Two Briton’s Pete White, 31, and Pete Goodwin, 28, will travel approximately 6,000 miles and through 12 countries in just 70 days by bike from the United Kingdom to Rwanda to raise thousands of pounds in sponsorship to make a difference to youngsters in the country.
The two will start the ‘Cycle to Rwanda’ trek in May 2012 from West Suffolk Athletics Arena, Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre, Suffolk, and ending in Kigali.
The Arena has been chosen to host the Rwandan Olympic and Paralympic teams Pre-Games Training Camp as they prepare for London 2012.
The two aim to arrive in Kigali, Rwanda, in time to accompany the Rwandan Olympic team on their journey to Bury St Edmunds.
The Cycle to Rwanda challenge is part of the ‘Sport For Rwanda’ fundraising appeal which aims to raise £80,000 by 2012 to provide 140 schools in the country sports equipment and training materials to introduce sport to the Rwandan educational curriculum, through charity Rwandan Aid. ‘Sport For Rwanda’ was set up by the St Edmundsbury Olympic Steering Group as part of its Go Rwanda project to build a lasting legacy with Rwanda. Godwin and White are both working with the registered UK-based charity group Rwanda Aid on this project as well as sports for Rwanda and other organisations.
The trek will take them from Bury St Edmunds to Harwich where they will cross by boat to the Hook of Holland. From there they will cycle the 700 miles through France to Marseille, taking a total of six days. They will travel from Marseille by ferry to Tunisia’s ferry port and then cycle 1,750 miles in 18 days through Tunisia and Libya to Cairo in Egypt. From Cairo they will journey 1895 miles in 18 days across Egypt and Sudan to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The final leg of their journey will take 16 days and 1,605 miles from Ethiopia through Kenya and Uganda to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
White was quoted as saying that he wants to cycle to Rwanda for various reasons such as broadening his horizons of the African continent and experience its beauty first hand but most important is that he wants to make a difference.
Pete Godwin said he was doing this “because I have always grown up with easy access to sports equipment professional training whereas many of the young people of Rwanda don’t have that luxury in the world of sport. ” He added that he wants to try to create real life actions that symbolise the true meaning of “Everyone’s Games. ”
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