This week I’m setting off on one of the most demanding rides of my life. Not for a record, not for a finish line, but for something far more personal.
Over 3,040 kilometres, I’ll attempt a circumnavigation of Ireland by bike. Unsupported.
I’m doing it for my six-year-old daughter, who lives with multiple severe, life-threatening food allergies. For her, and for millions of others, food isn’t just fuel. It’s a daily risk, a constant worry, and an often invisible challenge.
Immediately after her school sports day on Tuesday, I’ll leave from my home in Derry, head along the east coast to Belfast, then Dublin, and on day two arrive in Cork, where I'll begin the 2,400 km TransAtlantic Way event up Ireland's western coast along the Wild Atlantic Way. That bikepacking event will take me all the way up the rugged west coast to finish back in Derry.
It’s an ultra-endurance effort by any definition, but it’s not the physical challenge that’s most important.
This ride, Traces of Ireland, is about raising awareness of food allergies and ways to beat them. This ride is motivated by raising funds to assist with allergy-ending research, and awareness around the the message that food allergies are not a choice. It's also about showing my daughter that food allergies won't hold her back.
To honor that last part, I'll complete this challenge avoiding peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, and lentils, or anything that may contain them. In other words, I’ll be eating just like she has to. Every single day.
Why it matters
Food allergies are not a lifestyle choice. They’re a serious, often invisible medical condition that affects one in 10 children in the UK. And yet they remain poorly understood, often trivialised, and research into them is dangerously underfunded.
Three out of four people with food allergies report facing discrimination. Even in sport, finding safe, reliable fuel options is a minefield. I know – I’ve spent the last six years reading every label, contacting manufacturers, and learning the hard way how unprepared most of the world is to support allergic individuals.
That’s why I’m supporting The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the UK’s only charity dedicated to food allergy research. Founded by Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse after the tragic death of their daughter Natasha from a sesame reaction, the foundation is on a mission to fund medical research, improve food labelling laws, educate the public, and ultimately make allergies history.
What £30,400 can do
We’re aiming to raise £10 for every kilometre I ride. It’s a big target, but here’s what it can unlock:
- £10 provides a school with allergy education resources.
- £25 trains 50 teachers how to keep allergic kids safe.
- £100 pays for a single child’s dose of life-saving treatment.
- £1,500 funds six months on the Natasha Clinical Trial, a pioneering study on oral immunotherapy that could transform how we treat food allergies.
If we hit our goal, we could fund 20 children to access this trial. That’s 20 families who won’t have to live in fear every time their child eats.
No shortcuts
This isn’t a supported ride like many of my other cycling challenges. I’ll be carrying everything I need on the bike, navigating rugged coastlines, unpredictable weather, and remote towns with limited food options, all while maintaining a strict allergen-free diet. In some ways, that’s the point: To show how hard it is. And to show that we need to do better.
Cycling has taught me a lot about discomfort and resilience. But raising a child with severe allergies teaches you something else: how to be hyper-vigilant, constantly prepared, and still somehow hopeful.
How to help
If you’d like to support the ride or share the story, you can do so here. My website for the ride is here.
Whether you’re a parent, an athlete, or someone who’s ever had to double-check an ingredients list and hoped for the best, this ride is for you too.
Let’s make allergy history.
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