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ON Andrew Hipper Nears End of 400 Mile Charity Bike Ride

25 September 2018

ON and current parent Andrew Hipper (78-87) is close to completing a charity bike ride of 400 miles, riding from the most westerly point in Wales to the most easterly point in England.

Andrew is attempting the challenge along with three other riders: Derek Whatley (former Head of Chemistry at Norwich School), Gordon Busbridge (former Norwich Cathedral Organ Scholar and former Director of Music at Cheltenham College) and David Ritchie (County Councillor for Bungay).

The ambitious challenge was suggested by David Ritchie in order to raise money for the charity Fitzroy. FitzRoy transforms lives every day by supporting people with learning disabilities to do the simple things that make a real difference to their everyday life. Their vision is a society where people are treated as equals, regardless of their disability, and their mission is to transform lives by supporting people with learning disabilities to lead the lives they choose.

The four cyclists are riding from St David’s in Wales to Ness Point in Lowestoft – a distance of 400 miles. The challenge has taken place over six days and the riders have encountered all different types of weather, from torrential rain to glorious sunshine.

    

On their first day, the cyclists covered 50 miles from St David’s to Cwm Duad, in awful weather conditions described by Andrew as ‘howling gales and biblical rain’. Day two was a more mixed weather day, covering 70 miles in sun, rain and hail. On the third day the group travelled 80.1 miles from Llanidloes to Penkridge, making good time on faster roads. Finally rewarded with dry sunny weather the next day, they managed the 72.4 mile ride to Oakham before more glorious weather the next day to cover a further 81.8 miles to Watton. 

Their final day covers the last 50 miles of the journey and finishes at Ness Point in Lowestoft. They hope to arrive in Lowestoft around lunchtime today.

  

The group have already raised over £2500 for charity, and there is still plenty of time to donate to this wonderful cause! They have a Just Giving page where you can donate and leave messages of support, which you can access here.

Congratulations to Andrew, Derek, Gordon and David, and best of luck with the last day!