Derwen College staff and students will be cycling the distance to Lake Vyrnwy and back in training for ‘Mack’s Challenge’ - a student’s sponsored cycle ride around the picturesque Mid Wales lake.
On Tuesday, 14th May, a team from the specialist college, in Gobowen, near Oswestry, will be taking turns to clocks up 65 miles – the mileage from Derwen College to Lake Vyrnwy, around the lake and back – on a static bike. The event at the College’s Garden Centre hopes to raise funds and awareness ahead of student Mackenzie Beeson’s main sponsored cycle ride this summer.
For Mack’s Challenge, Mackenzie and supporting staff and students will be cycling the entire distance around Lake Vyrnwy on his adapted bike on Sunday, 7th July. The 12-mile ride will coincide with the start of the Tour de France and hopes to attract cycling fans to come along and support on the day.
Mackenzie will be raising funds for Derwen College and making a donation to inclusive cycling charity Wheels For All who are supporting the project.
Mackenzie, from Aberdyfi in Gwynedd, has speech and language difficulties and learning difficulties, but has never allowed his disabilities to hinder his ambitions. He has a love of cycling on his specially adapted bike, and a determination to prove that anything is possible.
Mackenzie’s father Shane Beeson says that Mack has never let anything hold him back.
He said: “His first ride charity bike when he was school was a 39-mile cycle from Newtown to Aberdyfi. In summer 2017 he cycled a gruelling 99 miles over five days. As a family, we have always wanted to highlight Mack’s abilities rather than his disabilities, and he has always challenged himself in all his endeavours.
“We are pleased to be able to take part in this challenge and to raise money for Derwen College.”
