Cycling 1,000 miles listening to God ’ s music & raising £ 10,000 for 3 charities
I have fulfilled a teenage dream to cycle 1,000 miles from Lands End to John O ’ Groats . I find it incredulous that I completed it in one piece and even more so that £ 10,000 was raised for three charities , thanks to the generosity of family and friends .
The charities are listed below - I have already presented cheques to each one .
HEALTH : Institute of Cancer Research - ( Company No : 534147 ) most of us have been touched in some way by this dreadful disease and this cancer research organisation has an outstanding record of achievement .
EDUCATION : - SPA ITF Education Fund ( Registered Charity No : 802570 ) - helps Prajapati families in UK and India with invaluable contributions , helping to finance degrees and higher education diplomas for those from poor families who can barely afford life ’ s basic necessities . In the UK , we are blessed .
SOCIAL WELFARE : Business Office Supplies Charity ( Registered Charity No : 279029 ) previously BOSS BenFund - helps individuals and families who have worked in the stationery industry and have fallen on hard times , having exhausted all normal channels of social welfare .
The manic desire for an epic adventure streak seems to ignite every 10 years or so . In 2007 I trekked to Annapurna Base Camp ( 4123m ) with my cousin Hemantkumar A Mistry and as President of SPA Birmingham raised over £ 5,000 for essential community hall renovations .
It seems my 53 year old brain wants to attain lots however my body has its own challenges – the usual aches and pains that come with age and split disc , back pain , glaucoma – to top it , I had to have a hernia operation 3 months before the ride which meant training started only mid-April . To my own amazement , I managed to clock up 1,000 training miles at a steady pace . And then the big day – 14th June 2016 – start of Land ’ s End to John O ’ Groats . The first two days were in Devon and Cornwall - it proved I had not practiced half as much as I should have especially the hill climbs . Worse still , we had torrential rain for 2 days to contend with - there was a moment on Dartmoor when I could have given up - the mist had descended , the rain came in bucket loads , I was climbing yet another hill and could barely see 10 feet in front of my bike … and then you have to fight your own self … focus on the task , let each pedal revolution count as one step closer to the finish line , think of those wonderful messages of support you have received . Day 3 and 4 onto to a relatively flat Somerset county … and onto glorious Avon County …. And then the rolling hills and valleys of beautiful Wales . Days passed by in a daze …. repeated patterns of eat , sleep , ride - I cannot sleep a lot … probably 4 hours at best … wake up at 4:30am , breakfast at 6:00am , start riding with my partner Robert , a wonderful Scotsman who was a very private individual . - His occupation was as a Ghillie ( look it up !). We used to have a water stop around 10am after 35 miles or so , lunch at 60 miles at around 1:30pm and a final water stop around 80 miles … day in day out for 11 days .
On Day 4 we reached Shrewsbury having cycled 286 miles and Nila , Krishna and the extended family met
36 vol . 41 | Prajapati Sandesh 2016