An adventure of a lifetime: The Waterford man cycling around the world in memory of his brother
Mickey and Mark in Athens. Picture: Cycle for Owen on Instagram
“I’m 17,000km down the road. It's 29,000 to do a trip around the world, so I may as well stay going. It would be faster than turning around would be.”
That is how the cheerful but probably soaked-through Mickey Phelan told me how he found himself cycling around the world.
When we spoke to secondary school teacher Mickey from Ballinameela, he was in the pouring rain of New Brunswick, Canada.
He and his friend Mark Cummins set out in spring 2025 to cycle from Ireland to Athens in memory of Mickey’s late brother Owen, and to raise funds for St John’s Special School in Dungarvan.
But having reached their destination, Mickey just wasn’t ready to come home.
Boy, do we have a story for you this week.
Owen Phelan passed away in November 2024 from a degenerative nervous system condition similar to MS.
Mickey told us his brother was “very much a people person” with a huge smile.
“So, the youngest of six but definitely the main man in the family,” said Mickey.
Owen loved sport, and he especially loved watching his brothers play for the Ballinameela GAA club.
Well, as long as they were winning, that is!
“If one of us didn’t score or if we lost a game, he would probably be your worst enemy for a day or two after,” joked Mickey.
The Ballinameela GAA club loved Owen too.
Having previously given him a club supporter of the year award, the club paid tribute to Owen on their new jerseys in recent weeks.
A gesture Owen’s family really appreciate.
But Owen had an unusual interest too - the weather.
Mickey told us that he watched the weather report after the news “religiously” and “God be damned if you tried to change it [the channel] over.”
Owen met Joanna Donnelly at the Met Eireann offices and loved her book.
And while most of us dread the phrase “status red warning,” Owen couldn’t get enough.
“A red warning is great, never mind the soft yellow stuff - straight to red,” said Mickey.
It is therefore a fitting tribute that the money already raised from Mickey and Mark’s trip will be invested in a sensory garden and weather station at St John’s Special School in Dungarvan.
So, while Owen may have been the only Irish man to ever love the weather, generations of pupils will now get to see it from a whole new perspective.
So that is how the story begins, and if you take anything away from it, it should be that exploration takes you to the most unusual places and passions, and that community does not have borders.
When we spoke to Mickey, they had already raised €22,000 for the school.
But that turned out to be just the first leg of the trip.
“We cycled from Ireland to Greece together and it was two really lovely months and like we had a lot of support in Wales and England from family and friends, and a really cool time going over the Alps through Italy and crossing over into Croatia and Montenegro and Albania and Greece,” said Mickey.
A huge amount of support came from sporting communities, local and afar.
Ballinameela, Brickies, where Mark is from, and the surrounding GAA clubs donated generously, but so did Turloughmore in Galway where Mickey’s brother plays.
When they reached Athens, their intended journey was complete, but they were not ready to come home just yet.
“I kept pushing off the end," said Mickey.
"I was getting on well and happy enough to keep going," he added.
He went on to comment: “My career break was still on so I kept going. I went to Georgia and Turkey, and it was okay, so I said I’ll put out the finish line again to go through the stans like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkistan, Kurdistan."
“Then I was like, I’ll go through China. I figured if I’m not happy, I’ll get a flight home. If I’m okay, I’ll keep going," said Mickey.
When he got to Australia, he spent some downtime with another brother and figured out his next steps.
That ended up being the world.
But home was never very far away.
In New Zealand, Christchurch GAA reached out to their contacts, expanding the support the trip travelled on.
“Every few days I was staying with Irish people who were there working on farms and contractors in the most random and bizarre places, like the back corners of New Zealand you find these people from even Waterford," said Mickey.
“In La Guánica there was a guy called Robbie Flynn and his partner Niamh Cahill from Kilmac.,"he added.
"So, they reached out and said please, we know you are coming through. We’d love to have you if you are coming this way.
“So, like time and time again, GAA and the Irish network have really been there to look after me."
So while Mickey is on an adventure of a lifetime, he has never been alone.
“The well wishes I’ve received from people at home and en route have helped me ride out the bumps on this rollercoaster journey," he said.
“It’s as much a mental as a physical challenge.
“Owen has been with me every turn of the pedal, and when I have a tough day, I remember that he had it much tougher."
As I was looking through Cycle For Owen on Instagram, all I could think was what a pure joy this page was.
In one post, Mickey donned the Japan GAA jersey to play in the Asian GAA Gaelic Games.
Where Mickey found home in the Irish people living abroad, some countries were enjoying their own piece of Ireland at home.
In another post, Mickey is with a group of children in Lao where some of the cycle funds raised went to donations for local pupils.
In the post Mickey wrote: “Having heard from another cyclist, of Lao kids kicking sandals around rather than footballs, it got me thinking of what I could do to help."
“I could see it for myself on crossing over from Vietnam - a visibly poorer people and signposts showing aid received from neighbouring countries," he said.
"Schools looking like they hadn't been maintained since they were built," he added, before continuing: "Very little, if any, sports equipment.
“Kids running around in bare feet. Yet for the most part, seemingly happy kids. Watching the first domino fall when I go by a school always makes me laugh."
“That first hello turning into a disjointed chorus as the message spreads of the foreigner passing on a bike," he said.
"It felt good to be able to go in and use some of Owen's money for a just cause," he added.
He then described how provisions were given to two schools: "Two drops, each comprising of €150 worth of copybooks, stationery and balls, were made to a primary and middle school respectively.
“It mightn't sound like much, but the resultant weight was enough to break my rack.
"Resorting to carrying the presents on my back along bumpy dirt roads in my bulging black rucksack - fitting for this time of year maybe!"
However, he said it was all worth it: “All worthwhile on hearing the joyful exclamations when I pulled out the colouring pencils and balls onto a battered table.”
I asked Mickey what his favourite place was; he said the Alps for Europe and then New Zeland, beyond.
“Seeing all these cool places from my bike, it gives you a different feel for a place altogether,” said Mickey.
But now Mickey is thinking of the home stretch.
Next week, the proud Waterford man will catch a flight to Lisbon and will begin his cycle home through Portugal and Spain and France and then take the ferry to Cork for the end of August.
“I left from the east, so I wanted to come back from the west," he said.
“So, it will be like 16 months to get to the finish line, so a long old trip but a lot of highlights, a lot of good times, a few rough times, but that’s all part if it,” he added.
Before then though, Mickey has one more goal in mind and here is where you [the public] come in.
Mickey wants to have raised €30,000 for his brother’s school by the time he returns home.
The additional money raised will go toward outdoor educational and soft play equipment, the promotion of physical activity as well as an interactive therapy projector and a specialist creative arts teacher.
You can support Mickey and 'Cycle for Owen' on idonate, and you can follow the adventure on Facebook, Instagram and Polar Steps.
“Any support would be very much appreciated. Get over the €30,000 mark; that’s the aim at this point. It would be marvellous," said Mickey.
"A lot of people have donated up to this point," he added.
He also expressed sincere appreciation for the support the mammoth fundraising trip has received to date: "Just to thank everyone for the donations up to now and all the support in Waterford in general. We really appreciate it. It really means a lot not just to me but to the Phelan and Gearey families."
And you can follow Mickey's adventure on Polarsteps, Facebook and Instagram by searching Cycle for Owen.
