CTC Cambridge

Friday 6 December 2024 

Fiona writes: I signed up to a charity ride in Sri Lanka aid of The Urology Foundation, without quite knowing what to expect. My doubts quickly vanished and I had a wonderful trip.

Under the excellent organisation of Dream Challenges, our group of 18 enthusiastic cyclists assembled in Negombo, just north of Colombo.

With two leaders from the UK, and a team of six Sri Lankans, we were looked after brilliantly, with our own fleet of two buses and a lorry for bikes.

We were presented with almost new hybrid bikes, in very good condition, and got kitted up, some bringing their own pedals and attached bags and the next morning off we set.

Day 1: First we rode along a lagoon past a mass of colourful fishing boats where we dodged fish being sold at the side of the road, as well as the many dogs to be found on every road in Sri Lanka. In temperatures of 28-30C, we needed frequent stops for water refills, and our trusty Sri Lankans were always there, waving us into the next stop. Small,delicious Sri Lankan bananas were the perfect snack, and I have never eaten so many bananas in one week!

We gradually climbed towards the central hills, where the roads became increasingly narrow and windy. We were taken by bus to Kotagala, where we spent the next night.

Day 2: Today's ride was the most challenging. There were some ascents in the morning to Dimbulla, and lunch in Talawakele with panoramic views over mountains and spectacular waterfalls.

Then the really hard work began, with hairpin bend ascents for 20km to Nuwara Eliya. This was certainly stretching my cycling ability! Only a few of the group made it all the way, and others sensibly took the bus option. Much celebration on arrival at the hotel.

The temperatures dropped as we approached Nuwara Eliya, the highest significant town in Sri Lanka at 1,868m and known at the coolest. It is not surprising that this is where the Brits came to escape the heat and built so many houses in British style that it is known as Little England.

Here in the hills of Sri Lanka the landscape is dominated by tea plantations, all started in the 1800s by the British. Tea became a major source of wealth for Ceylon, as it was then named, and the tea is still exported as 'Ceylon Tea'.

Day 3 was a good antidote to the previous day's ascents, and we meandered through beautiful tea plantations, on roads all constructed in the colonial time to access the tea.

We stopped for a visit to a tea factory, where we were shown how the hand picked leaves are dried, crushed and prepared for sale in the tea auctions in Colombo. Needless to say,we were plied with cups of delicious tea. As I cycled away, I felt I had a glimpse of what a hard life it would be to pick tea all day. The female pickers, known as pluckers, have to produce a certain weight each day in exchange for a pitifully low sum.

We cycled into Kandy, the second biggest city in Sri Lanka, past the beautifully spacious university campus. Sri Lanka is incredibly green and lush, as it has plenty of rain. Thankfully for our ride we were blessed with dry weather. There had been a cyclone just before we arrived, but it tactfully finished as we arrived in Sri Lanka.

On Day 4, we headed east, and cycled along a canal, which was very calm in comparison to the roads with the bustle of tuk-tuks, motorbikes and cars. We passed paddy fields, a common sight in Sri Lanka.

We were lucky to have a very traditional village lunch in a wooden hut, with all the local specialities. Rice, dal and delicious vegetable curry, followed by papaya, watermelon and bananas.

We spent the afternoon at Sigiriya, a spectacular rock formation, where 1,500 years ago, a king built himself a palace, with gardens and swimming pools which still exist. It seems extraordinary to have achieved such an engineering feat in those days. Today there are new steps, up to several levels and then to the top, where you can see the original swimming pools and gardens.

The views at Sigiriya are sensational, and as found all over Sri Lanka, a large white statue of Buddha is a prominent landmark.

This part of Sri Lanka is home to many elephants. Sadly,we didn't see any actual elephants but had to settle with seeing a road sign warning of elephants, and some elephant dung at the side of the roads!

On Day 5, our final day of cycling, we made a planned visit to a school in a poor part of the country. The children were all lined up to greet us, looking very smart and tidy in their white school uniform. They sang for us in English, and did some dancing, all with huge smiles. We had all brought some stationery to give the school, and they were extremely grateful. We also had some cricket pads and a helmet, which the boys looked at longingly.

Our final stretch was to Trincomalee, on the east coast, reaching the triumphant end of the ride on the beach, and some enthusiastic rushing into the sea fully clad!

The next day was spent visiting Trincomalee with its old fort and stunning Hindu temple, and enjoying the warm sea of the Indian Ocean. Our buses took us back to Negombo, and then home the next day. It was an invigorating trip to a fascinating country, and the Sri Lankans we met were charming and friendly, with the occasional quizzical look wondering what these people were doing in Lycra!

Between us we raised £92,000 for the Urology Foundation, which funds research into prostate, bladder and kidney diseases. Fiona Cornish