of the world.
“I’ve brushed my shoulders with the world beaters of the sport, the guys who perform at the top level. And so, I’m acutely aware that there’s a gap.”
“What I’ve realised is that there is a genuine gap. And, so I’ve always been grounded. It’s easy to say I want to go to the Olympics, or I plan to go, or I hope to go to the Olympics. It makes reaching out to sponsors a lot easier. But the one thing I’ve never said in my career is I want to go to the Olympics.”
“I aspire to perhaps represent India at the Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games if things go really well, because that’s the level I think I’m genuinely in. I have the numbers, I have the skill set, I have the experience set to compete at.”
“So I’ve never been an Olympic dreamer,” said Naveen.
Having said that, the 39-year-old believes that India will soon have cyclists competing in the Olympics.
“I realise that the Olympics charges up a sport and the systems that get excited to support a sport, and so I realised the importance of it. It’s a hope I have that I can see it happening in a generation or two, that we see Indian cyclists at the Olympics,” said Naveen.
PLANTING SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE
So how does the man who once considered cycling a side quest plan to give back to the sport? He got a little philosophical in his answer, but that reflects who he is.
“Yeah, I mean, that’s something that has driven me and kept me in the sport. The purpose being planting seeds for the trees, the shade of which you’re never going to sit under,” said Naveen.
And he is already working towards it by sharing his experience with young cyclists, who continue to keep him on his toes.
“I do it in three ways. One is my coaching. That’s sort of the work. Then, I do it with my mentorship. That’s sort of like the unpaid work. The reward is actually sharing the information and helping the next generation. And the third is creating systems or plugging them into systems that already exist,” said Naveen.
While he may not be aspiring to compete at the Olympics, Naveen wouldn’t mind being a part of it—especially if the Games come to India in 2036.
“I’ll be 50 by 2036, so I’m definitely not going to be competing at that point. If anything, I would probably be on the coaching side of the fence by then, for sure.
I look forward to contributing from that side of the fence. 2036 is definitely not a goal for me as an athlete. It’s definitely one to have when I am on the coaching side of things.”
Usually, you ask what the sport means to an athlete right at the beginning of an interaction. But with Naveen, it made sense to keep it for the end.
“Cycling is a sport that really adds structure to life, and it gives your days a little bit of meaning. My first national title was really a goal obsession, but ever since then, I’ve always enjoyed the process of working towards a goal, setting up a goal, coming up with a plan, and executing that plan.”
“So for me, cycling gives structure to the days, and the process of working towards a goal is what cycling really gives me,” concluded Naveen.
– Ends
