Forget the opening leg of the Tour de France. One week before the cyclists set off, a team of builders plan to cycle both openings legs in one go – 379km, 236 miles, and 26 hours on their bikes.
A team of hardened cycle enthusiasts from construction firm BAM – behind buildings like the Leeds Arena, Headingley’s Carnegie Pavilion, and the restoration of the Leeds City Varieties – are doing the arduous cycle to raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.
BAM has three of its senior construction managers on the ride – behind projects for Bradford College, Rolls-Royce’s new blade casting factory in Sheffield, and Hull University’s historic library renovation.
Matthew Garnet, managing the historic remodelling of Hull’s Brynmor Jones library said:
“This is a serious challenge, easily the furthest we’ve ever done. But caring for blind people is a special cause, and we’re very lucky to have the opportunity to do something like this.”
Jason Pink, who is nearing the early completion of the new build at Bradford College, said:
“BAM’s always been about giving more than the bricks and mortar. We bring a bit of team spirit to our projects that benefit the people around them, and we’ll be drawing on that to get us through what will be a beautiful but gruelling route through God’s own country.”
And Nick Howdle, who oversaw BAM’s work for Rolls-Royce and who will commence work later on a new factory in Leeds for Airedale, said:
“The team has undertaken some incredible physical challenges before. We’ve done the Three Peaks Challenge, cycled the Leeds to Liverpool canal route, and cycled 200-miles Leeds to London, all for charity. But this is further, longer and harder, and it will give us a real insight into one of the challenges faced by the world’s greatest cyclists.”
The BAM team sets off from the company’s Thorpe Park offices on Thursday 26 June at 9.30am. The three construction managers will be joined by Steve Thewlis, Jon Wilson & Russell Shaw all from BAM Construction.
If you’d like to donate to their Guide Dogs for the Blind cycle please go to: https://www.justgiving.com/Matthew-Garnett2
