The 48-year-old Irishman had initially predicted cycling some 2,000 kilometres from Portugal to Ireland but, as he tells The Portugal News, his journey ended up covering more than twice as much ground.
He set off from Alvor on 16 May, and arrived at his final destination in Dublin on 8 July.
“In the end I cycled about 4,500km, because we’d calculated it as the crow flies, but of course with all the ups and downs and detours it was a lot more than the initial 2,000 kilometres”, he jokes, describing the solo adventure as “absolutely fantastic”.
Robert and his bike plus a 25km trailer travelled up the Portuguese coast, through Spain to southern France, and through France and the UK, before finally crossing to Dublin, Ireland.
He says while he expected the mountainous Spanish region to be one of the most difficult parts of the journey – “and it was hard, my legs were killing me” – the biggest obstacle he faced was the unusually hot weather the UK has experienced in recent weeks.
“I was expecting rain and I got a heat wave,” he laughs, adding “my tyres were sticking to the tarmac. It was literally melting”.
Overall the hardy Alvor resident raised just over €300 for the Portimão-based Goodwill Charity, which supports a number of local and regional causes, including the homeless, children’s homes, and the disabled, with donations still coming in.