5000 kilometres in 50 days

A University of Queensland third-year science student plans to ride 5000km from Vancouver to Washington DC to raise money to help impoverished young people in Uganda.

Brisbane’s Nicholas McCarthy will begin the 50-day bike ride in May.

Nicholas, who is on exchange in Vancouver with the UQ Abroad program, will team up with fellow bike enthusiast Marcus Farnfield from the University of Bristol in the UK.

Together they will cover more than 5000 kilometers and cross three mountain ranges to raise money and awareness for the Haileybury Youth Trust (HYT).

Nicholas said he and Marcus were well aware of the challenges involved with the ambitious adventure.

“It's definitely not going to be easy physically or mentally,” Nicholas said.

He is confident that the hard work and pain would be worth the good days and the great cause.

“We've done a reasonable amount of training in the mountains around Vancouver with similar lengths to what we're aiming for each day, but the hard part will come in when warm showers are replaced with cold rain and warm beds replaced with 'tents' that resemble glorified raincoats,” he said.

UQ is supporting the trip by sponsoring the jerseys the students will wear on the gruelling ride.

The Haileybury Youth Trust supports impoverished communities in Uganda by assisting in the development of education and infrastructure.

Marcus’s family have been involved with Uganda since his brother spent a year teaching at a school there in 2004.

Having visited Jinja in 2005 for the opening of a medical centre at the school, Marcus remains in contact with HYT and is a keen supporter of their novel approach to alleviating poverty.

“With people on the ground in Uganda, HYT are making a difference to people’s lives through the use of a very simple, green brick building technology.

“They work not only to encourage the use of green building materials but also to help give skills and as a result the possibility of employment to many of the country’s poorest,’ he said.

You can follow Nicholas and Marcus’s journey on the UQ Facebook page or visit their BC to DC blog to find out more about the ride, donate or track their progress.

Media: Nicholas McCarthy Nicholas.mccarthy@uqconnect.edu.au, or +1 (778) 919 2230. Carolyn Varley, UQ Corporate Relations Manager, c.varley@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 1120 or 0413 601 248. Kate Bishop, UQ Communications and Marketing Officer, k.bishop3@uq.edu.au 07 3346 7887.