Robert Lynch, who has lived in the town of Alvor for eight years, will be cycling solo all the way to his native Dublin, to raise funds for the Goodwill Charity.
His involvement with the charity came after offering to help fix the electrics in the charity’s Portimão shop a few years ago.
“I was in the shop looking for some books to read and the electrics weren’t working. I offered to help fix them and I’ve been helping out there a couple of times a week ever since”, he tells The Portugal News.
Through its shop sales and donations, the Goodwill Charity supports a number of local and regional causes, including the homeless, children’s homes, and the disabled.
It is the first time the 48-year-old has attempted such a feat: “You know the Bucket List? Well this was on my Bucket List. I wanted to learn French and Italian, and I have, and now I’m going to cycle to Ireland.”
Robert Lynch, or ‘our man Roby’, as fellow volunteers at the shop affectionately call him, and his bike and trailer will be travelling up the Portuguese coast, through Spain to southern France, and through France and the UK, before finally crossing to Dublin, Ireland.
He estimates he will be arriving in Dublin at the end of June.
“I’m going to take it slowly” he explains, despite expecting to cycle around seven hours a day, six days a week.
En-route the Irishman will be overnighting in his tent, and is looking forward to stopping at key sites of interest, such as Fátima in central Portugal, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and Lourdes in France.
His only concern is the wind: “We tend to get northerly winds down this way, so it will be like constantly cycling against a headwind. I’ll have to get up early and cycle before the wind picks up”, he says.
In preparation for the mammoth journey, which Mr. Lynch will start next week, he has equipped his bike with specialist equipment, including a GPS and a puncture-repair kit, and has been building up physically by “doing small cycles to places like Lagos and Monchique; about 50 kilometres a day.”
Funds raised will be put by the Goodwill Charity towards a range of local needs, such as purchasing equipment for the disabled and the elderly, items for children in homes, and to help the homeless.
For more information or to make a donation, contact the Goodwill Charity on: 968740693.