The idea of a gentle bike ride through pleasant countryside appeals to many people so why not stretch the concept a little and try and raise some funds for a good cause while you are at it? This is what Tim Hughes of Littlebury did in February.
Tim packed his bike up and took it to Kathmandu in Nepal and cycled through the foothills of the Himalayas to the hill town of Kalimpong (near Darjeeling) in Bengal, India.
Tim joined his friend of 50 years, James MacHardy who he first met when they were at sea together sailing on the tanker ‘British Ivy’ in 1966. James organised a group of eight cyclists for this ‘energetic’ bike ride to raise money to help the UK Committee of Dr Graham’s Home in Kalimpong. The UK Committee sponsors some 300 children at the school (many of them are orphans and street kids from Calcutta). The school, which was established over100 years ago has a total of 1,500 pupils today mostly drawn from Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.
The eight cyclists have between them raised well over £20,000 in sponsorship from this ride, which will go directly towards helping some needy children get a good start in life. The bike ride itself took eight days and covered 568 Km (353 miles); there were of course a few hills en route but fortunately both James and Tim were ‘Navigators’ so no wrong turns were taken and Mt Everest was left firmly to ‘port’ although some of the other hills felt just as high.
The cyclists left Kathmandu at 0800 on Saturday 13th Feb and cycled through the manic traffic out of the city and started to climb up to the city of Bhaktapur. This once beautiful city was badly damaged in the earthquakes that rocked Nepal in 2014. After a two hour stop to walk through the city and get a sense of the enormity of the task of rebuilding the homes, temples, palaces and infrastructure that are still either totally destroyed or at best propped up with timber and bamboo, the team then continued on up to the first camp site at Dhulikhel with beautiful views out to the snow capped Himalayas.
The camping facilities were superb and the support provided by Insight Himalaya, (a company based in Kathmandu who provide support for trekking and other tours in the Himalayas), was excellent with every attention to detail; nice tents, excellent food and even a hot shower (provided with a garden spray!)
Day two saw us descend back down into a valley but what goes down must come up (well for cyclists anyway) so there were a couple of decent climbs before the day was out. The second Camp was on the bank of the Sunkoshi River, an ice-cold torrent that runs off the mountains before joining the Ganges some way to the south, one or two swam here but not all.
Day three started with a climb of 1,200 metres (3,700 ft) to cross the mountains before descending into the Terai Plains. This was quite a climb; in spite the road is new there are endless hairpin bends and steep inclines; the top seemed a long way up but the views once it was reached were stunning with the snow capped mountains in the distance.
The descent was quite something; 1400 metres (4270 ft) down in just 10 km; speeds of up to 50kph and exhilarating hairpin bends with freefall if it went wrong.
The rest of the day was undulating through small villages and pretty countryside until we reached our camp at Bardibas, which as usual was perfectly set up and waiting for our arrival.
Days four, five and six saw us transit the plains of the Terai; although fairly flat the distances were long (about 100 km per day). The scenery was less spectacular but the interest was provided in the numerous small villages and towns we passed through and fascinating farm lands and forests. The people we met were delightful, always happy to see us and wish us well. The camps maintained their usual high standard and the camaraderie of the group was fantastic.
Day seven saw us at the border between Nepal and India; this was not quite the same as arriving at Heathrow but after a relatively swift crossing with only a two-hour delay we were through and on our way to Shiliguri. If the traffic was manic in Nepal it was manic times ten in India! We cycled the 30 km to the city through some of the worst traffic imaginable. The problem is that in India there is only one code in the manual, ‘If there is a gap you go for it and never mind who else might be in the way’. We were all very happy to make it safely to the hotel (no camping in India).
We started Day eight as usual at 0630, the roads were quieter but the signs telling us to give way to elephants and the numerous evil looking monkeys on the roadside told us that this was not a good place to stop. After 30 km we reached Coronation Bridge and all stopped for a photo.
The next 20km was an easy climb and descent even if the road was terrible with long stretches of gravel and landslide damage; the traffic was horrendous with trucks, buses, jeeps, cars and everything else India could throw at us and not a driving licence in sight I feel sure. At about 1100 we reached the Teesta Bridge and here it was all change; we started to climb and climb and climb. In fact we climbed 1,600 metres (4,800 ft) in just 8 miles, the road is old there are no long runs between the hairpins, it is bend after bend with gradients of 1:4 at times and seldom less than 1:8. The top seemed a long way but was delicious once reached.
Once we reached Kalimpong we were greeted by various groups from the school, management, teachers, staff and others but best of all was the school band who marched through the town with playing the school song and various other tunes such as Colonel Bogey, with the cyclists behind getting applause from the town folk.
After leaving the town there was another steep climb to the school but once in the gates the last 1.5 km was lined with the school children, teachers and everyone else waving flags and cheering us on to the top; it was very moving and quite a reception. The reception committee presented us all with flowers and speeches; it was clear that this was a big day for the school and our welcome was heartfelt. It was wonderful to participate, a great sense of achievement and the chance to change lives in a most significant way. Long may the school be there to help those who need it.
Well done, Tim, an incredible achievement!