Andrew Coker Everest Cycle

Andrew Coker did a
bike ride in September, from Lhasa, Tibet to Mount Everest Base camp and then onto Kathmandu, Nepal.

All the money raised was from the kind generosity of the staff of Westfield Shopping Towns Ltd.

Although the ride was not originally a charity event, Andrew decided to raise money as part of his challenge. The trip was booked in the UK with Exodus and arranged in Tibet and Nepal by Dawn Till Dusk, a Kathmandu based trekking and cycling company. He was in a group of 16 with 2 Nepalese guides.

Andrew and his team were helped by some very experienced guides.

"Unlike the rest of us, the local guides found cycling 90 km in a day up hill, at 5 kilometres above sea level, a breeze! Fortunately we also had a support team of four Tibetans who were able to prepare amazing meals for us from the back of a truck and change a puncture quicker than you can say 'Yak milk tea'."

Their trip lasted 3 weeks across the "Roof of the World", the Tibetan Plateau. From Lhasa, the former home of the Dalai Lama, they headed towards Rongbuk Monastery at the Tibetan base camp of Everest. As if getting to base camp wasn't enough of a challenge for them, they had a number of other mountain passes to contend with first. Climbs to Gyatso La and Pang La, both 5000 metre plus passes, tested their legs and lungs to the limit.

Inspirationally Andrew maintained a high level of optimism even when facing the equally intimidating long trek down. Andrew said, "At least at the 5,200 metre high base camp, the only way is down. And it was almost (but not quite) down hill all the way to Kathmandu."