THE course was not arduous, only 11km to Newport and 11km back
to Westport. But some of the few dozen lay people and clergy of the
diocese of Tuam, Killala & Achonry, in the
Church of Ireland, who had gathered at Holy Trinity, in Westport,
had not sat on a bicycle for a long time.
"The legs felt the strain, for sure," my correspondent says,
"but other body parts were smarting, too, by the end of the
course." Hot tea and sandwiches had been "provided by Sue Minish
and her band of fortifiers, who had also provided halfway revival
food that had been whisked off to Newport by the Dean, the Very
Revd Alistair Grimason, and Professor Paul Ryan - both
non-cyclists, owing to Anno Domini - who waited there with other
supports and encouragers to welcome thereal heroes of the day, and
send them back refreshed."
All who started finished the course. "None among the brethren
was lost. In Tuam, Killala & Achonry, we're like the Marines:
we never leave a fallen comrade behind," my correspondent says.
The effort had gone towards an ongoing project for raising money
for the Masai Girls' School in the Kajiado region of Kenya, and
they expect that the final amount raised will be "well over
€2000".