Motorbiking duo riding to raise funds for Doddie
Len Bage and Robin Down are fundraising for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation as they embark on a 1,300-mile motorbike ride this month across the UK visiting each professional rugby club in England, Wales and Scotland.
Both Bage and Down are 72 years old and decided they are too old to run marathons or swim the channel for charity but wanted to find a way to raise money for Doddie Weir's foundation that funds research into Motor Neurone Disease.
They were inspired to ting my best foot forward do the ride when former Scotland second row and British and Irish Lion Weir lost his battle with MND and died at the age of 52 last November.
A passionate rugby fan and former player at Whitley Bay Rockcliff, Bage long idolised Weir and recalls meeting the former Newcastle Falcons captain.
He said: “I've always been involved in rugby. My best friend's son in law worked for Carlsberg and they used to do hospitality at Kingston Park, so I ended up getting sneaked onto hospitality tables and that's when I met Doddie Weir. He was the hospitality guru, who used to chat to everyone and have a laugh, he was just a great bloke.
“For the last year and a half I've been thinking what can I do to raise money for Doddie Weir's foundation and I came up with this idea. I'm massively into motorbikes so thought I would combine that with my other passion of rugby. My friend Robin said he'd join me, he's not into rugby but is a keen motorcyclist. Doddie's tragic death has given me the motivation to do the ride now.”
The duo set off this Monday (August 14) from Newcastle Falcons and travel north to visit both Scotland's URC clubs Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.
The following day, they're set to travel back to England visiting Sale Sharks then Gloucester.
On the Wednesday, Bage and Down visit the four Welsh URC regions; Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff and the Dragons before making their way back east to the English west country for visits to Bristol Bears, Bath and Exeter Chiefs.
Their penultimate day takes them to the capital to Harlequins and Saracens before their journey is completed by a trip to the Midlands on their final day on Saturday August 19, where they'll stop by Leicester Tigers and Bage's beloved Northampton Saints.
The duo are hoping to raise £2,000 and are currently over halfway to the target.
If you want to support the cause, you can donate at: https://www. justgiving.com/page/l-bage-1678883229182
