On the Sunday 7th June, the community of Ramsbury, a small village in Wiltshire, celebrated the return of their cycling heroes.
Peter Willets, Charles Gardner and Steve Tippins raised an incredible £13,669 cycling the long, hilly 1000 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats. This journey is all the more remarkable, with only 5 lungs and 2 newly replaced hips between them.
The group was lead by Pete, 55 years old, who less than two years ago, was still fighting off cancer, undergoing chemotherapy, and recovering from an operation, which required half a lung and his lymph nodes to be removed. A man who has always loved a challenge, for him, cancer was just another hurdle to overcome.
The team took 14 days to ride the length of the country, climbing over 120,000 feet and burning over 6000 calories a day. The weather was difficult with sideways wind and pouring rain on several days, but this didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the team.
The money raised will be split between ATE, Macmillan Cancer Care and New Life Foundation, all charities that are close to hearts of the men who have pushed themselves to the edge of their physical ability to raise this incredible total. They are hoping for even more donations over the next few days to meet their ambitious target of £20,000.
‘During the difficult times, the support and sponsorship kept us going. Knowing that so many people were following our progress was a huge motivator.’ Charles said, ‘we are humbled by and extremely appreciative of the astonishing support from so many of our friends, family and colleagues. Thank you to everybody who has supported us.’
Drinking champagne in the sunshine was a wonderful way to mark the end of this remarkable challenge. The Bell at Ramsbury generously sponsored the celebratory drinks as well as the Send-Off Party on the 24th June where over 50 people turned out to wave off the brave men.
Thanks also to Bertie Maffoons Cycle Company who, by providing maintenance training, advice and spare parts for their long journey north, gave additional support.
For more information about the team’s fantastic achievement, Pete’s blog is available at http://ourbigride.wordpress.com or via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ourbigride
To make a donation, visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ourbigride1