After discovering cycling last year, Lychpit man John Cosgrove undertook the challenge of a lifetime by riding across Zambia.
The 46-year-old joined 25 intrepid adventurers zigzagging across the Southern African country to raise money for development charity African Revival.
Calling on friends, family and colleagues, the operations director of a motor insurance company raised £7,000 for the group.
In total, the expedition bagged African Revival more than £40,000, which will be used to fund education projects across the continent.
Starting in Mazabuka in the south of the country at the end of May, John and the team worked through 500km of tough off-road tracks to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
“The whole thing was a challenge, it was grueling to say the least,” he said. “There were a number of injuries along the way. But I managed to get through the trip without needing any backup.”
Despite calling himself overweight and unfit, the father-of-three said he was not fazed by the grueling conditions and the blistering sun, even when temperatures topped 40 degrees Celsius.
To keep in tip-top form during the 100km daily slogs John said he forced himself to drink up to five litres of water every day to stave off potentially fatal dehydration.
And for John, the trip was his first visit back to the country where he spent the first six years of his life.
His parents moved to Zambia when he was six-months-old. Despite not remembering much of his early years, he was delighted to return.
“It is a lovely place,” he said. “It has got some serious issues with poverty but it was great to see it getting back to recovery. We travelled through some very rural areas and the reaction people had when they saw us on bikes was quite funny. They must of thought we were mad. But people there were very welcoming, that really kept me going through the whole thing.”
The team ended the week-long trip in the middle of the 200m, 106-year-old Victoria Falls Bridge linking Zambia and Zimbabwe.
John said: “The view of the falls was stunning. When we reached the end I felt euphoric. It was a good moment. But the trip was hard, I would not do it again, or I have not got to that point of wanting to do it again - but next time I will be better prepared.”
