EPIC TRIP WILL RAISE FUNDS FOR NATIONAL DEAF CHILDREN’S SOCIETY & DUMMY JIM

On June 11th 2010 Glasgow-based musicians Olly Rundell and Alex South (pictured) set off by bicycle for the Arctic Circle, following the tyre tracks that the profoundly deaf Scots cyclist James Duthie made almost 60 years ago.

The pair retraced key stretches of the original route, travelling from Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden, crossing into the Arctic Circle just north of Overtorneå on the Swedish/Finnish border.

Pushing on further north, way up into the land of reindeer and the Midnight Sun, they reached the northernmost tip of mainland Europe, the North Cape (Nordkapp) on July 13th.

Back in 1951 Duthie was prohibited from reaching this northerly pinnacle by poor quality roads. Olly & Alex completed this final stretch of the trip on his behalf, and in his honour.

The journey of 3000km lasted around 4 weeks.

They were raising money for the film Dummy Jim and the National Deaf Children’s Society. It is not too late to sponsor them …

CLICK TO READ MORE & SPONSOR OLLY & ALEX

The cyclists launched their ride in Glasgow with a performance of avantgarde Argentinian composer Mauricio Kagel’s Eine Brise, a work for no less than 111 cyclists. This performance took place by kind permission of Edition Peters.

The event was accessible to deaf/hoh with BSL interpretation provided by Rachel Mapson.