From Shandon Bells to Tour Eiffel

A charity cycle from Cork to Paris, which aimed to raise money for new facilities at Cork University Hospital (CUH), finished up on Monday 28 September as the peloton arrived at their destination at the Eiffel Tower.

The trip – which is in its second year – aimed to raise funds for new family rooms at CUH, where the families of those getting care can rest while in the hospital.

Conor O’Brien said that he took part in the cycle as remembrance for his mother, who passed away last year.

“I wanted to do something to give back, everyone at CUH did so much for us while my mother was ill, we used all of the facilities there,” he said.

The route – which totalled over 600km - took the group across to France via ferry to the town of Roscoff in Britanny. From there, they travelled to the town of St Brieuc, and from there on to Brittany’s capital - and Cork’s sister city - Rennes.

In Rennes, the group met with the city’s mayor, where they exchanged gifts and were treated to an official dinner.

From Rennes, the group moved on to the town of Alançon. It was this leg which Connor said was the most difficult.

“The leg from Rennes to Alançon was a real challenge. We are a very fit group, but it was 155km of hard cycling, which I think took us around eight hours. There were definitely times when I thought we wouldn’t make it.

“But I think it’s testament to how well the group has gelled that we all did it. We all had our own walls that we hit on that leg of the journey that we had to push through. But we were all encouraging each other, keeping each other going.

“Sometimes when you’re at the back of the group, you can fall behind, so when that happened some of the group would drop back to help. It was such an achievement that part of the cycle, everyone really pushed themselves beyond what they thought they could do,” he said.

Arriving in Paris and crossing the finish line at the Eiffel Tower, Conor said that it was like they hadn’t cycled at all.

“All the stress and anxiety of the past five days just disappeared, we were all so happy to be there at the end,” he said.

Conor also said that the cycle wouldn’t have been possible without the organisers that supported. He said that special thanks should go to the two cyclists who accompanied the group, Duncan and Ray.

“Ray was fuelling us every step of the way, he was making sure that every pit stop we got the right nutrition that we were fully prepared. Duncan was our pacer, meaning he guided us from Roscoff all the way to Paris, he made sure we sped up and slowed down when appropriate, and he also guided us down into the beautiful national parks and routes we saw,” he said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.