Photo: Ray Ryan

2,140 on motorway cycle raised €100,000 for local charities

IT was a sight to gladden the heart — a long multicoloured line snaking away through the rising curve of the M17 motorway from the Kilmore roundabout on the Galway Road in Tuam.
The start of the Great Western Motorway Cycle brought over 2,100 cyclists of all shapes, sizes and abilities to take a once in a lifetime chance to pedal on a motorway that will be opened to regular traffic on Wednesday September 27.
They had all paid a fee to register for the cycle, and collectively they raised over €70,000 for the Galway Hospice, Tuam Cancer Care and other local charities supported by Tuam and Gort Lions Clubs.
An estimated €30,000 more was raised by cyclists who had got personal sponsorship, making this, at €100,000 approximately, one of the most successful ever single day fundraisers in the history of the West of Ireland.

See photos from the event in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald