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Currant Affairs Chris pushes on with cycle challenge THE Gillingham man who is cycling nearly 2,000 miles on his own to help wounded soldiers is well into his gruelling journey. Former soldier, 75-year-old Chris Irven is taking on the massive physical challenge to raise money for Help for Heroes. Chris is cycling from Gillingham to Land's End, then all the way back up to John O'Groats and back home again. There's no support crew and he's planning to sleep rough for much of the journey so as much money as possible will go to the charity. On Tuesday he'd got as far as Shrewsbury, clocking up 559 miles in ten days. Last Thursday proved to be a punishing day. Heading for Launceston Chris set off under a cold front which moved north-eastwards over him all day until 6pm – 10 hours of unremitting rain. "Every stitch of clothing was wringing wet. There were no redeeming factors at all – until I arrived back at the Eagle House Hotel in Launceston for a hot bath, dry clothes and food. I hope you'll let me off not bivvying tonight," he said. "Other minor irritants included a bungee that became unhooked and began winding itself around the rear axle until the message percolated into my rain-soaked brain that the back wheel was incurring no ordinary rolling resistance. Mercifully, the spokes were undamaged. The gears are misbehaving, going from first to second, so another visit to a bike mechanic is indicated." There was more rain on Friday. The bike was thoroughly serviced in Exeter and Chris junked the jacket that had become as waterproof as a net curtain. "At the end of the day, I cycled through a village near Honiton, looking for a place to sleep out but it was still raining and I couldn't find anywhere suitable so, suffering from faintness of heart, I cycled back into the village and found a B&B straight away," he explained. "I'm now in a pub, surrounded by a large group of rowdy, boisterous young lads all keen to buy me drinks so I'm a bit sozzled at present and will have to go to bed pretty soon if I'm to get up and off in the morning." Undeterred by the night's festivities, Chris was up at 6am on Saturday. The B&B didn't serve breakfast until 8am so he went without. Chris made good progress until the A37 to Shepton Mallet when what he described as "the mother of all rainstorms" struck and he had to take shelter for an hour or so. Then it was just a few more miles until Downside Abbey. "The Mendip hills are very tough – four high and steep ridges to climb, on one of which I had to get off and walk," Chris said. "At one loo stop, I met an old codger of 70 who was recovering from cancer. His doctors had told him to take things gently so he had decided to do a solo motorcycle trip round France. We got on famously, laughing and joking about our experiences, until a crowd of people gathered and emptied £56 into my bag." Chris didn't hit the road until 1pm on Sunday. His duties included making a speech about his challenge after Mass at Downside Abbey and School. After a relatively short, and very cold, day's cycling, he set up bivvy in a field just before the M4 at 4pm. After spending a bitterly cold night "treading a fine line between suffocation and freezing" Chris cycled 50 miles struggling against a 17mph wind. Tuesday's wind was pushing at 12mph but Chris still managed 79 miles to get just beyond Shrewsbury. The long slog took him through beautiful countryside and earned him some unexpected donations from a group of intrigued youngsters. Chris still has a long way to go and he wants to raise as much money as possible to support the work of Help for Heroes. To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/Chris-Irven Back to the list |