Charitable exploits and extreme challenges have always interested me so when I read of a Cycling Safari spanning 400+ kilometERs through some of Kenya's most inhospitable terrain, at altitudes touching 9,000 feet above sea level and in temperatures of over 30°...all for charity, it was too good to pass up.

We were in the capable hands of Norwood Ravenswood, the UK-based charity that first started exotic excursions to foreign climes some 10 years ago to allow challenge-junkies to raise funds for them, in tandem with the Downs Syndrome Association. They were to make the week's trip as stress-free as possible, with mechanical, physical and moral support all way, and this was the case during our October ride....