Dragons forward Cory Hill and international team-mate Dillon Lewis recently swapped scrums for the saddle to complete a 220-mile charity ride.
The duo finished the ride - a virtual tour from North to South Wales - for Tenovus Cancer Care
Hill, who is a patron for the charity, explains how the challenge came about.
“We’re living in different times now, with everything being done virtually. I mentioned the ride to Dillon last Saturday night and he agreed to take part, but the way we’re both feeling now I don’t think I’m going to live it down! We’ve got a whole new respect for cyclists.”
Three four-hour stints on the bike have left their mark on the pair, who hadn’t spent longer than an hour in the saddle in the build-up to the ride.
A ‘technical glitch’ hampered proceedings initially when it transpired that they were unable to sync their ride together on the Zwift cycling app.
As Hill explains: “We’d spent all week fine-tuning everything, but when we started riding we couldn’t see each other, so we were FaceTiming each other for the first four hours. By time the second leg started, the tech issue turned out to be that was that I was still using the app’s free trial!”
For the third and final leg, which started (virtually, of course) in Llanelli and finished in Cardiff Bay, they were joined by Stradey favourite Rupert Moon. An original fundraising target of £2,200 – a nod to the distance due to be covered – was swiftly adjusted once the donations came rolling in.
“We’re encouraging people to keep donating,” says Hill, who has seen first-hand the good work being done by the charity.
“People getting cancer treatment are going through such a tough time as it is, but imagine then contracting coronavirus too. Family and friends can’t come and visit. It’s really sad when you hear the ins and outs of what everyone’s going through, so we can’t rightly whinge about sitting on a bike for twelve hours, especially when we’ve got a week to recover.”
Visit Hill and Lewis’s North 2 South Cycle donation page HERE.
"The way we’re both feeling now I don’t think I’m going to live it down! We’ve got a whole new respect for cyclists...”
