A university lecturer from Wolverhampton in England is cycling from London to Paris to raise money in memory of his friend who died of Leukaemia.

Andy Salmon, 53, who teaches marketing at Birmingham City University, will also make the ride fuelled entirely by vegan food, as he aims to also demonstrate how easy it is to thrive on a plant-based diet.

Andy hopes to raise £1,500 for Cure Leukaemia ahead of the cycle ride, which will take place across four days from 9 – 13 September 2021. The money raised will go towards funding specialist research nurses at 12 blood cancer centres across the UK.

The self-confessed ‘bike mad’ dad is currently riding about 70 miles per week on his road bike, which is supplemented by specific training sessions on his exercise bike three times a week.

Andy said that the cycle would be ‘a tough few days’ after he was inspired to do the ride in memory of a friend. He said:

Unfortunately, I lost a friend to Leukaemia not so long ago and in some way I feel as though he’ll be willing me on to Paris… but if I can do a little bit to help raise money in memory of my friend, then it would be a privilege.

The midlands based lecturer made the decision to become vegan by pure coincidence after stumbling across an educational video on Instagram. Within 60 seconds Andy says that he had made up his mind to never eat meat again and decided to become fully vegan on his daughter’s birthday.

Andy added:

I truly believe that my body gets everything it needs from a vegan diet and my cycling performance continues to improve. I don’t get concerned about protein intake, in fact one of my favourite sources of protein is soy yoghurt.

To find out more about Andy’s trip and to donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andy-salmon2

Image by Andy Salmon