“It was a drunken night,” says Dave Mason, explaining how five men with little cycling experience came to decide that biking from Carlisle to Truro was an extremely good idea. That was June, when the thought of pedalling between Brunton Park and the Truro City Stadium for charity sounded fun.
Now April is fast approaching, and it is really happening. “All this was settled over Buckfast,” adds Brian Haughan, another of the five. “We ended up in a bar and told the landlord about our idea. He got out the Buckfast and gave us some free shots. He said, ‘You’re crazy…’”
Dave, Brian, Dean Haughan, Ian Shaw and Mark Herring are the quintet of Carlisle United fans who, from April 11 to April 18, will put that “crazy” plan into action. In several stages, they will ride dozens of miles a day and roughly 523 of them in total on their route from Cumbria to Cornwall, their mission titled ‘Truro Or Bust’.
Along the way they will raise money for Cancer Research UK and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, having lost friends and family members to the diseases. What makes the plan even more taxing is that few of the five are particularly cyclists at all.
Lifelong friends, and brothers in the case of Dean and Brian, they meet regularly at the Royal Oak in Moorhouse to play pool. “On that night in the pub in June, we were discussing who Carlisle would play in the National League, and where we hadn’t been before,” says Dave.
It was very soon after a good friend of the group, Pete Price, had died of cancer. “He was probably the first person we'd been close to that was younger than us,” says Dean. “That kind of hit home. He got diagnosed with it and 12 weeks later, that was him gone. He was a big, strong lad, very fit and well.”
Dean’s godfather also had cancer, while Dave lost his mum to MND two years ago. “Our auntie has got it at the minute, too,” adds Dean. “So we thought it would be nice to do something for them. And the more drink we had, the more stupid the idea got…”
Cycling to Truro was immediately suggested as the liquid refreshment flowed. “The fixtures weren’t out by then – if the game had been in the middle of winter, it would have been a non-starter. But the planets aligned and it was in April, last away game of the season,” says Dave.
“The Saturday after we had the idea, I thought I’d better get on the bike and see how far I could get. I did about seven miles, and thought, ‘There’s no way on this earth I can do anything like that…’”
Why did a bunch of non-bikers opt for a cycling challenge in the first place, then?
“Well, it’s too far to walk,” laughs Dave. “We did consider sailing down the west coast. But it was easier to get a bike than a boat. And none of us could sail either…”
The five’s humour bounces off each other as we continue talking in the Royal Oak – and it is easy to see how they urged each other along as the scheme took shape. Mark, who did the cross-border Ride to the Sun event seven years ago and will predominantly be the support driver in a van, has some experience of distance cycling. But for the others this will be demanding new terrain.
“Another of the biggest pushes for us all was that we need to get a bit fitter,” says Brian. “We're not getting any younger, and it's all good to get us together. Mental health is so important too – the planning, talking about it all, keeps us going. And we’ll keep each other going when we’re actually doing it too.”
The five kept the idea under wraps until after Christmas. “We thought we’d wait in case anyone wanted to pull out – for the sake of sponsors and so on,” says Mark. But all five remained as committed as ever, and sponsorship forms were put together, businesses were contacted and the word was spread.
Ian has also been in touch with Truro City FC: the final destination, on the day the Blues make the longest away trip in their league history. “Truro have been great – they’ve sorted tickets for all of us, and have ring-fenced some more for our families,” he says. “They offered to help us with hotels if we needed contacts, and on the day they are sorting an area for us to ride into, and meet up with our fans…”
Dean: “Folk will be saying, ‘Who are these idiots and what are they doing here?’…”
The odyssey will start at 6.30am on Saturday, April 11 at Brunton Park. After completing stage one, to Kendal, the five will return in the van to watch their beloved Carlisle take on Sutton United. A night in their own beds will precede the rest of it: Kendal to Warrington, Warrington to Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury to Chepstow, Chepstow to Bridgewater, Bridgewater to Bude, and Bude to Truro.
Help has been offered by a number of companies. Aqua Pura, United’s shirt sponsor, have agreed to supply water for the entire ride. Other businesses to offer sponsorship include Club Britannia, Infinity Print Solutions, Dalston Aggregates, Cecil Street Autos and Trait Groundwork, Brian and Dean’s company. The men say that any further sponsorship, to help pay for hotel rooms or meals, would be very gratefully received.
On their JustGiving page, sponsors can choose which of the two charities to support, with nearly £3,000 raised already towards their £5,000 target. The men have also received plenty of supportive messages from fellow Blues since their initiative was shared on the ‘Be Just And Fear Not' Facebook group. “Lots of folk think we’re crazy,” adds Dean. “But the number of people chipping in has been great.”
“I was just cutting the grass the other day and someone came over with £30,” says Dave.
Training has been hard – the men having calculated that an average speed of 12mph will be needed on their mammoth ride – but also beneficial. “I’ve lost two and a half stone already,” Dave adds. “But my legs are permanently sore. I was the most unfit here, and still am…”
Ian: “The crack’s good when you’re on the bike. When you talk about mental health, something like this is great. We’ll either go as a group, or a couple of us will split for a while, and just crack away. The banter will keep us going. Just talking about planning everything is good for us too.”
“We’ll have nothing to talk about on the way home,” says Dean.
“My funeral, probably…” says Dave.
“At the end of the day, it's not a race,” adds Dean. “We've just got to get there. If any day takes us longer, then so be it. If anybody's struggling, we’ll help each other. We'll knuckle down and get it done.”
Remembering those who inspired this mad idea will help along the way. “We’re hoping to speak to Carlisle about getting their names on the back of shirts,” Dean says. “That can be a motivational thing as well. And we’re going to need a lot of clean clothes…
“I was going to use one set and lot of deodorant…” laughs Dave.
The men will log their journey on their Facebook page every day. “We want to be at Truro on the Friday night,” Dave adds. “That’s the goal anyway, so it gives us Saturday morning if we end up needing to make up a last few miles. It’ll either be a nice canter in on the Saturday, or a last-minute slog. I’ll be ready for a pint on Saturday, either way. Then St John Ambulance can bring us back home…”
“It's a new venture on several fronts,” continues Ian. “None of us are bikers. None of us have done this kind of business before…”
“None of us are specimens,” adds Mark.
“When you tell people about this,” Dean says, “they say, ‘Are you having a mid-life crisis?!’ A lot of people have said that. But when you tell them why we’re doing it, they’re like, ‘Yeah – that makes sense.’”
“When we finish,” Mark says, “that’s when the emotions might kick in.”
Accompanying this remarkable effort with a Carlisle United victory in far-off Truro would wrap things up nicely. “They’d better play well,” laughs Dave. “If it’s like Hartlepool the other week I’m turning round and riding back…”
A charity night in the Royal Oak is also in the planning once the ride is over. As it approaches, support continues to come from many and varied sources. A farmer friend, Jimmy Wilson from Thackwood Farm in Monkcastle, is donating the proceeds of a calf when it is sold, with auctioneers H&H also waiving commission.
"A calf might normally make £4-500 at auction, but when this one goes into the ring, the charities are going to be mentioned," says Dave. "So we’re hoping it might make a bit more."
A voice pipes up from the table. “We’re not milking it, though...”
To follow the five Blues fans in their ‘Truro Or Bust’ challenge, visit their Facebook page HERE. You can sponsor them via their JustGiving page HERE
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