Kent: Injured Gurkhas take part in RBLI cycle tour to Belgium

“When I ride a bike, I don’t feel handicapped,” says former Gurkha Vinod Budhathoki. “I’m still free to do a lot of things… It’s just the way I do it that’s different.”

The 39-year-old Nepalese, who now lives in Maidstone, started handcycling a year after losing both legs in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in May 2010.

Now the veteran, who served with the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles from 2005, is taking on his biggest cycling challenge yet.

Together with his lifelong friend and fellow Gurkha Tirthraj Thapa, he is cycling from Aylesford in Kent to Ypres in Belgium to raise money for veterans’ organisation RBLI – Royal British Legion Industries.

“They are one of the charities that help wounded soldiers,” he said, adding that the ride would mean he was “helping a good cause and having a good reason to do more strenuous bike rides”.

On Friday morning, a group of 30 cyclists will set off on the RBLI’s annual cycle ride from Aylesford to Dover, covering a route of 93 kilometres.

On Saturday they take the ferry to Dunkirk, from where they cycle 90 kilometers to Ypres.

Mr Budhathoki, who runs his own real estate company, competed in the Invictus Games in 2014, in the disciplines of cycling and sitting volleyball.

“I’ve never done such a long ride before… This time it will be a lot more challenging,” he said.

Mr Thapa, 39, who also lives in Maidstone, lost his leg above the knee after being injured by an IED in Afghanistan in 2010 and now wears a prosthetic.

He has participated in the annual cycle four times and describes it as “very challenging”.

“My first ride was the toughest because I thought it was not feasible, but hard training and dedication really got me through,” he said. “Once I was confident, I asked Vinod (to participate).”

The pair, who were in the same regiment, trained together for this year’s challenge.