Son and pals pedal 500 miles for Christie
ACYCLIST has travelled through five countries and covered 500 miles in just four days to raise money for the hospital that treated his mum for cancer
David Bailey, 40, of Marple, devised a route to take in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
He came up with the plan to mark his 40th birthday and to raise money for the Christie as his mum was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and he has lost friends to the disease.
The journey, with four pals, set off from the Railway pub, in Marple, on Friday and returned to the same location on Monday evening.
Dad-of-two David said: “Many of us have been affected by cancer in one way or another throughout our lives.
“My mum is still all clear and, touch wood, has made a good recovery. But it brings it home how necessary the work of the Christie is.
“So this was our way of doing something that we all enjoy and pushing ourselves a bit while trying to make a difference.”
Also on the epic journey were David’s friends Graham Stanton, Stuart Millward, Dan Labella and Rob Bradley.
His brother-in-law Sam Billington supported the team by driving kit between each site in preparation for the next stage of the journey.
In total the team each completed more than 27,000ft of ascent - only 2,000 less than climbing Mount Everest - during the ride, for which they began training before Christmas. The first day saw them cycle to Anglesey, catch the ferry to Ireland and end up near Dublin.
Day two was through Northern Ireland and sailing back into Scotland before the final two days making their way back down to Marple.
The team hopes to raise £5,000 and had raised more than £4,000 by the time they set off.
David said: “I came up with the idea of the challenge after a few drinks and amazingly managed to persuade four friends to do it.
“I’m not sure they were thanking me when we had blisters after a couple of days, but we were all determined to finish.
“We are all keen cyclists and we can’t think of a better charity to do it for than the Christie.”
To donate to the cause visit www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/5nations500c hallenge.