Kumbalgarh my Lord

Arguably the toughest day today.

After cycling 100km yesterday, today's 55km seemed like a breeze but overnight'ing in the foothills of the mountains meant it wasn't long before we were all off our bikes and pushing them uphill. A few of the group were determined to do the day without pushing, but with bikes weighing almost 20kg and hills getting increasingly steeper, it was an impossible task for even the fittest of the group. After an extended break around mid-morning, we set off on more undulating terrain up until lunchtime. This was spent next to a local hospital where we could use the toilet and it was here you got a true idea as to just how different things are. Genuinely upsetting seeing how run down and poor these places are. I was shocked to see that what actually looked like an abandoned and derelict old building, was in reality, a working hospital. It was a struggle to take in and made us even more determined to last the rest of the day which didn't get any easier. Steeper hills combined with the fatigue of the previous days saw more people dropping bikes, crashing or losing their rag. I think everyone had underestimated how tough this was advertised as! The final stretch was predominantly downhill, and as luck would have it, the heavens opened as we flew down towards Kumbalgarh. After a few near misses (the bikes' brakes are useless in the wet) we came in to cross the finish line to applause from those ahead of us and a cheeky glass of champagne. Once everyone was in and changed we headed to a local school where they had put on a puppet show just for us. Very (unintentionally) funny and again, another eye opener into how things differ between what we're expecting and how things are in the Third World. Another long day, we all retired early before the final day of riding, only 9km back up the hill to our nominated school that Free the Children are working with to formally hand over the bikes to and see where you're kindly donated money is going towards.