A group of young friends from Nantwich, and one from Cornwall, are cycling from London to Istanbul to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and Alzheimer’s society.
James Redwood, Will Rowlands, Kieron Lawton and Ewan Davies, all aged 22, set off from Buckingham Palace on August 27 alongside their support van driver, Jude Metz.
They are attempting to cycle 2,062 miles across the European continent, finishing at Istanbul’s Blue Mosque before crossing the Bosphorus Bridge, the symbolic gateway into Asia.
But the group had a dramatic setback just two days in. In Dunkirk, Jude parked up for lunch – only to return and find the support van had been towed away by police.
With the driver separated and the van locked in a compound, the cyclists were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs, their bikes and phones.
For four days they were stranded without food, kit or camping gear, forced to carry on until they were reunited with Jude and the van in Germany, country number five.
Kieron said: “It’s been tough, we’ve had nothing but what’s been on our backs, but we can’t wait to get back to being a team again.
“So far, we’ve faced some challenges but also adventure, which is the fun of it all at the end of the day.”
Despite the drama, the group have already racked up 1588km, reaching their halfway point in Vienna on September 9, 15 days into their trip.
After riding from London to Dover, Dunkirk, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, they’re now ahead of schedule, battling their way through Hungary and pushing their finish date forward by nearly a month to September 20.
It would normally take a rider around three months to cycle from London to Asia.
If the friends finish as expected, they will have done it in just three weeks.
The group, who call themselves “Tier One” down to their ‘get it done’ attitude, have pedalled through rain, wind and elevation so far, averaging over 130km a day, with no current rest days.
In a week, they expect to hit Serbia, where they will cycle through the Carpathian mountains.
The lads say they took inspiration from endurance athlete Russ Cook, known as the “Hardest Geezer”, who ran from Istanbul to London in 2021 before completing his record-breaking run across Africa last year.
“When you’re on a bike, you can go so much faster, and it’s less demanding than walking, so we decided to push it further,” James added.
“Each day we want to prove that.”
But the challenge is also personal, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support and Alzheimer’s Society, the charities the boys have chosen hold deep personal significance to them.
James lost his mum to cancer when he was just 10, while Kieron’s father passed away from cancer in 2023, and Ewan’s grandfather passed away with Alzheimer’s in 2022.
“It is more motivation to get to the finish, for all the donations to go towards our charities so that people don’t have to go through what we have,” said James.
The lads enjoy testing themselves and previously hiked 368km across Luxembourg and Croatia, raising £7,400 for charity.
Training for this ride began in January, building from 50km a day to 100km in the run-up.
So far, they’ve raised £2,190 through GiveStar, split between both charities.
They have also got in touch with local businesses in Cheshire, who have helped sponsor and support the lads on their mission.
Their progress has also gained traction on social media, with Instagram updates attracting more than 132,000 profile views on their page @london_to_asia.
“At the end of the day, we’re just five mates who want to prove ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” said James.
“If we’ve got it in our locker to do something about it, then it’s our duty to.”
Donations can be made via the group’s GiveStar fundraising page, with proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support and Alzheimer’s Society.
The boys also have a GoFundMe page which is still open for donations.
(story by Sydney Morgan)
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