ISLANDER Lee Tumelty completed a testing charity cycle from Gothenburg to Copenhagen earlier this month.
Lee (30), who moved to Oslo four years ago, joined work colleagues Paul de Ora, Graeme White, Tom Erichsen, Jørund Haartveit and Henrik Hasselknippe and completed the trip in two days to raise money for the World Cancer Research Fund.
‘It went really well and everyone finished the ride,’ he said. ‘The weather was kind and the temperature was around 15°C, but we had a head-wind pretty much the whole time. ‘We spent 17 hours in the saddle and slightly underestimated the trip as we thought it would be around 300 km, but it turned out to be more like 350.
‘The scenery was beautiful, but one of the most enjoyable things was that we all helped each other through the experience. There were six of us cycling and everyone at some point felt tired physically or mentally, but there was always someone else getting a second wind to push you through.’
The group, who call themselves the Blazing Saddles, decided to take part in the trip across Sweden, Norway, and Denmark because they have all been affected by cancer in some way.
‘I have lost relatives to cancer, as has Tom,’ said the former Le Rocquier student. ‘Paul and Graeme lost their fathers to the disease and Jorund was actually diagnosed with thyroid cancer three years ago. He has been given the all-clear, but it was a scary time for him and his family. Cancer affects everyone in some way, which is why this challenge is so important to us.’
Last year the group suffered a tragedy when fellow cyclist Magnus Remborg was killed in a car crash two weeks before they set off on their first fund-raising cycle from Oslo to the Swedish border.
‘It was heartbreaking. Magnus was so passionate about that challenge,’ said Lee. ‘We knew we had to continue the race in his memory and we had great weather on the day, so I know he was watching over us.’
For that ride the group raised almost £2,000. This year they have exceeded that and are fast approaching the £3,000 mark, but they don’t intend to stop there.
‘Next year we plan to increase the distance and cycle through Europe, from Denmark through to Germany or the Netherlands perhaps – somewhere a bit more flat hopefully,’ said Lee.
• Picture: Jørund, Henrik, Lee, Tom, Paul and Graeme on their arrival in Copenhagen
Article posted on 27th September, 2008 - 3.00pm
