Travelling opens a lot of opportunities to meet amazing people from different places. And I had a chance to meet a great cyclist from USA who’s now presently residing in Chengdu. Dhane used to be a soldier who was once assigned in the Philippines and now, he’s a teacher in China.
He’s part of a group of cyclist that is planning to cycle across India and finally to Sri Lanka.
He would like to invite you guys to support and participate on the coming event on November 2011.
Here are some information from Dhane’s website:
The Journey
“The ride begins during November 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal where cyclists will meet up and prepare to set out on the ride. Because of age handicaps — our youngest rider is 14 and the oldest is 62 — we are avoiding tackling the Himalayan ‘ups and downs’.
We’ll take a bus or mini-van from Kathmandu to Pokhara for a visit to Fewa Tal and then on to Butwal, a town in the Nepalese Tarai. Our ride starts there as we wind our way across the plains just below the foothills of the Himalaya towards Rishikesh, crossing the border at Mahendranagar and continuing west towards
Amritsar in the Punjab. After reaching this point near Pakistan, we turn south and ride to Ahmedabad in Gujarat and then across the waist of India to its eastern coast. We touch the coast and head south towards Madurai in Tamil Nadu. If riders are able to continue and the Indian and Sri Lankan governments decide to reopen the ferry between these two countries, our final destination is Columbo.
Each rider is free to choose a project or individual(s) (or more than one) — or not — for donation of funds. Donations will be disbursed ‘hand to hand’ to beneficiaries during the event — if you have chosen to participate in this way.
Cyclists are also free to just join the ride as an ‘appropriate tourist’ and there is no requirement to participate as a donor or sponsor. It is entirely voluntary — we feel that just having your participation as another cyclist will add energy to the event. We are truly looking for ‘fellow gypsies’ to help us in the ‘free spirit’ of this event.
Many of the cyclists joining the event have their own individual motivations for doing so. Each is a pilgrim in the truest sense of the word. Each one is searching for an experience of their own.
India is the environment for this trip and its children are the teachers we will meet along the way. Some may join us, some may guide us, some may meet us and ask for our help temporarily, others may reject us – I hope most of them can teach us how to survive in a changing and unstable world.
These are the ‘children of novelty’ who may just inherit the world the rest of us so-called ‘civilized’ people leave behind. You’re welcome to join us in changing this plan into a real event.”
How to Participate
“Can you help us by participating in this event to benefit homeless children? We just want your involvement and networking ability in your own local community to help make the event happen. In other words, please help us spread the word of our invitation to riders and encourage them to become involved.
Cyclists who join the ride should be self-motivated and directed so that each can be an independent member of the group — this is not a tour-guided vacation. If you do want to help monetarily, the best way you could do this is help us locate short or long-term sponsors for some of the homeless kids we anticipate meeting on the road — the money need not come from your pocket (you’re already paying for your own ride).
A donation of $250 from a friend or supporter who is inspired by your example would take care of most of the expenses for a homeless child for a whole year. We plan to visit some children’s homes or orphanages along the route to help inform riders and sponsors how they could help.
We want to visit slum kids in Dehra Dun, near the town made famous by the Beatles — Rishikesh, and a destitute children’s home in southern India — Tamil Nadu. Others we plan to locate along the way through word of mouth and visit as time permits.
Having said this, please don’t misunderstand it as a ‘bait and switch’ sales pitch. You are truly welcome to join us and enjoy the event as another cyclist on an adventure tour, a spiritual pilgrimage, or just as another wandering hermit.
We’ll be camping out a lot but if you’re a student interested in third world development and how local non-governmental organizations work, you would learn a lot by ‘hanging out’ with us. Consider it a FREE education of sorts. I have a Masters Degree in third world development and will be glad to give the benefit of my advice to anyone who actually is a student interested in this field and wants to experience some of its social activities first-hand.”
For More Information… visit the Gypsy Spirit Ride and Dhane’s Website. If you come across this post, please stumble it, tweet it and share it in facebook, so our fellow Nomads could get the support that they need. A big thanks in advance.
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That looks like it would be fun. I bet it would take a long time to complete.
dhane said it will take four months from start to finish… wish i could join