A British father and daughter team is preparing to embark on an epic bike ride through four countries, starting in the UK and ending in the Algarve, in a bid to raise money for cancer research.
Garry Clark, 49, and his daughter Abbey Clark, 24, will be taking off from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on Friday, June 1 and expect to arrive in the picturesque village of Ferragudo in the Algarve on Friday, June 22.
Their 2,800km journey will take them through Peterborough, Rochester and Folkestone in the UK; Calais, Dieppe, Le Mans, La Rochelle and Biarritz in France; Pamplona, Villodrego and Salamanca in Spain, and Sabugal, Lisbon and Aljezur in Portugal before finally arriving in Ferragudo.
“Cancer has unfortunately affected all of us throughout our lives, both young and old, in some form or another,” says Garry.
“Thirty-eight years ago, when I was just 11, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then my mum has fought and thankfully won several battles with the disease, along with my dad who a few years ago underwent major surgery to remove cancer,” he adds.
His parents, who are both in their 70s, will be accompanying Garry and Abbey throughout the journey by driving the support vehicle alongside them.
Both Garry and Abbey were practising for their trip when the Resident contacted them.
“I’m on my bike as we speak, we just stopped for some water,” he told us.
The decision to embark on the journey came after Garry and his family lost “several good friends” to the disease in 2017, which motivated him to do something to support cancer research. It will also serve to celebrate Garry’s 50th birthday.
As Garry owns a holiday home in Ferragudo, he decided it was the perfect place to end the trip and is hoping that he and Abbey will be greeted with family members, friends and “hopefully a very large beer” when they arrive.
The pair has set up a Just Giving page where anyone can make a donation towards the cause. As we wrote this story, £810 had already been donated with the target being £3,000.
All donations will go towards Cancer Research UK, described as the “world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research”.
There is also a Facebook page entitled ‘Garry & Abbey Clark cycling 4 countries for cancer’ where Garry and Abbey will be posting photos and updates of their bike ride.
To make a donation, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/garryandabbey
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
