East Sheen based motor bike rider Cliff Webb is heading for India at the end of January and is looking for sponsorship support. He’s embarking on a 2000 kilometre charity ride in support of four charities, and is hoping that generous people may support his effort, and some companies might be prepared to donate in return for PR and publicity.
The ride begins in Goa in the south west of the country, on a locally built Royal Enfield Bullet motor bike, which is regarded as a ‘Classic’ old style of bike, small and compact, regarded as a ‘bone shaker’ with little in the way of luxury when compared to today’s models.
Organised by a hugely reputable company, Global Enduro, 100 other riders will be on the charity marathon which takes place over 9 days through remote parts of the country on the ‘dawn to dusk’ route down to Cochin. A lot of the riding will be on dirt tracks and dusty roads, though there’s no way to avoid the chaos of the Indian streets in and out of the main cities, and the worrying reputation of local driving skills...
Through the same ride last year, over £150,000 was raised through the efforts of the people taking part, and this year riders are supporting the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity, Save the Children, the Centre for Wildlife Studies, and Adventure Ashram.
Cliff who works in TV and video production in London and travels quite frequently on business, said, ‘’I ride into town regularly on my own bike, and I am used to coping with the issues of working in other countries and cultures, but I suspect this is going to be an experience unlike any other given the sweltering conditions, road obstacles and the route planned. The Royal Enfield has a 350cc engine, and unusually, the gear change is on the right side, not the left, like most of the British bikes built back in the 1950’s, which makes it confusing when changing gear or braking! I tried out another classic, a Norton 850 Commando to get the feel of this, and couldn’t get out of the habit of braking with the gear lever, so it should be interesting half way up a mountainous dirt track!’’
He continued, ‘’I am heading gradually towards my target and very grateful to everyone who’s put their hands in their pocket so far, especially given the state of the UK economic situation generally. We’re hoping for £7,500 in all and anyone can contribute as much or as little as they feel they can afford – it all helps and will go towards some great causes who desperately need it. My company has paid the basic costs of the trip, so everything else will be split amongst some very interesting charities. Do have a look at their websites to learn more about their work and how the donations are used’’.
Full body armour, a motocross helmet, medical kit and other fundamentals have all been sourced for the trip and are deemed as ‘essential’ by the organisers, given their experience of previous years! His website is at www.rideindia.info where more information can be found, plus links to each of the charities the ride is supporting. There’s also a PayPal link where donations can be made, even if you don’t have a PayPal account through credit cards and online banking. He begins riding on January 25th, though donations can be made for up to 3-months after the trip finishes, on February 6th.
‘’I’m taking a video camera with me and hope to upload clips to the web, and will have a daily blog and twitter feeds, (connections allowing in the more remote locations), so people can follow how our group is getting on, and if we’ve avoided being mown down by a ‘Tuc Tuc’ or run into a sacred cow, which actually have right of way!’’ he added. ‘’It should be quite an adventure, and if we reach our target of donations, then the sweat, inevitable blood, and certainly a sore posterior will all be worthwhile!’’.
