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Carl and Pat's 1,450km charity
cycle
14.06.10
by Damian Dowds, Inishowen Independent
THIS week is Bike Week and two local men, Carl
McLaughlin and Pat McLaughlin (Dick) know more about
it than most as they undertake a gruelling 1,450km
road trip for charity from Malin Head to Mizen Head
- and back!
Muff’s Carl McLaughlin and Buncrana’s Pat McLaughlin
(Dick) mounted their bicycles last Friday, when they
departed from Malin Head bound for Mizen Head in
Cork. The pair will cover roughly 90 miles (145km)
per day, with overnight stops in Donegal Town,
Claremorris, Ennis, Killarney and Bantry.
They are due to arrive at Mizen Head on Tuesday,
June 15, before meeting with a group of 50 people
from Inishowen and Derry who embark on a one-way
cycle back to Malin Head on Wednesday morning. The
group expect to return to Malin Head on Sunday, June
20.
Sponsorship raised from the cycle will go to the
Donegal and Foyle Hospices. The Malin Head to Mizen
Head leg of the trip is being made in memory of
Kevin Downey, from Buncrana. The popular Gransha
man, who worked in SuperValu in Buncrana, died in
July 2009.
“We’ve been doing a bit more training than usual,”
Carl McLaughlin said. “Last week, we did around 300
miles in the saddle. Carl was confident of his and
Pat’s ability to complete the back-to-back marathon
trek. |
“In a trip that like,
you usually find that it gets unbearably tough, or
you find it gets increasingly easier. I’m hoping
it’s the latter,” he quipped. “But it’s a matter of
eating and drinking properly, and resting up at
night. Avoiding injury will be crucial.”
Despite having undertaken the |
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Mizen Head to Malin
Head trip on three previous occasions, Carl says the
trip from north to south presents a different
challenge.
“The prevailing winds are usually coming from the
south, so it will be a bit harder cycling into
that,” he said. “Also, there’s just three of us
cycling down [Carl and Pat will be joined by
Dungiven man Greg McLaughlin] so it will be more
tiring in that there are fewer people to tuck in
behind to shelter from the wind.”
Carl thanked sponsors, including McLaughlin Motor
Factors, Pat the Baker, and SuperValu in both
Buncrana and Carndonagh.
The sons of both local men are excellent cyclists in
their own right. Pat’s son Patrick Junior came
fourth in the junior section of Ras Donegal last
weekend. Carl’s son Ronan is a professional cyclist
based in Belgium with the An Post Sean Kelly team.
He’s currently at home in Muff recuperating from a
crash in the Tour of Belgium where he sustained a
broken wrist and a broken arm.
• The North Pole Cycling Club are hosting a series
of events for National Bike Week which runs from
13-20 June. |
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