Roy, 72, takes on mammoth bike challenge to raise money for us
A lifelong cycling enthusiast is riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats at the age of 72 – and he’s doing it to raise money for us.
Roy Fieldhouse, the husband of our hospital shop volunteer Anne, has always been keen on two-wheeled travel. He’s a former member of the Cycling Touring Club and of the now-defunct Ebor Cycling Club.
His interest in taking on one of Britain’s toughest cycling challenges has only grown over the years. “It’s just something that I have always fancied, but I have never had the time,” said Roy, pictured above at our offices before he departed for Land's End.
One of the things keeping Roy busy was the fact that he and Anne have always been avid travellers, exploring Europe and America on extended holidays in their retirement, but the coronavirus pandemic put paid to that in 2020.
Roy told Anne that he really wanted to make his Land’s End-John O’Groats attempt this year, began to train in earnest and found a company that offered support to riders taking on the 874-mile ride.
He had originally planned to complete his challenge during June, but lockdown intervened and the trip was cancelled.
He kept on training and by the beginning of September he had racked up an impressive 4,500 road miles getting into top condition.
Roy is pictured here just before he set off from Land’s End on September 6th. He aims to arrive in John O’Groats on September 19th.
“I am looking forward to the finish!” he joked. “I am keen to get there, get started and find out whether I can actually do this. It has been a long time coming and I am just glad that it is here now.”
The Fieldhouses have set up a JustGiving page for people who want to support Roy’s challenge by giving to York Against Cancer. You can find it at https://bit.ly/3bihMbY