TWO York GPs are about to set off on a 7,500km bike ride from Gibraltar to the northernmost tip of Norway.
Haxby Group lead partner Dr David Hayward will be taking a break from work to cycle with his wife Dr Lesley Godfrey, who has just retired from Priory Group Medical Practice.
The couple plan to pedal about 60 miles a day, and the trip is expected to take them three to four months.
They are aiming to raise £5,000, with the money divided between St Leonard’s Hospice in York and a hospice in Africa.
Dr Hayward said they were inspired to do the ride after reading a book, ‘From Spain to Norway on a bike called Reggie,’ by Andrew Sykes. “As Lesley retired at the end of February, we wanted a project to aim for when she finished work,” he said.
They will be following Eurovelo routes which criss-cross Europe, similar to the UK National Cycle Network, taking them along the Spanish Mediterranean coast, up the Rhone valley in France and the Rhine Valley in Germany, then catching a boat to Denmark and cycling through Sweden and Finland before arriving in Nordkapp.
Dr Hayward said they had both done a number of cycling and running events in the past, including marathons and triathlons, but this was an altogether different challenge.“The pace of life will be very different to our professional lives as GPs which can be hectic and stressful,” he said.
“The journey will be amazing - seeing different views on every day, visiting cities, meeting people and sampling all the local cuisines.”
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