Pedalling Home

Summary

I’m taking on the challenge of cycling over 10,000kms from India’s Southern Tip to the UK, all in aid of The Country Trust.

Any donations would be hugely appreciated and will help them continue their work of transforming disadvantaged children’s lives by connecting them to the land through food, farming and the outdoors.

87% of children say being in green spaces makes them happy, it also boosts physical health and confidence. These benefits are increasingly important as anxiety and depression rates skyrocket in schools, issues which are 13x more likely to affect disadvantaged children.

However, 12% of UK children go over a year without visiting an outdoor environment, a figure even more stark among disadvantaged children. This quote, from a teacher, shows the value of The Country Trust:

“I’ve seen children smile more today than I’ve known them to do ever! One of our children, a young carer, is usually very serious, and she’s grinned all day!”

Help build a future where all children can access green spaces and their benefits, by donating as much as you feel able.

I’ll be cycling through 18 countries, pedalling from the frantic roads of India to the isolation of the glorious Pamirs and from the baking Kyzyl-Kum Desert to the cold of the European winter.

I’ll be contending with broken spokes, angry dogs, loneliness and – to be frank– boredom. But I’ll get to meet amazing people, see jaw-dropping views, and feel the thrill and freedom of the open road!

During my trip, I’ll be sending videos to a Lincolnshire school, aiming to foster excitement about the big wide world, and be chatting to farmers, trying to build a picture of the lives of those who tend to Eurasia’s rural landscapes.

I’m posting regularly on Instagram (@wheres_fergus), Facebook, and the travel app Polarsteps (Fergus Trower), which is great as it creates a routemap of my journey as I go along. I’ll share less frequently on LinkedIn and write a blog 'Pedalling Home' about my experiences on Substack.

My Story (Updated 08/08/2025, whilst in Tashkent)

Below is a more in depth explanation of why I chose The Country Trust, and why I wanted to go on this bicycle ride. It also explains why I've taken the - slightly odd - route I've taken! If you want a version that includes some maps - which hopefully make things a bit clearer - I've uploaded the same text, but with some embedded maps, to my Substack (Fergus Trower).

Connection to the land can have immensely positive benefits for wellbeing, especially in children. In 2023, Natural England reported 87% of children said that being in green spaces made them very happy. Existing in the great outdoors can boost children’s confidence by exposing them to new experiences: the feel of soil, the comfort of sitting in a place undisturbed by the sound of traffic, and the space to run and play. These benefits are important now more than ever, as reported instances of anxiety and depression among children skyrocket.

Not only does connection to the land massively boost wellbeing, it’s also been shown to be hugely beneficial for the environment. Being immersed in the outside world helps develop an understanding of how intricately tied to it we are and ensures the formation of an emotional bond which encourages pro-environmental decision making.

Giving everyone the opportunity build connections with the land is therefore really important – it allows us all to have the best chance of leading a happy and healthy life.

Despite this, we are becoming increasingly disconnected from the world around us; 12% of children in the UK go a year or more without visiting a green environment like a forest or park (Hunter et al., 2016). The figures are even more stark among disadvantaged children, contributing to the fact that they are 13 times more likely to face poor educational and health outcomes, like obesity and anxiety.

Especially in comparison to their peers, the ability of these children to connect with the land is projected to worsen as the trend of increasing inequality continues. This means the very children who could most benefit from a connection with the land are becoming ever more deprived of one.

This is where charities like The Country Trust comes in.

The Country Trust was founded in 1970 and helps disadvantaged children create their own connection to the land, by bringing farmers and schools together. The schools they work with have an average free-school-meals qualification rate of 44.5%, well above the national average. Through programmes like Farm Discovery, Countryside Residential, Food Discovery, and Farm in a Box, children get to meet farmers and animals, explore soil with their minds and hands, ride on tractors, try new food, build dens, grow crops, learn to cook, and much more besides. All programmes are free for eligible schools, while the residentials are heavily subsidised.

The programmes are planned by experts, who produce excellent scaffolding which enables children to open up to new experiences. Common hurdles include anxiety about the harmful things soil may contain and the unfamiliar textures in new foods. This expertise is especially important as, on an average farm visit, 90% of children do something for the first time ever.

Overcoming concerns like those listed above helps the children build confidence and empowers both parents and teachers to encourage them to try new things. After such experiences, children show more self-belief and are more likely to pursue further outdoor activities, deepening their connection with the land.

The programmes are clearly effective, with 91% of teachers stating that children are still talking about a farm visit two weeks later. One teacher also said that:

“I’ve seen children smile more today than I’ve known them to do ever! One of our children, a young carer, is usually very serious, and she’s grinned all day!”

Meanwhile, a pupil from a different school said that:

“When we were feeding the cows and having the picnic we were in peace, and it’s so different to here (in the city) where it’s so loud.”

I hope you’ll agree that comments like this are truly fantastic and make support of The Country Trust more than worth it.

For my part, I was born in 2001. As a child, I had the privilege of being constantly exposed to the outside world. Long walks, den-building, and woodland adventures created an unwavering personal connection to the land. This shaped the passions and hobbies that I now pursue and is one of the reasons my childhood was such a happy one.

Going into university, that connection meant I already knew that I wanted to use my life to help create a more sustainable world. Whilst there, as part of my dissertation research, I had numerous discussions with farmers whose passion and dedication to the land – often in the face of almighty odds – truly inspired me. Those conversations helped me narrow my focus, making me want to help create a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable food system for both producers and consumers.

At the end of university, the flame of excitement those farmers had sparked in me led me to joining Fenland SOIL, an NGO that aims to secure the future of the Fens through engaging with farmers. I loved this work - talking to farmers out in the field, learning about the history of the landscape around me, and having a great time getting my hands dirty whilst I helped create a new peat map of the Fens.

However, I knew that, beyond the wide horizons of the East of England, there was so much of the world to see, and that, through seeing it, I would deepen my understanding of how societies around the world interact with the land. I also knew that now was probably my best shot of seeing as much of it as I possibly could.

I therefore left Fenland SOIL at the end of January 2025 and was on a plane to India two days later, from where I planned to cycle back to the UK. I started my journey at Kanniyakumari - the Southern Tip of India - and made my way along Kerala’s glorious coastline, where nights spent sleeping on beaches under a star-spangled blanket became the norm.

From here, I laboured over the Western Ghats – having to fight with my bicycle just as much as the incline - before rolling onto the dusty Deccan Plateau, where I got to spend a whole day exploring the spectacular Ellora Caves.

Around this point, I realised I needed to push on, so spent the next week or so cycling between 150-200km a day, mainly along dual carriageways whose straight white lines stretched eternally before me, mimicking the changeless landscape. This took me into Madhya Pradesh and then Rajasthan, where I finished my first leg in front of the technicoloured windows of the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur. Here, I left my bicycle for three months as I returned to the UK for my brother’s (pesky) wedding.

This part of the journey was marked by a massive amount of learning on my part. After a bad bout of heatstroke, I learnt how to manage the extreme temperatures and humidity I was cycling through. I soon became adept at changing bicycle spokes and navigating the – often frustrating – machinations of Indian bicycle mechanics. I also overcame my initial nerves about camping in random fields near busy roads, and discovered that, no matter how tired you are, your legs can always give 100% if you’re being chased by a pack of angry dogs!

I returned to India in June to continue my journey home and aimed to make it from Jaipur to Lincolnshire in one go. This section of the trip started with a week-long stretch from Jaipur to Amritsar, which is right on the border with Pakistan. I loved this stretch; I don’t have a hard deadline – as I did in February – so I could take things a bit more slowly, meaning I was able to meet loads of amazing people. It was, however, a little hard readjusting to life back in the saddle, especially given the heat.

Although I’d reached the border with Pakistan, due to the current diplomatic relationship between the two countries, I could not cross, either over land, or directly by plane. I therefore decided to fly to Bangkok, from where I’d planned to fly to Pakistan to continue my onward journey, first into China (to skirt around Afghanistan) and then into Tajikistan.

Whilst I was in Bangkok, I tried to apply for my Chinese Visa, which I’d thought would take less than two weeks. After having hung around for four weeks, waiting for it to be approved, I got an email through informing me that my application had been rejected, and giving no reason. I soon concluded that I wouldn’t feel comfortable going from Pakistan into Afghanistan, and that flying into and out of Pakistan would be prohibitively expensive. This meant that I’d have to skip Pakistan altogether, as there was no way out of the country. Feeling pretty disappointed, as I’d really wanted to cycle the Karakorum Highway, I made a new plan. I would now fly from Bangkok into Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and use the time I had saved in skipping Pakistan, by giving Central Asia a thorough exploration!

I’m currently in Tashkent and – after a month of waiting around for visas to come through – am just about to set off again, so I’m feeling very excited!

From Tashkent, I will first cycle East into Kyrgyzstan, before joining the Pamir Highway (the second highest highway in the world) at Osh. This isolated road will lead me all the way into Tajikistan, and its capital, Dushanbe. From here, I’ll head back into Uzbekistan, zip through the Kyzyl-Kum Desert – which I don’t think will be hugely fun – before going into Kazakhstan. From the port city of Aktau, I will fly across the Caspian Sea into Baku – Azerbaijan’s Capital. There is a ferry, but Azerbaijan’s weird border policies mean I can’t take it! I did, briefly, consider taking the land route around, but don’t massively want to tempt fate with either the Russian or Iranian police.

From Baku, border crossings will (fingers-crossed!) become much more straightforward, as I go into Georgia, Turkey, Europe and then home. However, by the time I cross the Bosphorus, the nights will be drawing in, so I’ll have to contend with the cold, wet and dark of a European Winter – let’s hope the binbags I’m lining my panniers with are effective!

The journey will take me through at least 18 countries and I will cover over 10,000 kilometres (6200 miles). On the way, I’ll be sending regular video updates of my progress to a school back in Lincolnshire, to try and foster a sense of excitement about the world beyond the classroom walls.

I will also aim to talk to as many farmers as I possibly can along the route, hoping to create a picture of what life is like for those who currently tend to rural landscapes across Eurasia.

If you want to follow along, I’m posting regularly on Instagram (@wheres_fergus), Facebook, and the travel app Polarsteps (Fergus Trower), which is fantastic as it creates a map of my route. I’ll share less frequently on LinkedIn and write a blog - 'Pedalling Home' - about my experiences on Substack.

The Country Trust does amazing work, and I hope you think that my fundraiser for them is a worthwhile one. In 2023/4, they managed to work with children from an incredible 568 schools, but there is always scope for a greater impact. Let’s help them connect more children with the land than ever before. All donations are hugely appreciated, so a massive thank you if you do decide to donate!

Wish me luck!

Fergus