Dermot Higgins might be retiring but the Dubliner is not reaching for the pipe and slippers just yet. Nope, the 55-year old is hoping to pedal around the world in nine months and to do it he reckons he will do 160 kilometres a day, six days a week
By Brian Canty
A soon-to-be-retired Dublin schoolteacher will undertake the adventure of a lifetime this summer when he sets out to become the oldest man to ever cycle around the world.
A 55-year old Rush native, Dermot Higgins will officially be a ‘retiree’ on Friday, July 30th, and with the help of his wife Isobel and son Fionn they’re aiming to travel the 44,000 or so kilometres around the globe.
The journey is an ambitious one and will require Dermot to pedal around 160 kilometres a day for six days a week. He plans to take one rest day every seven days.
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As of now his rough route is through Europe and onto Turkey and Iran. He will pedal through south-east Asia and along Australia’s east coast arriving in Melbourne for Christmas 2017.
He’ll then cycle the length of New Zealand, across the US, before flying to Spain and cycling back to Ireland from there.
All going well he’ll make Melbourne by Christmas and arrive back home on Easter Sunday, 2018.
He’s not doing it willy-nilly, mind, mind and the whole goal of the trip is Higgins wanting to use this as an opportunity to harness the power of the media, and spread the message of United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
He’s currently recruiting sponsors for his trip and will be working in partnership with Irish aid organisation, Trocaire, a global charity which shares his interests and ideals.
He has set a fundraising target of €55,000 which will enable him to have the adequate support network in place with him day after day as well as at home handling his social media and various other issues like visas, logistics and navigation.
We’ll have a longer interview piece with Dermot in the coming weeks. To find out more about this epic adventure check out his website here.
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