Brian’s Sri Lanka Challenge Day 1: Cycle to Polonnaruwa Ruins and Climb Lion Rock

This year my annual charity bike challenge takes me to Sri Lanka. It will be a hard challenge with 457km of riding and numerous climbs over 6 days.

I am raising funds for The Openwork Partnership Foundation, who give grants to small local charities supported by the many members of the Openwork family, and Holding on letting Go, who give bereavement advice to children in KENT and SE London.

Please, please, please, help with a donation, however big or small, as anything you give will be used for these amazing causes. https://bit.ly/sponsorbriandownton2024

DAY 1 – Mon 11 Nov

Cycle to Polonnaruwa Ruins and climb Lion Rock 

It was an early start today on our first day cycling as we headed east from the hotel before 7:30 am towards the ruins of Polonnaruwa. Before we left, I was tasked with doing the warm up for the 26 cyclists doing this challenge this week, and I introduced the new riders to the Geordie Butcher song (video to follow soon).

We started off along the quiet backroads of the Sigiriya Nature Reserve, and then  joined the highway and reached the ruins by midday. We had a cycle tour of the ruins and saw some amazing stone carvings, some nearly 1000 years old. We then had a short cycle to lunch, where the day’s cycling ended.

After lunch we transferred back to Sigirya, where we had just enough time to freshen up before climbing ‘Lion’s Rock’ and gazing out over the magnificent view of the surrounding jungle.

The highlight of the day was seeing two elephants in their natural environment, one from a distance and one walking down the side of the road.

Looking forward to tomorrow! Don’t miss tomorrow’s blog post.

Brian