Hexham man attempts 800-mile bike ride for charity
Aug 28 2010 by Graeme Whitfield, The Journal
MICK Dowling's wheels of fortune are set to take him on an 800-mile bike ride next week as he repays a debt of life.
The 74-year-old Northumbrian came through a cancer operation at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital two years ago and now he is offering thanks in the way he knows best, with a marathon trek on his trusty bike.
Mick, a retired geography teacher from Fourstones, near Hexham, is cycling around the entire Scottish coast to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and Macmillan Nurses.
He said: “I’ve cycled all my life and done numerous long-distance rides before, many of them for charity. In fact, this will be one of my shorter rides, but this one means something special to me.
“I wanted to do something for the people who did so much for me, and this is my way of doing it.
“I’m riding solo, going as far out as the Outer Hebrides, right along the top of Scotland, down the east side and back home to Fourstones. It should take about a month, although a lot depends on the famous Scottish weather, and I haven’t a clue how much I will raise, I only want it to be as much as possible.”
Mick was preparing for a 1,600-mile marathon in aid of a Kenyan orphanage in 2008 when he was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer just days before setting off.
He said: “The consultant told me that if I had set off on what was going to be a month’s ride, I wouldn’t have survived the cancer.
“I had ignored a few symptoms while training for the ride, thinking ‘oh, there can’t possibly be anything wrong with a fit guy like me’.
“If I had gone on that ride, I don’t think I’d have been here now. I was whipped into the Freeman, it was all done in a fortnight, and while I’m still having chemotherapy and six-monthly checks, I feel really good and am raring to go.”
Mick sets off solo on September 6, and his route will take him via Dumfries and Galloway to Ardrossan on the west coast of Scotland, from where he sails to the Isle of Arran.
Ferry-hopping between isles and mainland, he will then cover Barra, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides before returning to the west coast mainland at Ullapool.
From there, he will head north to Cape Wrath on the north-western tip of Scotland, along the north coast to John O’Groats, and all the way down the east side to Berwick and Tynemouth before turning due west to the Tyne Valley and home.
When he was ill, friends and family supported him with a “Miles For Mick” campaign, and now it’s father-of-two Mick’s turn to return the favour.
“I want to thank Burnbrae surgery in Hexham, the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, The Bike Shop in Hexham, and everyone else who has helped me so much,” Mick said.
“Whatever money I manage to raise will be equally divided between Marie Curie and Macmillan Nurses, and I hope the people will support me in my long ride.”
Donations can be sent directly to Mick at 13 St Aidan’s Park, Fourstones, Hexham, NE47 5EB. A bank account, named Bike Ride In Aid Of Cancer Care, has been set up with Lloyds Bank in Hexham.
