Barry Whitford

Marine Tavern regular, Barry Whitford will be cycling to Geneva and back in June to raise money for the Sussex Beacon.

He will depart from the Marine Tavern at 7.30pm on June 12, cycle to Newhaven to get the overnight ferry to Dieppe and then through Paris to Melun, where he will spend his first night in a local campground.

The trip from Geneva via Paris will take five days each way and will be equivalent to doing the London to Brighton bike ride twice a day. The total distance is 1050 miles and he will be carrying 20 kilos of equipment on the back of his bike which will make the going much harder.

He has spent a great deal of time planning the route and has purchased much better equipment for this trip than his previous charity rides to Paris undertaken last year, including high quality camping gear, a new tent and sleeping bag.

He is self-funding the trip so that every penny raised in sponsorship goes to the Sussex Beacon. He has allowed an extra couple of days for rest around the Geneva leg as he will need to cycle 4500 feet up and over the Jura mountains.

Barry has been training for the trip by cycling an average 30 miles a day.

He has set up a Just Giving account and Steve at the Marine Tavern will be organising sponsorship forms behind the bar.

To sponsor Barry’s ride for the Sussex Beacon go to: www.justgiving.com/brightontogeneva