Warm-hearted Eamonn’s mammoth ride

Ten-year-old Eamonn Postlethwaite completed a mammoth 320-mile bike ride from their family home in Mossley to Clare Island, on the west coast of Ireland, raising cash for a poignant charity.

Eamonn, a pupil at St Edward's RC Primary school in Lees, raised more than £1,400 for George's Den, a Mossley-based fundraising initiative to set-up a centre for local teenagers in memory of his neighbour, George Butterworth-Sice, 13, who sadly passed away in June last year from cancer.

Eamonn, his sister, Ciara, 13, their father Matt, and friend Mike Grace, set-off from Mossley on a glorious summer's morning, heading for the ferry to Belfast. 

Ciara cycled with them as far as Liverpool on the Trans-Pennine Trail, then left the boys to complete their journey to Ireland. 

From Liverpool the trio took the scenic ferry across the River Mersey to Birkenhead and sailed to Belfast arriving early the next morning.

They then rode another 250 miles across Ireland, climbing over 10,000 feet and passing through eight different counties. 

Highlights were the beautiful weather - unusual for Ireland in August - the quiet roads and suffering only one puncture the whole journey, and a bracing swim in the Atlantic Ocean in County Donegal. 

The biggest challenges were the endless hills and late finishes - around 7.30pm each day. 

Eamonn and family are now relaxing on a two-week family holiday on the island with his brother, sister and nine cousins.

According to Eamonn's father, an accountant: “The toughest part of the ride was slowing Eamonn down so we could keep up with him - he's like a machine.

"He probably could have ridden 100 miles every day!

“We tried to stay on quiet country roads as much as possible, but these brought their own challenges as they were much hillier than the main roads.  

“I'd be grinding my way up another climb and suddenly Eamonn would shoot past just as I was nearing the top of the hill.

"But there wasn’t a drop of rain the whole way.”

Plucky Eamonn said of the ride:”The best bit was sprinting ahead of my Dad lots of times on the ride and the ferry to Ireland. 

"I rode my record distance of 82 miles one day.

"I've ridden to Southport before which was 75 miles, but this was much harder."

And he added: “I was really happy to have raised so much money in memory of George."  

Eamonn is a keen cyclist and races for ESV Manchester based at the Manchester Velodrome and trains with Mossley CRT at the Tameside Cycle Circuit.

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