Former Gurkhas set to cycle from Aylesford to Ypres

Former Gurkhas Vinod Budhathoki and Tirthraj Thapa are set to cycle from Aylesford to Ypres

Former Gurkhas Vinod Budhathoki and Tirthraj Thapa cycled from Aylesford to Ypres on Friday the 28th of June 2024 for charity. The 39-year-old from Nepal, who now lives in Maidstone, took up hand cycling a year after he lost both legs in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in May 2010.Now, the veteran, who served in The First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles from 2005.

Alongside lifelong friend and Gurkha colleague Tirthraj Thapa, he will cycle from Aylesford in Kent to Ypres in Belgium to raise money for veterans’ charity RBLI – Royal British Legion Industries. “They are one of the charities who help injured soldiers a lot,” he said, adding that the ride would mean he was “helping charity and having a good reason to do tougher cycling”.
A group of 30 cyclists will set off on the RBLI’s annual cycle on Friday morning, heading from Aylesford to Dover, on a 58-mile (93km) route. On Saturday they took a ferry to Dunkirk, then cycled 56 miles (90km) to Ypres. Mr Budhathoki, who runs his own property business, competed in the Invictus Games in 2014 in cycling and sitting volleyball.