An almost perfect day

From 3 February 2020, I will be taking on the epic challenge of cycling 4,500km across the entire length of India. Starting on the very southernmost tip in the city of Kanyakumari, I will end up 45 days later in Kashmir, almost in the foothills of the Himalayas! 

My goal is to raise $450,000 for the Loomba Foundation. Each cent I raise will help to empower widows in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.  

Day 9 From Anantpur to Anantpur – 900 km completed (3,600 km left)

End of day nine, so that’s 900km done. I’m feeling a lot better today and I hesitate to say this but the day was almost perfect. I felt good, my stomach felt good and the conditions were good. I had a good night’s sleep and the bed was comfy as was the pillow. I had a light meal last night.

I had some tailwind today but it was mostly crosswinds which I will take any day over a headwind. So far I’ve mostly had to contend with headwinds.

Dodging traffic on the roads

There’s a video of me below which is a time-lapse and it gives a sense of the challenges that I face when I get off the main road. I’m dodging motorcycles, buses, tractors and all the rest.

I slept in a cubicle

We had a lunch in the cubicle from a restaurant. The guys were fantastic as I ate my lunch quickly. They went outside to eat so they left me to sleep in the cubicle, which was very kind of them.

Atul to the rescue for lunch

I had a super treat at lunchtime as Atul wanted to make sure I had non-spicy food. In Bangalore the guys checked to ensure my clear vegetable soup was completely non-spicy but it ended up being full of spice! Therefore, to make sure and to help my recovery Atul went into the kitchen. You can see his skills in the video.

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh

Yesterday we went into the state of Karnataka leaving Tamil Nadu behind. We only caught a little tiny corner of Karnataka because we went almost immediately into Andhra Pradesh which is the third state we’re travelling through. The capital of Andhra Pradesh is shared between Telangana and Hyderabad and we will reach the latter in around 3 days time.

Thank you Oyo

We had a lovely welcome from the Oyo hotel when we arrived and from Manisha specifically. The hotel, RuRu Comfort Inn which is part of the Oyo group, arranged for me to have a welcome aarti. I’ve got a Tilak on my forehead and they lit a lamp which was incredibly kind of them. I just want to thank Vikas who works at Oyo as he has been brilliant in helping Atul sort out any issues we’ve had with the hotels along the way.

Fundraising for widows in Kashmir

As I’m sure most of you know I’m cycling to help widows in Kashmir for an empowerment project that is going to launch later this year. This project will enable widows to have the tools to earn a living for themselves and their children. There are many challenges in Kashmir and to be a widow is a sort of double whammy. Each dollar goes a long way in India and if many widows have skills training at a cheap cost it will make a big difference.

So far and across all platforms we’ve raised over $320,000 which is fantastic. Thank you for all your kind support. If you haven’t yet supported me, it would be lovely if you could do so, and encourage any of your friends to do so as well. Any help you can provide would be lovely, thank you. If you are in India please use Ketto and for UK/elsewhere you can donate via JustGiving.

What a difference a centimetre makes!

Sachin and I have both been watching YouTube videos of the perfect position to be on a bike. We’ve been looking at saddle height, saddle position and the distance from the handlebars. We agreed to move the saddle forward about a centrimetre. And, I have to say a centrimetre makes the world of difference. I feel much more comfortable on the bike. My arms aren’t as extended and the pressure on my wrists isn’t quite as bad, although one of my fingers on my right hand is still numb unfortunately. That is, however, the least of my worries. And, the leg pressure and leg power feels better with the saddle forward.

Meeting two Hijra today

Today I was blessed by two people who look like women but they are actually Hijra. Hijras are referred to as the third gender in India and are eunuchs, transexual and transgender people. They are a fairly big community and they spend their lives giving blessings. They go to weddings, funerals, christenings and other similar events. If you don’t give them money they’ll cast a spell on you, and if you give them money they’ll bless you. They gave me a rupee coin as part of my blessing.

A pig herder today

I’ve been a cow herd already and today I was a pig herd. I was able to walk down the street for a little while with a couple of pigs and a big stick. So that was fun and there were lots of dogs barking and general wonderful Indian chaos.

Sachin is still pushing me!

We got back at a decent time today and because I said that today was almost perfect, Sachin wasn’t quite satisfied. He decided that we (Sachin, Atul and I) were going for a run. Goodness knows how far and I hope not too far. I asked why on earth we going for a run to which he replied, “If you are a javelin thrower, you don’t just spend all day throwing a javelin, you would do lots of other exercises as well.” Sachin tells me that the reason we’re doing the running is for cardio, although frankly I feel like I’m doing a lot of cardio. It’s a different variety of cardio and it’ll involve my upper body as well, and maybe some core. It will strengthen my legs in a different way, which he’s keen to do, and that’s why we’re doing the exercise in the morning.

My Royal Enfield dream

I’ve always said that I would love to do a trip on a Royal Enfield motorbike to retrace the steps that I took on my 30 marathons in 30 day. I’d also like to retrace the route for what I hope will be my successful journey from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. Sachin got me to flex my tricep in the photo and to suck my stomach in. I’m hoping that by the time I get to Kashmir I won’t have to do any sucking in.

That’s all for today.

Chris

PS Thank you for all the lovely words of encouragement over these last few days.

Why I’m cycling across India 

Unfortunately, many widows in India are very badly treated when they lose their husbands. As well as facing verbal and physical abuse, rape and the threat of being evicted from their homes, they often have no income whatsoever after their husband dies. 

This is where the Loomba Foundation comes in. Through their empowerment programmes, the charity provides skills training and other support to help widows become self-sufficient so that they can support themselves and their families. 

I’d like to ask for your support I am already more than half way towards raising $450,000 – I’d love it if you could help me smash my target. Your support would mean the world to me and would help to change the lives of thousands of widows and their families. 

If you are in India, you can make a donation here: 

 Ketto (India) 

If you are in the UK or elsewhere in the world, you can make a donation here:  

JustGiving 

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