Cycle India 2008 - Heal charity bike ride

The following report was written by Matthew Glover, MD of Conservatory Outlet.

While the double glazing industry has been in turmoil in the first two weeks of 2008, I have been cycling through Andhra Pradesh in India with my wife and 30+ other brave volunteers.

As you may be aware this event - Cycle India - has been close to my heart as the original creator and organiser in the UK. As Head of Fundraising for Heal UK, I managed to convince a group of people to join me.

And if you're interested this is my account:

January 2nd

A team of 4 members from Conservatory Outlet (myself, Alison, John Goldie and Andrew Bean) set out early and met the bulk of the UK cyclists in Peterborough, where we caught a coach to London Gatwick. There we met the remaining cyclists at the Emirates check in area - a team of 20 cyclists and 8 people just there for the experience. As many of those participating had never met each other previously, it was an early chance to start getting to know each other. We were destined for Hyderabad in India, after a stop over in Dubai.

January 3rd

After a tiring flight we arrived at Hyderabad airport at 8.40am and were met by a welcoming committee and swiftly taken by coach to a local hotel - a chance to freshen up and have our first Indian breakfast of Idlees, curry, rice etc. This was to be the first day of a hectic schedule, and we were soon back on the coach for our next stop - Bhadrachalam - which was a mere 7 hour journey.

Upon arrival at Bhadrachalam, we were greeted at the hotel by a surprise welcoming committee. As the coach pulled up we heard the sound of drums and local tribesmen greeted us with traditional dancing and music. We were adorned with garlands, danced with many of the local people, then attended a press conference and had tea with local dignatories. Despite being totally exhausted we all enjoyed the welcome and would like to thank the people of Bhadrachalam for their hospitality!

January 4th

The next morning we had a very early start by coach, as we were due to have a rest day on a boat on the Godavari River. On the coach journey, though, we had an unexpected stop (the first of many during our trip) as the hosts of the previous evening's welcoming committee had invited us to tour their school. Heal is a UK registered charity which raises money for helping orphaned and underpriviliged children in this area get an education, so this was a good opportunity to have a look around a great school.

We then got back on the bus after saying goodbye to the 900+ children at the school, and continued our journey to reach the start of the boat trip. We were a bit behind schedule, but then managed to find time for an unscheduled stop at a remote rural village. We were invited into the village by the local people (who had never seen Europeans before!) and looked around their small homes. It was an experience neither the people of the village or the rather spoilt visitors from the UK will ever forget.

Around lunchtime, we arrived at the starting point for the boat trip. We were soon on our way, and enjoyed a leisurely 6 hour journey down the beautiful Godavari river. The best way to describe the Godavari river is like travelling down a very long Lake Windermere, but much warmer, and certainly far less untouched. This was a great day.

We then arrived at Rajahmundry, and after a short bus journey we arrived at our hotel - the Anand Regency. We were met there by Siva, one of the main organisers and the guy who plotted our cycle route. We were then introduced to our brand new Hero cycles for a bike fitting. We were all a bit weary of these old fashioned style bikes, with no gears and a very heavy sub frame, but we were to be proved wrong once we got cycling.

We were all eager to start our charity bike ride.

January 5th

In the early morning we were taken by bus to our starting point on the outskirts of Rajahmundry. We were met by 2 cyclists from the US, and a number of local Indian cyclists (including our guides Bujji and Siva). After a few warm up exercises, the 30 strong team set off on our first day - a mere 70 kilometres!

The first half of our cycling was along a reasonably busy highway. For those who have experienced Indian roads, you will be aware that they are renowned for being a bit dangerous, but, we were all safe - not least because the locals tended to slow down and watch this unusual site - a group of people from around the world cycling through Andhra Pradesh - hardly a normal site!

After the first stop off, where we had breakfast, coconut milk and cold Red Bulls, we were then back on the road, cycling through far quieter rural areas. It was clear that everywhere we were to cycle, we would be greeted by happy smiling people, delighted to see us cycling through their villages and towns.

After 70 miles, and no casualties, we arrived at our first overnight stop - at the grounds of a church at Peerupalem. We were right next to the beach, and our hosts arranged a disco and campfire on the beach, where we had the chance to relax, recover and have a welcome beer.

The accommodation in the grounds of the church was very basic, and we all slept in dormitories, but we all felt that this was part of the adventure!

January 6th

After a good early breakfast, we set off cycling at around 8.30am. Despite today's distance being only 60 km, many of the cyclists were to find this day more hard work than the previous day, mainly due to saddle soreness and tired muscles. A number of the non-cyclists (including my wife, Alison) had become jealous of the fun we were having on the bikes, so 4 extra bikes were drafted in, and the number of cyclists became 34.

The highlight of the day's cycling was passing through all the small villages and the beautiful scenery of rice fields and coconut trees. We stopped and had lunch in a small town where we had the chance to walk around a fish farm. One of our Indian organisers found a snake, which although non-venomous certainly scared all the cyclists!

Our destination on the second day of cycling was Manginupudi beach. The group had to be split on this evening with half the group staying at a hotel in Machilipatnam. To be honest, the accomodation in Machilipatnam was a bit ropey, and a few of the cyclists were a bit frustrated with the cleanliness etc. However, after an evening's entertainment, and a few beers, everybody laughed off there concerns.

January 7th

After a short bus journey, we set off on this morning from Machilipatnam for another 70km bike ride. The scenery was very similar to Day 2, with lovely views over rice fields, coconut trees and small villages.

The highlight had to be the crossing of a beautiful river. All the bikes and cyclists were put on 6 or 7 small boats, and we had a marvellous 1 hour journey down the river, with diverse views of wildlife, villages and local fishermen.

This was another hard day, but we all made it to Suryalanka beach resort at Bapatla. It was great for all the cyclists to cool down in the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. The accommodation here was far better than the previous night and after another evening's entertainment, we all had a good night's sleep ready for our final day's cycling.

January 8th

The countryside on our fourth day of cycling (approx 60km) was not as picturesque as the previous 3 days, but there was still a lot of locals out waving us along our route. Word was starting to spread of Cycle India in this part of Andhra Pradesh, and on three occasions we had impromptu stops at schools on our route. The welcome from the children at each school was unbelievable - it was just a shame that we couldn't stay for longer.

We had a schedule to adhere to and finally arrived at our final destination - the Heal Children's Village at around 2pm. We were escorted for the final 2km by motorbikes carrying UK and Indian flags, and the children from the Village and Bala Kuteer school lined the route. It was a truly emotional finale for many of our cyclists. We had cycled 260km in total, but the tears were mainly of joy at such a memorable welcoming committee.

Dr Prasad (the founder of Heal), Carl Brodie (the Chairman of Heal) and I were honoured to unveil a sculpture of Gandhi - the Father of the Nation. It is difficult to explain in words what we all experienced, but the festivities that greeted all of us, by the children and staff of the Heal Children's Village will live with us all for ever!

The children put on a show, and we all had a brief tour of the Village and school, before being taken to a hotel in Guntur for a welcome rest!

January 9th

With the cycling part of our adventure complete, we spent today shopping for presents in the morning, and all the ladies purchased saris from the town of Guntur.

One of the features of Cycle India was that the schedule tended to drift every day, and after shopping we arrived a little late at the Children's Village (around 4pm). There was another show lined up for us and the children, parents, press and local dignatories. The children excelled themselves once again with dancing, performing and Tae Kwondo show.

This was another fantastic day - the highlight of the whole event.

January 10th

This was our final day in India. We got up early again (around 4am) and set off to the airport at Vijayawada for our return flight to Hyderabad. On the way, we stopped at the Nagajuna Hospital, where we met the team who had made all the arrangements for Cycle India. Their local knowledge, hard work and enthusiasm ensured that cycle ride was problem-free and well managed. THANK YOU to the Nagajuna Hospital.

On our arrival at Hyderabad, we were taken by coach to visit the Vivikenanda Public School, a Heal project. It was great to see the hard work of the trustees and children of the school with limited resources.

Finally, we had a much earned rest in the afternoon, followed by a reception at the Secunderabad Club to celebrate the completion of our first charity bike ride in India. The following morning, sadly we returned to the UK.

For more information about Cycle India please visit the Heal website. It's early days, but it is likely that we may be planning further Cycle India events for 2009 or 2010. Please watch this space.

So far Cycle India has raised close to £100,000 which is a lot of money for a small charity, and we are now looking to use the funds to develop a new project similar to the Childrens Village in Guntur.

Finally, Andrew Bean from Conservatory Outlet took 30+ hours of video footage while in India. He is now editing this and we'll produce a mini-documentary which will visualise the events far better than I have explained here.

If you are interested in taking part in the next cycle india, please get in contact with me, or find out more information at www.cycleindia.org.