I applied to ride for GB in the Tour of the Himalayas last January with no idea what was involved and got declined. Then Matt Page emailed me at the start of August informing me they were a rider down and did I want to take part and join himself (national and euro 24hour champ), Rikkie Cotter (national 24 hour female champ), Mark Spratt (national vet 24hr champ) and Elite woman Mel Alexander (currently 2nd in the NPS). Yes!
Then I found out where the race was. Pakistan. Fly out to Islamabad on 9/11, tenth anniversary, travel up the Karakoram Highway, through Abbotabad (where Osama got caught) and race in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. I must admit Islamabad wasn't on my hitlist of city breaks, and I was slightly concerned about the Taliban. The foreign office website read: "We advise against all travel to specific regions of Pakistan and against all but essential travel to other specific regions of Pakistan." More specifically it advised against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa travel, stating increased risk of militant activity, kidnap, robbery and murder. It advised against travelling on the Karakoram highway. Finally, it advised against all travel to Abbotabad following Osama’s capture.
I was having doubts about the trip, but the organiser of the race emailed me stating it would be alright...