Last updated at 12:26, Friday, 29 June 2012

A west Cumbrian estate agent rode from London to Newcastle in just 24 hours to help raise nearly £7,000 for charity.

Ben Walker, Richard Wagstaff, Dan Jones, Rob Grisdale and Tim Grisdale

Tim Grisdale, 58, who owns Grisdales, completed the ride from the Millennium Bridge in London to the Millennium Bridge in Newcastle, in memory of Cockermouth brothers Christian and Niggy Townend who were killed on the A595 in December 2010 while cycling home.

The Grisdale family knew the brothers well, and the money raised will go towards Road Peace, a charity that helps road crash victims and their families.

Mr Grisdale, whose estate agency has offices in Workington, Whitehaven and Cockermouth, completed the challenge with his son Rob, 25, friend Ben Walker, 26, of Brigham, and Rob’s friends from Leeds University, Dan Jones and Richard Wagstaff.

His son and friends finished the challenge in 23 hours 20 minutes, while Mr Grisdale completed it in 24 hours 35 minutes.

He said: “We all admitted to feeling sick before the start and were full of nerves. But once under way the nerves melted and we started to concentrate on what we had to do.

“During the ride we lost all sense of real time but just had our bike computers to calculate where we were, average speed, anticipated finishing time and distance covered.

“Finishing was just a massive sense of success and relief knowing we had met our own challenge, completed the 286 miles from London to Newcastle in one go and raised such a large sum for Road Peace.”

The team broke the challenge down into eight sections of 35 miles, changing the leader every mile which was then followed by a 10-minute stop for food, drink and rest.

Mr Grisdale said: “During the stops we fuelled up while the support crew checked the bikes, replenished the bars and gels we had with us and replaced our drinks bottles.

“It was a bit like a Formula One pit stop – we just sat in deckchairs and ate while it all happened around us.”

The group suffered three punctures, a mini pile-up when one bike caught another to send two of the riders over the handlebars and a bike problem, which led to the group having to find a replacement bike for the last 140 miles.

Mr Grisdale added: “It was interesting riding in the dark. We were using GPS for navigation and lights but it all felt a bit surreal riding on as people went to bed and still riding when they were getting up.

“We had all trained well so knew what to expect physically but it was the mental side that was harder than the physical side.

“You had to concentrate for 24 hours and it was no good setting off picturing the finish – you just had to focus on those 35-mile slots.”

First published at 11:30, Friday, 29 June 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk