An epic ride in memory of late friend and father

Twenty years ago Charles Beever challenged his friend Richard Hoyle to ride from Holmebridge to the top of Holme Moss without stopping.

The prize was a pint of Best Bitter.

In doing so he reignited a passion for cycling in Richard which the friends has shared all their lives.

“To cut a long story short I was bought a pint of Best Bitter that night, but even better than that Charles had given me back the gift of cycling for which I will be eternally grateful,” sasys Richard,

“The one thing I really wanted to do was to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

“I asked Charles if he’d do it with me, he said he would join me for a day. But sadly he died before I could organise the event.”

Charles, a civil engineer from Denby Dale, suffered an acute stroke and died 24 hours later in February last year at Barnsley Hospital.

He was 44 and father to Sam, 16, and Megan, 18, and step dad of Hamish, 15.

His donated organs went on to save three lives and his widow, Victoria received an award from health charity The Sovereign Order of St John in his honour.

His death made Richard even more determined to complete the challenge he had set himself.

“When Charles died so young it was shock to everyone. He was fit and healthy. He didn’t smoke and didn’t drink heavily. It made me realise that I really had to get on with it.

“ I decided to ask Charles’s son Sam if he would like to go with me and he said he would but he wanted to do the whole thing.”

Sam is Yorkshire artist Ashley Jackson’s grandson and although he has been studying hard for his GCSEs he has managed to find time to get in shape for the challenge which will see the 16-year-old and Richard cycling 80 miles a day.

“The only thing he was worried about was that he didn’t miss his school prom,” says Richard. “So we decided to break the trip into two parts. The first starting on Sunday from Land’s End up to Huddersfield where we will break for two days to allow Sam to attend, and recover from, his Prom. The second leg will then take us up to John O’Groats.”

The entire trip will therefore take two weeks. Some of the challenge they plan to do unsupported carrying everything they need on their bikes. They will be joined on other parts of the route by family and friends.

Richard and sam won’t be doing the normal route taken by people wanting to cycle the length of Britain.

“I wanted the route to take in my school, Charles’s school of Sedbergh and also the Peak District. Charles and I were both members of Sheffield Polytechnic Cycling Club and we spent a lot of time cycling in the Peak District. But it does make it a lot more hilly than the conventional route people normally take.”

Both Richard and Sam are confident they can complete the challenge, although both know it will be tough physically and mentally.

“I think I may have to hold Sam back a bit as we will need to pace ourselves. The plan is to break it down into manageable chunks of four 20 mile stints in a day. The hardest bit for me is going to be the recovery time and also the pain.”

The pair aim to raise money for the Stroke Association and also to help pay for Sam to attend his rugby tour to Australia next year.

“I have been trying to put this trip together for some years, and the one person I had really wanted to do it with was Charles, sadly that was not to be the case,” says father of two, Richard.

“However I am honoured to be able to be doing the ride with Sam, Charles’s son. I did realise the other day that if his dad had been alive then I wouldn’t have been doing it with Sam. His dad would have been so proud of him for doing it and he would have a big smile on his face.

“We also think Sam will be among the youngest people to have riden from Land’s End to John O’Groats which is amazing.”

The pair aim to cycle 80 miles a day and will be stayig in B&Bs along the route.

“We have both been training when we can. It is going to be a tough ride but we can manage it.”

For more information on the Charles Beever Challenge visit www.facebook.com/cbchallenge

The are raising money for the Stroke Association and Sam’s rugby tour to Australia.To sponsor them visit www.justgiving.com /CBC-Richard-Hoyle