A Dorset chiropractor is mid-way through a mammoth US cycle challenge that he hopes will raise £1,500 for Julia’s House, the local children’s hospice.
David Davis flew out to America on 3 March to cycle more than 3,000 miles from San Diego, California to St Augustine, Florida. He is joined for the adventure by his brother-in-law Sean Mansell, and together the pair are planning to average approximately 60-80 miles a day over the course of seven weeks.
The route that the pair will be travelling goes through the Sierra Nevada area, into Arizona and New Mexico, before entering Texas, which represents 40 per cent of their total trip. Finally, they will cycle across the southern states including Mississippi and Alabama, before finishing in St Augustine, Florida.
David, from Bournemouth, who celebrates his 66th birthday during the trip, said, “We’ve completed other, smaller cycling events. We’ve done Lands End to John O’Groats a couple of times, and St Malo to the Med, but nothing on this scale. Going across America is something I’ve been planning for three years. Every few years I get itchy feet and these challenges bring a different dimension to your life, they bring you alive. Twelve years ago I sailed my boat across the Atlantic and now I’m cycling across America!
“I’ve always known about Julia’s House and I wanted to support a small, local charity with my fundraising this time. In the last year I’ve become a Grandad three times over and I can’t begin to imagine what the families supported by Julia’s House are going through with their children. It feels very poignant to me, having a young family.”
Julia’s House receives just eight per cent Government funding, and therefore relies on fundraising, donations and Gifts in Wills to keep funding its vital service across Dorset and Wiltshire.
You can support David and Sean in their incredible cycle challenge by visiting their JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/David-Davis12
