8000 mile hero !

He made it ! Gary Prescott (the bikingbirder) is a real hero, this man has cycled 8000 miles since January 1st, taking in every RSPB and WWT reserve in the UK to raise awareness of climate change and raise funds for conservation on the way. He is tough, very tough but a real gentleman. Imagine having the self motivation to push yourself to these limits, sleeping in a tent, rough weather and lets face it not every reserve is on the beaten track, far from it, he even missed one out so went back. Gary's challenge has been far more than all that, its been a deep routed emotional journey.

Today he arrived at the Lodge, Sandy HQ, the last reserve, to a heroes welcome. He was greeted by a biking posse who escorted him in on the home leg. After the jubilation, he got down to the nitty-gritty, his biking 2010 list. He needs three species to beat the previous 'biking only' list set by Chris Mills, I was determined to help in anyway possible and I racked by brains to help him get Long-eared Owl but it was whilst speaking to Steve Blain we realised he needed Garganey. Bedfordshire has a wintering Gargney (for its third winter) so after fixing a puncture we were off and twenty minutes later it was his 250th species, to say he was happy was an understatement ! He deserves all he gets but maybe not the snow that set in some thirty minutes after he set off to cycle his last 60 miles back to the West Midlands. I doubt even ten foot of snow could stop Gary, he is a real life hero ! We salute you for being.

Follow his blog here http://bikingbirder2010.blogspot.com/