Carrying on where I left off - The final ride in May 2022

 

HELLO! 2022 is a new year, and a lot has happened. My Land's End to John O'Groats solo fundraising ride ended somewhere near Shrewsbury, last July. I got ill and had to come home. But.... I raised over £14000, and that money is already supporting three Buddhist workers in Kolkata, and the project progresses. So the whole thing was a success. I also really enjoyed the ride - despite the heat wave and my illness.

I want to complete the ride this year and plan to cycle from Shrewsbury to John O'Groats starting on May 23rd and finishing on June 7th or thereabouts. That's around 650 miles (1046 kilometres). Since my last Big Ride for Kolkata, I've put in some serious training of around 100 miles a week, rain or shine - all through the year. I've loved it. I cycle 7 days a week.

However, it has to be said that my rheaumatoid arthritis condition is getting slowly worse, and requiring more effort to manage. This will have to be my final big fundraising ride. I need to get on and do it while I can, as at some point, I won't be able to.

Hopefully, there will be no Covid problems and no illness this year. The other big news is Prajnakara from the Ipswich Buddhist Centre. He has offered to accompany me on the ride and support what I'm doing. As he's an experienced long-distance cyclist and all-round good chap, I'm so glad about this. Having his company will improve everything and keep me going.

Keep an eye on this blog, as from May 23rd, I'll be posting a video diary daily - just like last year. I'll also post regularly on the run up to the ride.

There's a revamped fundraising page to be found at:

https://gofund.me/d272b9b1

Love, Saddharaja

END OF BLOG - for the present - and End of the Road

 

I saw the Doctor this morning. He examined me and says that all my vital signs are good and I should make a good recovery - probably this week. He prescribed me medication for the nausea. He thinks that I have had a sickness virus for weeks and that is moving towards the endgame now. The sickness virus was probably made much worse by the extreme heatwave conditions and hard cycling. 

So I had a lucky escape. When I complete the ride in Spring 2022, I shall have someone there with a vehicle everyday, to support me with anything I need. 

All I need to do now, is recover, get back on my bike and get on with my life and work. There is lots to engage with, and I feel I've had a good adventure, and the main focus of my ride - to raise money for the Kolkata Project - has been successful. 

Thank you all for reading my blog and/or donating generously. Thanks to all those who have written to me expressing your encouragement, concern and well-wishing. 

I will pause this blog now, until Spring 2022, when I shall take it up again.

Love,

Saddharaja

Takeaways from the Big Ride Part 1

 

It is Sunday afternoon. Two days since I returned home ill from my abruptly-ended Big Ride for Kolkata. I still feel pretty unwell. Nauseous, lacking in strength and about 50% of my normal energy. My mind still feels befuddled and reality feels a step removed. It least I am holding my food down.

I have done little over the last 48 hours but rest. A couple of short walks from which I returned exhausted. At least I have an appointment with the GP on Monday morning, and we can see what treatment I need to recover. I have been using the weekend to catch up (in a basic way) on correspondence. There has been an avalanche of this. People have been so kind and caring, with messages coming from around the world. Many people who I have never met. I am so grateful to you all for your care and metta. Thank you.

My mental states are largely fine. I am not able to meditate very effectively at present so I am doing puja. My community is supportive. I feel confident I shall recover from this and be back to my normal life before long.

I have also had time to reflect on my 10 day, 420 mile bike ride. Here are a few points that I have concluded.

1) I made a mistake in doing the trip solo. Doing everything independently and not burdening others tends to be my style - for better or worse. That's OK if you stay healthy. I was very organised with this trip but I didn't take into account the possibility of having a serious crash or getting ill. Both real possibilities, and both happened to me. Being ill away from home with a loaded bike is a difficult place to independently deal with. 

2) I want to complete the trip next Spring. My desire to cycle the length of the country is not deminished. Probably John O'Groats down to Wales. This time I will do it with someone backing me up with a vehicle. My brother has offered to do this with a camper van. I want to take him up on it. 

3) Despite my getting ill, the point of the project is to raise money for Triratna Kolkata. We have been successful in that. Nearly £14K so far. That will make a big difference to activities in West Bengal. Money goes further there. Also we have recently had a bequest for the project, a sculpture by Meera Mukherjee, the late, famous Bengali sculptor. This sculpture is ours to auction at Christie's or Sotheby's, and is likely to fetch good money which will greatly help the project. A fantastic thing to have happened.

4) I find I don't feel upset or bothered at only completing a third of the Big Ride. Initially I did feel dissappointed. But now I feel tranquil about it. It is what it is.

5) Britain has so much beauty. I saw so much of this on my 10-day ride. I knew it was there, but a bike gives you the ideal, in-depth way of seeing that beauty.

6) I really enjoy cycling and want to continue doing lots more of it. At my time of life, it is the ideal way of keeping fit, getting around and keeping interested in my environment.

7) Cycling in a 10-day heatwave is very challenging. I did everything right: covering up, sunscreen, hydration nand electrolytes relpacement tablets, drinking lots of water (3 litres a ride), and sensible resting. Even so, the melting tarmac, the sunglare, the energy-sapping effect of the intense heat took me to the edge of my endurance. I discovered I am fitter, stronger and more resilient than I thought I was. Even so, I shall not do another big ride in summer, and I shall not do it solo.

8) I met some lovely people. I expected this to be the case with the Order members I stayed with and with my family, and of course, they were. What I didn't expect was to meet so many lovely members of the general public who took an interest in me, were generous to me and were good to talk to. I met some great people. Fellow LEJOG-ers all say the same thing. You meet so many nice people in Britain.

9) Britain has a massive traffic problem. Along with the rest of the world, probably. There is now so much traffic on the road. UK roads are not in good repair, I noticed. We are so car-dependent for everything. We are encouraged to cycle more, and of course, I agree with that. It is easy to do that in Cambridge, but not the case in Cornwall! Cornwall has narrow, busy roads with twisty bits and steep hills. Who wants to cycle in that? It is also the case in so much of the rest of the country. I don't know what the solution is. But on this ride, I really saw the reality of our traffic-mad little country. We have built our lives around the car. When the climate apocalypse comes in future decades, we may not be able to use cars in the same way as today.

10) SatNavs are a wonderful thing. I have a Garmin bike SatNav and it faithfully got me where I needed to go without any fuss. No need for lots of physical maps. What incredible technology it is.

Home again

Here I am back at Abbey House. Still feeling rough and weak, but I'm home safe and sound. I have an appointment to see my GP at 08.30 on Monday morning, so I just need to rest up this weekend and then see what diagnosis the doctor gives me on Monday morning.

I feel very grateful to Vajraketu. He texted me yesterday offering to come and get me in Cheltenham by car from Cambridge, together with my bike. It was decent of him. He arrived around 11.30 this morning after having set out early. He had an opportunity to meet my daughter-in-law Clare briefly together with my granddaughter Hazel. My son Barney and wife Clare have been so helpful and caring of me on this trip.

Once we were out on the road heading back to Cambridge, I found my map-reading skills pretty useless. The nausea just wouldn't allow me to concentrate. Anyway, despite a traffic hold-up at one point we got back OK late afternoon, and we had a good talk on the way back. Vajraketu seemed to effortlessly combine mindful driving, navigating and listening to me wittering on.

I'm glad to be back home in the community and feel - looking back to be happy that I have done the ride that I did and got away without having a serious accident. I'm happy I raised all that money for the Kolkata Project, and fully intend to complete the rest of the Big Ride another time. Only this time, I shall have someone along with me in a vehicle for back up. Being ill and a long way from home with a bike is a vulnerable situation to be in, I found. Also, the heatwave was so intense. I'll go in the Spring next time.

I cycled 420 miles from Land's End to Knighton in mid-Wales in 10 days. Penzance, Land's End, Penzance again, Truro, Liskeard, Okehampton, Honiton, Glastonbury, Bristol, Cheltenham, Garway Knighton. There are lots of things I learned and appreciated from the experience, and wonderful people I met. I also got to know myself in new ways. But that must wait until tomorrow because I've just got to go to bed now. 
 

Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun

 

I am lying in a nice tent with a cool breeze coming through - trying to regain my strength. I'm back in Cheltenham at my son's house - being looked after.

This morning, I just about got myself and bike on a series of trains from Knighton in Wales to Cheltenham. I managed not to vomit, despite the train swaying about.

Yesterday is bit of a blur. The morning started so well - leaving my friends in Garway feeling enriched by their company. By the time I visited Hereford Cathedral and saw the Elgar statue (see pics) there was a rising tide of nausea and I was worried. The bike photo was taken shortly before I callapsed on the road to Knighton. I was still hoping I would rally.

I shall get some medical help now before returning to Cambridge - hopefully in a few days.

I think the gods were not in my favour on this trip: the extreme weather, my underlying illness bug...also no less than 5 B&Bs had cancelled on me as their staff had been 'covid-pinged'. Some of these B&Bs were in remote Scotland where alternative accommodation would be hard to find.

Today, I feel disappointed, but OK. It's a dramatic way to have my Big Ride cut short, but I couldn't control it. I planned everything well, except for the possibility of getting Ill. I DO want to complete the trip, but it might need to wait until next Spring. My brother has offered to support me with a camper van. That feels more do-able. Probably what I should have done in the first place...

So it's alright, really. I rode the 'hard part' the first 420 miles. I didn't die on the road, thankfully or cause serious harm to myself. I've raised money for the project.  Just a bit embarrassing and dramatic. Whatever condition I've got will surely pass or can be treated.

Disappointed not to be able to ride through Scotland, in particular. But Scotland will wait for me.

Disaster strikes

 I'm not really well enough to write this but want to let you all know what's happening, I fell ill today and fell off my bike - having fainted. Onto a grass verge. I was lucky. It's embarrassing. I was violently ill and vomitted all over my bike shirt.

Had wonderful stay with Varasahaya and Shantipala's place in Garway. So good to spend time with them. The were so generous and such good company.

Shortly after leaving them I felt a return of the nausea I've been getting on and off for two weeks now. Also a gripping sensation in my intestines - once again. Ploughed on 40 miles in the heat feeling increasingly rough. Couldn't eat lunch. Drinking lots. Eventually found myself looking up at trees with the bike lying on my leg. Realised I'd passed out. The heat wasn't helping. Took 3 hours to do 3 miles, I felt so bad. Used all my water washing myself so I could present myself at the B&B in Knighton.

Called NHS Direct and asked for a doctor. Not Covid. Not norovirus, he thought. Wasn't sure. Maybe an intestinal parasite, he thought, or just a long bug. I needed rest & treatment. Tomorrow can get various trains back to my son's in Cheltenham. Will stay there, rest and see his GP - if possible.

I am slowly facing the fact that this could mean game over as far as the ride is concerned - at least for now. I feel too weak to carry on right now. Getting medical help will take time. I am very, very disappointed and upset.Also confused and not in my right mind. But I must face this. More tomorrow. Let's see how I am then. Need to sleep.

Meeting the Buddha on the road

 I have been chanting the Shakyamuni mantra whilst on the road. It really helps with those hard hours of the hot afternoon. I am arrived now in Garway, Herefordshire. Varasahaya and Shantipala have welcomed me into their beautiful country home and we have already had a good talk about our lives and Triratna matters. It is so good to be with members of the Order, and they are so welcoming.

Tomorrow, I'll be heading off to Knighton. I feel I'm moving into a whole new phase of the ride.

Staying with my son and family in Cheltenham was a tonic. Barney and Clare were generous, welcoming and had everything set up for me. It was great to catch up on their lives. And there was little granddaughter Hazel with her delightful ways and little toothy grin.

Today's ride was easy in the morning and tough in the afternoon. The afternoon heat is really energy-sapping. But I'm getting used to it now, and will need to deal skilfully with it for couple more days yet until the weather breaks.

The important thing is that I pace myself in the afternoons and take plenty of breaks, otherwise I could get heat-exhaustion or disorientated. Last night, I had a dream I was accompanying Xuanzang on his pilgrimage to India. We were in the blazing hot Gobi dessert. For some reason I had my bike with me, and couldn't understand why. A bike is useless in sand dunes.