Seend man cycles 2,000 miles through America for air ambulance charity

A MAN from Seend has cycled nearly 2,000 miles in America, from Canada to Mexico, raising nearly £3,000 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Garry Reason embarked on the challenge to cycle along the West Coast of America to raise funds for the local air ambulance charity after they saved his daughter’s life a few years ago. 

“It was amazing, says Garry. “We started off in Seattle and we cycled along the Pacific Coast Highway all the way down to the Mexican border via San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was great. 

“There were plenty of hills along the way. The only kind of absolutely flat bit was the last run along to the Mexican border. There was a landslip around Big Sur in California which meant that the ride wasn’t able to go along the coast road and we had to divert inland a bit. We went to a lot of agricultural area, which is amazing in America. All the lines of crops are dead straight and go on forever.” 

The challenge was organised by UK company, Bike Adventures, and Garry took part in the event along with 17 other cyclists. 

“The company that organised the event did a fantastic job,” Garry explains. “They could not have cared more about us more. I had never met the people that I cycled with, but they were all really good people to socialise with and get to know. 

“Some of the stand out memories are the scary things really. One morning, fairly early on, it was a little bit misty so things were damp and we went over a short metal bridge. Because it was slightly damp, one person actually came off their bike. I nearly came off and only didn’t because rather than lose control, I actually looked ahead to see what was coming. There were no cars, so I held on to the direction and veered over onto the opposite lane. If there would have been cars coming, I would had to have fallen off and hurt myself. That was really scary. 

“Another stand out memory is when we were all looking forward to going to San Francisco as we were riding over Golden Gate Bridge. Everyone goes ‘wow, that’s amazing’ and it was, but the strength of the wind that was howling across the water meant that you felt any second you would be blown off the bike. It was making such a huge noise going through the metal structure. It was quite eerie and we were all really pleased to get off the bridge. It was scary but it was great and San Francisco was great fun and we had a rest day there.” 

The challenge took 27 days to complete, Garry says cycling long distances is something he has done before, as last year he rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats.  

“After 27 days of cycling in America I felt great and as though I could keep going on forever,” Garry said, “Even though the challenge has finished, I am still raising funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance to boost the total.” 

To donate visit Garry’s Just Giving Page – https://www.justgiving.com/page/garry-reason-1692631251817?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fgarry-reason-1692631251817&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share