Two men who are isolating in Tourmakeady at present, will undertake a 200km cycle on Saturday, May 2, for Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation.
David O’Reilly and Piero Masci are going to cycle the 200km by travelling the permitted 2km distance 100 times near the shores of Lough Mask in the aptly titled ‘Giro de Gortmore’.
David, a Cork native, is no stranger to raising funds for various charities. Last year he walked from Dublin to Galway in aid of Crumlin Children’s Hospital and over the years he has raised money by climbing Kilimanjaro to raise funds for schools in Ireland and Africa and has organised indoor rowing marathons for Crumlin Children's Hospital. David has also done some work through the Irish Embassy in Vietnam on teaching projects funded by Irish Aid.
David is presently in Tourmakeady, studying at NUI Galway and writing a book. He has two children - Jessica, who is in Dublin and Casey, in Switzerland.
David found himself in ‘lockdown’ with his house mate Piero Masci, who has been a cycling tour guide in the area for many years, when the current guidelines were announced.
Piero has brought many cycling tours to the west. Piero is half German, half Italian but his heart is in Mayo and, according to David, ‘this event will bring our platonic 'isolationship' to a whole new level!’.
David said: "I had heard of the great work that Mayo Roscommon Hospice do and with it being a time that is tricky to fundraise, we decided it would be a nice symbiotic thing to do - to go for a cycle of 2 kilometres - 100 times."
CEO of Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Martina Jennings has thanked David and Piero for offering to do this fundraiser. She said: "We are delighted that David and Piero are undertaking this unique event for Mayo Roscommon Hospice. David has plenty of experience with fundraising for various charities and we are honoured to be included in that list."
David said: "A huge thanks to the Hospice who ran with this from the start, despite being under pressure at the moment and a massive thanks to Barbara, Frank and Sean Philbin and family who run Maire Luke's Bar next door, the Gortmore and Tourmakeady Communities for sponsoring and helping with everything from the start. We couldn't do anything without them - and hope to see them all when the lockdown eventually lifts."
David and Piero have set up a GoFundMe page ahead of the event and are asking people to donate if at all possible: https://www.gofundme.com/f/4b7x9.
