Duo’s efforts will aid UK medical charity working on the ground in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon
Dave McCann (37) and Ben Dunn (33) are taking on the 382-mile journey beginning on Tuesday for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
Last year they cycled from Bristol to Belgium, but now they say they want to put the same energy into a good cause.
Dave, whose family are from Belfast, said: “There’s obviously an Irish connection with Palestine, but I have followed Palestinian affairs anyway since I was 10 years old.
“I have cousins who always tried to bring the plight of the Palestinian people into western consciousness for decades.
“It’s always been there, so it felt like a natural thing to support that cause.
“After a bit of research, we came across MAP pretty quick and they really stuck out.
“You’re talking about people that could work anywhere on the planet for a lot of money, but they’re not.
“They’re working in very dangerous situations and they’re not going to come back as the same people after this. They’re doing it because they are good people.
“If you can’t find it in your heart to support something like that, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”
Ben Dunn
He added asking people for money is “not really in his nature”, so he has promised that he will match every £1 raised through their online JustGiving link with 25p from his own pockets.
“We’re hoping to get it up as high as we can — my friends all say they want to do that so they can bankrupt me,” he joked.
“I just wanted to put my money where my mouth is and the pledge still stands, regardless of the amount raised.”
Dave and Ben expect to spend around four days riding across Wales before crossing the Irish Sea.
They will cover 3,264 metres of uphill cycling, travelling about 44 miles each day. They stress they’re not “serious” cyclists, but are motivated by the challenge of raising at least £2,000. So far they’ve collected over half of that target.
Dave added: “I’m really excited to take on this challenge but I’m also slightly nervous we aren’t fit enough.
“We’ve been training the past month or so but there’s a lot of uphill cycling. Last year when we cycled to Belgium Ben had a pretty bad knee injury.
“He was in pain before we’d even left Bristol, but he persevered and we managed to complete it, so hopefully we’ll have the same drive and determination for this year’s ride to Belfast.
“What’s really motivating us both is how much we want to raise money for MAP.”
You can find the fundraiser here.
