Tennis Coach Jamie McDonald, 25, from Gloucester is making an audacious effort of cycling the 12000+ miles home from Bangkok in less than a year, all in aid of his local children’s hospital charity, The Pied Piper Appeal. His adventure started on January 16th and he is riding solo through extreme weather, altitude and unsafe territories in order to be back by November 18th. He has already encountered problems with the Chinese authorities during his 2500 mile stretch through the country along with many other madcap antics.
In his fascinating, hilarious and insightful YouTube video diary, Jamie tackles a variety of problems with do or die attitude, at one point cycling 246 miles in a 34 hour ride to avoid overstaying his visa. He cycled through the night on the motorway in North-west China on his final day, police stopped him and attempted to place his bike in the back of their vehicle. But Jamie is determined to cycle every inch of the way so as a compromise they insisted he strap a 3ft traffic cone to the rear of his bike for safety, adding more to his already 70kg load.
The driving force behind his steely motivation is a charity that provides equipment and services to Gloucester children’s hospital, a place where Jamie spent a lot of time during the first 9 years of his life. He was diagnosed with auto-immune deficiency at an early age and would not be where he is today without their help. Jamie states on his fundraising page:
“…having spent the first nine years of my life in and out of the Children’s Ward at Gloucester Royal Hospital, the Pied Piper Appeal really helped me get back on track. I feel I have a real purpose behind the journey and that's to support sick children who are in need of our help.”
Jamie has funded the entire trip himself and is trying earnestly to reach the £5000 fundraising target. He has become a real inspiration to the children in the Gloucester ward where they have made posters and messages for Jamie for extra motivation. After starting in Thailand he has cycled through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and China. He recently crossed the border into Kazakhstan and now has a stretch of Middle Eastern countries to cross before entering Europe including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Some of which have safety issues that fluctuate from day to day, especially near the border of Afghanistan.
Jamie’s progress is being followed by an ever increasing amount of admirers through his Facebook page which can be found by searching ‘Cycling Bangkok to Gloucester’. Clicking ‘like’ on this provides access for links to his fundraising page and un-missable YouTube video diary. His fundraising page can be accessed directly via www.justgiving.com/jamie-mc-donald-25. Jamie’s intended November homecoming will be eagerly awaited by all his followers and local radio stations at the finish line of Gloucester Royal Hospital’s Children Ward.