A LOCAL woman who recently completed a 300-mile charity bike ride in India, has spoken of her "great experience" in taking on the challenge.

Claire Coates, of Tenby, completed the 'Rajasthan Tiger Bike Challenge' over six days, through what is known as 'The Land of the Kings', to raise money for Diabetes UK.

Flying into Dehli, then catching a train to Agra, where the cycle route started, Claire took in Fatehpur sikri, Bharatpup, Karauli, Umaid and Ramgarh, on the journey.

"The roads started off on tarmac, but this led us into a false sense of security that they would all be like that," explained Claire, going on to talk of the difficult cycling conditions that were put before her and the other riders.

"On day two, there was about 1km of sand and stones on a 'road', then on day three there was meant to be about five miles of roadworks, but it turned into about 15 miles.

"Roadworks in India are not quite the same as here; the sand is dug up, then left for us and other road users to flatten! It was hard work!

"There is no highway code either, you use either side of the road, and if you find a bigger road user coming towards you, you get out of their way - not good for us cyclists!

"Sometimes it can be quite scary cycling through busy towns and villages, but we all stuck together and became a great team, supporting each other," she continued.

Claire said there were a few falls off the bikes along the way, but no injuries, and she only got one puncture, which wasn't a real problem because the back-up team were close by.

"Local people in villages were very nice and friendly, coming out to us as we cycled past, with children calling 'ta ta' and running to see us.

"Strange looks were received when cycling through villages, as you only cycle when you can't afford a moped, so for them to see 'rich' people cycling, they looked at us as if we were aliens," remarked Claire.

"Going towards finish on the final day, we cycled through beautiful lands, thankfully in between the hills and not over them, and going over the finish line there were drums playing.

"We were presented with medals, congratulated each other and it was time to celebrate!" said Claire, who praised the organisation of the trip.

"The trip was organised by Charity Challenge, and very well done; I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a challenge.

"We had a great back-up team in India, very professional, and it gave us all inspiration and made it fun, even when it got really tough," added Claire, who said she had made some great new friends for life over the course of the challenge and most importantly raised over £4,000 for her charity.

"India has been a great experience for me, and I'd highly recommend an organised holiday to everyone; it's a holiday you will never forget.

"Thanks to all my supporters who donated time and money into Diabetes UK, especially Mick Coates, my patient husband. I enjoyed raising money, so am going to continue doing so this year, look out for any future events," she added.