My day as mayor

DILDAR MIAH (l) with cycling tour organiser Muzahid Khan from Chadderton

Dateline: Hobigonj, Bangladesh
DAY three of what is turning out to be a fascinating tour of Sylhet.

We cyclists were bussed to Bishwanath for a 30-mile ride to Jagannathpur through some stunning, rolling countryside of paddy fields.

The locals cheered as the blue-clad riders sped by the tiny villages, each looking much like the last to the untutored Oldham eye.

Lunch was served in a huge house in the village of Ranigan. The house is the family home of Dildar Miah (40), who has a takeaway business in Westwood. He was present to greet the group with his family and village elders.

Earlier Dildan’s people had also fed the football team from Oldham which is touring alongside the cyclists.

He estimated he had served around 200 lunches of rice, chicken, lamb and lentils and also a beef dish, followed by home-made yoghurt. He also fed a host of family and locals who had turned out in force to meet the Oldham group.

Earlier in the ride the group had stopped at a school in Mirpur, where a sports day was taking place. The whole event was halted while the cyclists were greeted as celebrities by the locals.

Muzahid Khan, the tour organiser, made a short speech at the school where his father used to teach.

The day ended with the last five minutes of the first football match of the tour — a goalless draw against Shadipur — when once again the group was greeted as celebrities by the dumbfounded locals.

The local PA man announced me as the Mayor of Oldham and owner of the Oldham Chronicle!

It had been that kind of day...