Cyclist's amazing 148 days of riding in memory of his wife

Andy, who is from Astley, rode around 2,200 miles on consecutive days between March 21 and August 15 for the Hindley-based charity, only stopping his efforts in the saddle because he went on holiday.

His efforts saw dad-of-three Andy, 64, raise £1,343 in memory of wife Debra, who passed away from cancer aged 52 in August 2011.

Andy, who works as group inventory manager for Seddon Plant and Engineers in Bolton, said: “I have been cycling for seven years and have done the hospice’s Manchester to Blackpool Bike Ride twice.

Andy on his bike during his cycling challenge for the borough's hospice

“The plan was to do it again this year, but of course because of Covid it got cancelled.

“I started doing some training just before lockdown came in, then carried on and I got to about 30 or 40 rides when I realised I hadn’t missed a single day, so I wanted to get to 50 and then 100 consecutive days.

“I would have liked to have got to 150, but I went on holiday on August 15, but I did manage to at least get one last early morning ride in that day.”

Andy described why he chose to support the hospice which cares for people from across the borough with life-limiting illnesses. He said: “Debra came to the hospice as a day service patient for a long time, she loved it, then went on to the in-patient unit in the last two weeks.

“They were so very good to my wife over about three years, and the last two weeks in particular.

“They were so very caring and as her passing approached we knew what was going to happen.

“They very kindly let us stay overnight and always sorted us out with tea and coffee. It’s a very welcoming and caring place.”

Andy and Debra were married for almost 35 years and had two sons and a daughter together.

Andy began cycling in 2013 after becoming determined to shape up, and he quickly shed three stones that year.

Since then he has lost a further stone and has managed to shed the same amount again during lockdown, which he put down to a combination of him being out cycling so much and the pubs being closed.

He completed the hospice’s popular annual ride to the seaside from Manchester to Blackpool on his own in 2014 and then was joined by his son Anthony in 2015. Andy raised over £1,000 in 2014 and the two of them raised £2,100 between them in 2015.