Peter McEvoy decided to pull on a fluffy orange costume and ride a bicycle from Sheffield to the Eiffel Tower, all to shine a light on one of the planet’s most endangered great apes.
- Peter McEvoy, 61, is cycling 425 miles from Sheffield to Paris dressed as an orangutan
- His seven-day ride supports the Sumatran Orangutan Society and its rainforest work
- The costume sparks conversations about habitat loss everywhere he stops
From South Wingfield to the Eiffel Tower
McEvoy, who lives in South Wingfield, Derbyshire, and grew up in Yorkshire, set off from Sheaf Square in Sheffield on Monday. His plan is to reach Paris by Sunday, covering the full 425 miles over seven days. He expects to cover 60 to 75 miles a day, or roughly 97 to 121 kilometers.
He is quick to point out that he isn’t some seasoned endurance athlete. He describes himself as a weekend cyclist and expects the journey to be demanding. Anyone who has tried to string together a week of long rides back to back knows exactly what he means, and doing it in a costume only raises the difficulty.
Why an Orangutan and Why Now
The choice of animal isn’t random. McEvoy has cared about rainforests for years, and roughly a decade ago he went looking for organizations he could support that protect them. That search led him to the Sumatran Orangutan Society, a charity he felt ticked every box. It protects the forest, creates habitat for countless other species, and centers one of those animals that capture public attention.
Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered, and their situation keeps getting harder as they lose forest habitat. These apes are nomadic. Every night they build a fresh nest in a new spot, which means they need a lot of room to roam. When the forest is reduced piece by piece, that room disappears. McEvoy worries about more than the apes, though. He is concerned about what forest loss would mean for his children and grandchildren.
The Suit Does the Talking
A man in an orangutan costume tends to draw a crowd, and that’s rather the point. Everywhere McEvoy stops, people want to know about the outfit and the QR code he carries, which gives him an easy opening to explain his cause.
He’s also practical about the gear. The weave of the suit is loose enough to let the wind pass through, so sweat can cool him as he rides. He drinks plenty of water to make up for it. And safety comes first. He only slips the mask on when he’s meeting people at checkpoints. On the bike he wears his helmet and keeps the mask off for full visibility.
The Bigger Picture Behind the Ride
The charity McEvoy is riding for works with communities at the forest’s edge on Sumatra. Its approach leans on local partners and long-term presence rather than quick fixes. The group frames its future work around three simple ideas, which it calls protect, connect, and rewild. In plain terms, that means guarding existing forest, linking fragmented patches so orangutans can move between them, and helping degraded land grow wild again.
Orangutans earn their nickname as gardeners of the forest. They eat hundreds of different plants and spread seeds as they travel, and their nightly nest-building opens small gaps in the canopy that let light reach the layers below. Protect the orangutan, the thinking goes, and you protect the tigers, elephants, birds, and insects that share its home, along with the watersheds and carbon stores the forest provides.
Cheering On the Orange Rider
McEvoy’s ride is a reminder that awareness sometimes travels best on two wheels and a good sense of humor. He isn’t claiming to solve deforestation single-handedly. He’s a weekend cyclist doing something a little absurd to get strangers talking about a serious problem. If his long ride toward Paris nudges even a handful of people to look up Sumatra’s forests, the costume will have earned its keep.
