Hanson Global Cycle: Three generations cycle length and breadth of Ireland for 40th anniversary of round–the–world trip

In September 1981, John Hanson and fellow Ulsterman John Rodgers set off on an epic bike journey from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, that took them around the world in 12 months and 13,000 miles.

Raising over £50,000 for development charity Tearfund, John Hanson also published a book on the journey, Around the World in Cycle Clips, and donated his bicycle to the Ulster Transport Museum, where it remains on display.

In 1998, John Hanson and his son Jonny, then aged 10, cycled the 330 miles from Cork to Coleraine by tandem in 3.5 days. They raised money for repairs to the roof of their church, Second Ballybay Presbyterian, and for the Camphill Community at Ballybay. They never got round to writing a book about it but the tandem is still in use today.

To mark this special 40th anniversary, John, Jonny and Jonny’s eldest children, Joshua (11) and Bethany (10), will cycle the length and breadth of Ireland from Tralee, Co Kerry, to Jubilee Farm, Co Antrim, on two tandems, 14 – 20 August 2022. They’ll be raising money to support the work of Tearfund and Jubilee in tackling the causes and effects of climate change, while also highlighting the need for action on these issues from church leaders and churchgoers in particular.

This is the Hanson Global Cycle: Forty years. Three generations. One world.