Day 1 – India Cycle Challenge

On Friday 27th October 2017 at 6pm, we all arrived at Heathrow Airport for the journey to Kerala in India, for this year’s Openwork cycle challenge.

We flew to Mumbai and then had a domestic flight to Cochin, where we arrived at about 3pm.

Once we arrived at the hotel, the first job was to fit our pedals and saddles to our bikes. This had to be done right in the middle of a massive thunderstorm!

Having arrived in Cochin it was discovered that Lesley’s luggage had not joined us on the domestic flight but luckily it turned up the next morning.
So we set off this morning for our first day in the saddle after the team photo and the usual warm up led by Ramon.

First stop at a temple to get ourselves and our ride blessed.

We had a few bike issues today with Ramon breaking his chain and Tex Neil and Marc both having punctures!

Today we cycled from Cochin to Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, one of India’s richest bird habitats with over 270 species in just 25 square kilometres.

We cycled 55 kilometres in high humidity and heat, so we all had to ensure we kept well hydrated. A great effort by all the team.

Tomorrow is a hard day of climbing as we cycle 65 kilometres to Munnar!

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