Dubliner’s 1,100km cycle to raise €5k for Debra

A thrill-seeking Dubliner is gearing up for an 1,100km cycle from The Netherlands to Italy for an extremely good cause.

Kalebh Fynes will be joined by five friends when he takes on the mammoth bike ride early next month.

It is the latest in a long list of challenges he has undertaken for Debra, the national charity helping those living with the incurable skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB) in Ireland.

In 2001, when Kalebh was aged six, he lost his 16-year-old brother Aaron to EB.

And while his annual challenge always remembers his sibling, the cycle will raise vital funds and advocate for those currently battling the cruel, genetic condition.

“Every year, we think about the people who are no longer with us, but this year we want to focus, also, on the people that are,” said Kalebh, 30, who is originally from Ballyboughal, but lives in The Netherlands.

“It’s an 1,100km cycle but it’s a miniscule amount of suffering compared to someone who lives with EB.

“Five friends of mine are coming and maybe we underestimated the amount of training we need, but we’ll get there in the end!

“We have to learn to enjoy the process.”

The trek begins in early August, leaving Kalebh’s base in Eindhoven in The Netherlands and arriving in Milan on August 11-12.

He will be joined every pedal of the way by pals Alan Doyle, Clondalkin, Ross Gordon from Skerries, Gary Tyrrell and Aaron Smith from Arklow in Co Wicklow and Christopher Keogh from Naas, Co Kildare.

“We have to cycle over The Alps, which is probably the scariest thing in my mind, but after we get over them there’s a 100km downhill cycle to Milan,” said Kalebh, who has already completed a half-marathon, a climb of Kilimanjaro and a Dublin-Galway cycle for Debra.

The lads have a €5,000 fundraising target and have been supported by LAB-1 in Eindhoven, a bar which hosted a table quiz and raffle.

Now nearing the halfway mark, they hope the public can support the huge effort on Kalebh’s fundraising page:

www.justgiving.com/page/kalebh-debra-ireland-fundraiser-2025