Cornwall to Cape Town odyssey to begin 31 October

Road.cc blogger Sean Maher has announced that he is set to leave on his trip to Cape Town on the 31st October. Sean, who is riding to South Africa from the UK to ‘Ride out the Recession’ after graduating from Exeter University earlier this year will leave from Cape Cornwall at 10am.

He said: “I thought I’d better set a time and a place otherwise I would keep putting it off! I am as ready as I will ever be and I want to get going.” Sean, who will be writing for Road.cc whilst on the road, has no illusions about the difficulty of his route but he seems intent on staying grounded. “I think it will be tough. Hopefully it will make interesting reading but I’m not naive enough to start calling myself an ‘adventurer’ or an ‘explorer!’ It’s a chance to ride a great bike through some tough terrain and it will be one hell of a personal challenge.“

His bike, a titanium Qoroz Mountain Won (not pictured!), will face a tough test over the coming months but it is the material which Sean seems to be most enthused about. “Titanium was first discovered in Cornwall apparently, it’s nice to have that little bit of history linking the bike and Qoroz to my start point!”

After tackling France and Spain the 21 year old plans to cycle down Africa’s west coast and hopes to arrive in Cape Town roughly eight months later having raised £15,000 for four charities. It seems he is not driven purely by altruism: “There seems to be a bit of a charity ride backlash at the moment but I’d be doing this trip even if I couldn’t raise money for anyone. However people get sponsored for all sorts nowadays so this seems as good an excuse as any!”

For more information visit www.ridingouttherecession.co.uk.