A FATHER and son duo have completed an almost 100-mile cycle challenge in memory of their late dad and grandad respectively.
Danbury’s James Hollingworth and his son Ollie cycled 97.4 miles from Shotley in Suffolk to Brancaster Beach in Norfolk last Friday.
The pair were joined by family members Charlie Bathe, his dad Andy, and William Honychurch.
The challenge – in aid of Brain Tumour Research – was inspired by 49-year-old James’ dad Peter Hollingsworth.
Peter lived in Shotley until his death from a brain tumour in July at the age of 80.
The father-of-three, including James and Andy, and grandfather-of-eight, including Charlie, Ollie and William, was well-known as a butcher and for his love of hunting and shooting.
James is a geography teacher at St Thomas Moore High School in Southend, while his 18-year-old son Ollie is a sixth form student at Sandon School in Chelmsford.
Charlie led the group and got the idea for the fundraiser after taking up cycling to rehabilitate a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
He said: “At a party, he’d somehow manage to work his way around everyone in the room. He had so many stories to tell. I really miss him, we all do.”
The journey is significant to the cyclists who set off from the village Peter called home and made their way to the beach where they spent countless summer holidays together.
Peter was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at Ipswich Hospital in June after suffering from loss of speech, dizziness, memory problems and seizures.
Charlie added: “It was all quite sudden and it soon got to the point where he couldn’t speak more than one or two words, which was really hard because he was such a chatterbox.
"It was very unusual for him not to be able to have an input but he’d give a thumbs up or nod to let you know that he was still in there."
There were no treatment options available to Peter and he died the following month.
The group smashed its original fundraising target of £2,740 which was needed to sponsor a day of research at a Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.
So far Peter’s dedicated sons and grandsons have raised a total of £4,213 for Brain Tumour Research which funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK.
To support the cycling team, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/charlie-bathe.
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