The mission? Cycle ‘just’ the 550km from Dublin to France to support Republic of Ireland at Euro 2016, writes Peter McNamara.
The motivation? Fundraise towards an ‘aggressive’ target of €10,000 for three charities – DEBRA Ireland, Aware and Irish Cancer Society.
The men undertaking such a taxing exercise? Leesiders Jonny Lane and Cormac O’Keeffe, Kildare native Tom Fox and Tipperary man James O’Dwyer.
Everybody’s heard of the old saying ‘Old roads lead to…’ but this ambitious and admirable trek takes the biscuit.
The quartet in question, a clearly iron-willed crew, begin their adventure to support Ireland in France on June 7.
But talk about killing two birds with one stone.
Lane, O’Keeffe, Fox and O’Dwyer have correctly been gaining more and more kudos as the time ticks by towards their start-date.
On Tuesday, June 7 the quartet leave Dublin to arrive in Cherbourg via the Stena Horizon and Rosslare late the next day, as Lane explains.
“After we arrive in Cherbourg it’ll then be the Thursday in which the French leg of the cycle kicks-off.
“From Cherbourg, you see, we head to Bayeux and Eveux.
“We’re due to arrive in Paris on Saturday, June 11 after an estimated cycle of 550km.
“That distance may not seem like too much to regular cyclists but to ourselves this is obviously a challenge.”
A challenge, however, that they hope will be more than worthwhile.
Word is spreading, particularly via their Twitter account @Cycle2Euro2016 and Facebook page, of this remarkable idea and the response has been, understandably, excellent with donations flooding in from across the country.
“The response has been huge for us. Mind-blowing, actually.
“There’s been a massively positive response in the sense people are contributing financially or by donating items.
“DEBRA Ireland, one of the charities we are cycling for, gave us a signed pair of Katie Taylor’s gloves, Niall Breslin and Roz Purcell have donated signed copies of their books and others are contributing for an upcoming quiz night.
Thanks @nbrez & @RozannaPurcell for donating signed copies of your books! Great prizes for our upcoming quiz night! pic.twitter.com/aWQdyhOrgS
— Cycle2Euro2016 (@Cycle2Euro2016) April 20, 2016
“So we can’t thank people enough for their unbelievable support.
“Even in the media people are becoming increasingly aware of what is going on with us and the support of the media has elevated that awareness and, therefore, funds for the charities.
“People talk about the Irish people and the backing they give to things such as this and it’s only really when you’re doing it yourself that you really get that understanding of those sayings.
“It really brings it home how superb our own people are at getting behind worthy causes such as our Cycle 2 Euro 2016.
“It’s incredible and we really appreciate it,” Lane said.
As a supporter and sports man from Cork himself, does Lane believe Ireland can qualify for the knockout stages of Euro 2016?
“If we get off to a great start anything could happen,” Lane mused. “Belgium are developing the last few years and been consistent.
“Italy perform at tournaments for fun whereas Sweden are a bit hit and miss.
“If we were to beat Sweden and grab a draw at least from one of the other two games we could be in a decent position to qualify.
“Belgium’s squad, on paper, is phenomenal. But have they ever really shown massive intent given the qualities they have?
“We’ll see but there’s definitely reason to be hopeful of progressing, especially if Jon Walters and Shane Long can kick-on.”
At the end of the day, though, it’s all about the fundraising element of the trip and Lane was keen to illustrate the importance of the charities in all of this.
“DEBRA Ireland, Aware and Irish Cancer Society do a ridiculous amount of work to help people in the country and it’s great that we can help them.
“Families, including my own, have been impacted by Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare skin condition which is the focus of DEBRA Ireland, mental health is of paramount importance, of course, with Aware really vital in helping people in that regard while Irish Cancer Society’s role has also been absolutely invaluable to these shores.
“Hopefully Cycle 2 Euro 2016 can benefit those three charities as much as we would like it to.
“I’m sure it’ll be an adventure we’ll remember as individuals too,” Lane added.
