Two members of Scunthorpe United staff will be taking to the roads in June as they set off on a 145 mile bike ride from east London to Amsterdam, all in aid of prostate cancer.
Assistant Club Secretary Adam Grice and Education Manager Wayne “Bamber” Johnson have nominated themselves on behalf of the football club to represent us amongst the other members of the Football League, as they cycle through the tough terrain in England before getting the ferry across to Holland for the second leg.
The whole trip will take approximately 48 hours for the 260-strong group, which includes Preston manager Simon Grayson and former Charlton midfielder Matt Holland.
“Prostate cancer is the charity partner of the Football League” said Adam.
“When we first started looking in to it we were inspired by an Iron supporter called Mick Roden who did it for the club last season, and I sent him an e-mail asking a bit about it.
“He came in and told us all about how it was a great experience and he passed on some advice, and now here we are less than a month away from the start of it.”
Wayne shared with us: “If Mick has inspired me to take part and do it, why can’t I inspire others to do the same. With us taking part this year and raising the awareness of prostate cancer, hopefully we can get a lot more people involved next year and raise a lot more money for the charity next year.”
The ride begins in the early hours of June 12th with Leyton Orient’s Matchroom Stadium the starting point. An 85 mile trip to Harwich on the east coast will be what’s in store for the pack, with an overnight ferry giving them a chance to catch some rest before the 60 miles they face to the Dutch capital the following day.
“It’s going to be a tougher day one for us as opposed to day two, with 15-20 miles less to cover on the second stretch” Wayne told us.
“We’ve both never done anything like this before, but I have to say that I’ve caught the biking bug. It’s become a new hobby for me and I’d love to get involved in more rides like this one, maybe something like the coast to coast”.
Adam has also been working hard, and he said: “While Bamber has done more in the gym than me, I prefer to just get out on the bike and cycle. I’ve covered 25-30 miles in some of my cycles so it’s all good training for me and I’ve lost around 10kg through exercise and eating healthier.
“I’ve not even sat on a bicycle in over three years so it will be a big achievement for me to finish it in Amsterdam.”
The pair have raised over £2000 between them for the worthy cause, with the players, coaching staff, office staff and of course friends and family all donating, and you can too.