Emotional journey and great memories for West Bromwich fundraiser Blind Dave after epic ride

"Blind Dave" Heeley led a team on a 1,000km cycle ride journey from Bonfol in Switzerland, through France, to Nieuwpoort in Belgium, taking on the Western Front Way to raise money for The Albion Foundation.

The riders set out on Saturday, September 21 and completed their gruelling ride seven days later in Belgium, having travelled over mountain paths, gravel tracks, areas covered in tree roots, canal paths and a large area covered in clay and rock.

It was the latest in a long line of challenges undertaken by Mr Heeley, who is the first blind athlete to have completed multiple endurance challenges, including seven marathons in seven days in seven continents, cycling from John O'Groats to Lands End and completing the Marathon de Sables.

He said the whole experience had been draining due to heavy terrain and, at times, poor weather, but said he felt elated to have completed the route and done it with a great team.

He said: "We followed some fantastic cycle paths, canal tow paths and river paths and some of the roads we rode on were absolutely incredible.

"However, we weren't aware of some of the paths we'd end up hitting and we hit forest areas where we were riding over tree roots and we got torrential rain that went up to our ankles, running through water and muddy areas, and there were large rocks.

"As we were riding through this forest, there were trees touching us on both sides, and my tandem has been in places it really shouldn't have been, with rocks and shale and potholes as big as buckets.

"At one point, we were riding along the final part of the route and, I'm not kidding, we hit a headwind that I've never felt before and felt like we were static, so we've battled through some crazy weather, but it was a fantastic experience.

There were also mechanical issues along the way, with nearly every rider getting a puncture at some point, and Mr Heeley said the chain had snapped on his bike, but technicians in the team had been able to fix the chain and get him and his partner Mark Green moving again.

Team Blind Dave also visited a number of war memorials along the way, including the Commonwealth War Graves, the Menin Gate and the Dunkirk War Memorial, taking time at each to pay their respects, lay flowers and pause for a moment in reflection.

He said: "Through the week, we visited and paid our respects at as many of the memorials and cemeteries that we could and, obviously, being blind, I didn't get to see it properly, but the lads explained everything to me and you've got to take your hat off to the people who look after these cemeteries as they were immaculate.

"At one point, we were in Verdun and one of the lads said to me that as far as the eye could see, we could only see crosses, and they couldn't believe how far they were going.

"It was just the most amazing and incredible challenge I've ever been part of and while the weather played its part in making it difficult, we were all emotionally and physically drained and it was just an unbelievable challenge."

The ride has raised £38,644 to date and has a target of £80,000.

To find out more and to make a donation, go to justgiving.com/page/teamblinddavecyclewfw.