Proud sister of late Tonya McEvoy to take her place in sportive
Tonya McEvoy was tragically killed when she was hit by a car while out cycling with the Orwell Wheelers on February 12th. The 34-year old had planned to do a three-day charity cycle this July but instead, her sister Ciara is going to do it in her place.
By Brian Canty
The sister of the late Tonya McEvoy is to fill her cycling shoes in riding a mammoth 330-kilometre charity cycle in July this year.
Tonya, 34, died tragically when she was hit by a car on February 12th.
Her passing was met with a huge outpouring of grief from friends, family and the wider cycling community
She was a valued and highly-respected member of the Orwell Wheelers club.
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Amongst the many events she had planned this year was a 330-kilometre cycle to raise funds for the Crumlin Children’s Hospital, from July 7th to 9th.
But it will be her sister Ciara who will now ride in her place. And she has started a fundraising campaign to generate as much money as possible.
She has set a target of €5,000 and already, she has raised €4,150.
A popular member of Orwell Wheelers, Tonya was the first cyclist to die on the roads this year. Now her sister is taking on a huge challenge.
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“Tonya was signed up for it this year so I’m doing it for her,” said Ciara.
“I haven’t a clue about cycling and I haven’t done any spins. I started training last Sunday and did a 20 kilometre cycle.
"I've just been learning about changing gear and hill-climbing and cycling on main roads with traffic.”
The cycle will start on Friday July 7th and travel from Blackwater, Co Wexford, down to Kilkenny.
From there it will head for Glendalough on Saturday, July 8th.
On the final day - Sunday, July 9th - the riders will return to Blackwater.
The name of the game is raising money for a charity Tonya felt very attached to.
Cause close to Tonya's heart
“Tonya worked with kids and she was like Mary Poppins," said sister Ciara.
"Children loved her and it's wasn’t a job to Tonya it was a happiness with passion.
“So the Crumlin Children’s Hospital charity cycle is a very big deal to her.
"And I just want to continue her passion and her name in doing this. I hope I can raise as much as I can in memory of Tonya and she will look down and be proud.”
You can view the Gofundme page and donate by following this link.
We had an outpouring of grief and shock when Tonya was killed, clearly a lot of people were touched by her passing.
Ciara is taking on a huge challenge and it would be brillliant for as many people as possible to support her.
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