20th – 24th of January 2019

Part of our school’s curriculum is the Week Without Walls (WWW) programme, you each have your own group of 13-15 students mixed between 10th and 11th grade. There are loads of different trips you can choose to go with, this year I decided to do cycling. This trip required us to do copious’s amounts of practice and biking during our trip with a minimum of 27km a day and a max of 47km. Our cycling took place around Sigiriya which is a 5-hour drive from Colombo and all 5 days we stayed at Back of Beyond.

A large part of the WWW curriculum and the purpose is so that we can connect with the island and experience our host country in new ways. As well as outside of our school walls.

In the midst of our second ride. Photo: Pete

For my last WWW, I decided to do the cycling trip, I think of myself as a fit person so I was not very nervous about the amount that we were biking. What I was really nervous about are my biking skills, I am not a very confident biker and that definitely was proven throughout the trip and was evident through how muddy all my bike and myself were. I have never done very intense mountain biking, I usually keep myself to the protected Singapour roads so I don’t prepare myself for failure. You know that if the bike instructor asked if you were an accident-prone child that you’re doing something wrong.

Before the trip, we had 3 practice sessions. The first session was at school so that we could learn about how to use our bikes, for example, the gears, breaks, and if our bikes fit us. After this session, our other 2 rides were around Battaramulla so that we could see everyone’s confidence level, practice riding on busy roads and practice our hand signals. This was a new and fun experience but also taught me that I needed high levels of awareness and I needed to be very concentrated. This bike ride was 27km and we rode up a large number of hills so that we could practice with our gears. On the second ride was when the falling started, first happened with misuse of the front wheel brake and the second was in a muddy patch and the splits… but I served good entertainment for the rest of the group. As I was concentrating on my surroundings and awareness I realized that I started holding my handlebars tighter and tighter and that it was essential for me to gain confidence.

Our first practice session, Ms Camilla and I. Photo: Jackson

The first day of our trip was on Monday 20th of January, we had to get to school by 5:45 to leave by 6 and embark on our 5-hour journey to Dambulla. The bus with a very sleepy aura for the first 2 hours and then filled with screaming students excited to embark on the cycling part of the trip and dissipate all the bus energy. We stopped halfway and got on all of our bikes to ride to Back of Beyond. The sun was definitely shining which made the scenery even more gorgeous. The hotel was at the end of a dirt road that we would soon be very familiar with and could remember off by heart. There was also a very steep hill that required both brakes, which previously stated is not my forte. This was the first challenge I had to overcome and then the strategy became second hand to me.

Our first day of cycling. Photo: Pete

After a very yummy rice and curry lunch, we went to our rooms which were gorgeous!! they were tree houses with a beautiful view of the landscape. All 5 girls on the trip all got to stay in a treehouse which we came to absolutely love and didn’t want to leave by the end. In the afternoon we had our first biking trip that was very cool and relaxing, we got to ride on a combination of dirt and paved roads. After every cycling trip, you would always see Chloe and I cooling down in the river and having a shower with all the fish that would nibble at out feet.

Right before taking on the steep hill. Photo: Pete

Day 2 was one of our longest rides with a 46km day of riding. After a very large breakfast to prepare us for the day we were off. A large portion of the day was us riding on roads and there were definitely a large number of hills. Every time I  inched up one hill I would try to remember that there was a very easy downhill coming up, I would also use momentum to my advantage. Going uphill was quite difficult because I wasn’t the most experienced biker in the group and I was unable to stand up on my bike to make it easier for myself. This is where I mastered the use of gears so I could successfully make it up the hill without getting out of my seat or giving up and walking. We also stopped at a river that was gorgeous and we could see the mountain faces.

Stopping at the big lake. Photo: Pete

After 30km we stopped at a small Kade on the side of the road. Today was the first night that we had to start our cook adventures. After we all finished with our short eats we made our way to a small market in the line of shops so my group and I could brainstorm our ideas for tomorrow nights cooking. There were also many other stops made after as the rain kept threatening to ruin our ride, once it rained we took shelter in the truck that carried all of our bikes.

Once we finished the 46km of excruciating pain we were greeted with a workshop on how to fix flat tires if we were to encounter one on our trip. I found out that my tire was punctured by a thorn on the trip which accounted for why it was so difficult to ride (my inability to properly bike also contributed).

Us struggling with our tires. Photo: Mrs Jackson

We had to wash the dishes this night and we made a very efficient working line which let us finish in 45min. Lucky the group before was nice about the number of dishes they used.

Day 3 was our groups cooking day, my first fall, and our trip to the temple/hiking, and a very yummy rice and curry cooking class.

Before we hiked up to the temple. Photo: Jackson

We rode to a temple today and I, unfortunately, decided to wear a white shirt which was soon covered in mud. It had rained the night before creating lots of holes both with water and without. This meant we had to get off of our seat to stop the pain. Once we got the temple and hiked to the top of the rock we were greeted with a gorgeous view and a reflection we had to complete. Then we moved onto learning about rice and curry, this was going to serve to be very useful for us because we were planning on cooking that night. Before we got to eat my group had to ride to a small shop so we could buy our groceries for dinner. Trying to stay on budget and figure out how much we need to feed everyone felt as though we were caught between a rock and a hard place. Once we got back we ate the delicious curry that the aunty prepared for us and we were soon off.

In a small mud house were an Aunty taught us how to make ladyfingers. Photo: Matt

This is where the fall comes into play as we were riding back to camp it started raining. I was trying to fix my shorts and not leaving the necessary 2 bike distance between Kleppe and I. Next thing I know he slowed down and in my attempt to swerve away I hit his back wheel and I flew off my bike and slid in the mud. Many scratches littered my body.

Our contest for who had the most mud on them. I was crowned the winner. Photo: Mrs Jackson

We got into camp, quickly rinsed off in the river and then we were off to start cooking. I would say that we all had skills to offer to the group but a large portion was Muneera and I dictating to Aman and Kaleppe what to do. We also got to teach them how to cook potatoes, how to cut carrots and how to de-string beans. For dinner, we decided to make chicken thighs, sauteed vegetables, and boiled potatoes. The vegetables and the potatoes were successful but we ran into a couple problems when it came to cooking the chicken. This may have been a problem surrounded around undercooked chicken but we don’t need to get too into how we almost gave our whole group salmonella. However, I luckily had a group to help me and it showed me the power of collaboration.

Cooking our chicken. Photo: Pete

Today was the last full day of our cycling journey. we got to see the paddy field and the sights of Dambulla. We learnt what to do in a situation if someone got hurt which was definitely useful in future situations…foreshadowing another one of my falls. We learnt the proper protocol for how to assist a biker that has crashed. Most of us had our first aid cards so we would be able to do the necessary to help a fallen cyclist since we learnt it a couple of years ago.

We got to see the sights of Dambulla, the greenery and the beauty of that area. The sky was clear blue and not littered by any rain. It really made everyone appreciate the beauty of this country.

There were many falls today, first, of course, was mine. I was leading the group until I lost control of my front wheel and found myself to be riding as one with nature. There was a large hole on the bridge that we were riding on, I’m pretty sure you can predict the rest of the story… my front wheel went straight into it, I flew over my handlebars, while on the ground, to make sure I was down, my bike decided to knock me on the head.

The two injured soldiers of day 4. Photo: Ms Camilla

Luckily because of our first aid training, someone got to teste what they learnt on me and passed with flying colours. We ended the day by putting together a whole bike from scratch!!!!

On the last day, we biked 27km which brought our total biking distance to 160km. The trip was an absolutely amazing experience and I got to gain an understanding of our beautiful country and what goes on outside our school walls and the city of Colombo. This trip prepared us with life skills such as cooking on a budget, which will definitely be useful when we are all in university. It taught us to collaborate with each other when we had to cook and it definitely taught us the necessity of planning.

Our last ride of the trip 🙁 Photo: Matt