Felsted students Henry Tietz and Sara Faraj Dellipiani recently interviewed Mr Andrews to find out more about his sponsored cycle to India, for the Magic Bus charity.

What are you doing and why?
In mid-August my wife and I are leaving on a (hopefully) 4 month cycle trip through 15 countries and around 5000 miles to the Magic Bus headquarters in Mumbai. We are doing it to raise money for a brilliant charity whilst having an adventure at the same time.
 
How much money are you trying to raise?
As much as possible!
We would love everyone to get involved as this isn’t just about us - it’s about working together to help Magic Bus. We have set £2,000 as our target on our Just Giving page (click here to visit) and we would love to speak to any companies interested in collaborating with us. So far the inter house (and staff) table-tennis competition has raised over £200 but we have a long way to go!

 
What is the plan and the route?
We are leaving in the middle of August and chasing late summer all the way to Mumbai. We will make our way through western Europe, over the alps and along the Dalmatian coast through Istanbul, but after Turkey things are likely to get a little trickier. Our plans will have to be fluid and will depend on visas and the political climate when we get nearer. Iran was top of our list of countries to travel through but it seems very unlikely now.

How are you preparing for the trip?
Every weekend you will now find us zooming around the country lanes of Essex and nearer the time we will be practicing using our fully laden bikes! Our legs will improve as we go, I think the real difficulty will be mental and keeping positive as we realise the size of the challenge ahead!

Why did you choose Magic Bus?
Being a teacher it was important for me to partner with a charity with a educational focus and with Felsted having such a great link with the Magic Bus it was the obvious choice. I was lucky enough to visit India when I was at school and it had a huge impact on me, as it does with all the pupils who visit each October with Felsted.

Where are we going to stay and eat?
We plan to camp as much as possible and hope to be hosted by families and schools along the way. This should give us an opportunity to talk to locals, discuss the route and pick up tips. If anyone has any contacts please let us know as we would love to talk with them.

And then what?
Once we get to India we are hoping to visit a number of the Magic Bus communities, finishing in at the charity’s headquarters in Mumbai. I will be returning to teach maths at Felsted in September 2019, and am already looking forward to telling you all about it!

What would you tell anyone else thinking about doing a similar trip?
We will have more tips and tricks once we are on the road and know what we are up against! At this stage we have found it useful talking to people who have done similar things and reading up on the countries we will visit.

We both love travelling but in today’s society it is all too easy to ignore all the problems that tourism and cheap flights bring. That’s why we love seeing the world on a bike. 

On a bike, things are slow! You meet the real people, you experience the real culture and you can’t get anywhere fast. You simply can’t be in a hurry. It’s a nice change from being a lawyer in London or a teacher at Felsted.

Are you going to be writing a book of the journey?

As a maths teacher, I don’t think that is a sensible idea!

However, we will aim to take hundreds of pictures and capture stories of ‘when I grow up’ from the people, young and old, that we meet along the way. We will be using our Instagram page @byjovebybike to keep everyone up to date and to spread the work that Magic Bus is doing. Make sure you follow us!