Rugby league legends are among a brave group of cyclists riding between two great American cities in September to help RL Cares support players suffering from issues such as poor memory and dementia.
AS YOU read this, chances are two of the greatest rugby league players the sport has ever known will be tackling one of the toughest challenges they have faced in their post-retirement life.
Adrian Morley and Paul Sculthorpe MBE, the youngest members of the Rugby League Hall of Fame, are among 17 riders taking on a gruelling 400-mile fundraising cycle ride in the USA for Rugby League Cares.
DC2NYC starts in the heart of the US capital Washington DC on 7th September and ends six days later in New York City, where the riders will cycle past some of the most iconic landmarks in the States, including the Ground Zero Memorial, the Flat Iron building, the Empire State Building and the spectacular neon-lit Times Square.
Morley and Sculthorpe will also be accompanied by a third rugby league international, former Huddersfield, Leeds and Hull KR hooker Shaun Lunt, as well as a host of people with strong rugby league connections.
Lunt, Sculthorpe and Morley are all proud members of the RL Lions Association, as are fellow riders Dr David Graham – the Great Britain team doctor for many years – and ride leader John Ledger, the Lions Association’s secretary.
Other riders include current Sheffield Eagles women’s player Capucine Auger; Hull KR fan Kevin Ferriby, who is making his return after previously completing two rides to Wembley with RL Cares; Steve Smethurst, the son of former Oldham coach Peter Smethurst; Westhoughton under-18s coach Mike Morris; father-and-son Wigan fans Nick and Nathan Groom; and Leeds Rhinos supporter Phil Gildon.
The principal partners of DC2NYC are Wakefield-based energy company Green Central, who are represented on the ride by their senior director James Elston, a former York and Dewsbury player who also spent time as Chief Operating Officer at Wakefield Trinity.
Elston and Ledger are the only two people to have pedalled every mile of every RL Cares fundraising ride since the charity’s inaugural cycling event in 2017, a ride from Headingley to the Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Since then, the rides have raised almost £200,000 for RL Cares, enabling the charity to deliver the health and wellbeing programmes that are making such a positive difference to the lives of thousands of people across the sport’s communities.
James Elston said: “From a purely business point of view, Green Central are thrilled to have the opportunity to cement our relationship with a charity that works really hard to enhance the lives of people across the communities in which we live.
“Green Central and RL Cares share so many values and it’s fantastic to be able to continue this very special partnership.
“And from a purely personal perspective, I can’t wait to take on this latest challenge: I cycled into Manhattan from Niagara Falls with RL Cares three years ago and it was an amazing experience.
“The rides are a tough challenge at times but the memories you create, together with the cause itself and the funds we raise, make the pain more than worth it.”
The ride is the second time RL Cares have crossed the Atlantic to organise an unforgettable fundraiser and follows on from the hugely successful Empire State 500 in 2022, when riders cycled 550 miles from Niagara Falls to Manhattan.
Although shorter, this year’s event is equally challenging, passing as it does through busy cities and conurbations along America’s busy eastern seaboard.
After passing the White House and Capitol Building on day one, the riders head east into Maryland before bearing north for an overnight stay in Baltimore, an exhausting 92-mile slog that will find out the members who have skimped on their training schedule during the summer months.
Day two may be 30 miles shorter but 4,000ft of elevation through rural Maryland will be tough for the participants, all arof whom will be fatigued from the effects of the previous day’s jet-lag influenced exertions.
A third state is the target of day three, when the route follows the East Coast Greenway across the Susquehanna River into Wilmington, Delaware, home to the USA RL side, Delaware Black Foxes.
RL Cares have reached out to the sport’s American cousins and are hoping to meet up with the Black Foxes, who will be hosting a North v South representative game – the USA’s version of State of Origin – at Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington the following weekend.
Day four brings a fourth state, Pennsylvania, the fifth most populous state in the US, and the riders will appreciate the brevity of their 42-mile journey from Wilmington to Philadelphia, where the route ends at the foot of the steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Arts. It was here that Sylvester Stallone created one of the most famous scenes in movie history in Rocky: expect lots of reenactment photos from the riders!
Much of day five sees the riders eschew the highway for long stretches along the Delaware and Raritan Canal as they head north east through Trenton into their fifth state of the trip, New Jersey. The riders spend the night in the city of Brunswick, birthplace of Hollywood star Michael Douglas and home of rock giants Bon Jovi.
The final day of the RL Cares American adventure for 2025 is a mere 53 miles but packs a real punch in terms of sights, helping create special memories that will last a lifetime for everyone involved.
The riders cross from New Jersey onto Staten Island in New York state via Goethal’s Bridge and cross back into New Jersey to reach the Paulus Hook ferry terminal in Jersey City. From here, it’s a short ferry crossing over the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty onto Manhattan Island, where the riders will pay their respects at the 9/11 Memorial before plotting a circuitous route through the heart of New York City’s traffic-snarled streets to the finish at the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park.
RL Cares is hoping to raise upwards of £50,000 from DC2NYC – at time of writing the charity was halfway to its fundraising target – with a key focus being the Brain Health Fund, which supports current and retired players on all issues around their cognitive health.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 512 (September 2025)