‘The Beery Bikers’ cycle from Northamptonshire to Spain for three special causes
“We promised we would do the ride as Diane knew how important it was to us”
Keen cyclists from West Haddon have challenged themselves to a huge bike ride for charity.
Friends Michael Martin and Julian Annison are cycling from their hometown to Santander in Spain, a challenge they are aiming to complete by the end of September.
The duo – who have dubbed themselves ‘The Beery Bikers’ due to their love of cycling and enjoying a beer with friends – are aiming to raise £10,000 for Cancer Research UK, Macmillan and the British Heart Foundation.
Macmillan and Cancer Research are causes particularly close to Julian’s heart after his wife passed away from cancer in December.
The pair also chose the British Heart Foundation after Michael’s 89-year-old mother died of a heart attack last year.
Julian, a 59-year-old retired former principle engineer, said: “Diane died of a rare aggressive sarcoma cancer of the uterus in December, only two months after leaning she had cancer.
“Macmillan helped us greatly, and as for Cancer Research I hope a cure can be found so no one else has to go through what we did.”
The two friends began planning their bike ride last year, and at the time had planned for Diane and Michael’s wife Catherine to meet them in Spain at the end of their trip.
Julian added: “We promised we would do the ride as Diane knew how important it was to us.”
The pair are biking for up to seven hours a day, and are currently cycling through the Loire Valley in France. They will also take on a gruelling 2,115 metre-high mountain pass through the French Pyrenees, known as the Tourmalet.
They are no strangers to a long bike ride – previously covering 100miles in one day.
Dad-of-three, 58-year-old Michael said: “We’ve been taking about this for years and it has taken until we retired to finally fulfil this dream.
“The real challenge is can we actually complete it as we are planning to cycle up the Tourmalet.
“It’s going to be a long ride, but hopefully a good one and all for three brilliant causes.
“If you can spare some money, we’d really appreciate it. Every donation will help push us towards that £10,000 target.”
Visit www.givewheel.com/fundraising/20731/the-beery-bikers/ to donate.