Cycling for others (Jenny Pye organized a bike ride around Lesotho).

When Jenny Pye announced her plan to organize a sponsored bike ride around the mountain kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa, she may not have fully appreciated just how high and remote some of the mountain routes would be.

A mother of five and the Welsh Language Officer with the Countryside Council for Wales, she led a similar sponsored bike ride two years ago in Patagonia, the former Welsh colony in Argentina. That involved cycling in the snow-clad Andes mountains, but, she says, `the terrain in Lesotho was the most difficult I've ever encountered'.

The aim of the sponsored ride was to raise [pounds sterling] 10,000 for the work of Dolen Cymru (the Wales-Lesotho link) in schools and hospitals in Lesotho. Wales has had a national twinning link with Lesotho since 1985.

A party of ten, which included eight riders and two support team, flew from Wales on 1 September---each paying their own airfares so that the sponsorship could go to the cause. They took their own bikes and one spare one, plus copious supplies of spare brake-pads and puncture repair equipment. Two of Jenny Pye's sons plus her sister and brother-in-law were among the party.

As a `warm-up' for the challenge, several took part in a 100-mile ride around the coast of the island of Anglesey in North Wales during one day in July. It attracted some 30 cyclists, was reported on both English and Welsh language television news broadcasts and succeeded in raising [pounds sterling] 3,000 towards the overall target.

In Lesotho the Welsh riders were joined by 19 from the Lesotho Cycle Club. `It was great having the Basotho cyclists with us,' says Jenny Pye. `They were marvellous company, they all knew how to repair bikes and of course it made us feel a lot safer in the remote sections of the journey.'

Altogether the route, a great circle around Lesotho, was 575 miles and took the cyclists 14 days instead of the ten allocated. Less than half of it was on tarmac roads. It crossed passes at over 10,000 feet and revealed some breathtaking views. `One day it was so cold that not only did our gears freeze, but we had to walk instead of cycling just to keep warm. We used up all our spare brake-pads and there was eventually nothing left of the extra bike except the frame!'

At one stage one of the backup vans had to be hauled out of the mud on an unmade mountain road by several oxen. Accommodation (except for one night spent on the side of a mountain in a large tent) was in schools or halls or, on rare occasions, at a tourist travel lodge. This was all arranged by the Lesotho SCM (Student Christian Movement), whose members helped to plan the route and provided part of the back-up.

The Welsh party briefed the Lesotho Minister of Sport before they began and met the Minister of Education (who is also the Deputy Prime Minister) before flying home. On the busier lowland roads they were provided with a police escort, as they were when riding through the capital, Maseru. `We went through red lights with sirens wailing--feeling very much like VIPs.' But what really touched them were the people lining the road to welcome them into the most isolated towns and villages.

The ride has raised more than [pounds sterling] 12,000 for schools, hospitals and clinics that lack even the most basic equipment. What is more, the Welsh party have invited ten Basotho cyclists to come to Wales next year for a ride around the Wales and Irish coasts. `I'm sure Wales will seem as flat as a football pitch for them, compared to Lesotho,' says Jenny Pye.