Shipston Cycling Club member raises more than £1,500 for cancer charity with festive 500K cycling challenge

For most people, the days between Christmas and New Year were a chance to recover from the festivities, relax and recharge the batteries.

But it was quite the opposite for for Shipston Cycling Club (SCC) member Robin Hughes.

Just before 3.30am on Tuesday December 28 Robin set out from his home with the aim of completing the Rapha Festive 500 challenge within 24 hours.

The Festive 500 is undertaken by cyclists all of the over the world, albeit with a slightly more realistic (but still ambitious) timescale of completing 500 kilometres in the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Robin said: "I wanted a challenge to send the year off, this seemed like a good option and an excellent way of raising some money for charity."

Robin took on the challenge in aid of local charity Cyclists Fighting Cancer, and set himself an initial target of £500 - one pound for every kilometre raised.

To date his fundraising total stands at more than £1,500.

The JustGiving fundraising web page is still open, and dominations can be made to the Cyclists Fighting Cancer charity through the following weblink: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Robin-Hughes5

Since the charity began in 2005 they have awarded over 8,000 bikes and trikes. For more information about Cyclists Fighting Cancer see their website here: https://www.cyclistsfc.org.uk/

The first 80 miles were ridden in torrential rain, and Robin said: "It was very cold, hard to see and a little dangerous. I thought we would have to cancel the ride before the sun had risen. At the other end of the day, sunset wasn't very nice as heading back into the dark for nine hours didn't seem very fun. It wasn't."

However, support from friends, family and other Shipston Cycling Club members helped Robin through the daylight hours. For more information on the Shipston Cycling Club see its website here: www.shipstoncycling.co.uk or Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/ShipstonCyclingHe added: "Every time we saw someone waving by the side of the road it was a great boost for morale. Also any time we stopped and we could eat lots of food."

Robin completed the challenge after just over 17 and a half hours in the saddle - with much deserved food breaks meaning he finally climbed off his bike at around 1.45am on Wednesday, December 29.

Andy Smith, chairman of the Shipston Cycling Club, said: "We're all really proud of Robin's achievement. Our regular Sunday club rides are mostly done by lunchtime, so to cycle almost round the clock on one of the shortest days of the year is a phenomenal feat of fitness and determination."