The year 2000, two thousand pounds and two thousand miles!

2000, 2000, 2000! 

 After making myself a bike out of two half bikes, bought at the Police auction of bikes found in the river, hanging on railings and generally discarded, I taught myself how to use the gears and started riding to work in Cambridge. I was introduced to 'sunday bike rides' by a friensd and started practicing to ride further than the five miles to work. 

I would cycle round the villages I found on an Ordnance Survey map, and cycled to work the long-way- -round, that involved a hill or two. By the end of the summer I had done four 'rides' for national charities and raised £400 for Help the Aged, the World Wildlife Fund, British Heart and Oxfam.  Emboldened, and always up for a challenge, I entered the 1992 London to Cambridge 'event' - a properly organised affair, going by train to the start in London, signing in, lining up at a start line and with marshalls to point out the route at road junctions.  

  I pedalled along, conscious of being older than most riders, a recently widowed mother of four. I was overtaken by teams of lycra-clad young men, on bikes with skinny tyres.  I wondered if it would be possible for me to cycle somewhere, day after day, and raise funds for a charity of my choosing. Where  could I go, where would I stay at night, and where would the weather be reasonable. Certainly no cold or rain - I was a fair-weather cyclist!

 Somewhere abroad? I was interested in the culture of ancient civilisations, and in nature. The Amazon  would be unique but had no roads. The Nile valley was tempting, but there had been reports of tourists being shot in Egypt.  I had recently been to China and Russia, as they were relatively cheap holiday destinations. The insurance for getting food poisoning in Moscow almost paid for my Chinese tour in 1990. 

I  began to think of food. Judging by the number of bikes parked outside pubs on our route, most people stopped at these country hostelries.  I decided to avoid them, fearing that I might not make it back to Cambridge! I would stick to my sandwiches, bananas, and water!

Back to dreamily turning the pedals, with the sun on my back, I returned to choosing a possible destination for my 'epic adventure'. When my son borrowed the car and left the radio on I had recently learned about a charity called Lepra ! Leprosy was not just a biblical event; it still exists in many countries. India was reputed to have 70% of the world's leprosy. 

I had met a lot of Indian textile students at Leeds university. One of them, Ramesh, became a firm friend of mine and my husband's, when they were both hospitalized with TB, itself a microbial cousin of leprosy. 

Ramesh was now a businessman, and I felt sure that he would be able to rescue me if I got into trouble, and he might persuade his friends to donate to  Lepra. 

An Indian bike ride became my pipe dream !

I made it back to Cambridge in a heavy downpour, scared that I might be electrocuted by the lightning flashes, and finding it difficult to see through the raindrops on my glasses. It was reported as being the hottest day of the year! A bit like India?

Lepra wanted to eliminate Leprosy from India by the year 2000! I could try to raise £2000 for Leprosy treatment in India, and the Ganges was about 2000 miles long.!

 2000,2000,2000!