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UCD students raise €5,000 for Parkinson’s Ireland and The Alzheimer Society of Ireland while cycling over 1,400km
Three mechanical engineering students at UCD, Emmett Judge from Clogherhead, Co. Louth, Mike Heaney from Claremorris, Co. Mayo, and Milosz Kozielec, originally from Krakow, Poland, have cycled a 1,400-kilometres across Europe, raising €5,000 for Parkinson’s Ireland and The Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
Their challenge, named An Bealach Fada, which in Irish roughly translates to “The Long Way”, saw the three friends cycle from Munich, Germany, through Luxembourg, Belgium and France before crossing the Irish Sea by ferry and completing their journey in Ireland.
The idea began as a joke. One evening while Emmett and Milosz cycled home from work together, as they did every day in Munich while completing their placement programme for their college degree. As the end of their placement approached, Emmett remarked that he was disappointed he would have to leave his bicycle behind in Germany. Milo laughed and said why don't you “cycle it home”.
The three students started planing the journey and they wanted their adventure to have a purpose beyond simply getting themselves home and decided to “use the spectacle of the cycle to raise money for some charity, and I suggested Parkinson’s Ireland and the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland.” says Emmett, whose grandfather had both illnesses and grandmother is currently living with dementia.
The trio also added another challenge to their journey: they would navigate without using Google Maps. “We have to get home somehow; all the better if we can help people while doing so,” Emmett said before the journey.
Emmett says the initial few days were “wrought with problems” Their bicycles were vintage racing bikes between 30 and 40 years old and they proved to be a constant source of trouble for the three UCD students.
The early days were plagued by punctures, damaged tyres and replacing inner tubes. While travelling to Luxembourg, Mike’s derailleur “completely exploded” and Emmett’s tire “kept causing the tube on the bike to burst”. The three engineering students held the tyre together with zip ties but
the makeshift repair broke outside a garage on the French border. With literally no other options we went into the mechanic and asked for help’,” Emmett says. “Very luckily, one of the mechanics had his own bike and he gave me the tyre off his bike”
Throughout the trip, the cyclists repeatedly found themselves relying on the generosity of strangers. “Honestly the help we got throughout the trip restored my faith in humanity. For example, on Sundays (when everything is closed in Germany) we would knock on people’s doors for water, and they were so accommodating, giving us food, beer and water”.
On their final day of cycling, the trio reached the fundraising target they had set before leaving Munich: €5,000 for Parkinson’s Ireland and The Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
And, after 1,400 kilometres, countless punctures and knocking on countless doors, they finally made it home and back to UCD.