Tuesday 27 July 2010
Ride of a lifetime for latest SRT
Ingrid Criddle, her bike and gear in Europe.
One woman, one bike and 2,000 miles…all for a cup of Turkish coffee!
It might sound like a journey too far for some but for ShelterBox supporter, Ingrid Criddle, it was the journey of a lifetime.
Fresh from graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in Asia Pacific Studies and International Relations, Ingrid travelled the globe but then found herself desperately trying to find work. It was here that Ingrid first learnt of ShelterBox and the seeds of her big idea were sown.
Armed with a second-hand bike, a tent and a sense of adventure, she decided she would cycle from Somerset in the UK to Istanbul in Turkey to raise money for ShelterBox.
Since completing the epic journey, Ingrid has gone on to become a fully-fledged ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member and is currently on her first deployment in Brazil.
Below is Ingrid’s account of her adventure:
‘I first became interested in ShelterBox in 2009. After graduating from university and spending as much time as possible globetrotting, I returned to England and found myself desperately trying to make my bank balance a little healthier in a rather tedious job photocopying newspaper articles.
ShelterBox kept popping up and so I looked to the website to find out more; I was impressed!
Reading more and more about the work ShelterBox does made me realise what a fantastically simple but effective idea ShelterBox is. I looked into ways I could become involved volunteering and found out about the role of the SRTs. It looked like a fantastic opportunity to really get involved on the ground, so I immediately sent off an application form.
With the deepening of ‘The Recession’ time ticked on and frustration kicked in, job application after job application was rejected. So I decided it was time to take control and set myself a little ultimatum…
While applying for yet another job I came to the decision that it would be the last application. If they didn’t offer me an interview then I would cycle to Istanbul to raise money for ShelterBox.
Budgets, bike and beds
The deadline came and went. Before I had a moment to reconsider or back out I found myself in the planning stages of planning a bike ride to Istanbul.
You’d probably think, as I did, how much can there be to do? No flights, accommodation or jabs. Get a bike, a map and go.
On the contrary, the list grew and grew and the piles of research into getting the cheapest this and strongest that consumed my time right up to the ambitiously close departure date. My rather limited experience of distance cycling took me to the bike shops for some well needed advice. With a somewhat tight budget, I came to the conclusion that a fancy new touring bike, as advised, was not really going to be an option, so over to Ebay it was and I soon became the proud owner of a second hand mountain bike for £100.
Departure day loomed and slapped me in the face with last minute packing and not even time for a test ride. As the show got on the proverbial road, with local press, Rotarian’s, family and friends watching, I wobbled off from my front door in the sunshine with mixed emotions of excitement, anticipation and what the hell am I doing? This is most definitely not one of my better ideas!
The plan was to head off from home in Somerset, across England to Dover and over to France. From there I’d cycle down through France, across Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, nip down through Bulgaria and into Turkey to my destination, Istanbul, for a kebab and a Turkish coffee before heading home again to resume the job search.
As it was, none of my friends thought it was the best idea they’d heard, so I was going it alone.
During my first week in England I was riding high and constantly moved by the incredible kindness and generosity of the strangers I met. Thanks to a Shelterbox Volunteer Coordinator, I was welcomed and hosted each night by Rotary members across England.
Being treated like a princess with dinners out, cooked breakfasts, hot baths and countless cups of tea, the first week was quite a distance from my expectations. The way my budget was looking I was thinking more along the lines of pasta, baby wipe showers and hidden camping in fields. On the downside, my idea of ‘training on the job’ meant that cycling all day carrying 50kgs of bike, tent, cooking equipment etc. was quite a challenge!
Despite that, I learnt that adrenaline and eating mars bars at the bottom of each hill can get you a long way.
When I finally reached Dover I wiggled my way through the lorries on confusing bike paths of the port’s departure and customs lanes. During the crossing, seeing the land mass of the European continent slowly appear, the daunting prospect of cycling right across it really hit home.
Next stop...the mainland!
After a few days I met a fellow distance cyclist, who was heading the same way as me. We quickly slipped into a routine of waking up, having breakfast, cycling 15 miles, having second breakfast, cycling another 15 miles then lunch. After lunch we would do another 20 or 30 miles depending how we were feeling and whether a good camp spot came up. We had some great camping spots from farmer’s barns, the woods, to a village hall and quickly my strength, fitness and appetite shot up.
On the April 6, the most gloriously sunny day of the trip by that point, I crossed the bridge to the land of sausages, brezel and lederhosen.
Living in the outside world, the weather is quite obviously of utmost importance and so crossing the bridge into Germany, feeling the sun on my face, was an incredibly welcomed change. As I cycled through the lush greenness of the Black Forest, with all the signs that spring was about to explode into action, it felt that the past week of wet, cold, head down cycling was totally worth it.
Germany is a cyclists dream with cycle paths everywhere you look. I joined up with one that took me along the foot of the Alps which, again, was not one of my better ideas. The path, I imagine, was designed with mountain bikes in mind, so I lugged my 50kgs up and down huge hills, through rough forest tracks even through rivers. Eventually coming out the other side to Austria, I decided to take the slightly flatter route along the Danube River.
Unfortunately, the budget didn’t quite allow for hotels or even campsites and so in each new country I would learn the vital new phrases: ‘Please can you fill my water bottles’, ‘one loaf of bread please’ and ‘please can I put my tent in your garden.’
Ingrid, wild camping in Hungary
From this I was frequently offered the security of someone’s garden, a garden shed and, on a good few occasions, a spare bed and dinner!
The Danube became a great pal of mine for the next few weeks as I followed it towards Bratislava and down to Budapest, through the rest of Hungary to the Serbian border. As I approached Serbia, I became increasingly anxious about the eastern countries approaching and how they’d take to a small girl cycling through on her push bike.
I was pleasantly surprised. Serbian people were fantastically friendly and I was constantly offered cups of coffee and food to the point that I’d never had made it to Istanbul had I taken up each offer. The biggest problem was being chased by the ferocious looking stray dogs!
Following a few near bite incidents and some very hard pedalling, I realised they were more interested in my wheels than my ankles, so learnt to slow down and they’d lose interest.
After two months of hard cycling, bread and jam for each meal, dog chases, wearing the same clothes everyday and a sore bum, I found myself cycling in the crazy roads of Istanbul. With no brass bands or balloons I hopped off my bike, sat down and drank a long awaited Turkish coffee.
Taking, what felt like, a very quick 4 hour flight home, I soon found myself back in my extremely comfortable bed that I had been dreaming about for the past two months with the great news that I had been accepted on to the Shelterbox 9-Day SRT Course!
With the fitness requirements sorted I had a lot of pre course reading and preparation to do. A welcomed change to pedal pushing!
The 9-day course was fantastic, covering all aspects of the work an SRT undertakes on deployment it really made me feel ready and eager to get out in the field and deliver ShelterBoxes.
Although it was only for two months, the cycle ride certainly taught me just how incredibly important the basics of water, shelter and food are when you have nothing, making me all the more proud to volunteer for such an effective and efficient charity like ShelterBox.’
Ingrid’s adventure raised more than £2,000 for ShelterBox.
The below picture was taken after she completed her SRT training.
