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Dad's Challenge for Kristy

10 June 2008

Kristy’s Challenge was Gary’s special way of remembering his daughter Kristyanne, who died in 2001 at the age of 15 from a rare form of cancer.

He undertook the solo ride along the towpath from Limehouse Basin on the River Thames to his home in Milton Keynes in April and this week handed over a cheque for the £2100 he raised to city charity Sue Ryder Care - Thorpe Hall Hospice.

Gary, who is a senior manufacturing and systems engineer at Perkins Engines, managed the ride in 10 hours 10 minutes, just under his target time of 11 hours. And that even included a few refreshment stops with his friends and family.

Gary said: “I had no punctures or accidents, but the towpaths in several areas were heaving with people. In one place, it was a canal boat festival for some 1.5 miles and then, more bizarrely, some 200 plus children on a Jewish community pilgrimage over seven miles or so including Rabbis and other adult helpers. It was stop and crawl all the way through.”

Fluctuating temperatures including a bitterly cold wind added to his difficulties and he also encountered 130 bridges and 75 lock gates. It was the second time that Gary had done the ride to raise funds for charity and he is now planning another trip, but this time with work colleagues. Sue Ryder Care fundraiser Ele Millward said: “This was a wonderful effort from Gary and we are thrilled with the amount of money he raised for the hospice.”

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