Oakley sunglasses aid transcontinental bike race competitor

For most students, summer is a time to relax and unwind, for Masters students it’s time to write dissertations, but for one local Radcliffe on Trent resident this summer was not only time for an MBA dissertation, but August saw him ride nearly 2,000 miles across Europe in the Transcontinental bike race wearing some limited edition Mark Cavendish Radar-lock Oakley sunglasses provided by Lesley Cree Opticians.

Father of 3, Martin Cox, left London on the 9th of August, returning 2 weeks later having ridden across France, Switzerland, and Italy, including riding over the infamous Stelvio Pass 3 times.

Commenting, Lesley Cree said, “Martin’s challenge was particularly arduous, and with him raising money for the vision charity Sightsavers.org we wanted to make sure that we sent him out and kept his eyes protected in all conditions, so we were happy to assist with a pair of limited edition Mark Cavendish Radarlock Oakley Sunglasses”.

In his time away Martin rode 1,800 miles in total, crossing 8 mountain passes by bike. In the end his journey was curtailed when he came to assist a stricken fellow-racer.

One of his competitors was hit by a car in Verona when Martin was just 30 miles away and he responded to a call over Facebook for assistance, “when I read that Vagelis had been hit by a car I knew instantly that the right thing to do to ensure he was ok, not only for his sake but also for his family’s sake who were still 1,000 miles away in Greece”.

A day of assisting and co-ordinating messages meant that for Nottingham Business School student Martin his race was over, “with no realistic way of getting to Istanbul in time for my flight I turned around and cycled back over the Alps to get to the Paris and ultimately Calais”.

Undaunted by his experience, Martin is already making plans for a return to the Transcontinental Race for 2015, where he hopes to compete again, “crossing Europe by bicycle is a fantastic experience, and whilst it’s supremely challenging the rewards are equal to the effort required!”