Les conquers big adventure

Les Crownshaw (70) recovered from a scare 18 months ago to ride his bike the length of the country.

He said: “There were three main reasons I wanted to do it.

“One was like a personal goal as I always wanted to cycle from Land’s End to John O’ Groats.

“Another one was because I had a stent in the heart 18 months ago as I suffered from a bit of a heart problem.

“The third one is because my father-in-law passed away about ten years ago and he was a keen cyclist, too.

“He handed me his old bike which he used to ride, and he never did that adventure.

“So I told my wife: ‘I’m going to make sure his bike actually does it.’”

Les, of Firbeck, said the challenge had been tough but he enjoyed it, although at times he needed to simply put his head down and cycle as hard as he could.

“I think I got fitter as the adventure went on,” he said.

“The weather was good — I had one morning when it was raining, and I got really wet. I felt good all the way.

“It’s surprising, the biggest challenge — not the hardest section but the biggest challenge — was from the boundary between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire up to Carlisle in Cumbria.”

Les’s wife Jane also had a crucial role, as he explained: “She was supporting me all the way through.

“She was doing the hard work looking after me.

“I did the easy bit — I did the cycling bit — she did the hard bit.”

Les added he had set up a couple justgiving pages so the British Heart Foundation and his village could benefit from his efforts.

He said: “I’ve raised about £1,600 for the British Heart Foundation and I think I’ve got about £350 for the village hall refurbishment.

“I’m as happy as I can be.”

However, there’s no time to lay back and enjoy the warm glow of success — Les already has another plan in mind.

“I’m thinking about doing a coast-to-coast challenge next year, cycling from St David’s Bay in Pembrokeshire to Lowestoft in Suffolk,” he said.

“It’s about 400 miles — the widest section of the British Isles, I think.”

Visit https://tinyurl.com/LesBikeChall if you’d like to help Les and his village finish the work on the hall.