K1600 on a mission: Rider visits 26 countries to spread the word on soil

A 64-year-old Indian spiritualist is three-quarters of the way through a 26-nation, 20,000-mile ride from London to India, in an unusual bid to raise awareness of the dangers of soil erosion.

Jagadish Vasudev – also known as Sadhguru – set off from Parliament Square on his BMW K1600GT on a 100-day ‘Journey For Soil’ on March 21.

At the conclusion of his journey this month he is set to address the COP15 UNCCD conference in Cote d’Ivoire – the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification – and hopes his journey will help raise awareness of the issue.

Vasudev launched his Save Soil campaign in April. Its goal, he says, is to inspire action to improve the world’s soils which are key for food and drainage and which are at serious risk of degradation and erosion.

After London, his meandering route took him to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Geneva and Paris, with rallies held at all. He then went to Sofia, Bucharest, Istanbul with Tblisi, Jordan, Dubai and more before a final leg in India visiting Delhi and Mumbai before finishing in Coimbatore in the south.

Before setting off Sadhguru said his journey “is not a joyride.” He added that he wanted the world to understand that he’s staking his life for soil because that is how critical the situation is. He also said that he’s going by bike as it’s ‘a symbol of youth’ and that he wants the youth to connect to the Movement to Save Soil.