Press Release – from David Cook (currently in Spain)

Charity cycle duo in French crash

Two Peak District teenagers on a marathon charity cycle ride through Europe have had their first mishap - a crash in the French city of Bordeaux.

Former Lady Manners School students David Cook (19) of Baslow and Matthew Gibson (18) of Hathersage crashed simultaneously when the wheels of their £1500 cycles became trapped in tramlines.

In an e-mail back to England, David reports: “Although it was painful, the worst thing was that the impact badly bent my handlebars. The rear brakes and front chain-rings are difficult to operate and so is the steering.”

But, says David, the bike will be repaired when they reach Pamplona in Spain.

Since leaving England last week, the teenagers have battled rain for several hours every day, painful hail storms, snow during the leg through the Pyrenees and constant headwinds.

They have camped in fields, parks, churches and an abandoned barn and one night pitched their tent on a beach which proved to be ‘a nightmare’.

As well as battling the bad weather, the pair have also had problems with French truckers - for safety reasons, the lads once had to lift their bikes and 35kg of equipment over a ten feet roadside fence - and French police who banned them from using one stretch of dual carriageway below Tours.

Says David: "So far the trip has been challenging but very rewarding.”

David is devoting six months of a GAP year to ride 10,000 miles through most of the countries of Europe.

Matthew, a former student at Hope Valley College and Lady Manners School sixth-former, is accompanying David on the stretch from Calais to Athens.

On the return leg from Turkey to Paris, David will be joined by Luke Johnson (18) of Baslow who studied at Saint Mary’s School in Chesterfield before winning a place at Imperial College, London.

The trio want to raise cash for the Kankudibi health clinic in The Gambia, a charity headed by Stanton Lees residents Geoffrey and Julie Henson, the road safety charity BRAKE, and the British Paralympics team.

Any support you can give to the fund-raisers would be very much appreciated.

This editorial has been donated by Ron Eyley, Peak Media Services, Tel 01246 590693, Mobile 07831708810.