Run Day 14 - The Final Countdown

Breakfast consisted of beans on toast (which Bhargav noted definitely were not Heinz), some Crossaints which Claire found to be the consistency of some old cardboard and curry with Indian bread (which James had enough sense to choose).

We checked the map and the finish line was only 160km away which brought mixed emotions of excitement (we were so close, we might just make it) and sadness (we don’t want it to end). The home straight was going reasonably well until team Izumi started having some mechanical issues which limited their top speed to 30kph. Henry, who has been dying to fix something, was conflicted but decided to plough on as long as she didn’t get any slower. After an hour team Izumi’s issue had sorted itself out whilst the Screaming Eagles had charged ahead (they had booked the Marriott Resort at the finish and clearly fancied a bit of pampering)...

We go to the finish line at 12.30 (ready for the victory parade of all the survivors at 13.30). 81 of the 86 Rickshaws made it there was much rejoicing (including a massive circle of rickshaws doing doughnuts). A few of the more gutsy drivers were (rather impressively) driving around on two wheels, several teams rolled their rickshaws trying to do the same. We thought it best to stand and watch (with a beer). There was then a cricket match between the rickshaw runners and the locals. Somewhat unsurprisingly the locals absolutely destroyed the tourists with some top bowling - a batting display that Sachin Tendulkar would have been proud of 0 and bowling a tennis ball faster than we thought physically possible.

We took a load of pictures, cleaned out Janine (sniff) and handed back the keys. Our final distance travelled was 3273km. Thanks to Claire’s unorthodox fuel management regime we also got to work out exactly how far 8 litres would take us so we could work out our vital stats:

Rickshaw MPG = 62

Total fuel used = 150 litres

Total fuel cost = £140

Main breakdowns – snapped clutch cable, blocked fuel pipes (x2), blocked carburettor (x2)

Oh, and in other news, today was Claire’s birthday. Having already sung happy birthday to annoy the Germans the night before, we sung it again at breakfast. Claire even got a happy birthday from grumpy German man 1. The Adventurists threw Claire a party (they called it the Official Ricksaw Run Finish Party but we know it was really for Claire’s birthday). We had food, drinks, and awards ceremony and there was dancing and merriment for all. A great way to say goodbye to our fellow Runners! Special mention to teams Izumi and Screaming Eagles for top convoying – we’ll miss you in particular.

It’s been an amazing trip and we have met some awesome people. We hope you have enjoyed following this blog and a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored us.

Lots of love, us x

Total distance covered – 3,273km (165km today)

Total breakdowns – 6

Total u–turns - 26

Run Day 13 - Zip, Zip Hooray

James and Bhargav got up early and dismantled what was left of the clutch. We rooted through the bag of spares which we picked up at the start and found that our spare clutch cable was actually a brake cable with a sticker over the top saying brake cable, which wasn’t ideal. We decided to seek assistance and pushed Janine round the corner to a petrol station.

A few minutes later we were surrounded by a group of rickshaw drivers, one of which looked like an Indian version of the fat controller who laughed a bit like Jabba the Hut. Our man ‘made some calls’ and 30 minutes later a mechanic turned up on a (motor)bike. Seemingly unbothered about the use of a brake cable he got to work and explained we had lost some bolts on the engine end of the clutch cable (they may have rattled off at the same time as the sump plug). Once the cable was in it was time to fire her up and test it out. Janine is not a fan of a cold morning and took a bit of time to get going. Bhargav tried a little trick we have picked up on the run, pouring some petrol straight in to the top of the carb and off she went. The local rickshaw drivers thought that was amazing but the mechanic wasn’t too impressed. After an unwanted engine tune up (which left Janine idling like a fighter jet) we were up and running again.

We made a stop a Mehrangarh Fort for a bit of culture, but mainly because it had a zip wire! On the way there Bhargav directed the convey along some of the narrowest streets in the world which closed in like the walls in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to the point where we had to turn around (much to the amusement of the locals). We literally don’t understand the Indian road maps at all – the width of the road on the map seems to bear no correlation to the width of the road in real life! The zip lines (6 of them) were awesome and there was some amazing views form the top (and some amazing sounds produced by a young Russian woman who apparently didn’t like heights – great activity choice missy!).

We stormed up the road and started looking for hotels as it got dark. Our convey buddies put a veto out on any hotels which didn’t have beer – all the zip lines had created quite a thirst it seems. We passed one perfectly good hotel sans beer to search for the oasis of Thar Resort – which we finally found after a few u turns.

Four hours of drinking games later (some of which will be coming back to the UK with us) we stumbled off to bed having agreed a lie in, we are going to set off at 7.30 tomorrow – we will even have some time for some breakfast first...

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 3,108km (146km today)

Total breakdowns – 6

Total u–turns - 26

Run Day 12 - Holy Cow!

Team Izumi woke up to a nice surprise as all of the convoy’s food and bar tabs at Panorama had been added to their bill (thanks guys).

We made for Kumbulgardh Fort, a small detour on our way to our final destination of the day, Jodhpur. James' original route took us through a small village which had one of the highest cow to road ratios known to man. Bhargav performed the necessary cow slalom with panache up until the point when the road was completely un-passable (seemingly mainly due to a mass gathering of yet more cows). And a friendly local told us we couldn't go that way anyway! After a significant retrace back to the highway we'd come from, we got to the fort, which by all accounts was pretty impressive.

We decided having driven all that way we'd give ourselves 30 minutes to look all around. Although most of that time was taken a) defending the rickshaws and their contents from monkeys, who had clearly caught a whiff of our remaining samosas and b) arguing with the ticket man who insisted that the Screaming Eagles hadn't paid the 200 rupee (£3.75), despite them repeatedly showing him the tickets he had given them in exchange for cash (as is traditional) just moments before. A sweaty jog to the top and a few photos later, it was time to hit the road. It was 14:30 and we knew we still had many hours of driving ahead of us.

We spent some of today appreciating the irony of you not taking speed bumps at speed. Unless your name is Claire Hughes that is, a.k.a Evil Knevel, who managed to get some clear air today (not on purpose). Good work!

The highlight of the final part of the drive into Jodhpur was the Screaming Eagle's Disco Rickshaw - which looked like the lovechild of the Blackpool Illuminations and Las Vegas. Amazing!

The lowlight was when our clutch cable snapped (which, it turns out, is bad). Fortunately it went 100m from our hotel and Claire somehow managed to get round the block in third gear before stalling just outside! We pushed Janine in the car park and vowed to sort it tomorrow.

We shared one big apartment with team Izumi and the Screaming Eagles and ordered dinner to be delivered. We asked Bhargav to place the order to ensure nothing was lost in translation. Half an hour later our feast arrived with the interesting addition of two bowls of plain penne pasta (which we assume was instead of our two paratha breads). We are going to let Claire order next time.

As it turns out plain pasta is actually quite nice, it goes really well with Aloo Gobi too.

280ishKM from the finish line!

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 2,962km (330km today)

Total breakdowns – 6

Total u–turns - 22

Run Day 11 - Goshtbusters Get Inked

We all woke up early headed to the roof for views and breakfast (which is a novelty as it was a) not at 7am and b) by the side of a highway). We all opted for the amazing Indian breakfast - puri and vegetable curry - served with a glass of a chai, a big improvement on the thimbles we had come accustomed to by the side of the road!

We spent the day exploring the city, including taking in a tour of the city palace, which was a highlight. The family claims to be the longest continuous dynasty in the world (single bloodline). It turns out some of the kings were known for having multiple wives. There was a separate palace for the queens. One particular king was a bit of a boy and had 16 queens. We went for the most expensive beers of the trip - at about £6 each! I guess you've got to finance all those wives somehow.

After lunch we went for a sunset cruise around Lake Pichola. It was very romantic, as the Screaming Eagles all cuddled up. We went past a hotel that is apparently 7*. We had tried to stay there but Agoda lost our booking! James also finally got around to fixing the elephant trousers which we had bought way back in Goa, which lasted about 3 hours before ripping when he was lunging the the side of the road - although the big gap in the crotch area did provide some much needed ventilation! We also realised today that whilst some people know how to work a room, Cameron from the Screaming Eagles knows how to work a whole a City. We'd been here for less than 24 hours and he seems to know every other person in Udaipur. Everywhere we go he is greeted like a long lost friend. What a guy!

We decided to immortalise (for at least 3 days) our team bond by getting a tattoo (a henna tattoo). A very smiley Indian man administered the said tattoos for Team Goshtbusters and Team Izumi. The Screaming Eagles felt that they their tramp-stamped butterflies which they did for each other in Goa was all the tats they needed. The chosen image was a template of a rickshaw. We hear it's going to be all the rage in Hollywood next year (despite the artist never previously been asked to do one before) - we'll have to wait until the morning to see how they turn out.

The was a bit of a Rickshaw Run gathering after Cameron from the Screaming Eagles sent out an open invite to dinner. After a few drinks we headed back to the hotel. Talk of beers on the roof terrace as short lived as the emotion of the reunion had taken its toll on all three teams. Jodhpur tomorrow!

Love us x

Total distance covered – 2,632km (0km today)

Total breakdowns – 4

Total u–turns - 13

Run Day 10 - The Road Udaipur

James answered the alarm in what has become his traditional way, a fart. We were pleased to find our rickshaws where we had left them and a little surprised to find the loose changed we have been storing in our headless nodding dog still in situ. We got out of Ahmedabad using a highway that would put even the most developed countries to shame. Apart from the camel on the inside lane obviously. In our sleepy state we made the rookie mistake of trying to go to a temple on the way out of town early in the morning (it was closed). On the bright side, the night guard was very happy to assemble his assault rifle for us and pose for photos, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Undeterred, James continued to swerve off the highway in search of impressive temples (especially small bright pink private ones). But in the end, the only thing we managed to do is pick up a fare as a local man jumped in with Team Izumi for a lift to the tobacco stall. We continued on way towards Udaipur. Claire and Harriet, not being able to relieve themselves by the side of the road as easily as the boys in the party, stopped at a petrol station. James and Baggy went to get chai, chillies, pomegranates and bananas and returned to find what can only be described a music style mosh pit surrounded the two rickshaws checking out the female drivers.

Harriet, James and Henry went in search of some hot breakfast and managed to order three times the number of pakoras that they wanted whilst Claire defended the rickshaws against wandering cows. Claire cunningly let the rickshaw run out of fuel (supposedly) because she wanted to be able to test out the MPG. Let's see how far 8 litres takes us.

We then had another enforced stop when Team Izumi spluttered to a halt. Finally the moment Henry had been waiting for, he stripped down to his engineering shorts and t-shirt in a flurry of testosterone infused mechanical rickshaw courtship, and proceeded to dismantle the entire engine. Off came the carburetor, its jets were cleaned, the float was washed and the fuel pipes inspected. Whilst this was happening Team Goshtbusters tucked into a range of snacks from Baggy's family - yum. A local religious man (we presume) came over and blessed the Goshtbusters (obviously whilst taking photos of said blessings). Once the blessings were complete, the holy man presented Team Goshtbusters the what was left of his geneitalia. A gold hoop had been attached to the end of his penis whilst his testicles were nowhere to be seen amongst a tangle of metal chains. "Cut", said the holy man man. "No shit" thought we. On reflection, we left less blessed, and definitely less hungry.

Once reassembled Izumi's chariot roared back into life, despite there being no immediately apparent problem. Some 50 metres further up the road, she spluttered and died again. After a bit of head scratching/wobbling, James felt some divine inspiration. A few miles back Team Izumi had fashioned a makeshift fuel cap after theirs had mysteriously vanished/we think they left it on the roof and drove off. James hypothesised that the closed system from their new water bottle cap was preventing the fuel from reaching the carburetor in the gravity fed system. Henry cut a little hole in the bottle and tried her again. She roared to life! And we went on our merry way towards Udaipur.

We reached Udaipur, which is known as the White City and the City of Lakes) in good time (it wasn't already dark) and a Claire was at the helm to slalom through the narrow streets to our hotel in one of the most fun drives of the trip so far. We checked in and headed straight to the roof to see if the Panorama Rooftop Restaurant lived up to its name. It did, and they even had cold beer! When we drove through the city we had seen several references to the 1982 James Bond classic Octopussy, part of which was filmed in Udaipur and its surrounds. We settled in for a night of food, beer and Bondage at the hotel and particularly enjoyed the rickshaw chase scene. Mental notes were made to see if we too could do wheelies in a rickshaw. Watch this space, but don't hold your breath. We went to bed excited that we had anrest day the following day, and didn't have to wake early.

Love us x

Total distance covered – 2,632km (273km today)

Total breakdowns – 5

Total u–turns - 17

Run Day 8 - Bhargav returns to the motherland

Nice early start as we aimed to get around Mumbai before the traffic got too mental (thankfully nobody seems to do anything before 8am in India!). Whilst we have all done a bit of travelling, the edge of Mumbai is something else, as the sun rose we hit the ring road and then we hit a smog cloud that even the good people of Middlesbrough would have been scared of. Mumbai is home to about 19 million people and judging by the air quality all of them must smoke 50 fags a day and must heat their homes by burning tyres whilst leaving their cars idling at all times. It did make for a beautiful sunrise and a rather nasty smog cough.

Another highlight of the Mumbai ring road was that it seemed to double up as the worlds must public latrine, the side of the road is apparently the perfect place for your morning poo, etiquette also seem to dictate that you should do this with your trousers fully down (and for the gents, with your little fellow hanging out) to ensure all the passing traffic had a tip top view. We gave breakfast a miss.

It is becoming increasingly common to be flagged down for selfies and we had to stop for one with the toll both guys today (no toll payable for three wheelers though). We also got flagged down by the police a couple of times, mainly to ask what on earth we are up to, sometimes to ask if we need any help; but mainly for a handshake and some selfies. We continue to feel a bit like rock stars (although in truth I think the locals just think we are bonkers).

It goes without saying that we are loving the food. James talks about little else. To date we have eaten in some places that probably would even warrant a zero if they had one of the hygiene ratings we use in the UK. We had lunch somewhere earlier in the week where one of our convoy buddies refused to use the toilet as it was too nasty only to aggressively demolish some lunch they produced in the room next door.

We have gone ‘western’ twice so far (both times for pizza) and generally speaking we are all very happy with the local scran. Heads were however turned when we passed a McDonalds drive through which Claire authentically drove though twice, much to the delight of the staff (we only ordered once though).

The roads here in Gujarat are amazing so we have been gobbling up the kms. Despite stopping ever couple of hours to let her cool down, little Janine has been sounding a little throaty today we might need to take her to the doctors tomorrow...

After yesterdays fun and games Team Izumi needed to stop and get a new spare wheel (as most of theirs was scattered over the motorway). Now we have made it to Gujarat, Bhargav is finally proving useful as he amazes locals with his Gujarati, after a quick chat with a local Rickshaw driver we went on a quick tour to find the necessary parts to repair the wheel (all 50p’s worth) and a tyre shop with a big hammer (everything can be fixed with a hammer it seems). We even managed to pick up new fuel filter for Janine (12p), hopefully that will help sort the issues we have been having with our engine getting clogged up. An hour (and several selfies) later we were back on the road.

We decided to stay in a place called Navsari and headed for a lake in the middle of town in the hope that it would be pretty and or would have some sort of cultural significance. It turned out to be a reservoir but it did have a rather fetching barbed wire fence; we moved on.

Having spent an hour doing loops are the city in rush hour looking for a hotel a chap pulled alongside on a lovely looking Royal Enfield motorbike, bracing ourselves for pictures we shook hands and our new friend, Sandeep was very keen to help. He guided back through town to what we suspect was the nicest hotel in town and gave us a range of options for dinner; top man.

We had our first hot shower in what felt like a month – hand washed ‘white’ t shirts again which are now beige (at best), James considers this to be some sort of badge of honour, Claire seems less impressed and threatens to ‘lose’ her t shirt.

After our shower we ventured out for dinner. Sandeep had recommended a place for Gujarati Thai and it was EPIC. A thali is a selection of dishes and as soon as we sat down curries, breads and other delights rained down upon us, served by an army of staff guided by a man who kept a watchful eye before clicking his fingers as the waiters as soon as ran low on anything. We ate a lot. Thirds, fourths, and fifths were demolished before we had to raise the white flag. Dinner cost the princely sum of £2.50 each.

Seven of us squeezed into a local rickshaw on the way back, it cost nearly as much as the dinner, maybe we should start picking up fares...

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 2,039km (292km today)

Total breakdowns – 4

Total u–turns - 11

Run Day 7 - The wheels on the rickshaw go snap, bang, crash

Our hosts inisted we have breakfast with them before we left at 6.30 and we all managed to just about get something down despite still having indigestion from last nights chapatti fest. After writing in the visitors book (we were their third group of non-indian visitors ever!) we hit the road in a hurry - we had a ferry to catch!

We missed the ferry. Thankfully we missed it by such a large margin (40 mins) that the next one was about the leave - hurrah! Reversing onto the ferry was fun, Henry (from team Izumi did a sterling job (with wheel spins and all). Bhargav struggled a bit more - the fact that Janine's reverse gears have never worked didn't help to be fair to him. Claire and the staff on the ferry helps manoeuvre her into position so the mopeds and motorbikes cold fit on too.

Once we returned to dry land we managed to find the most bumpy road in all of India, possibly even the world; Claire and Bhargav were in the back and got bounced around like ping pong balls in a tumble drier.

We stopped to check we still had an exhaust - we did; result, before bombing on as the roads slowly got better. We found our self driving along most of the route of a local marathon which, amazingly people were doing barefoot / in flip flops and wearing sari's / headscarves. The local children were once again memorised by a white lady rickshaw driver and we all felt like pop stars as every other person waved or stood aghast as we passed them by.

We stopped for lunch (and for Janine to cool down after a pretty fierce morning) and found ourselves at a cafe with an amazing view. We ordered lunch and when one person's dish didn't arrive Henry tried to catch the waiter's attention to ask him if it was coming. We suspect Henry had inadvertently performed the Indian head wobble for 'that was great please bring us everything we have ordered again, right now'. When it all arrived for a second time we did consider pointing out their mistake but ever the true brits we pulled up our trousers (undid our top buttons) and did the right thing - we ate the lot (again). Good job it was tasty.

We hit the road again and were really clocking up the miles when we noticed that team Izumi were no longer behind us. This is pretty common with the mental traffic so we slowed down a bit and waited for Misty the swan's bobbing head to come over the horizon. It didn't. A nice man on a motorbike did though and he told us: 'your colleagues in the other white rickshaw - their wheel has gone off'. A flat tyre, what a pain we thought; lets go back and help.

It turns out Mr motorbike man's English was perfectly good and he meant what he said. Harriet was merrily bouncing along at 40kph when the bolts on their front wheel sheered off then the wheel went one way whilst their front fork plunged into the freshly laid tarmac - ooooopps! Amazingly they didn't roll over but they did have to tip the rickshaw onto its side the change the tyre (blocking both lanes of the dual carriage way - which, as you can imagine was rather unpopular. After that wheel change by Henry - which for the avoidance of any doubt Ferrari would have been proud of - Team Izumi were back on the road as if nothing had happened (stiff upper lip etc).

We decided to stop a little earlier than planned to get Henry and Harriet a beer (we thought we would join them too, you know, for moral support). We booked into the first 'hotel' we could find and had a wash before going for dinner. The hotel had a toilet not unlike the famous scene from trainspotting, James and Bhargav braved it in flip flops but it was a wet-wipe wash for Claire.

Dinner was considerable better than the ablutions (thankfully), we even got some take out beers to have in the room whilst we figured out where to go next...

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 1,640km (331km today)

Total breakdowns – 4 (thankfully our wheels were just fine)

Total u–turns - 9

Run Day 6 - Home(stay) at last

So we started the day early and went to check the tyre pressure. It seems out downhill adventures had put some pressure on the front tyre which was down to 14psi (it was meant to be 32!); I am pretty sure I have blown up balloon animals to a higher pressure!

With that sorted and Janine topped up with fuel we were ready to go, we busted out a super coastal route which took us along some amazing beaches (and some more testing hills).

We made a quick stop to grab a bite (take not Greggs - curry puffs are the future) whilst Bhargav and James were sent in search of Masala Chai. The request for take away chai caused a bit of confusion and the boys returned with some tea, in a plastic bag; tasted good though.

We hit our destination for the night, Ratnagiri, just as the sun was going down and the search was on for somewhere to stay. It turns out that Ratnagiri isn't India's answer to Blackpool and accomodation was proving hard to find. James then placed all his faith in a dodgy map and took the team off in search of a homestay (which, the map suggested, was about 400m east of the road; what could go wrong). Peeling back some overgrown bushes James discovered a sign and tramped up a hill to see if there was space at the inn. We were greated by the lovely owners of the Garve Homestay (and their somewhat excitable dog - Pailla).

With no notice and out of nowhere our hosts whipped up an epic meal whilst we had a wash in warm water (very exciting) from their solar hot water system. After our mega feed (it turns out it is hard to say no to fresh chapattis - particular when they give you more even when you actually do say no!) and a good debate over the next days route it was time for bed, tomorrow Janine would be getting her sea legs (wheels?)

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 1,309km (309km today)

Total breakdowns – 4

Total u–turns - 7

Run Day 5 – The day after the night before

Today was a slower day as we made the most of having a local garage that could service rickshaws to give Janine some TLC.

They managed to fix another petrol leak and also rewired some electrics so that our headlights worked (which would have been useful the day we ended up in the ditch).

We also took the chance to give ourselves some TLC wth a bit of time on the beach and in the sea. Claire also took one for the team and handwashed all our clothes (if we had a medal we would have given her one, as it was the best we could do was to a warm kingfisher but she seemed happy enough).

We also added to our now somewhat tired looking wardrobe (the t-shirts will never be white again we fear) with the purchase of some brightly coloured elephant print trousers – just in case the locals hadn’t already noticed the bright white rickshaw covered in ghostbusters stickers!).

Our convoy buddies had expressed their displeasure about our lack of height (which made Bhargav a bit angry until he realised they meant the rickshaw). It turns out they couldn’t see us when the traffic was busy; something had to change.

To help them keep track of us we added another member to the team, Phillip; the inflatable giraffe (being a boat for babies!). We secured Phillip the best view in town by cable tying him to the roof whilst team Izumi responded in kind by adding Mitsy the swan (it’s all about the long necks).

Much to Claire’s disappointment, we decided against getting an 8 foot long blow up whale (who we suspect would have been known as Willie). Willie was both longer and wider that the rickshaw and probably would have had a fatal impact on our already mediocre aerodynamic performance (most big hills already require second gear with quite a few needing first!).

We celebrated the fact that we have made it a third of the way by letting off two massive fireworks on the beach (awesome slow motion video to follow in due course – internet permitting). The health and safety rules purchasing massive fireworks in India are second to none - basically you hand over money and they give you expired fireworks with no instructions without checking your age or sobriety.

The third team in our convoy (the Screaming Eagles) were enjoying themselves a bit too much so decided to stay another night and take their rickshaw on an overnight truck the next day to catch up. Poor form we thought, so then there were two...

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 1,000km (15km today)

Total breakdowns – 4

Total u–turns - 7

Run Day 4 - Gotta go Goa again

So it turns out that the event organisers have suggested meeting for a party tonight - at the same beach we came to relax on before the run, at least we know the way!

It's another big day though, we did 339km on a machine that can just about do 50kph, downhill, with a tail wind.

It was AWESOME scenery with some amazing coastline. We got a good chance to enjoy the views when we broke down once again. At first we thought it was a lack of fuel but when a refuel didn't help we disconnected the fuel line and noticed that nothing came out (even James knew that was bad). We then proceeded to dismantle the fuel line and and the fuel filter and James sucked out lots of 'sediment' (which we all knew wasn't ideal). One we had put that back together Janine purred back into life only to splutter off again a few miles further on, this time it was just a lack on fuel though (good job we always carry some spare).

The party was a bit messy, particularly once Claire decided we all needed to try to local spirit 'Fenni', the strength of taste was matched only bu the size of measure, who knew spirits came in quarter pint measures?

Love, us x

Total distance covered – 985km (339km today)

Total breakdowns – 4 (running out of fuel doesn't count!)

Total u–turns - 7 (2 today)