Charity Bike Ride in India - April update

charity bike ride, charity bike rides, cycle india 2010, heal

The latest information for Cycle India 2010 is as follows:

Plans so far
At the time of writing we cannot provide complete details for our charity bike ride event for 2010, as we are still in the early stages of planning the event, but if you read on, I will tell you as much as I can about the plans so far.

I will be travelling to India in early July 2008 with three of the other directors of Heal UK to look at two options for a route. The first option is to replicate the route of Cycle India 2008 and cycle through Andhra Pradesh again. We will need to secure the support of the team which organised this event. It would be nice to cycle this area again, but as a number of the team from last time, are keen to take part again, then we may prefer to try a different area.

The most likely route we will choose will be to cycle from Bangalore to Mysore. We have a contact in Bangalore who is keen to make all the arrangements for the event, so we will be visiting him in July to discuss the option, and decide on the viability. I have been to Mysore previously, and feel that destination will be ideal. If we cycle through this part of India, we will plan for all cyclists to visit the Heal Children’s Village in Guntur as well. We feel it is important for those taking part to actually experience the good work of Heal first hand!

How many cyclists will be taking part?

We had around 22 UK cyclists last time, with a further 2 from the US, and 8 from India. We feel that around 30-40 is an ideal number for our event, as it allows everyone to get to know each other better and create friendships.

There are already at least 10 of the previous cyclists wishing to take part again, and we have already had 3 new people put their name down. So, if you are interested in taking part, then please contact me ASAP to register your interest at matthew@cycleindia.org.

When is Cycle India 2010?

We have pencilled in the early part of January 2010 as this is the coolest time of the year in India. But, we will not be able to give a definite date until we start booking flights.

How much do you need to raise?

We ask everyone to raise a minimum of £2500 for Heal.

This figure will cover your costs (flights, food, accommodation, bikes etc). The last Cycle India cost around £1000 per person to stage, so assuming the costs will be around the same again, then Heal will receive £1500 from your fundraising efforts. If you wish to pay the costs yourself and raise the balance through fundraising, then this is fine. Or if you do not wish to do any fundraising, you can simply pay the £2500 yourself.

Of course, if you wish to raise more than £2500 then we welcome this!!! For Cycle India 2008 a number of the cyclists raised more than £5000 and two guys raised over £10,000.

Remember, Heal is a small charity with very low overheads, so any money you raise for Heal, nearly all of it goes to India for helping look after the children!

You will need to have provided the minimum £2500 fundraising requirement around 10 weeks beforehand, as Heal will need to pay for the flights and other costs.

To register for Cycle India you need to send a cheque for £250 made out to ‘Heal’ and send it to:

Matthew Glover
Heal Fundraising Office
604 Denby Dale Rd
Calder Grove
Wakefield
WF4 3DP

You also need to send this downloadable application form with your cheque.

Just Giving

We will be encouraging all cyclists to set up a Just Giving page to help with fundraising. This is a really good way to raise money, and it is far easier for Heal to administer. An example of a Just Giving page is this one.

How fit do I need to be?

You need to have a reasonable level of fitness as you will be required to cycle around 45-50 miles per day. So we recommend you do some training beforehand.

However, a number of cyclists last time managed the route with very limited training (including me).

As we haven’t finalised the route yet it is difficult to state whether the roads will be flat or hilly. If we choose Andhra Pradesh then it will be flat everywhere. I would assume the Bangalore area is mainly flat.

How hot will it be?

It will be around 25 - 30 degrees each day. Heat was not a real problem last time - it was just nicely warm.

What about the food?

You will be eating a variety of locally made Indian food - all freshly cooked. A couple of the team did struggle with the spicy food last time, and there were a couple of cases of ‘delhi belly’ but generally most people enjoyed the food. I loved it!!!

There’s loads more I could tell you about Cycle India, but for now, if you have any questions, please feel free to post a comment below

Or email me direct at matthew@cycleindia.org.

Thanks

Matthew

PS. We have the videos of Cycle India 2008 on the Heal website which will give you a great idea of what to expect!

Matthew @ April 24, 2008